***** Deuteronomy 5:6-7

Deuteronomy 5:6–7 (TNIV)

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

The Ten Commandments can be divided into two sections. The first four commandments deal with man’s relationship with God and the last six commandments deal with man’s relationship with man. The Lord Jesus covered these two divisions of the commandments in His statement in Matthew 22:37–39 which says, “Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ If we love the Lord God with all of our heart, with all our soul, and with all of our mind then we would obey the first four commandments. If we loved our neighbor as ourselves we would obey the last six commandments.

A church member told his pastor that he was going to the Holy Land. He said that it was his intention to visit Mount Sinai. The man said, ‘In fact, I plan to climb to the top of that mountain, and read the Ten Commandments aloud when I get there.” Thinking this would please the pastor, he was surprised to hear, ‘You know, I can think of something even better than that.” The man responded, ‘You can, Pastor? And what might that be?’ The pastor replied, ‘Instead of traveling thousands of miles to read the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, why not stay right here at home and keep them?’ Ecclesiastes 12:13 Solomon declared, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.”

Many in our world today do not know the Ten Commandments, they do not keep the Ten Commandments, and they do not care about the commandments.

° People disdain the Commandments because they disdain the God who gave them.

° People disregard the Commandments because they disregard the Lord who gave them.

° People defy the Commandments because they defy the Lord who gave them.

A few years ago Ted Turner, who owns several cable news networks, announced that the Ten Commandments are obsolete. His comments were given wide publicity in the media. He said in his statement that the Ten Commandments do not relate to today’s problems. They are outmoded rules. Turner said, “What we need is to substitute the Ten Commandments with Ten Voluntary Initiatives.” Ted Turner is wrong! The Ten Commandments are not obsolete, but they are absolute! How much better would our society be if everyone worshiped the same God and served the One and true God!

Can you imagine that every child would perfectly obey their parents, that there would be no killing, there would be no stealing, there would be no lying, there would be no adultery, there would be no coveting!

America was founded upon the solid rock of God’s Holy Word. We are seeing in our day the demise and decay of a nation because they have removed God’s word, and reviled God’s word. God’s word is no longer the foundation of this nation. We no longer seek God as a nation, we no longer honor the Lord Jesus in this nation. We have in essence turned our backs on God.

A graphic picture portrayed by two United States quarters symbolizes the drift of our nation. This picture may not have been intentionally done by the United States Treasury, but nevertheless, it shows what we as a nation have done. The face of our quarters says it all.

The picture of an older quarter shows the face of Washington, representing our country, facing the words ‘in God we trust.’ This pictures our nation seeking after the Lord and trusting in the Lord. On the older quarter the word ‘Liberty’ is above Washington’s head. This symbolizes that we had total freedom above us and all around us because we trusted in the Lord. The picture of the newer quarters stands in stark contrast to the old. The picture of Washington is still on the new quarter, but he no longer faces ‘in God we trust.’ The word before the face of the new Washington is ‘Liberty.’ In the old quarter nothing was behind Washington, but in the new quarter the words, ‘in God we trust’ is behind Washington’s face. This symbolizes that we have turned our backs upon trusting in the Lord and seeking after the Lord. Interesting enough, above the old Washington’s head was ‘Liberty,’ above the new Washington’s head is ‘United States of America.’ We can learn a lot from two quarters. There’s some hard truth inscribed on our quarters.

The nation has somewhere along the way turned away from God. The Ten Commandments will teach us to love God, obey God, and please God. We need to get back to loving the Lord JESUS in America. The only way that America can experience revival is for the church to first have a genuine revival. The church needs to return to the Lord. God is to be #1 in our lives. When we put Him first then we will have the proper perspective in every other area of our lives. We need to keep First things First. Moses reminded the children of Israel to keep First things first. God demands and deserves to have the preeminence in our lives. Are we putting first things first? Do we love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, soul, mind, and strength? First Things First!

I. The deliverance from the Lord (vs. 6)

A. A reminder of God’s Person (vs. 6a)

“I am the Lord your God” This statement is the basis for commanding. Because He is the Lord our God He has that right, authority, and privilege to command us. God reveals Himself to His people. He spoke to Moses and through Moses with authority. Lord: (Yahweh) He that was, He that is, and He that will be. God is Lord of the eternity past, present, and future. Because He is God He has the right to command and we have the responsibility to obey. He is the “Lord” and there is none other than Him! He is the One true and Living God! Somewhere along the way people have gained a messed up perspective and view of God! People today do not have the proper concept of God or a Biblical perspective of God!

Nicholas Van Hoffman wrote about this in this article entitled “The Mush God,” which goes:

◾ The Mush God has been known to appear to millionaires on golf courses. He appears to politicians at ribbon-cutting ceremonies and to clergymen speaking the invocation on national TV at either Democratic or Republican conventions.

