STONE TABLETS IN A WIRELESS WORLD SERMON

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SERIES: STONE TABLETS IN A WIRELESS WORLD SERMON: NO OTHER GODS 8-12-18 By Pastor Rhonda Howard OPENER: Deuteronomy 20:1-18(NIV) 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.

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“You shall have no other gods before me.

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“You shall not make for yourself an image 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 parents 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.

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“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

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“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 male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 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.

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“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

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“You shall not murder.

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“You shall not commit adultery.

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“You shall not steal.

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“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

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“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

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When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. REVIEW: Series: Stone Tablets in a Wireless World I want us to embrace the tangible in an intangible world. We live in an intangible world. We communicate with countless people all day long we never see. We order products for work and home that we never touch. We call people friends that we have never met. We conduct all kinds of business without a handshake or a meeting. We carry on day to day relationships with people that we have never hung out with. We spend money without ever holding it in our hands. This intangible world we live in has affected our relationship with a tangible God. All of this intangibility has made God out to be less real and our commitment to him less concrete and solid. Only 13% of all Americans believe in all of the Ten Commandments. We’ve moved from what is right and wrong to “do it if it feels good.” The Ten Commandments are Living Words – Not a Dead Document. The Ten Commandments are for our good. They are our Life. The Ten Commandments keep us safe.  The first 4 commandments protect our relationship with God.  The next 5 commandments protect our relationship with others.  The last one “you shall not covet” protects us from ourselves. The 10 Commandments begin with God, not with us. They start vertical, not horizontal. That’s because we must get things right with God before our relationships with others will be right.

ILLUSTRATION: The Cross:  Verical Beam – Get things right with God.  Horizontal beam – Get things right with others.  Center – Get things right with yourself. TEN COMMANDMENT EXERCISE: 1. HOLD UP ONE POINTER FINGER – POINT TO THE SKY (You shall have no other gods before me)

2. HOLD UP TWO POINTER FINGERS – HAVE ONE BOW (You shall not make for yourself an idol) 3. HOLD UP THREE POINTER FINGERS - PLACE OVER MOUTH (Don’t take God’s name in vain) 4. HOLD UP FOUR FINGERS – PLACE ON CHEEK AS IF TAKING A NAP (Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy) 5. HOLD UP FIVE FINGERS – PLACE HAND OVER HEART (Honor your Father and Mother) I’m going to add another one today…. 6. HOLD UP FIVE FINGERS AND TURN POINTER FINGER INTO A GUN (Don’t murder)

Joke: A group of friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under an eight-point buck. "Where's Harry?" he was asked. "Harry had a stroke of some kind. He's a couple of miles back up the trail." "You left Harry laying there, and carried the deer back?" "Well," said the hunter, "I figured no one was going to steal Harry."

II.LET’S LOOK AT THE BEGINNING WORDS: Exodus 20:1-2 (NIV) 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. Having been in slavery in Egypt for 400 years, God’s people needed to hear God. They knew He was powerful as they saw the smoke and flashes of lightning and as they heard the thunder and the sound of the trumpet from the mountain, but now they needed to know who God was and what He wanted from them. GOD REVEALS HIMSELF THROUGH HIS WORD. I am the Lord YOUR God…. God didn’t say Y’ALL’S God. He said “YOUR” God. GOD IS POWERFUL AND HE IS PERSONAL. HIS DESIRE IS TO REVEAL HIMSELF TO EACH ONE OF US PERSONALLY SO THAT EVERYONE CAN KNOW HIM IN RELATIONSHIP. ……who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. LOVE PRECEDES LAW.

GOD RESCUED THEM BEFORE HE GAVE THEM REQUIREMENTS. This is so important to keep in mind. When we focus on what he has done for us, on God’s amazing grace, how can we not obey Him? 1 Corinthian 6:19-20 (NIV)Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. Say this…… GOD MADE ME. GOD PAID FOR ME. GOD PURCHASED ME.

III.THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: “You shall have no other gods before me.” In order to understand the meaning of the 1st commandment, let me ask you a question. Assuming that most of you would say that God is first in your life, here’s the question: “What’s number two to you? Go ahead and shout out your answers. WHATEVER YOU DELCARE AS NUMBER TWO IS THE BIGGEST THREAT TO NUMBER ONE IN YOUR LIFE.

Before – Hebrew – meaning = above, over, against or in opposition to me Before my face – In this sense it means to have no other gods in front of me or in my presence. In my face - This phrase has the idea of putting something in someone’s face. When we don’t give God our total and exclusive allegiance, it’s like insulting Him to His face. The meaning of this command is not that you can have other Gods as long as God is your favorite. No!! There are to be no other gods allowed at all. There can be no competition for your devotion. Nothing can be tolerated that takes us away from bowing before Him with our lives. GOD DOESN’T WANT TO JUST BE THE FIRST THING.

HE WANTS TO BE EVERYTHING. The point is this. It’s all or nothing. If God is not Lord of all - He is not Lord at all. For four centuries, God’s people were surrounded by polytheism worship and it had no doubt rubbed off on them. They prayed to the rain god when the ground was dry. When their wives were barren they cried out to the fertility gods. But then they saw God’s amazing outpouring through the 10 plagues attack and defeat all their gods. What one commandment did God want them to hear first? That He is God and there is no other.

