WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:08.320 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:13.439 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:16.399 And we say all creatures of our God and King. 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:20.879 It brings me great pleasure because finally my cat's gonna have to listen to somebody. 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:23.359 All creatures of our God and King. 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:31.440 And so there's something inherent in this great uh uh uh hymn of confession that that that you're saying about yourself. 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:36.320 You're not coming as a bully, you're coming as the one and only God who was it is and is to come. 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:40.880 And it would be hate for you not to tell us the truth about yourself. 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:45.439 It is not love for there to be truth about you and you not reveal it to us. 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:49.359 It would be hate for this to be true and you not tell us. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:54.479 Oh, by the way, you should have no, you shall have no other gods before me. 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:57.119 Because you're telling us something about yourself. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:01.359 So, Lord, give us ears to hear what you're saying about yourself today. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:05.439 Too often we come to church and preachers talk to us about us. 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:09.599 We don't need another sermon about us, we need a sermon about you today. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:12.000 And so give us that, we pray, in Jesus' name. 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:14.000 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:14.719 You can have a seat. 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:18.000 If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Exodus chapter 20. 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:21.599 And uh, you're in the first service, and so you're probably, I've been sick this week. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:23.280 You're probably gonna get the best of my voice. 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.079 I prayed this morning, Lord, listen, let me get through the three services. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:30.159 And if I lose my voice and I can't talk for the rest of the week, that's fine. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:32.879 And from our bathroom, my wife went, Amen. 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:37.760 Uh and so uh I pardon me if my voice sounds a little crazy. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:39.280 Uh it it any anyway. 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:43.359 Uh we're in a we're going to the book of Exodus and we're up to the part of the Ten Commandments. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:48.480 We're starting today a series that we call flourish, uh, because this is what God says, I created you. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:50.560 These are not ten rules you got to keep to get into heaven. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:54.000 This is not ten things you got to do, not ten things to put on your bucket list. 00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:59.200 God says these are ten realities that just kind of rise out of our relationship, you and me. 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:02.560 And so I want to read Exodus chapter 20, the first three verses. 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:12.240 He says, and then God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, you shall have no other gods before me. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:13.599 Now let me read that again. 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:14.479 It's very short. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:23.199 And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:27.919 You shall have no other gods before me. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:29.360 It's first commandment. 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:38.479 And the commandments are, I mean, I mean, they start off with our relationship with God, and then they get to our relationship with other people, which is why when the disciples ask Jesus, what is the greatest commandment? 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:43.680 He says, Love the Lord your God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as you love yourself. 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:48.240 Which is why we call this series on the Ten Commandments Flourish, because this is the crux. 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:51.360 This is the, if you boil it all down, it's this right here. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:53.520 It's loving God and loving people. 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:55.520 And that's the intent of the Ten Commandments. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:57.120 That's the life that flourishes. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:00.479 And so I want to talk to you this morning about the prominence of God. 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:04.960 And I want to say a couple of my first two points are really by way of introduction, hey, don't miss this. 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:06.639 And then I really want to camp on my last point. 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:07.759 So let me just get to it. 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:13.120 The first thing the text says to us this morning is this is that speaking is an expression of love. 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:15.599 Speaking is an expression of love. 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:22.400 I mean, when you're when you're kind of sideways with your wife and she's kind of like, hey, look, I just I don't need to talk right now because I'm mad. 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:25.039 I may say some things that I regret later. 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:31.199 Uh and so when you're mad and you you love that person, but you're like, I just can't talk because I'm not in a good way. 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:33.360 However, remember when you first fell in love? 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:35.599 Anybody here been married over 20 years? 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:36.159 Anybody? 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:36.719 Yes? 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:38.400 Celebrated 23 yesterday. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:41.599 Remember when you first like when we first we used to love to talk on the phone? 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:43.039 I don't like talk on the phone now. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:46.240 I mean, I'll be driving around, my wife will call me, and it's just like, hey, what are you doing? 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:49.919 And my first thought is, there's an Eric Church song on the radio. 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:51.520 I don't want to miss this. 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:53.120 That's how shallow I am. