Ten Rules for Living (Begin With God)
EXODUS 20:2, 3
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before me.[1]
The greater the freedom demanded by the populace, the greater the potential for anarchy. Some years past, the State of Kentucky passed a law requiring that copies of the Ten Commandments be posted in all schools and in all government facilities. However, the action was odious to civil libertarians, and accordingly, a court challenge was mounted and pursued to the highest level of judicial review in that state. The law was overturned to the accompaniment of harsh ridicule and crude mocking from the enlightened advocates of freedom. It is instructive to note that at the same time, legislative and judicial officials in that state were lamenting the absence of morality and the lack of an acceptable ethic among the youth of that state.
Today, there are no moral or ethical guidelines posted in government facilities in Kentucky. The incident is a parable in a microcosm of the prevailing western dissipation. The greater our demand for personal freedom, the greater the sense of anarchy. For the most part, morals are defined according to what we individually think they should be. Ethics have become what we consider of greatest immediate benefit to us as individuals. There is no fixed position within society at the present time.
Our situation is not unlike a story which is related concerning two good ol’ boys who were fast friends. One of the men loved deep-sea fishing. He had invited his friend, a landlubber, to spend the day on the water in his boat with him. Making their way to shore late in the evening, the owner of the boat became sleepy and turned the helm over to his friend, who had not spent any time at sea. Before doing this, however, the first man pointed out the North Star to his friend and urged him to keep his eye on it.
The sleepy fellow had not been asleep long before his landlubber friend snatched forty winks himself. Suddenly, the newly commissioned skipper awakened in utter confusion, aware only that he had fallen asleep and that the boat had no doubt drifted from its course. He called to his friend frantically. “Wake up!” he shouted, “and show me another star. I’ve done run clean past that one!”
That is the way many feel about the Ten Commandments. However, we can no more run past this ancient code than we can run past the North Star. These laws are not arbitrary rules like the one which compels us to drive on the right side of the road rather than on the left. The Ten Commandments partake of the nature of principles.
Stephen Hawking does not begin each day by reciting the multiplication table. Yet, great mathematician that he is, he can never ignore the fact that twice two make four, without utter confusion.
Modern physicist do not rush out to the apple orchard each morning to have confirmed to them the reality of the law of gravity. Yet, they cannot ignore that law without disaster.
The same is true of this ancient code. To violate it brings disaster to the individual and to society as a whole. To observe its dicta is to plant our feet on the road to a fuller individual and social life.
God Is. Consider the brief preface to this first commandment: I am the LORD your God. The code begins with an assumption—God is. The code assumes the reality of God. Isn’t it strange that the Bible nowhere attempts to prove the existence of God? Have you ever wondered about that failure to do what we might otherwise consider necessary? Have you ever questioned this lack of a “proof”?
Perhaps you have at some time heard that little couplet:
God said it.
I believe it.
That settles it
May I caution you that though it sounds cute, even profound, it introduces a grave error. If God said it, whether I believe it or not is immaterial; the issue is settled. If you should attempt to prove that God exists, what proof would suffice? I am not suggesting that there are no evidences of God’s existence, nor even that He is silent and has left Himself no witness. The Bible is silent, however, concerning “proofs” and each of the writers simply proceed with the assumption that God is.
The Psalmists and the Prophets do not argue for the existence of God, not because there are no evidences. This ordered universe provides unmistakable evidences of His existence. If you tell me you drive an automobile, and I ask you what make it is, I believe I am asking a perfectly reasonable question. Should you answer, “It is no make at all; it is the result of blind forces that exercised no intelligence and had no understanding concerning what they were creating,” I will not conclude that you are wiser than I am, but only that you are less sane.
That the authors do not bother with evidences must be because they realise that all evidences are in a sense inadequate. Evidences are, in the final analysis, not the thing sought. One spring, together with a fellow pastor, I tramped through deep valleys and across high mountains hunting grizzly bears. We found an elk which had been killed and partially eaten. We found the ground dug up by powerful claws and trees which had been clawed. All these were evidences that the great bears were in the vicinity; but those evidences were not the bears themselves.
