A God who Speaks: The First Commandment

My hope today is that you will all want to fear God by the end of the sermon.

My hope to you, my prayer this week as I was working on my sermon,

is that by the end of the sermon, one of the regular features of your prayer life would be,

Father, teach me to fear you, a fan and a flame within me, a deep longing and yearning to fear you.

You know, it's funny.

Many Christians don't desire to fear the Lord.

In fact, in a very, very odd way, one of the things which almost unites evangelicals,

charismatics, traditionalists, and liberals is that often none of them

encourage people to fear the Lord anymore or to fear God.

Traditionalists like, well, they like tradition and they like hymns and they like things to be comfortable.

When traditionalism gets sort of sick, its motto is,

all I'd like on a Sunday morning is an hour of peace and quiet and to be left alone.

And evangelicalism and charismatics, when they become sick, their desire is just to have Jesus as their buddy

and to, in a sense, have the Holy Spirit lead and guide whatever it is that they happen to want to do all by themselves anyway.

And liberals, often, liberals, they don't like the idea of the fear of God

because, of course, fear is an unhealthy emotion, a sign of somebody being infantile.

And, of course, if God does exist in some form or another,

it's more a sense of, well, sort of more a sense of inwardness or something like that.

Something sort of very, very vague and general that has to do with a sentiment.

But the Bible constantly tells us that we are to learn to fear the Lord.

And today is the first sermon in a series of ten sermons on the Ten Commandments.

Every week, from this week on, there'll only be one first reading.

And some weeks it might be the Deuteronomy version of the Ten Commandments,

and some weeks it might be the Exodus version,

but every week we will read the Ten Commandments.

And you can pray for me, and you can pray for Desiree, and you can pray for David

as we try to week by week unfold and open up to us one of the Ten Commandments.

So I invite you now to take your Bibles and turn there to Exodus chapter 20.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

Ivan read for us the Deuteronomy version of the Ten Commandments,

and I'm going to read on page 65 in your pew Bibles,

Exodus chapter 20.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

I'm just going to read three verses.

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 bondage.

You shall have no other gods before me.

And my prayer is,

Lord, have mercy upon me,

and incline my heart to keep that law.

Lord, have mercy upon us,

and incline our hearts to keep this law.

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 bondage.

You shall have no other gods before me.

You know, it's,

the first thing that we see in this text

is that God speaks and says,

I am the Lord.

God speaks and says,

I am the Lord.

You know, one of the things which is really funny and odd

about modern spirituality

and about much of liberal theology

is that we want God,

modern spirituality wants God to be less than a chimp,

less than a dolphin,

and less than a baby.

You think about it for a second,

we have two women who are a regular part

of our congregation who are pregnant.

I think Lisa's and Anne's babies

are both coming around the end of September,

early October, or something like this.

And, you know, once the babies,

once these wonderful babies will be born,

and we pray that they'll be born safely,

you know, parents delight to see their baby smile,

and they delight when they can hold their head up,

and they delight when they can turn over,

and they delight when they can sit up,

and they delight when they can do this and this and this.

And parents always have a huge delight

when the baby says its first word.

I mean, that's a really exciting moment.

You know, people will wish that they were able to be there

to hear very clearly the first time that the baby is able to speak.

And there's lots of talk that goes on in the press

or in scientific literature as to whether or not,

obviously, a dolphin or a chimp can't speak a word,

but whether, in fact, they know words

and are able to communicate.

And there's people who try to teach them

to communicate through words.

And there's debate as to whether or not

they really are using words the way human beings use words

and what that might possibly mean.

And there's excitement in some quarters

that something like a dolphin or something like a chimp

would be able to communicate with words.

And yet, in modern spirituality, by and large,

and in liberal theology, by and large,

we want a God who doesn't speak.

I mean, you think about it for a second.

We want a God that is less than a dolphin.

We want a God that is less than a chimp.

We want a God that is less than a baby.

