30 Jan The First Commandment: “You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me”
Pastor Vincent - 24 July 2014
By His Grace, Be Doers of His Word
Living out the word is not about self will but a test of our foundation. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27 NIV) If your foundation is on Christ, the Spirit will continuously convict you, leading you into revering Lord. One who puts her anchor on the rock (Jesus Christ) will have a sustaining and consistent character that radiates the saltiness of Christ in all seasons.
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<Ex 20> 1 And God spoke all these words:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
2 questions:
(1) What does this commandment teach me about God?
(2) What does this commandment teach me about our Christian response and duty?
“First” commandment: Most important >>> Foundation to other commands
First commandment: The object of our faith; are we worshipping the right God?
“What does the Lord require in the first commandment?”
- HEIDELBERG CATECHISM: “What does the Lord require in the first commandment?” [Q&A 94]
- That I, not wanting to endanger my own salvation, avoid and shun all idolatry, sorcery, superstitious rites, and prayer to saints or to other creatures. That I rightly know the only true God, trust Him alone, and look to God for every good thing humbly and patiently, and love, fear, and honor God with all my heart. In short, that I give up anything rather than go against God’s will in any way.
- Challenges faced today in obeying this first commandment: Pluralism, relativism and liberalism
- “No other gods before me” may sound like God just wants to be the Number 1 God among many other ‘gods’, but no!
- “Before me”: Besides me, to my face, in my presence
Idolatry is a BIG problem for mankind
- Idolatry is the Number 1 enemy of our relationship with God
- It’s so hard for the human heart to stay single-hearted
- HEIDELBERG CATECHISM: “What is idolatry?” [Q&A 95]
- Idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the only true God, who has revealed Himself in the Word.
- 2 tests:
- (1) What do you love most?
- (2) What do you trust most?
Exclusive devotion
- “Forsaking all others”
- Similar to exclusive relationship in marriage
- Problem: We may not reject God altogether, but we also want other ‘gods’
- God is a jealous God <Ex 20:5>
- We are called to worship God with our everything <cf. Lk 10:27>
- Though salvation is God’s free gift, following Jesus will cost us everything <cf. <Lk 14:25-33; Mt 16:24-26>
Reflection
- Share about your struggles with idolatry. What are your idols? How can you set them in their right places (e.g. let money really be a ‘tool’ instead of ‘master’), and not let them usurp God’s place in your heart? How can you test whether you have succeeded in so doing?
- How have the pluralism, relativism and liberalism of our times challenged your obedience to the First Commandment? How can you restore the exclusive and singlehearted devotion to God? Are you willing to exclusively worship God even if it costs you everything?
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