On my desks—both in my office and in my home—are some little trinkets made by childish hands. In the office here at the church, there sits on the desk a tin can covered with coloured string to hold my pens. On my desk at home is a similar can decorated with coloured paper strips. In my desk at home are books of “coupons” available for redemption from a daughter and a son. They were never redeemed, because they are precious to me. On the bookshelves in my basement is a plaque announcing that the room is occupied by a “coffeesaurus.” A daughter who loves me presented me with that plaque. Also on those bookshelves are carvings—a fish and a bear—presented by a son just learning to shape wood into identifiable forms. All these trinkets are evidences of the love of my children, but they are not the children themselves.
Perhaps you have baby booties tucked away somewhere in a drawer. They remind you of a little baby that once hugged your neck and kissed your cheek. They are evidences of the baby which toddled out of your arms and out of your world, but whom you could never get out of your heart. Though these shoes are evidences, they are a poor substitute for the baby himself. Perhaps you have letters carefully wrapped and secreted away, which remind you of the precious love of some special someone. While the letters are evidences of love, they are poor substitutes for the lover himself.
These explorers in the realm of the spiritual, those who wrote the Holy Scriptures, do not greatly concern themselves with evidences because they have something so much better to offer. They see little use of arguing about the reality and usefulness of bread when a table is spread in their very midst. It seems to them a matter of second rate importance to argue with thirsty men and women about the reality of water, when in their very presence there is a gushing spring waiting to be kissed upon its sparking lips. Thus, they are more or less indifferent to evidences because they are so sure that they have something far better to offer—they have God Himself.
My dear people, God is! Do not waste time in arguing for the existence of God. Live as one who knows God and who is known by the True and Living God. Live as one transformed by knowledge of His grace. Begin with God and always reach out to others to draw them to God. This is the essence of Paul’s commands to Titus concerning the content of pastoral instruction. Believers are to live as those who are known by the Living God, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour [Titus 2:10].
God is Available. The second assertion from this brief passage is that God is accessible. I am the LORD your God… You shall have no other gods before me. God is not only a reality; but God is accessible to man and He is available for human need. Together with Thomas, I may fall at the feet of Jesus and cry out, My Lord and my God [John 20:28]! I may affirm together with Paul: My God will supply every need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus [Philippians 4:19]. Every individual, asserts this ancient law, may have God for his very own. In this assertion, Moses is in accord with the whole of the Word of God.
Whatever else may be true, God is willing to receive all who come to Him by faith. This is the consistent declaration of the Word of God. Listen to but a few of the invitations. One of the first great invitations to which I direct your attention serves as an invitation without parallel to anyone willing to discover the reality of God. Listen to this gracious call of God. Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him [Hebrews 11:6].
Jesus extended a most gracious invitation to all. Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light [Matthew 11:28-30].
Perhaps you will recall the wonderful invitation issued through the pen of Jeremiah. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile [Jeremiah 29:12-14].
This gracious invitation was in the tradition of Isaiah who, speaking on behalf of the Living God, extended an invitation in these words:
Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labour for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
[Isaiah 55:1-3]
Who would consider the invitation found in the opening chapter of Isaiah’s prophecy to be unreasonable? There, God extends an invitation to anyone and to everyone:
Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
[Isaiah 1:18]
It is not argument which will persuade the lost to know God; it is God Himself, seen in our daily lives which will draw outsiders to ask what is different about us. We can live such miserable lives that no one is attracted to God, or we can live as those known to God and the winsome nature of our daily fellowship will serve to draw outsiders to faith. As outsiders inquire about what makes the difference in our lives, then, we shall be prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in [us] [cf. 1 Peter 3:15].
About two years ago, I preached from the parable Jesus told about a lost boy. You will recall the story Jesus told even if you do not recall that particular message. You will recall that though one son was profligate and a wastrel, there remained at home a dutiful son. The older son was in the field [Luke 15:25]. That tells of a clean environment. He was out where the skies were blue over his head. He was out where he could get the fragrance of the upturned sod and the sweet aroma of the new mown hay.