It's maybe one of the reasons why so many people

in our culture find the God of,

the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the God of the Bible, to be,

well, you know, not just to adorn our lives

with the type of accessories that we would like

to have our lives accessorized with.

Because the God of the Bible,

the God who truly does exist,

is a God who speaks.

Look again at verse 1.

And God spoke all these words, saying.

The whole text emphasizes the fact

that this particular revelation

isn't just God speaking to the prophet,

but that God himself actually speaks.

And in the rest of the Old Testament,

what we refer to as the Ten Commandments

is literally the ten words.

That's literally what Decalogue means.

It means the ten words.

And that very, very name emphasizes the fact

that what God does here is something which is verbal.

And that each one of the commandments,

what we call a commandment,

the Bible calls a word,

emphasizing that that verbal revelation

is complete in and of itself

in each of the individual words.

And at the same time,

that all ten of the words together

are a whole.

That we are not to subtract from them,

nor are we to add to them.

And that these words clarify each other

so that we can understand each of them more deeply.

We don't need feminism.

We don't need Marxism.

We don't need psychology.

We don't need science.

We don't need literature.

We don't need romanticism.

We don't need any of these things

to clarify these Ten Commandments.

We are to, in a sense,

look at them and read them.

And they are to clarify each other

and draw by looking at one

and reading one beside the other.

They are to draw us deeper

into the mystery of God,

into the mystery of what it means

for us to be a human being,

and into the mystery of what it means

to live free as God's child.

And so the text emphasized

that God speaks and says

that I am the Lord.

God takes the initiative.

He introduces himself.

Many of us have hints and longings for God.

We have senses of God's presence.

We can look at nature or listen to music

or just have human experiences

which make us think and suspect

that there is something divine

which is bigger than us.

And in the midst of such longings

and hints and insights,

God speaks.

To clarify,

a mountain can teach us

that God is distant,

that God is cold,

that God is inaccessible.

But when we hear God speaking

that I am the Lord,

you shall have none other gods before me,

we can look at a mountain

and know something about the majesty

and the greatness

and the strength

and enduring power of God.

Nature by itself gives us hints

but does not teach.

And in the midst of hints,

God speaks.

He takes the initiative.

And one of the things

which is so striking

about these ten words

which come from God

is that they are all

in the form of I and you.

Look again at verse 1 and 2.

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 bondage.

And then in each case now

there will be ten words.

Each word begins with a U.

And the U is singular.

It means that God speaks as an I

and he speaks to you,

George Sinclair.

He speaks to you

and you and you and you.

He doesn't speak to humanity

as an abstraction.

He doesn't speak to collectives.

He doesn't speak just to black people

or white people

or to Canadians.

He says,

I am the Lord your God.

And then he speaks to you.

Personal and singular.

Once again the text says,

I am the Lord your God

who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

out of the house of bondage.

You shall have no other gods before me.

Lord have mercy upon us

and incline our hearts

to keep this law.

Secondly, we see that God

redeems his people

from bondage.

Listen again.

I am the Lord your God

who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

out of the house of bondage.

You shall have no other gods before me.

On Thursday nights,

we've been watching a series of videos

from Willow Creek

on different topics

to do with leadership.

And last Thursday night,

we had one which many people

who saw it

found very, very meaningful.

And in a sense,

the entire leadership video

was an extended meditation

and challenge

upon Paul's words

in 1 Timothy,

I am the chief of sinners.

And the question

that the speaker

was trying to get us

to enter into

is that if Paul,

a great apostle,

a great church planter,

missionary,

and evangelist,

one that God used

to actually write

God's word written,

if he can say publicly

that he is the chief of sinners,

then those of us

in Christian leadership

can't be sort of

always putting up masks

and fronts

and stuff like that

and always pretending

that we're completely

and utterly perfect.

And it led to a very,

very helpful discussion

after the video was over

about confession

and acknowledging our sin.

And the question was put,

isn't it just simple enough

to merely confess our sins to God?

Is there ever a need

for us to confess our sins to God

in the company

of another person,

being specifically,

you know,

very specific with God

about the things that it is

that we have done wrong?