◾ The Mush God has no theology to speak of, being a Cream of Wheat divinity. The Mush God has no particular credo, no tenets of faith, nothing that would make it difficult for believer and nonbeliever alike to lower one’s head when the temporary chairman tells us that Reverend, Rabbi, Father, or Mufti, or So-and-So will lead us in an innocuous, harmless prayer, for this god of public occasions is not a jealous god.

◾ You can even invoke him to start a hooker’s convention and he/she or it won’t be offended.

◾ God of the Rotary, God of the Optimists, Protector of the Buddy System, The Mush God is the Lord of secular ritual, of the necessary but hypocritical forms and formalities that hush the divisive and the derisive.

◾ The Mush God is a serviceable god whose laws are chiseled not on tablets but written on sand, open to amendment, qualification and erasure.

◾ This is a god that will compromise with you, make allowances and declare all wars holy, all peaces hallowed.” This is a statement of revelation. There is no guess work by us, because God has revealed Himself to us.

I heard about this college student that took a course in ornithology (the study of birds). He had stayed up all night getting ready for the big exam. The professor had said, ‘On your final exam I’m going to show you birds. That’s all you are going to see. When you see the birds you have got to tell me everything about those birds.

• I want you to name the birds, name the species,

• the habitat of the bird,

• the mating habits of the bird, • the life span of the bird, and so on.

• Tell me all that you can tell me about these birds.

The young man stayed up all night and memorized every bird in that book. The day of the final exam came and the young man thought he was ready. As he entered the classroom he noticed ten things on the desk up front by the professor’s desk, but he didn’t pay much attention to it. The professor came in and said that for the final exam the students were to tell him about these birds. On the desk were the birds with bags over them. The professor began by lifting the bags just high enough so the students could see the legs and feet of the birds and nothing more. When the class saw what the test was going to be the whole class was appalled. The young man that had studied was irate, the more he thought of it the madder he got. He finally got up, wadded up his paper, went to the front, threw the paper at the professor’s feet and said, ‘Sir, this is the most unfair test I’ve ever had to take and you sir are an idiot. And he turned and began to leave the class room. As the young man was leaving the professor got his composure and said, ‘Young man, what is your name?’ The young man lifted his pants legs and said, ‘you tell me, buddy, you tell me!’

We do not have to guess to know who God is.

He has revealed Himself to us.

◾ God reveals Himself by physical revelation (Creation),

◾ through Scriptural revelation (Bible),

◾ and through personal revelation (Jesus Christ).

Lehman Strauss wrote, “Let there be no mistake in our minds concerning the Deity of Jesus Christ. The “I AM” of the burning bush and of the first commandment is none other than Jesus Christ of the New Testament. Christ is the express Image of God’s Person and the out flow of His glory. Jesus is God.” Do you know the Lord God in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you have a personal relationship with Him? Is the Lord God the Lord your God? There’s a reminder of God’s Person. Next we see:

B. A reminder of God’s power (vs. 6b)

“who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”

God reminds the people of His power. He reminds them it was because of Him that they have been set free. The people had been redeemed by the Lord and now they were called on to rely on the Lord. The Lord called them out of bondage in Egypt. He alone brought them out of their bondage. He alone delivered them from the hands of Pharaoh and their hardships in Egypt. It was by His great power that they were delivered. We can relate to the children of Israel. It is the Lord Jesus who set us free from the powers of darkness, forgiven us of all our sins, given us a home in glory. Jack Deere wrote, “The Ten Commandments were given to a people already redeemed, to enable them to express their love for and have fellowship with the Holy God.”

The Commandments were not given to enable anyone to achieve justification. The Old Testament principle applies in the New Testament as well. The people were justified by their faith and trust in the Lord. Today we are saved and justified by our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus. Because of Who He is, we ought to freely and joyfully obey Him. Because of what He’s done, we have a responsibility to live our lives pleasing to Him. Warren Wiersbe, “The Lord wants us to obey Him, not as slaves cringing before a master, but as grateful children who love their Heavenly Father and appreciate all He is to us and has done for us.”

→ A Good Word: God is the One Who creates us, converts us, and controls us. Have you been delivered by the Lord? Have you been set free by Jesus? Have you experience the Lord’s great and awesome power? In verse 6 there’s the deliverance from the Lord. Next we see:

II. The demand of the Lord (vs. 7)

“You shall have no other gods before Me.”

This is the 1st of the 10 Commandments. This is a commandment, an imperative, and it is not up for discussion or debate! We shall have no other gods. James Merritt said, “I believe the 1st commandment is the most broken in America, that’s why the other nine are so often broken.” The people of Israel had been over four hundred years in bondage in Egypt and lived among people who were polytheistic. The Egyptians had and served many gods.

