O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
We should see and meditate on this short scripture that God gives us. In our text God says you shall have no other god before me. This commandment is universal for everybody. It is for everybody to observe and do. This is part of the covenant document we have with God which are all the Ten Commandments. There is no other god before me means the trinity of God, Jesus and Holy Spirit has God as the only God. God is the only God, the one God, the one Creator, the one Sustainer and the one God that we worship. The warning here is to not put any other god or have any other gods and to worship.
The Devil does not have as much power as God. The devils doesn’t know it all, is not every place at the same time and the devil does not have all power. He can’t be any opposition to our God. So saying the devil made me do is it garbage! The Word says to resist the devil and he will flee from you. At the name of Jesus EVERY knee shall bow because Jesus is Lord.
In the Old Testament when Moses was in the mountain, the people made a golden calf. This calf was not a god. The people worshiped the calf as an opposition to our God in their mind. It was nothing but a manmade golden statue that they bowed down to that had NO power. We as Christians, need to think of other gods that we ourselves have. The god of Family that we believe will protect us. The god of Money that makes us think we are in good standing with God because we have prospered. The god of Status that says we have the right of status so people should look up to us as being better. The god of Piety which is when we thing we are more Christian than others. We think we are better because we go to church, we pray, we read a bible chapter every day and worship faithfully. We are like the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican at the temple. The Pharisee was uppity. We say like he did that we thank God we are not like that guy over there, the Publican.
We shall have no other god but God the Father, Jehovah Shalom and the Father of Jesus Christ. We shall have no other gods before God the Almighty! We shall have no other gods in addition to Him or gods in opposition to Him. This is the challenge you and I have today. God said “You shall have no other gods before me”. We need to thank God for His Word and the freedom we have to worship Him.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success.
Jeremiah 32:17
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Ah Lord GOD! Behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee!
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Blessed are they that do His commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city.
For without are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
I JESUS have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and Morning Star.
Exodus 20 are the Ten Commandments and we are looking at it because it’s in the Bible. The 2nd reason is that because of the times we are in with the plague/coronavirus, these Ten Commandments give us the set of rules our laws were based on. Many court rooms have the 10 commandments on their walls. They give our nation its stability and also they are recognizable =Honor your father and mother =Thou shall not kill = Thou shall not steal. The Ten Commandments are universal and this is another reason why we are looking at them today.
When we look at the Old Testament we must remember the time period of the happenings and events in it. Remember back then there was no computer, no internet and no cell phone. We must look at the beliefs of that culture. This culture had kings that when they took over countries, they made covenants, agreements and rules for how the people were to behave. In Exodus 20:1-2 God says He is the God who brought you out of slavery. After this, all of the following commandments say what the people are supposed do since God saved them and took over.
Our text says that God is their Lord who brought them out of slavery/bondage. The word Lord is capitalized and this means it is there for the protection of the sacred name of God. When Moses was at the burning bush and he asked God who to say was sending him, God said “I AM” is sending you. YWH sent you. I AM that I AM, the ever existing has sent you. Your God.
God was personal to the Israelites and God wants to be personal with you. He brought them out of the land of Egypt as slaves. They were government slaves of Pharaoh and they cried unto the Lord who put forth His strong right arm to save them. God sent 10 plagues upon Egypt until the Israelites were released. We all know that God’s deliverance comes because of God’s promises to us. In Romans 5:8, God showed His love to us in that while we were still sinners, Jesus Christ died for us.
The Ten Commandments are universal and the tablets of stone were written by the Finger of God. These tablets were placed in the mercy seat and are universal. Jesus quoted out of the Ten Commandments to His followers and this shows that they are universal. Jesus spoke about NOT committing murder or adultery and these rules are found in the Ten Commandments. Jesus shows us that the Ten Commandments are universal for you and me today. In the scripture it says the Israelites were brought out of slavery-the house of bondage. We are brought out of slavery to sin. In Romans 6 we are set free by Jesus Christ. There is now no condemnation to those who are in Jesus. They who walk after the Spirit and NOT after the flesh. You and I have been redeemed from the house of bondage and got free from sin. These Ten Commandments give us a view of what God expects of us and how He wants us to walk as His special children. The Ten Commandments are not just laws or just a legal system or a list we have to check off. They are here to teach us how we ought to live.
“Father into your hands I commend my spirit” is the last thing Jesus said before He gave up the ghost. Today we are looking at four parts: Father, Into your hands, I commend/commit and My spirit.
1) Father: Jesus called his father “Father” and not dad or daddy. The Father suffered with Jesus on the Cross and He did not abandon him. We learn that each part of the Trinity had a task to do. The Son died on the Cross but the Father and Holy Spirit were still alive with stuff/tasks to do.
The “Father” term used by Jesus showed that Jesus had respect for God. He called Him father and this is a sign of respect to God. Jesus in His dying moments showed respect.
2) Into Your Hands: The hand is made up of many parts: fingers and palms. The Bible talks about the fingers and palms of God. In Isaiah God said Israel was kept in the palm of God’s hand. Jesus said we are placed into His hand and nothing can take us out of His hand. The hand of God is also a hand of judgement to the wicked and also a hand of blessing to those that are righteous. In Psalm 31:5 it says “into thy hand” and Jesus could have been quoting this scripture to God.
3) I Commend/Commit: Jesus is saying He is totally committing himself into the hand of God. We are being asked to totally commit ourselves to God thru Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Jesus committed and there was no going back for Him. We must be and do the same.
4) My Spirit: Jesus is committing His Spirit. The word “Spirit” is written with a big S or a little s but either way Jesus gave it to God and that’s what we need to do! Give God, commit our spirit to Him thru His Son Jesus Christ. We must accept and commit ourselves to Jesus Christ today. Right now because Now is the time.