And I tell you this,

I think there are times

in our lives

and there are sins

in our lives

that sometimes

the only way

that we can,

that God can start

to work a victory

in our lives

over that sin

is when we are willing

to confess that sin

to God

in the presence

of one of God's people.

It is so easy for us

to have, in a sense,

an imaginary repentance,

a notional repentance,

an emotional,

just something

very, very fleeting.

But to actually say

that which we've done wrong

in the presence

of another person

can be very,

very, very hard.

And I know

from my own life

and I know

from the lives

of many people

that evil,

the evil in us,

lies.

Evil always is deceptive

and will always lie to us.

And there are sins

in our lives

and the evil

in our life

will say,

no, George,

you can't say that

in front of another person

because if you say that

in another person,

it'll almost be as if

your entire life

is unmade.

It will be as if,

you know,

people won't like you,

they will hate you,

only bad things will come

if you actually

bring that evil

out to the light

so that not only

God can see it

but one of God's people

can hear

that that is within you

and that you are

confessing that to God.

And that is always a lie.

That is always a lie.

To bring the sin

of our lives

to God

with reality

and with power

is a key step

in being delivered

from the bondage

to that sin.

Sin wants us

to keep it dark

and hidden.

There is a need,

then,

to be able to speak

clearly

to God

in the presence

of another person.

We notice here

that at the very beginning

is God is introducing

himself to us

to give us

these ten words

that God first

reminds us

that he has first

redeemed his people

and then

he gives them

the law.

Listen again to verse 2.

I am the Lord,

your God,

who brought you

out of the land of Egypt,

out of the house

of bondage.

The ten commandments

are part of God

making a covenant

with the people of Israel.

It takes place

after he has delivered

them by mighty acts

from bondage

and slavery

in the land of Egypt.

It takes place

on the way

to the promised land

where God

will be their God

and they will be

God's people

and he,

they will learn

or try to learn

to have God

rule over them.

The ten words

are not given

by God

to the people

so that if they happened,

if they're able

to follow them

really,

really,

really well,

then he'll like them

and accept them

as his children.

God doesn't give us

the ten commandments

with the hope

that if we just

can be really,

really,

really,

really good

and keep them

as well as we possibly can,

then God will finally

love us

and accept us

as his child.

The scriptures

are clear

time and time

and time again

that God

does not weigh

our merits

but pardons

our offenses,

that there is

no way

that we can become

God's children

unless God

does a mighty act

and we Christians

believe that God

has done a mighty act,

a mighty intervention,

that he has triumphed

over sin

and death

and hell

and hostile

spiritual powers

when his son

hung upon the cross

bearing the penalty

for our sins,

the very sins

themselves,

he tastes

all there is

to taste of death,

all there is

to taste of sin,

and on the third day

he rises

triumphant

over sin,

death,

hell,

hostile spiritual powers

and we become

God's children

when we say,

Jesus,

have mercy upon me,

may I be yours

and then we share

in Christ's victory.

It is the cross

that makes us

God's children,

not the Ten Commandments

but once we have

become God's child,

Jesus not only

adopts us as his child,

he wants us to start

to learn to live

in the freedom

that comes from

being God's child

and the Ten Commandments

are an outline

of sanity.

They are the door

to liberty

and to wholeness

and to freedom.

It is a picture

of our sanctification

and how we can become

more like Jesus.

Before our conversion,

the Ten Commandments

become a means

by which we can understand

our need for a Savior.

You know,

just think of this

very first commandment,

you shall have

no other gods

before me.

You know,

it might be that

we've been very successful

in our lives,

maybe we've never

done drugs,

you know,

we've had an unbelievably

pure thought life,

we've never coveted,

we've always just

worked hard,

we've done everything

perfect,

now we have a successful

job,

a successful marriage,

successful children,

and we can look

through that list

and we can say,

oh,

I've never coveted,

I've never murdered,

I've never stolen,

I've always kept

the Sabbath,

and we can go down

and down

and down and down,

I've done this,

I've done that,

I've done that,

and as we go down

that list,

I've done this,

I've done this,

I've done this,

we realize that

with every time

we've said that

we're violating

the first commandment,

which is putting

God first.