The children of Israel were getting ready to enter the Promised Land. The Promised Land was the land of Canaan. The people of Canaan were also polytheistic. They worshiped and served other gods. Israel had to get it straight who it was that was God! The Lord He is God alone! God tells them who He is and shows them what He can do and then commands them to worship and serve Him only. They were to have no other gods. Do we have other god’s in America? We have gods of:

° Money:

° The story was told of a miser who had under his basement a secret sub-basement known to no one but himself.

° Here he hoarded large sums of silver and gold. Daily he would come in secrecy to worship.

° He delighted to run his bony fingers through the coins and listen to the music of their clank, as he said, “O my Beauties, O my Beauties!”

° One day while he sat worshiping the god of gold, a breeze blew the door of the sub-basement shut.

° A spring lock that could be turned only from the outside fastened the door. The miser was shut in with his gold and his god.

° Years later when the old house was being torn down, some men came across his skeleton stretched over the pile of gold and silver.

° He made money his god, and the god had finally destroyed him. ° Sports: People devote time, treasure, sacrifice relationships, destroys families and friendship over sports!

° This year the Dallas Cowboys open up their new stadium. They have played two preseason games in their new stadium.

° The cost of that new stadium is mind boggling. The stadium costs over $1 Billion dollars to build. The scoreboard is like none other in the world. The scoreboard for the new stadium costs over $40 million dollars.

° People worship at the altar of football, basketball, golf, baseball, and even soccer. ° Work: is a god for some people. They worship their work! The works of their hands captures their hearts.

° Family: many people worship their family. They put their family before God and that is sin.

° Sex: America is full of sex craved fanatics. Pornography is a Billion dollar a year industry through movies, magazines, clubs, etc...

° Gambling: Las Vegas has spread all over our nation. People lose their retirements, their homes, their marriages, their families to the god of gambling.

° Drugs and Alcohol: People bow down to the god of drugs. They destroy their lives and the lives of others because they want to get high! Alcohol causes great physical, emotional, and spiritual damage to individuals and families. People live for the next drink!

D. Martyn Lloyd Jones wrote, “A man’s god is that for which he lives, for which he is prepared to give his time, his energy, his money, that which stimulates him and rouses him, excites, and enthuses him.” What is your god today? Better yet, Who is your god?

The Lord is a jealous God and He will not compete for our affection. He deserves our whole heart, all of our time, all of our energy, all of our praise, all of our worship! Have no other gods before Him! There’s to be no rival to God, no competition, and no other gods. Adrian Rogers said, “The First Commandment forbids us from putting any other god before Him. That means there is to be no rival to God, no rebuttal of God, and no refusal of God … That is, God did not want Israel to bring any false god into His presence, either in addition to Him or in opposition to Him.”

Before Him: Hebrew means ‘You shall have no other gods before My face or in My presence.’ *There is to be no god before Him and no god besides Him.* The “god’s” that the Lord speaks of are not legitimate and real gods. They are false, dead, lifeless, useless, and worthless substitutes for the Living God.

Anything we place in our hearts before and above God becomes our god. Reformer Martin Luther said, “That upon which you set your heart and put your trust is properly your God.”

The Lord Jesus deserves to be our Master and He deserves to have our all. The children of Israel didn’t take long at all before they had broken the very first commandment. Even while Moses was receiving the Commandments, the people were being deceived and defiled in corruption. They had set up an image of a golden calf and began to worship this dead idol. Throughout the Old Testament we learn a great lesson.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, the dearest idol I have known, whate’er that idol be, Help me to tear it from Thy throne and worship only Thee.

One way or the other God will remove the idols from His people. It may take the long hard road, through captivity, slavery, suppression, but He will ultimately get the glory. A pastor was explaining to his students how strongly God condemns the worship of idols. One of them asked, ‘If God so abhors idolatry, why does He not destroy the idols that men worship?’ The pastor replied, ‘Because some of them, the sun and the moon for example, are an essential part of the fabric of God’s economy.’ After a moment’s pause, the student said, ‘Then why does He not at least destroy those that are not essential?’ To which the pastor answered, ‘Because it would then appear He was condoning the worship of the idols He did not destroy.”

Is the Lord your God? Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus? God wants our affection, wants our attention. He wants our appreciation. Would you today begin to live for Jesus? Would you begin to put Jesus 1st in your life? Would you begin to worship the One and only God?

→ Great Truth: There are many ways to worship God, but only one God to worship. Do you have any other gods before the Lord God? Repent of your sin today and put away those idols forever! Worship and serve the Lord God alone!

Prayer: Lord, help us today to remove everything from our lives that would hinder our worship, our work, and our witness for You. Lord Jesus we want to be pleasing in Your sight. We want only One God and for You to be that God. We voluntarily submit our lives to You afresh and anew this day. Strengthen us to take a stand, give us wisdom to know the difference from godly and ungodly, and Lord may we never have any other gods before You. In Jesus Name we pray! Amen!