No Body but You
GPS
Exodus 20:1-17
Gods positioning system
For the hearer to look to God for a realignment
Nobody but You
Intro:
Turn to the sitting next to you
This is a test! You won’t be graded, but let’s test your memory.
Quickly, name 10 cars, by brand.
Now, name 10 Movie Stars, living or dead, male or female.
Now, name 10 famous musicians or bands…. You know, like Elvis, the Beatles, and so forth.
NOW: Name the 10 Commandments! In order, preferably. Name as many as you can.
If you are having trouble remembering them all, you are not alone.
In 2004, a group or 25 Senators sponsored a bill to protect the display of the Ten Commandments on public property. They said the 10 Commandments were the cornerstone of a civilized society and they represent all the United States was founded on and should stand for. But when a reporter asked if any of them could name the Ten Commandments, only one of them could!
According to a recent PollTronics poll, less than 10% of Americans can name more than four!
(23% thought the 2nd Commandment gave us the right to bear arms!
31% said the 9th Commandment prohibited the removal of Ten Commandment displays!)
How would you like to learn how to remember all Ten Commandments
Repeat this to yourself a few times and you’ll remember it forever!
ONE - GOD is ONE, there is NO OTHER. “You shall have no other gods before Me .” (Exodus 20:3)
TWO - TABOO. What is taboo? Idols. Images. False gods. “You shall not make for yourself an idol.” (Exodus 20:4)
THREE - VANITY. From “vain,” i.e., “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, .” (Exodus 20:7)
FOUR – CHURCH DOOR. It’s what you should enter through every Sunday. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy .” (Exodus 20:8)
FIVE - ALIVE. Only one commandment out of the ten has a promise connected to it. The Fifth Commandment promises “long life” to those who obey it. So, to stay alive longer, “Honor thy father and thy mother.” (Exodus 20:12)
SIX-FEET UNDER. Don’t put anybody six feet under, or in other words, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13)
SEVEN-YEAR-ITCH. The old movie by that title illustrated a statistical fact; that after seven years of marriage many develop a wandering eye and are tempted to play musical beds. “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14)
EIGHT - GO STRAIGHT! Picture yourself watching an old black-and-white Humphrey Bogart movie. He’s the convict about to be released from prison, standing before the wardens desk. The warden says, “Here are your release papers. Now, don’t get in any more trouble. No stealing. From now on, go straight.” Hence, Eight - Go Straight. “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)
NINE - MALIGN. What does it mean to malign someone? It means to falsely accuse them, to slander them, to do harm to their name, character, or reputation. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16)
TEN - A PERFECT TEN! We often grade things on a scale of one to ten. One being the least, and ten being the very best. If a car is a 10 it is an amazing car. If a man or a woman is said to be a 10, they are a real knockout. We like and admire a 10. But be careful, because what you admire, you might begin to lust after.
“You shall not covet.” (Exodus 20:17)
Paris Eiffel tower
Denver 1-70
How did people navigate?
Land marks dead reckoning
Stars
Get compass
Map
Maybe GPS
Explain what GPS is
Global Positioning System
Gods Positioning System
A series of sermons on the ten commandants
The commandments are like the GPS it is a way that God has provided for us to always know how to find him
And God spoke all these words:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
The first commandment guides us to say to the lord “ you are my lord and God. I want nobody but you on the throne of my life. you alone, you uniquely, will have this exclusive place in my life
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’a 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
How to recognize a God
Let us start by asking a few questions
What is a God?
Exodus 20:5 (NIV)
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them;
A God is not we say is a God but what we bow down and worship is our God.
If we say it is what we worship then it would be things that would describe worship.
For the sake of this illustration I will use soccer or pele as my God. I need to explain the raltionship
Sacrificing
Give valuable things or gifts
Example: I would pay extra money to have the cable station just to watch soccer anytime I wanted to.
Fear
Revering or being in awe of
Example:
I am a soccer fan and I have been know to say that pele is a soccer God. I would study every move and I would try to be like him. During the game he came very close to where I was sitting and I remember distinctly that I rose and shouted his name very loudly.
Service
Working on behalf of
Example:
I will take my time to help the sport become popular In the states. I coached soccer.
Swearing by his name
Invoking its power and authority
Example:
This is true, I remember getting into discussions about soccer and I would use his name to prove my point. I would say something llike pele say or I saw him doing it this way or ussually I would say thisn is how pele would do it.
Going after
Pursuring or giving time to it
Going after it
A former national laboratory worker has admitted that she used government computers to access the e-mail account of Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington and hacked into a cell phone company's Web site to obtain his phone number.
Example:
During the last two world cups I would stay up late or get up very early to watch the games.
Following and obeying
Doing what it wants
Example:
Holding fast
Clinging to it in devotion
Example:
What is the God-place in our life?
How would we recognize a God in our life if there were one?
Gods rivals in the 21st century
In ancient Israel there was ishtar, Baal, molech today we have
Technology
Money
Wisdom
Power
Prestige
Family
Sex
The state
Science
Movie stars
Sports heroes
Self
Self satisfaction, personal autonomy, self-determination
The greatest rival to God in our era is the self. The gospel of self-satisfaction, personal autonomy, and self- determination is wowing, and wooing thousands of converts.
How and why we go wrong
Deuteronomy 13 gives us three ways that by which we let a rival God gain access into our lives
1. false prophets
2. friends and families
3. towns, cultures and societies
why are we so vulnerable?
1. we are prone to do what is selfish and wrong.
Rival gods do not condemn our sin. They may even encourage them
B y this we become enslaved to the sin and the false God
The true God will point out our sin but then forgives
2. we are finite and weak and ignorant
we are susceptible to deceptive promises of power.
We foolish and forget how good God is
We get lost and we follow what whatever God that promise to restore direction I our lives. Or people
In other words we are suckers for a sales pitch.
Serpent
Satan
Justice and love for God
God deserves to be in the God place, on the throne of our life. God has a right to be our only God. to not be demoted ot replaced
He is our
Creator
Maker
Sustainer
Redeemer
Liberated us
Bondage
Sin
Slavery
Forgave us
Healed us
Welcomed us back
Marriage, threat is rival
Exclusiveness
Profaning rival gods and drawing near the true one
Profane means to treat as ordinary
Money give it away
Technology, critize it, point out weakness refuse to depend on it.
Just say no
2 way the first commandment helps my neighbor
- we worship the one true God. by being obedient to him our neighbor can feel safe. Because this the God who demand s respect for one’s name, protects life, property realsitonships, truth, pure heart.
- by loving God we learn how to love others.
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a Deut. 6:5