Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me. I. WHAT IS IT TO MAKE GOD TO BE A GOD TO US? 1. To acknowledge Him for a God. Deity is a jewel that belongs only to His crown. 2. To choose Him. An act of mature deliberation and self-dedication. 3. To enter into a solemn covenant with Him. 4. To give Him adoration. (1) Reverence. (2) Worship. 5. To fear Him. This fearing of God is(1) — To have God always in our eye, "I have set the Lord always before me"; "mine eyes are ever towards the Lord." He who fears God, imagines that whatever he is doing God looks on, and, as a Judge, weighs all his actions. (2) To fear God, is when we have such a holy awe of God upon our hearts that we dare not sin; "Stand in awe and sin not." It is a saying of Anselm, "If hell were on one side and sin on the other, I would rather leap into hell than willingly sin against my God." 6. To love Him. In the godly, fear and love kiss each other. 7. To obey Him. II. THAT WE MUST HAVE NO OTHER GOD. 1. There is really no other God. (1) There is but one First Cause. (2) There is but one Omnipotent Power. 2. We must have no other God. This forbids — (1) Serving a false God. (2) Joining a false God with a true. III. WHAT IS IT TO HAVE OTHER GODS BESIDES THE TRUE GOD 1. To trust in anything more than God. (1) Riches. (2) Arm of flesh. (3) Wisdom. (4) Civility. (5) Grace. 2. To love anything more than God. (1) Our estate. (2) Our pleasures. (3) Our belly. (4) A child.If we love the jewel more than Him that gave it, God will take away the jewel, that our love may return Him again.Use 1. It reproves such as have other gods, and so renounce the true God. (1) Such as set up idols; "According to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah"; "Their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field."(2) Such as seek to familiar spirits (see 2 Kings 1:6).Use 2. It sounds a retreat in our ears. Let it call us off from the idolizing any creature; and renouncing other gods, let us cleave to the true God and His service. If we go away from God, we know not where to mend ourselves. (1) It is honourable serving of the true God; it is more honour to serve God than to have kings serve us. (2) Serving the true God is delightful, "I will make them joyful in My house of prayer."(3) Serving the true God is beneficial; they have great gain here — the hidden manna, inward peace, and a great reward to come. (4) You have covenanted to serve the true Jehovah, renouncing all others. You cannot go back from God without the highest perjury. (5) None had ever cause to repent of cleaving to God and His service. ( T. Watson.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. |
    |