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:55.120 I was rolling around the other day listening to Mr. 00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:56.960 Misunderstood, my new favorite song. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:58.319 That's my theme song. 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:01.759 And my wife calls, and I was like, Do I want to listen to the rest of this song? 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:02.960 Do I want to talk to my wife? 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:05.039 And then I remembered I have voicemail. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:06.719 She can leave a message. 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:10.080 If it's urgent, I can call her right back. 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:14.319 But no, she left a message and it was, hey, I just had a thought I wanted to share with you. 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:15.599 Call me when you get a chance. 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:19.600 Now, if you say to me, call me when you get a chance, I take that literally. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:21.920 I will call you when I get a chance. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:24.079 You can call me at 11, 12 in the morning. 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:28.160 I don't get a chance till 5 o'clock when I stop studying and come out of the cave. 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:29.279 Then I return phone calls. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:31.120 My wife said, Where have you been all day? 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:32.720 I've been with the Lord. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:34.720 You said, Call me when I got a chance. 00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:36.000 This is the first chance I got. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:37.279 Are you really that busy? 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:38.560 Yes, I am. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:40.160 Well, why didn't you answer it? 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:42.480 Because there was a song on the radio I wanted to listen to. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:45.279 I went home and it's very quiet that night. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:50.160 See, when you love somebody, when you're in love, when you first fell in love, me 20 year old people have been married 20 years. 00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:52.639 When you first fell in love, you just couldn't stop talking. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:53.519 You talked all the time. 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:56.000 You talked in late into the night, talked on the phone. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:57.839 Now it's kind of like, hey, really? 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:00.800 I I I go home and it's like, how's your day? 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:02.639 Uh it's I have a boring job. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:05.680 I read books by dead people, I pastor people, I come home. 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:06.959 What's for supper? 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:07.680 Really? 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:08.720 That's all I'm getting? 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:10.079 That's all I got. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:12.720 I'm I'm a very one-dimensional person. 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:16.160 To which she always says, No, you're a very highly functioning bipolar. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:17.360 You're not one-dimensional. 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:19.680 I'm like, okay, whatever. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:23.279 But here's the point speaking is an expression of love. 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:24.319 You say, What do you mean? 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:26.399 Start with the fact that he didn't have to. 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:28.160 Start that the fact, look at verse one. 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:33.279 He says, and God spoke all these words saying, See, what that's a throwaway sentence in most of our minds. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:35.360 We read that, we just keep going to the good stuff. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:38.800 Hey, that's the greatness of the text right there. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:42.480 In one half of a sentence, it's not even a whole sentence. 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:48.399 And God spoke all these words saying, What do you mean speaking is an expression of love? 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:49.600 He didn't have to. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:52.160 And if God hadn't spoken, see, here's my point. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:56.319 We've gotten to the point in our culture where we take God's speaking for granted. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:05:59.439 We don't put the weight on God speaking that we should. 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.399 See, if he hadn't spoken, there'd be no Exodus. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:10.000 There'd be no Israel, there'd be no nations of priests or kingdom of priests, and no Bible, no church, no us, and no creation. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:11.360 He said, What do you mean? 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:16.480 If you're an Exodus, go to the left, go to the first page of the Bible, Genesis chapter 1. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:19.839 Genesis chapter 1, verse 1. 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:25.519 I won't read all of this, but I'll just you'll see, I want you to see a rhythm that that happens in the creation narrative. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:26.480 Genesis 1:1. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:35.839 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:43.920 Whatever is kind of unformed in your life, whatever that's got a big I don't know on it, the Spirit of God this morning is kind of hovering over that. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:45.920 And not only that, beloved, but look at me. 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:51.279 God has something to say, to speak into that that's going to be very shaping about that. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:55.199 He says, uh and the spirit was of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:56.079 Verse 3. 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:58.399 And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:03.600 And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light and the darkness, and God called the light day and the darkness. 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:04.399 He called night. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:06.879 And there was evening and there was morning the first day. 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:11.920 And God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water and let it separate the waters from the waters. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:18.480 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse, and it was so. 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:22.639 And God called the expanse heaven, and there was evening, there was morning the second day. 