And so the commandments

before our conversion

exist to help

to convict us

of our need

for a Savior,

but after we have

come to Christ

it becomes,

as I said,

an outline

of sanity,

a description

of liberty

and freedom

and wholeness.

and so it is

that sin

will regularly

say,

George,

you just have

to make your

peace with me.

You know,

you can't,

you know,

if you let go

of me,

things in your life

will get out

of control.

And Jesus,

the Ten Commandments

remind us

that God exists

not to put us

into slavery,

not to bind us

or to oppress us,

he has come

to make us

free and whole.

and so to live

the Ten Commandments

is to know

wholeness

and freedom.

I am the Lord,

your God,

who brought you

out of the land

of Egypt,

out of the house

of bondage.

You shall have

no other gods

before me.

Lord,

have mercy upon us

and incline our hearts

to keep this law.

You know,

some of you

might be wondering

where I get this response

if you're not

long-time Anglicans.

This is a little bit

of a side

in the sermon.

Do you know

that if those of you

who just maybe

have come to the 915 service

or those of you

who aren't cradle Anglicans,

if you want to know

what Anglicans believe,

there's a little red book

in your pews.

It's called

the Book of Common Prayer.

And that's the basis

of Anglican belief

and doctrine

and practice.

And since 1552,

for over,

for 454 years,

as a description

of what Anglican worship

is to be like,

the worship is to begin

with us saying this prayer.

This is, in a sense,

the model of Anglican worship,

the model of worship

as envisioned

by the English reformers.

We pray,

Almighty God,

unto whom all hearts

be open,

all desires known,

and from whom

no secrets are hid,

cleanse the thoughts

of our hearts

by the inspiration

of thy Holy Spirit,

that we may

perfectly love thee

and worthily magnify

thy holy name.

Isn't that a wonderful thing

to pray to God for?

And then to put meat

on that,

in the heart,

the model of Anglican worship,

you immediately go

to the Ten Commandments.

And after every commandment

is read,

we say,

Lord,

have mercy upon us

and incline our hearts

to keep this law.

If you go back

to the Catechism

of the Anglican Church,

which is in the Book

of Common Prayer,

it focuses on three things.

The Apostles' Creed,

the Lord's Prayer,

and the Ten Commandments.

In other words,

the Apostles' Creed,

what a Christian

is to believe.

The Lord's Prayer,

how is a Christian

to pray?

And the Ten Commandments,

how is a Christian

to live?

It is at the very heart

of historic,

Orthodox,

biblical Anglicanism.

And so that's why

you're going to hear me

time after time

as I say,

you shall have

no other gods before me.

I will say,

Lord,

have mercy upon us

and incline our hearts

to keep this law.

So,

God speaks and says,

I am the Lord.

God redeems his people

from bondage,

and so his commands

and words

will never lead us

into bondage,

but only lead us

to freedom.

And finally,

the true God

tells us

to have no other gods

but him.

The true God

tells us

to have no other gods

but him.

I'm not a dog person.

I've married

a dog person.

And so,

I love Louise.

Louise loves dogs.

We have dogs.

I have two dogs.

A great big English

lab named Ernie.

I think he's 100 pounds

and counting,

I don't know,

just lots to love.

And a little tiny white dog

called Pixie,

which weighs about

three or four pounds.

It's small enough

so that my youngest daughter

can dress Pixie

in clothes

and dresses

and sweaters

and stuff like that.

But not only

am I not a dog person,

I don't really like

dog movies that much,

but on Friday night

we rented a dog movie,

Eight Below.

And it's actually

a pretty good movie.

I watched the movie

thinking,

oh, it's a dog movie,

but my wife

and my children

will like this.

We'll watch it.

And it was actually

a pretty good movie.

If you're a dog lover,

you'll love the movie.

