GOD CAME DOWN
Exodus 20:1-11
GOD
BRINGS HIS WORD TO US
V: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.
A.
God came down to the mountain to speak to His
nation
1.
He sits High and looks low
2.
God knows our thoughts
3.
God knows our sins
4.
He knows what is best for us
5.
God knows our insecurities.
6.
He knows the lies we tell ourselves, others, and
Him.
B.
God’s Word is given for our benefit.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and
training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped
for every good work.
1.
Sometimes we need to be reminded of what God has
done for us.
2.
God knows we are quick to forget the miracles He
has done for us.
3.
God knows we are quick to ignore His commands.
4.
God sent Moses down the mountain to warn them
again not to touch the
Base of the mountain less they die.
5.
The Israelites wanted to rush up the mountain
and see the God who spoke.
6.
They were used to handling idol gods and may
have had some in their possession.
C.
God is holy and when He speaks, we have to
humble ourselves to receive His
Message.
1.
We need to be reminded that in our sinful state,
we cannot enter into the
presence of God.
2.
It is only through Jesus Christ who covers our
sins with His blood
That we have a relationship with God.
3.
Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father
intercedes for us.
4.
We need to be reminded that everything we have came
from God.
5.
God brought us out of the slavery of sin into
the freedom of righteousness.
GOD IS
YOUR ONLY GOD
V:3. You shall have no other gods before me.
A.
The first rule of a relationship with God is He
is the only God to worship.
1.
The nation of Israel grew up as slaves in Egypt.
2.
Egypt worshipped many idol gods.
3.
The Israelites through hundreds of years of
slavery became
Accustomed to the worship of idols.
B.
Having witnessed the 10 plagues in Egypt, the
parting of the Red Sea
And, the destruction of the Egyptian army
in the Red Sea, Israel became
Familiar with the power and authority of
the true and living God.
1.
Every day in the desert they were fed by God,
given water to drink
And protected by God
2.
However, they had no relevance to the God of
their salvation.
3.
God trained Israel to know Him in the desert. It
took 40 years in
The desert to get Israel ready for the promised land.
4.
Those who don’t know God live in the desert of
life.
5.
Even though we have accepted Christ as our
personal savior
The reality of Christian living does not change until we put God first.
VALUE
NOTHING ABOVE GOD
V:4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the
form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters
below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your
God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the
third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a
thousand [ generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
A.
The Israelites came out of Egypt with a history
of idol gods and the image of idols engraved in their Minds.
1.
Their faith in God was mirrored in the Hebrew
midwives who would not kill the
Male babies as commanded by the Pharoah.
2.
The fear of God was also mirrored in the hearts
of Moses’s mother and father
Who released him to be raised by the Pharaoh‘s daughter.
3.
While they held to their belief in God, they also
held to the customs of idol
god worship.
4.
Each of the 10 plagues of God was designed to show
that the Egyptian idol gods
Were worthless and powerless.
B.
It is not easy to change an attitude you have grown
up with.
1.
The Word of God gives us reasons to change.
2.
The first reason to not worship anything but God
is He is a jealous God.
3.
The second reason to not worship idols is the
punishment of our children to
Third and fourth generation.
Whatever
attitude our children see in us, is ingrained in them.
If
we love God, our children will love God. If we hate God, our children will
Hate God.
There is no in-between.
4.
The third reason to not worship idols is the promised
love of God for us and our
Children
and grandchildren,
REVERENCE
THE NAME OF THE LORD
V:7 "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your
God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
A.
We should be careful how we use the name of God
in our thinking and
Conversation.
The word vain is the Greek word maten which
means manipulation, unsuccessful,
no
purpose, or empty.
1.
Our Lord is sovereign and full of purpose.
2.
When we say the name of God it must be for
divine purposes.
3.
Worshipping God brings success to our lives.
B.
To use the name of God in vain shows the
emptiness of our thoughts.
1.
There is power in the name of God, and it should
never be used
In idol conversation.
2.
In fact, according to the text, God holds a
punishment for those who
Use
His name in vain.
KEEP THE
DAY OF WORSHIP HOLY
V:8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six
days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath
to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your
son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the
alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the
earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.
Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
A.
To the Israelites the seventh day was Saturday.
The Sabbath began at sundown on our Friday.
1.
The command has nothing to do with our calendar,
but everything to do with
God’s calendar of creation.
2.
The command is designed to show us there is a
time to work and a time
For rest and worship.
3.
The command extends beyond the individual but to
the respect of all of
our associates and animals.
B.
The day of worship for the Christian was changed
when Jesus was
raised from the dead, on Sunday.
1.
Sunday became the first day of the week which is
our calendar.
2.
God’s command is the same today.
3.
The Sabbath is a day that is completely ignored.
We go to church on Sunday and force others to feed us after Sunday
Services
We forced others to work to provide us with goods and services.
4.
It is a holy day. But we do unholy things.
C.
Are we under the law?
1.
We are under grace. The law was fulfilled in the
death and resurrection of Jesus.
2.
Do we sin when we work on Sunday?
Matthew 12:11-13
He
said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the
Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more
valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the
Sabbath."
Mark 2:27-3:1
Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was
made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
28 So the
Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
Jesus
was raised from the dead, on Sunday
According
to Biblical Historians, the day of Pentecost was on Sunday.
Pentecost was the day the Church received the
Holy Spirit.
Judge
for yourself if you SHOULD keep your day of worship Holy.
THE OTHER COMMANDS
12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may
live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13 "You shall not murder.
14 "You shall not commit adultery.
15 "You shall not steal.
16 "You shall not give false testimony against your
neighbor.
17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You
shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox
or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
Rev. M. Mitchell
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