Sermon Date: 4th March 2018 (am)
Worshipping God Correctly – Exodus 20:4-6
Main Teaching Point:
God commands that we should not make an idol or worship an idol.
The second commandment is one of the longer commandments but it flows with a clear, easy-to-follow logic.
The Making of an Idol is Forbidden (20:4)
There are two strains of thought:
1. Do not fashion an idol to represent another
god. The Israelites had seen much of this in Egypt.
2. Do not fashion an idol to represent the One true God. This is the emphasis.
God is so highly exalted that any idol made to represent Him degrades Him and breaks the second commandment. (Isaiah 40:18; 1 Timothy 1:17). God has revealed His image in people, and perfectly in the Lord Jesus Christ (Genesis 1:26; Colossians 1:15).
The Worship of an Idol is Forbidden (20:5a)
The next logical step. If an idol is made to remind us of God that idol may become the object of our worship, and, therefore, our god. Consider:
- Golden Calf (Exodus 32:4-5).
- Bronze Serpent (Numbers 21:4-9; 2 Kings 18:4).
- Golden Calves at Bethel & Dan (1 Kings 12:25-33).
Aids for worshipping God may become the focus of people’s faith: crucifixes, water, bread/wine, statues, icons, Church buildings/furniture(1). Have any of these become idols to us? We must not only worship the one true God (first commandment) but we must worship the one true God correctly (second commandment).
What is your mental perception of God? Grandfather figure? A God of love without wrath. A God who does not know the future (Open Theism)? This is fashioning God in our image and it breaks the second commandment. God has revealed Himself in His Word. We worship Him, the invisible God, in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). We worship God according to His Word (John 17:17): it regulates our worship.
The Reasons for the Prohibition in the Second Commandment (20:5b)
- God is a jealous God. God demands the full affection of his most special creation. Does a husband or wife want to share their spouse with another?
- God will punish those who break the second commandment.
One generation does not live to itself … but sets the agenda and moral atmosphere for those that come after it ... Religious decline does not arise from the failure of the Church or the state, but from the failure of the family to live close to God
[John Mackey].
If succeeding generations are trained in Godlessness they will be ungodly. This warrants God’s displeasure. What influence are you having on your children or grandchildren? (Judges 2:10).
The incentive to Keep God’s Commands is Given (20:6)
Not keeping the Lord’s commandments is synonymous with hating the Lord; keeping them with loving the Lord. When we keep them God promises to show His love to us (John 14:21; 23-24).
Conclusion – Idolatry is not dead in the 21st Century
John Calvin observed that our hearts are idol factories. How can you identify your idols? By how you react when something comes between you and your idol. Nothing should be more important to you than the Lord. Pay attention to 1 John 5:21 - Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Footnote:
(1)
The distinction between worship of statues, idolatria, which is forbidden, and veneration of statues, idoladulia,
which the Medieval Church permitted, was judged a distinction without a difference by the sixteenth century Reformers.
© Dr Bill Parker 2018