Worship in the 10 Commandments
Exodus 20:1-17,
And God spoke all these words, saying, “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. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You should not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
I think everybody would agree that that is one of the most important passages in the Bible, the Ten Commandments, and given by the Lord on Mount Sinai, the giving of the law. According to Romans 2, every one of us has God's law written on our hearts. We're born with a law inscribed upon our hearts. That's why everybody has a sense of what's right and what's wrong. Most people know when they tell a lie, when they cheat, when they kill or murder someone. So Romans 2 reminds us that everyone has that law upon their hearts, and you could say the conscience acts like a little policeman from time to time. When you do something wrong, you hear the whistle telling you, you did what you did, and that it was wrong.
But notice that the Ten Commandments are foundational for worship, especially the first table of the law, the two tables here. But worship is a prominent theme, really, throughout the whole Bible. You have false worship, and you have true worship. True worship is praised and false worship is condemned. Someone has said this, I think it was Dr. Ferguson,
"Perhaps never in human history has anybody, in terms of people, been talking more about worship than they talk about today?"
And we might think that's a good thing. But there's a big problem. For the most part, simply put, worship has become very man-centered, or me-centered. We're prone to worship ourselves. That's really what the big problem is. And people often look for churches that simply make them feel good. So we need to understand that true worship is not first about us, or what we like, but it's about God and what God likes. And that explains why Israel, when they come out of Egypt, which was a pluralistic culture, gods galore, hundreds and hundreds of gods; but they almost immediately get a 101 lesson on worship. God gives them clear instructions and directions about worship. The first four commandments have to do with worship.
The first commandment tells us who is the one we worship. It's clear that it is one God, it's monotheism, only one God. Verse 3, “You shall have no other gods before me.” God demands exclusive devotion. And every Jewish boy, I think even from the age of 2 or 3, would memorize what was called the Shema, which was taken from Deuteronomy 6, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul.” And then the second commandment is about hallowed worship. We can't worship God in any way we think or want to. Look at verse 4, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.” The third commandment protects God's name. We are not to take His name in vain or misuse it. We can't throw His name around carelessly, or you could say, ‘loosely.’ Again, if you understand who God is, we fear His name, we revere His name, His name is above every name, it's a majestic name, a holy name, a precious name, a unique name. The fourth commandment also shapes our worship, the when of worship. The Sabbath day is a special day of worship. Old Testament, New Testament, God's people have always had a distinctive worship day. And the first four commandments, again, remind us that we are to worship God, God alone, and that our worship is to be shaped by our Bibles. It was John Calvin who argued this very strongly, and so did the Puritans,
The first commandment tells us who is the one we worship. It's clear that it is one God, it's monotheism, only one God. Verse 3, “You shall have no other gods before me.” God demands exclusive devotion. And every Jewish boy, I think even from the age of 2 or 3, would memorize what was called the Shema, which was taken from Deuteronomy 6, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul.” And then the second commandment is about hallowed worship. We can't worship God in any way we think or want to. Look at verse 4, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.” The third commandment protects God's name. We are not to take His name in vain or misuse it. We can't throw His name around carelessly, or you could say, ‘loosely.’ Again, if you understand who God is, we fear His name, we revere His name, His name is above every name, it's a majestic name, a holy name, a precious name, a unique name. The fourth commandment also shapes our worship, the when of worship. The Sabbath day is a special day of worship. Old Testament, New Testament, God's people have always had a distinctive worship day. And the first four commandments, again, remind us that we are to worship God, God alone, and that our worship is to be shaped by our Bibles. It was John Calvin who argued this very strongly, and so did the Puritans,
"God may not be worshipped according to human invention, but only according to the Word."
If we don't start with the Ten Commandments we're going to have trouble when it comes to worship.
When you go to the New Testament Bible, I would argue that the ‘who’ of worship is even given greater clarity, beauty and wonder. We worship a three-person God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And again, the greatest question we can ask when it comes to worship, (if you get this right, you generally get the rest of them right), when it comes to worship, who is God? Isn't that what Jesus does when He starts to teach us how to pray, He starts with answering that question, who is God? “Our Father, which art in heaven.” And in the rest of that sermon, it really is about the Father. He mentions the Father 17 times in that Sermon on the Mount. You can shape the Sermon on the Mount by that doctrine, the Fatherhood of God. A personal Father, we call him Father; a transcendent Father, a Father in Heaven; a knowing Father, read on, a listening Father. That's why we can pray to Him, a giving Father, a forgiving Father, and it should never cease to amaze us that we are the sons of God and can call God our Father.
That's what should make prayer such a wonderful thing. We have a God who is our Father, and who loves to hear from His children. We can go to Him anytime, anywhere, with any care, any concern and any burden.
When you go to the New Testament Bible, I would argue that the ‘who’ of worship is even given greater clarity, beauty and wonder. We worship a three-person God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And again, the greatest question we can ask when it comes to worship, (if you get this right, you generally get the rest of them right), when it comes to worship, who is God? Isn't that what Jesus does when He starts to teach us how to pray, He starts with answering that question, who is God? “Our Father, which art in heaven.” And in the rest of that sermon, it really is about the Father. He mentions the Father 17 times in that Sermon on the Mount. You can shape the Sermon on the Mount by that doctrine, the Fatherhood of God. A personal Father, we call him Father; a transcendent Father, a Father in Heaven; a knowing Father, read on, a listening Father. That's why we can pray to Him, a giving Father, a forgiving Father, and it should never cease to amaze us that we are the sons of God and can call God our Father.
That's what should make prayer such a wonderful thing. We have a God who is our Father, and who loves to hear from His children. We can go to Him anytime, anywhere, with any care, any concern and any burden.
Posted in Pastor Devotional