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:26.160 I mean, who does God go home to that night to say, honey, how was your day? 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:26.720 It was great. 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:27.519 What'd you do? 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:28.879 I made heaven. 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:31.199 Well, I made tuna casserole. 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:32.000 Come on. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:39.360 Verse 9, and God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together in one place and let the dry land appear. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:41.120 And and it was so. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:43.439 See, here's the pattern of the rhythm. 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:44.959 And God said, and it was so. 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:46.639 And God said, and it was so. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:08:02.639 See, I want us to kind of reclaim and have a right thought process about God speaking, because we think of God speaking as being restrictive, and yet the Bible teaches us that when God speaks, something comes into being, something uh is going to exist that did not exist before. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:11.439 So anytime you read something in the Bible, don't just read what it says, but think about it the way the Bible teaches us to think in Genesis 1 about God speaking. 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:16.800 Because when God speaks, it's not like, okay, here's the man to put his foot on my neck and keep me down again. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:18.319 God doesn't want me to be happy. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:20.000 God doesn't want me to have a boyfriend. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:21.839 God doesn't want me to have a girlfriend. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:31.199 What if this, what if the reason you're 26 and you don't have a relationship, guys, is because God's preserving and saving you for marriage, not just for girlfriend. 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:34.639 Because the Bible doesn't have a category for lover or girlfriend. 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:35.759 You know that, right? 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:37.679 It's nowhere in the Bible. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:41.200 Not a category for my lover, this is my girlfriend. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:44.159 No, the Bible has a category for wife. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:47.200 See, something that didn't exist. 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:51.120 And so when God speaks, something that didn't exist comes into existence. 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:52.480 And here's my favorite part. 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:53.759 Skip down to verse 14. 00:08:53.840 --> 00:09:01.840 And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heaven to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:05.679 And let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:06.799 And it was so. 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:14.639 And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, sun, and the lesser light to rule the night, moon, and the stars. 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:16.320 It's my favorite part of the whole thing. 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:18.799 I laughed out loud this week when I read that. 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:24.639 The greater light, the lesser light, one's gonna rule the day, one's gonna rule the night, dash, and the stars. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:27.919 It's like, I'll just throw in some stars for grins and giggles. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:30.399 Have you thought about the stars lately? 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:33.279 I I because this week I thought about the stars a lot. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:35.360 And it's hard to see stars here in Sugarland. 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:37.440 You gotta go to the country to see some stars. 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:44.559 But there's stars, and then there's like a star, like the biggest star that ever existed is a star called R136A1. 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:51.519 And it's located in the large Megellanic cloud, which is 165,000 light years away. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:55.759 Light travels at the speed of 186,000 miles per second per second. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:01.039 I don't know what that is, but but I got it right on the test in seventh grade science per second per second. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:03.679 That's a picture of the star that I'm telling you about. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:06.000 It's the biggest star in the solar system. 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:14.480 And just in a throwaway line, God says, Hey, by the way, I'm I made the greater light to rule the day, that'd be the sun, and the lesser light to rule the night and the stars. 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:18.480 As just a little happenstance, boom, I made some stars. 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:25.840 This is the God that speaks every time you open your Bible, and he just, and some stars thrown in for extra good measure. 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:30.159 This is R136A1. 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:33.279 It's 165,000 light years away. 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:36.799 It is 265 times bigger than the sun. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:47.519 And it radiates, it emanates away, it radiates away nine million times more energy than the sun, and it is 94,000 times brighter than the sun. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:56.240 The human, all humans and all the planets that ever existed and do exist right now could not stand that if it was closer to us. 00:10:56.399 --> 00:11:00.320 It is 94,000 times brighter than the sun. 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:06.080 Now you're probably wondering, oh, if you're visiting today, like, hey, Bill Nye Science God, where's the preacher? 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:07.279 Right here. 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:12.159 Because the God that says, who spoke, by the way, don't miss that. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:16.480 And God said, and God said, and God said, and God said, and it was so. 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:17.840 God said, and it was so. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:19.200 God said and it was so. 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:26.240 Hey, whatever doesn't exist in your life right now, the greatest temptation you're gonna face is to go out and create it yourself. 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:27.440 And here's what happens. 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:38.080 See, we we got to reclaim uh uh the have it, think rightly about this process about God speaking, because when we think God speaks and it's restrictive, oh, Debbie Downer here's to kill my fun. 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:39.120 Are you kidding me? 