The Word also relates his toil. He was a worker, while his brother was a waster. However, when he told his experience, it was distressingly disappointing. This older brother had not lived as a son at all, but rather as a slave. These many years I have served you … yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends [Luke 15:29]. Any parent reading this account is driven almost to the point of tears. It is significant that the father does not deny the truth of this, but over against his son’s dismal experience he puts what might have been. Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours [Luke 15:31]. Since the boy’s eyes were focused on “things” he missed the infinite treasure of fellowship and all that fellowship would bring with it.
I recall sitting in a large Sunday School class taught by a learned professor who was stressing the need to “prove” the inerrancy of the Bible. “If the one to whom you speak does not accept the veracity of the Word,” the learned scholar solemnly intoned, “you cannot lead them to faith in the Author of the Book.”
His class was composed of medical personnel—physicians, dentists, pharmacists, clinical researchers, nurses, and so forth. I was alarmed to note that most of them were nodding their heads sagely, a grave look on each face.
Screwing up my courage I quietly asked, “Is this the method Jesus used?”
The teacher looked at me with a paternalistic smile and gave a demeaning answer. However, I persisted, insisting that we review the method of Jesus either with the Samaritan woman at the well, with Nicodemus who approached Him by night, or with the rich young ruler who came seeking eternal life.
I then pointed out Paul’s humble assessment given in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5: And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
The class fell silent as the teacher struggled to find an appropriate response. Seizing the opportunity of this silence, I pressed the point home. Should we not present the fact of God, since the fact of guilt is written large in each heart? Should we not present the fact of salvation, since the fact of judgement looms over each life? What need have I with proofs of God’s existence, with proofs of the veracity of the Word, with proofs of God’s love? Give me God Himself, and that will suffice.
The First Condition for Knowing God. Since God is available, how shall we come into the richness of our inheritance? How may we possess God and be possessed by Him? According to the text we must meet certain conditions in order to possess God. That is plain common sense, is it not?
“There’s gold in them thar’ hills,” we say; but before that gold can be ours it must be mined. There is learning to be had from books; “Reading makes a full man.” Those books must be read before the knowledge they contain becomes ours. There is music in a violin, but before that music can be heard, I must meet the condition of practise. How foolish if I should aver there is no music in the violin based upon a refusal to practise. That is precisely what many people do with God. They scarcely give Him as much attention as a new student a violin, and then sagely affirm that God is not!
Perhaps such people are preoccupied. They keep busy and like the guests Jesus told of who had been invited to the wedding feast, they are too interested in land and oxen, or a newly married wife to think about God [see Luke 14:15-24], so they do not permit themselves to think about Him. We do not possess the prize because we ignore it. We have not yet tested the reality of Jesus’ challenge to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you [Matthew 6:33].
Others get rid of God by wishful thinking. To know God is the supreme privilege. It is this knowledge, above all else, which brings to us inward strength. To know Him is to have poise, serenity, courage. To possess God is to possess outgoing love, a good will that is at once aggressive and sacrificial. Possessing God, we possess all things. Yet, in spite of this, there are those to whom He is no more than an embarrassment.
The reason for this acute embarrassment is not hard to find. You see, knowledge of God brings not only great privilege, but also great responsibility. While it is the highest privilege to be a child of God, we cannot avoid the obligations that result from kinship to such a Father. If we have God, for instance, we have an eternity on our hands; we have to live with ourselves for endless ages. That singular fact brings us into an altitude where some of us find the breathing a bit difficult.
That was the case with the fool of whom the Psalmist wrote. This fool found God annoying. God disturbed him by calling him to a type of life that was beyond his gallantry and grit. Therefore, he decided to dismiss God.
The fool says in his heart,
“‘There is no God.”
[Psalm 14:1]
He determined to act as if God were a lie; and to him, acting in this manner, God did become a lie!
If we possess God, we are responsible to worship Him, to love Him, to witness to His grace, to obey Him. Possessing God, we can hold no other god, and this is the first condition to having God. This ancient law instructs us still: I am the LORD your God… You shall have no other gods before me.