But there's this one

very powerful scene

in the movie.

It's about

eight sled dogs

in the Antarctica.

And so the person

who is the guide

is taking a scientist

on an expedition.

And they come to an area

where there are crevices

covered with snow.

And the guide

is walking ahead

with a stick

trying to find the crevice.

He finds the crevice,

but the scientists

lose control

of the dog sled

and the dog sled,

the dogs start going

and the sled

falls into a crevice.

And there's this

moment of terror

as the sled

starts to go down

into the crevice.

And the scientist

starts to try

to let go

of the sled

and grab onto the ice

so he won't fall.

And the guide

says to him,

let go of the ice.

Grip the sled.

And he has to say it

to him about three

or four times

with great force.

You have to let go

of the edge.

You have to hold

onto the sled.

And the scientist

had to trust

that the dogs,

if he held onto

the sled,

the dogs would be able

to pull him out.

But if he held

onto the ice,

he would almost

definitely fall

to his death.

It's very,

very counterintuitive.

And so he has

to argue to the man.

He yells at the man

and convinces the man.

And the man lets go

of the edge,

grips the sled

and the dogs,

I hope I haven't

ruined the movie

for you,

but it's early on

and the dogs

are able to pull

the man out

of the crevice.

And it's the same

type of image

which is here

before us

in this first

of the commandments.

God is saying

to us,

George,

don't cling

to anything

other than me.

Don't cling

to yourself.

Don't cling

to ideology.

Don't cling

to your wealth.

Don't cling

to your own view

of spirituality.

Don't cling

to your power.

Don't cling

to any other god.

Don't cling

to any other type

of system

of spirituality.

Don't cling

to anything

that will only

lead you to harm.

If you want

to know freedom,

cling only to me.

That's what

the commandment

is saying.

don't think

that images

will help you.

Don't think

that the bottle

will help you.

Don't think

that drugs

will help you.

Don't think

the lottery

will help you.

Don't think

that Ouija boards

will help you.

Don't think

that anything

will help you

other than me.

And we can,

any,

there are no

other gods.

This commandment,

when the commandment

says you shall

have no other gods

before me,

God isn't saying

that there are

any other gods.

There are no

other gods.

But there are

powerful illusions

and there are

demons and idols

which have

a powerful effect

upon us

and make us

clutch to the ice

which means

that we will

plunge to our

death in a crevice.

So while there

are no other gods,

there are demons,

and there are

powerful illusions

which will only

hurt us.

And this commandment

is telling us

don't cling

to these things,

they will only

do us harm.

Cling only to me,

God says.

And we notice

as well as this

that the wonderful

thing about this

commandment

is it says

you shall have

no other gods

before me.

It's a negative.

You know,

in negative commands

there is great freedom.

It doesn't say,

it means

that I can have

a wife,

I can have friends,

I can have children,

I can honor

elected officials,

I can look at mountains

and think how beautiful

and wonderful they are,

and I can look at the ocean

and just think how peaceful,

well,

just how it speaks to me.

I can do all of these things

as long as they aren't gods.

See,

there's actually,

in a negative command,

there's profound freedom.

freedom.

It's like,

it's like in the Garden of Eden,

God said,

you can't eat from this one tree.

It implied you can eat

from everything else.

It's this,

God is ushering

into this world

of freedom.

Do not be afraid.

Jesus is constantly saying,

come to me

and learn from me

and you will not be afraid

and you can go through

this world

not living in fear

because the world,

in a sense,

is open to us.

We are to see Canada

as a profound mission field.

We are not to be afraid

in our culture,

in our country.

It is a wonderful mission field

and we are to go free

and we can do many,

many things

and love many,

many things.

We can have no other gods

but God

but we can do many

other wonderful things.

This commandment

is an interior commandment.

It is speaking

of our interior life

that we are not to look

for final help

or final strength

or inwardly worship

or inwardly bow down

to anything

other than God himself.

And this,

in conclusion,

brings us

to why I want you

to learn to fear God.