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:41.279 God's telling me what else I can't do. 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:51.279 And yet the Bible frames God speaking as being creative, and that something that didn't exist suddenly comes into existence because God said and it was so. 00:11:51.759 --> 00:12:02.720 So, when God comes to speak to us, perhaps we should frame it in those terms and ask ourselves what is not existing in my life that God's wanting to create in me by speaking to me? 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:07.039 What's what's not here in me? 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:16.080 What character, quality, what virtue, what understanding, what discipline is God instead of kicking against the goads all the time, man, why is it always? 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:17.039 Really? 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:19.039 Are you kidding me? 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:24.639 He made the greater light to rule the day, the lesser light to rule the night, and and the stars. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:40.320 When you see, you feel, we we feel it first, what what's not there, and we set out, see, God's not restrictive, God's creative, but when we try to create, what we create is restrictive. 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:43.440 That's why the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:53.360 So if you're in the process of creating something for yourself today, not listening to the God who speaks, the God who made the the sun and the moon and kind of said, and some stars, bam. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:58.399 This God who spoke creation into existence. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:00.720 See, speaking is an expression of love. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:08.480 So I walked around this entire week just kind of with a grin on my face, just kind of looking around, kind of like, man, you love people. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:12.320 Because the seasons are fixing to change. 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:17.759 One of the reasons I got sick was because one day it was 80 and the next day it was 38. 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:23.360 And God said, That's because I created it to be that way. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:28.000 I don't want you cats to think that y'all are in charge of this thing. 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:30.159 And I just laughed out loud. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:32.159 And people around me all the way are like, You okay? 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:33.840 No, I'm not okay. 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:35.840 I'm not okay. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:40.480 See, the first thing, this the prominence of God to speaking is an expression of love. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:43.519 Secondly, command is evidence of relationship. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:45.759 It's verse 2 of Exodus 20. 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:47.519 Command is evidence of relationship. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:52.080 He says, I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:53.440 Basically, it's this. 00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:55.039 I don't want to spend a lot of time on this. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:59.919 Someone tells you what to do, and you respond with, Hey, you're not my mom. 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:03.679 You're not my boss who died and left you boss. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:08.879 Basically, what you're saying is, hey, we don't have a relationship that supports your request. 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:10.559 Uh, it happened all the time. 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:14.879 We for our kids got to an age we could leave them, we'd get a phone call from our youngest. 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:22.799 Mom, we'd be at dinner, we'd be at Carabas, and we're having a nice quiet dinner, or we'd be, you know, getting a burger somewhere, just hiding out from our kids. 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:24.159 I'm sorry, did I say that? 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:26.240 Uh, and the phone would start ringing. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:32.399 I mean, we'd be gone 45 minutes, phone start ringing, Mom, Madison's using the teacher tone on me. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:36.960 I look at my wife and she's like, it's okay, it's okay. 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:41.519 Well, sweetie, I just tell Madison she's not your teacher, she's not your parent, she's your sister. 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:43.600 Well, she's telling me I gotta eat some vegetables. 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:45.919 I can't just eat all chicken and da-da-da-da-da. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:52.480 Basically, our youngest was saying to her big sister, hey, we don't have a relationship that supports you talking to me like this. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:53.919 Why do I tell you that? 00:14:54.080 --> 00:15:03.600 Because when God says to them, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, he's saying, We have a relationship that supports everything I'm fixing to say to you. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:13.279 Because your kind of your posture towards the commandments is really a reflection of how you think about your relationship with God. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:17.200 You can't separate the commandments from the commander. 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:20.240 You can't separate that from your relationship. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:24.080 And so, command is evidence of relationship. 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:32.080 And so ask yourself, based on not just these ten great words he gives us, but but but but the whole, the totality of the Bible. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:35.759 The way you think about that, what does that say about your relationship with God? 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:40.639 Thirdly and finally, this morning, the command is revealing. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:42.159 It's revealing. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:44.080 What do you mean? 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:46.559 Uh I mean it tells us something about God. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:47.759 Listen to it again. 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:51.360 Verse three you shall have no other gods before me. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:54.799 You shall have no other gods before me. 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:57.759 I want to give you, here's the application for the sermon today. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:02.399 Usually we wait till the end, or sometimes, uh most of the time, I'm like, that's when you and the Holy Spirit. 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:03.279 Y'all get it sorted. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:08.559 Uh but I want this to kind of make this your um meditation this week. 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:10.960 I almost said chant, but I'd be like oh, that's new age. 