Let me restate this foundational law, attempting to rephrase it so that it read in a more positive manner. Thus, it reads, If you will let all other gods go, you shall have Me. When lesser gods go, God Himself arrives. That is, we find God when we are willing to give up all else in order to find Him. These ancient Jews could have the God of Israel only as they were willing to let the gods of the surrounding nations go.
We might think we have no such lesser gods in this enlightened day, but I suggest that we are as truly polytheistic as were the ancient Jews. We no longer think of Baal as a person, but we worship the power and the might of arms and we glorify war nonetheless. We no longer bow at the shrine of Asherah, but we still shamelessly worship before the sexuality and sexual pleasure which Asherah represented in that ancient world. Millions are enslaved and defiled because of their insistence upon seeing another as an object to be used for sexual gratification instead of seeing another as a person created in the image of God and thus deserving of respect and deserving to be accorded dignity.
We would never worship Dionysius, the Roman god of drink and revelry; but perhaps he has never been accorded greater respect than in our nation today. Neither do we worship Vesta, the Roman goddess of the hearth, but too often, family becomes an excuse to exclude God from our lives. Does not modern society worship power, position, possessions and pleasure, demonstrating that we are idolaters of the vilest sort? Tragically, we who are called by the Name of the Son of God are as eager as others to possess our own secret idols. We who call ourselves by the name of the Son of God need to again hear the stern warning: Little children, keep yourselves from idols [1 John 5:21].
This ancient law stands opposed to our mad idolatry, affirming and pleading with us still. I am the LORD your God… You shall have no other gods before me. It is as though God were saying, If you will give up these lesser gods, you may have the true and Living God. Jesus said the same thing when He stated: If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know… [John 7:17]. There is a road to spiritual certainty; it is the road of a surrendered life.
I first developed the idea for this current series of messages while reading an old book of sermons in my library. Those sermons were preached by Clovis Chappell, a noted southern Methodist of a bygone era. In addressing this particular issue of God and His supremacy over all gods, Chappell wrote of a story which was popular in that distant day, and which I have never read. The story was entitled, The Man That Played God.
As Chappell relates the story, it describes how a great musician was playing for royalty one night when a bomb was thrown in an effort to kill the king. The king was not hurt, but the explosion plunged the musician into utter silence. The blast deafened him forever. He never heard again. He had to give up his career. Deafened by the blast he came back to New York City in bitterness and brokenness of heart.
One day a friend came to see him, and while visiting, he took down the New Testament and pointed out a passage that had once been a favourite of the great musician. Perhaps you will recall the verse to which the friend pointed, which is found in Luke 12:6. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.
“It is not true,” raged the deafened artist savagely. “God does not love like that, or He would not have allowed me to be robbed of all that I hold dear.”
By and by, this deaf musician was induced to learn lip-reading. He lived in a flat that overlooked Central Park. He began to amuse himself, little by little, by watching through his field glasses the pageantry of life that passed beneath his windows.
One day he saw a frail young man, with a girl on his arm, come into the park. He read the lips of this young man as he told the girl he loved how he had just been to his physician and had been sentenced to death. “I have tuberculosis. But I could be cured,” he said desperately, “if I could only go to the mountains. But that would take a thousand dollars, and I have almost nothing.” Then he lifted his face to the heavens and prayed for a chance to live. The great artist heard that prayer, and at once sent his valet with a cheque for the money.
This experience brought such joy to the giver that he began to watch more closely, and with increasing interest, the procession of sorrowing and burdened men and women that came within his view. More and more, he forgot himself as he took their burdens and their needs upon his own shoulders. At last, as he walked this roadway of sacrificial service, God dawned upon him like the slow breaking of a radiant day. Doing the will of God, he came to know Him.
So it may be with you and me. God surrounds us as the atmosphere. He is standing even now at the door of our hearts. He is knocking as He woos us with this tender appeal: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me [Revelation 3:20].
This means that if we are willing to give up our lesser gods, we shall know the true and living God. Thus, this commandment becomes for us, not a dark, forbidding law, but a radiant Gospel. Amen.
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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Ó 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.