Turn your Bibles

with me

to Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 5:29

chapter 5

verse 29.

Deuteronomy 5

Deuteronomy 5:29

verse 29.

And if you are using

the Pew Bibles,

it is on page 161.

And this is

Moses recounting

just before the people

of Israel

going to the promised land,

he recounts.

In a sense,

Deuteronomy is like

a long sermon

recounting what has happened

and the terms

of the covenant.

And he reminds the people

of how when God

gave his ten words,

there was lightning

and thunder

and all of the things

that went on.

And early on,

you see how the people

of Israel were frightened

by what was seen.

But here,

verse 29,

this is what God says.

Oh,

that they had such

a heart in them

that they would fear me

and always keep

all my commandments

that it might be well

with them

and with their children

forever.

You know,

God desires us.

What is that?

Oh,

that they had such

a heart in them

that they would fear me

and always keep

all my commandments

that it might be well

with them

and with their children

forever.

After God gives

the Ten Commandments,

his hope is

that his people

would learn

to fear him.

Now,

just turn to one

other passage,

Psalm 33.

There's many examples

of this type of oddness,

at least from our

modern years,

but it's just helpful

to see it,

to help get a bit

of a sense

as to what the fear

of God is.

Psalm 33,

Psalms 33:18

verse 18.

And it's on page 483.

483.

Psalm 33,

Psalms 33:18

verse 18.

Behold,

the eye of the Lord

is on those

who fear him,

on those who hope

in his mercy,

to deliver their soul

from death

and to keep them alive

in famine.

Our soul waits

for the Lord.

He is our help

and our shield,

for our heart

shall rejoice in him

because we have trusted

in his holy name.

Let your mercy,

O Lord,

be upon us

just as we hope

in you.

Look at verse 18 again.

Isn't it odd?

It says that the eye

of the Lord

is on those

who fear him,

on those who hope

in his mercy.

That there's no contradiction

between fearing God

and wanting to know

more and more

and more of God's mercy.

And this is what it is.

The fear of God

is a deep sense

of God's difference

from us.

It is a deep sense

of how close God is to us.

I mean,

God is closer to us

than our breath

is to us.

He is closer to us

than we are to ourselves.

It is both a deep sense

of how close God is to us,

yet it is also

at the same time

a deep sense

of how God

is different than us

and God

is separate than us.

To learn to fear God

is to begin to know

where I begin

and where I end

and where God begins

and where God ends

and to know

that this difference

is good.

It is very easy

for us,

since this first commandment

is an interior commandment,

to mistake our wishes

for God's wishes.

To mistake a time

when we've just had

a really good cup of coffee

and a really good breakfast

for somehow or another

being God's presence

when all it is

is us feeling full

and happy

and content.

It's very easy

for us

to mistake our will

for God's will.

And so,

to ask for the fear of God

is to ask

not necessarily

for a particular experience,

but we are asking

that God would grant us

a very and ever-growing clarity

as to who He is

and who we are

and where God begins

and ends

and where we begin

and end

so that we never think

that we are God,

but we always know

that God is God,

that He is different from us,

and that this is very good.

The Bible says

we shall have no other gods.

God says

you shall have no other gods

before me.

And our prayer should be

Lord have mercy upon us

and incline our heart

to keep this law.

Let's bow our heads

in prayer.

Father,

we ask that you would

fan into flame within us

a deep longing

and yearning

to know you.

Not just to know about you,

but to know you.

Not just to hear about you,

but to know you.

Father,

fan into flame within us

a deep longing

and yearning

to know you.

And fan into flame

within us

a deep desire

and a deep ability

to fear you,

to know that you are God,

that we are not God,

that this is good.

To know who you are

and to know who we are

and to know that this is good.

To know you

with appropriate fear,

with awe,

with reverence,

with the appropriate yearning

and love

and desires.

Father,

fan into flame within us

a deep longing

and yearning

to fear you.

And Father,

in fearing you,

may we have

no other gods

before us.

Incline our hearts

to keep this law.

In Jesus' name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.