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:12.960 No, no, just just kind of your mantra. 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:15.120 You shall have no other gods before me. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:17.519 You shall have no other gods before me. 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:19.440 You shall have no other gods before me. 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:24.480 Because yesterday, about 4:30, watching football, and I'm just like, can we get a quarterback? 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:25.279 Can we? 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:27.840 I mean, God, put put anybody in there. 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:30.320 Brian Hoyer is not good. 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:32.960 He makes me think bad thoughts. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:34.720 Golly. 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:38.240 If I'm JJ Watt, I'm like, mmm. 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:43.919 And about 4:30, something said, Hey, you're hungry. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:45.440 We got some microwave popcorn. 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:46.960 I said, Oh, eat some popcorn. 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:49.679 Oh, we got some dip, we got some chip. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:51.679 And guess what will swallow up in me? 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:53.759 You shall have no other gods before me. 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:56.559 You shall have no other gods before me. 00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:58.000 You know, what am I saying? 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:02.320 I'm saying that God, little G, takes many forms. 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:07.920 Sometimes it's that glass of whatever we look forward to after the kids go to bed. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:18.240 Whoopsie! Hey, I'm not the guy that says, Oh, you can't do that. 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:19.519 No, you can do that. 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.240 But be careful because you start off choosing that, and then that starts choosing you. 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:27.279 That's when you might want to pump the brakes a little bit on that. 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:29.440 God, little G, takes many forms. 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:33.599 See, you can't turn away from God without turning to something else. 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:39.039 When he says, You shall have no other gods before me, here's four things it tells us about God this morning. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.119 Number one, that he's demanding. 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:42.480 That God is demanding. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:44.240 That's something we don't say in church enough. 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:50.400 We make it sound like God's this love-struck teenager out there just knocking on the door of your heart, going, Pretty please, we'll have it on top. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:51.920 Help a brother out. 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:52.559 No. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:57.440 Who does God think he is that he says, You shall have no other guys before me? 00:17:57.680 --> 00:17:59.200 That's a great question. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:00.319 It's a great question. 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:01.039 I brought a quote. 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:04.880 Uh, y'all all think Don Minton, how many of y'all know Don Minton, our new spiritual formation pastor? 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:07.279 Y'all all think, oh, Don's so sweet and nice. 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:08.319 Shut up. 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:11.759 This is the kind of stuff that Don Minton sends to the staff. 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:13.440 Oh, by the way, let's think about this. 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:14.880 I read this and thought this would be good. 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:17.200 This is a quote from a man named Mike Iacanelli. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:20.720 Mike is a guy that worked for students for years, started a ministry called Youth Specialties. 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:24.559 He said this think about the terms of God being demanding. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:28.799 And I know that's not sexy, that's not politically correct, but that's biblically accurate. 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:31.039 God is the demanding God. 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:33.519 He always has been. 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:39.279 Here's the quote: the tragedy of modern faith is that we no longer are capable of being terrified. 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:43.519 We aren't afraid of God, we aren't afraid of Jesus, we aren't afraid of the Holy Spirit. 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:49.200 As a result, we've ended up with a need-centered gospel that attracts thousands but transforms no one. 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:59.039 What happened to the bone-chilling, earth-shattering, gut-wrenching, knee-knocking, heart-stopping, life-changing fear that left us speechless, paralyzed, and helpless? 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:06.240 What happened to those moments when you and I would open our Bibles and our hands started shaking because we were afraid of the truth we might find there? 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:12.480 William Barclay, the commentator, Barclay tells us that the word used in the Bible for truth has three meanings. 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:29.200 A word used to describe a wrestler grabbing an opponent by the throat, a word meaning to flay an animal, and a word used to describe the humiliation of a criminal who is paraded in front of a crowd with a dagger tied to his neck, its point under his chin, so he cannot put his head down. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:32.000 That is what the truth is, really like. 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:38.640 It grabs us by the throat, it flays us wide open, it forces us to look into the face of God. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:43.200 When is the last time you and I heard God's truth and were grabbed by the throat? 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.319 We don't talk about that part of God. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:53.839 And by the way, when you say God is demanding, that doesn't mean He's harsh. 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:55.839 He's just demanding. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:57.920 Now, think about it for a minute. 00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:02.400 If you're God, that's a natural expression of your nature. 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:03.759 You're going to be demanding. 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:06.079 See, we live in a culture where no one has a boss. 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:07.119 Have you noticed that? 