IV. KEEPING THE COMMANDMENT: YOU AND I WERE MADE TO WORSHIP. IF WE DON’T WORSHIP GOD ALONE WE WILL FIND SOMETHING, OR SOMEONE ELSE TO GIVE OURSELVES TO. WHATEVER YOU GIVE YOURSELF TO IS WHAT YOU WORSHIP. WHATEVER YOU WORSHIP IS WHAT WILL DEFINE YOU. ILLUSTRATION: 1 Samuel 5:1-4 (NIV) After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. 3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4 But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. (Explain passage) WHEN WE TRY TO PROP SOMETHING UP IN OUR LIVES, OUT OF HIS LOVE HE KNOCKS IT DOWN AND SHOWS US HOW LIFELESS IT REALLY IS. IF YOU WANT TO BE FREE FROM FALSE GODS, THEN BRING THE TRUE GOD, THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY INTO YOUR LIFE. You don’t have to get rid of them on your own. In fact, you can’t because they are too powerful. Let God take care of that. But you have to bring God into the temple of your heart. When you do….  Dagon will be destroyed  Baal will be busted,  Ashteroth will be annihilated  Mammon will be mangled.  Molech will be no more  Zeus and Hermes will be gone

 And finally, your alter to yourself will be smashed to smithereens. If you keep reading, instead of repenting, the Philistines remove the Ark of the Covenant. They found it more convenient to get rid of God than to throw their broken idol away. Some of you will be prone to do the same thing. Instead of allowing God to clean out the idol factory of your heart, you will look for ways to shut God down. WHEN THINGS FALL APART, SOME OF US GET RID OF GOD INSTEAD OF REALLIZING THAT MAYBE GOD IS SMASHING OUR IDOLS TO GET OUR ATTENTION. LET HIM INTO THE TEMPLE OF YOIUR HEART AND HE WILL DESTROY DAGON AND WHATEVER ELSE LURKS THERE.

V. TRUE GOD TEST: Who is your one true God? What or who do you love? What each one honors before all else, what before all things he admires and loves, this for him is God. Origen~ WHAT WE LOVE IS DEFINED BY THREE THINGS: 1. WHERE WE PUT OUR TRUST 2. HOW WE USE OUR TIME 3. WHERE WE SPEND OUR MONEY 1. THE TRUST TEST: What or Who do you trust? TRUST - Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. synonyms: confidence · belief · faith · doubt · sureness · certainty · certitude · assurance · · reliance RELATIONSHIP IS BUILT ON TRUST. IF YOU DON’T TRUST GOD, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

2. THE TIME TEST: Someone has calculated how a typical lifespan of 70 years is spent. Here is the estimate: Sleep................23 years...........32.9% Work.................16 years...........22.8% TV....................8 years...........11.4%

Eating................6 years............8.6% Travel................6 years............8.6% Leisure.............4.5 years............6.5% Illness...............4 years............5.7% Dressing.............2 years............2.8% Religious Devotion...0.5 years............0.7% Total................70 years............100% How do you spend your time? WHATEVER YOU SOW TO THE MOST WILL DEFINE YOUR IDENTITY. Note: Studies are showing that excessive smart phone usage is affecting our mental health. The average person picks up their phone 110 times a day. Our phones have become a digitalized version of ourselves. They have become a part of our identity. 1. It steals our creativity and creative development. Think about when you get new ideas. Think about when God speaks to you; probably in the shower or in the bathroom. Periods of rest are when you get new ideas, answers and hear God. You usually resolve a problem in your sleep or right before you woke up. We use our phones when we stop or are bored. So, our minds are never at rest in order for us to experience creativity. 2. It hinders our relationships. We are connecting through media, but not really connecting. We are created to connect. Cell phones are becoming a replacement for social interaction. DON’T TELL ME GOD IS FIRST IN YOUR LIFE WHEN YOU DON’T SPEND TIME WITH HIM IN PRAYER. You have time for everything else, but you don’t have time for prayer? If Christ is first in your life you will have time for Him in prayer. Also, I want to add that when you pray you do it with His glory in mind, not your selfish desires. That doesn’t mean that you can’t ask for things like an increase in finances, but it is going to be to further advance His kingdom and to be a blessing to others. Many times you’re not going to even want to ask Him for anything. You just want to be alone with your Father. That is one of the beauties of prayer. Alone time with Him and getting to know Him. WHEN YOU HAVE A PASSION FOR THE LORD IT WILL BE SEEN IN YOUR PRAYER LIFE. ARE YOU SEEKING AN ALONE TIME WITH HIM EVERYDAY IN PRAYER? Matthew 6:33 (NLT) Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

3. THE MONEY TEST: Where do you spend your money? THE GOD OF SELF: While there are many idols that call out for our love and for our trust, the supreme deity of our day is the god or goddess of self. What do we love? We are infatuated with ourselves. Who do we trust? We believe in ourselves…..we say , we want to serve God, but we spend most of our time thinking about our own needs. Matthew 22:37 (NIV) Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ CLOSING: Joshua 24:14-15 (NIV) Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Altar: Who is your God? Do you have other gods in competition with the Lord? Or have you set up an altar to yourself? Maybe things are falling apart in your life? And you have blamed God. Maybe God is smashing the idols of your heart so that you will turn to him fully and completely.