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:09.039 You can't tell anybody what to do. 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:10.640 They're kind of like, hey, I'm here. 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:12.079 Aren't you glad I work here? 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:14.000 No, no, I'm not. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:18.799 But but God, He's just, hey, hey, He's demanding. 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:24.720 Now, now, by the way, uh, if that bothers you, go back and think about your relationship. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:29.680 Second thing it tells us about God is that God is jealous. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:33.680 He's jealous, uh, not of you, but for you. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:42.960 The jealousy of God, think of it like this the jealousy of God is a logical attitude of our creator who delivered us from slavery to sin. 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:50.880 And for the people in Exodus, children of Israel, he says, I'm the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:57.599 For us, he is the Lord our God who got us out of this spiritual no man's land and delivered us from slavery to sin. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:00.880 He gave us an option to think about life differently. 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:03.359 I meant what I said in the email I sent you yesterday. 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:06.240 Remember when I'm I I never saw marriage work, okay? 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:13.039 I come from a family where every man and like multiple descendants, my dad and his brother, all my uncles, all of them are divorced. 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:14.000 And I'm not saying that's bad. 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:16.160 So if you're divorced today, don't go, oh, he's hating on us. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:18.000 No, I just never saw it work. 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:24.160 And so I would get in relationships with girls, and then we start getting time to commit, I would start slowing down, they just keep going. 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:28.880 And I remember a girl looked at me and said, Oh, one day somebody breaks your heart like you're breaking mine. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:31.519 And my conscious thought was, Come on, get a hold of yourself. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:33.200 Ain't that big of a deal? 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:34.880 That's a statement about me. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:36.400 I'm not trying to be funny. 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:39.279 I just did not know how to do relationship. 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:47.359 And then I looked up and I saw this girl across the campus at grad school, and I was like, Hey, hey, what a friend we have in Jesus. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:48.480 Who is that? 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:55.119 And she loved me enough to look at me and kind of say, Hey, you you don't know how to do this, do you? 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:02.799 I never I didn't have For oh, this is this is what it is. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:04.640 This is how you treat a woman. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:06.079 Okay, okay. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:07.440 Why do I tell you that? 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:13.920 Because God is jealous, not of us, for us, because of what he's done, what no one else could do. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:17.440 He's jealous because he doesn't want us to settle for less. 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:18.880 This is a bad answer. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:23.599 But even this week, one of my buddies was like, hey man, well, I mean, I mean, what made you want to marry Marcy? 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:29.359 Because I had to, because it would be inappropriate, because the more I found out about her, I wanted to be good friends with her. 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:31.519 It would be creepy if I was married to somebody else. 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:33.920 Hey, Marcy, you want to go get lunch? 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:35.440 It's me again. 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:36.079 Me. 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:38.559 Ask your husband. 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:40.079 That's weird. 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:44.160 What do you what's that got to do with jealousy? 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:53.440 See, jealousy, the jealousy of God is a logical attitude of a creator who's delivered us from all this stuff and give us an option. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:23:00.640 He's jealous for us in a way that nobody or nothing else will ever be. 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:04.240 He says, I, me, you'll have no other gods before me. 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:04.720 Why? 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:06.480 Because I'm the best thing for you. 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:09.119 I you were created for a relationship with me. 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:15.200 If you don't embrace that need for a relationship with God, you'll spend the rest of your life trying to be good. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:17.039 I just want to be a good person. 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:19.200 I'm be the best person I can be. 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:21.200 Where is that gonna get you? 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:27.279 If being good can get you there, then why do you need Jesus? 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:29.359 You don't. 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:32.319 Let me bring it down to where we live. 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:35.200 How many of you men in this room have daughters? 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:36.880 Okay, put your hands down. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:37.680 Look at me. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:39.519 You are jealous for your daughter. 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:40.799 And here's what I mean. 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:47.039 You've loved her and treated her in such a way when she brings some guy home, you kind of got the radar on. 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:50.640 You're kind of like, mmm, I don't know about this. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:54.480 Because, and your daughter's like, Dad, you kind of get different when so-and-so comes around. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:24:00.160 And you're what you don't have words for is I don't think that man's gonna love you and take care of you like I have. 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:05.519 And and if I'm gonna give you away, if I'm gonna come to the front of a church and say, who gives this woman to be married to this man? 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:06.960