Go
FILTER BY:

Back To List

Jul 02, 2017

#2 – How to Have Great Worship

Passage: Exodus 20:4-6

Preacher: Pastor Tim W. Young

Series: Ten Commandments - Ten Steps to the Good Life

Category: Exodus

Summary:

Main Text - Exodus 20:4-6; OT Reading for the Westminster Larger Catechism - WCF 107, 108, 109, 110; NT Reading - Romans 12:1; Gathering Song - God of Our Fathers-NTH 710; Call to Worship Song - Gloria Patri; Opening Hymns - I Cannot Tell; And Can it Be? (NTH #455); Offering Hymn - Battle Hymn of the Republic; Hymn of Preparation - Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands (NTH #427); Closing Hymn - Jesus Calls Us (NTH #591); NOTE – NTW = New Trinity Hymnal; The Westminster Larger Catechism questions 107, 108, 109, 110 follow the sermon notes. Also see http://www.paullytle.com/WLC/index.html, (with Scripture proofs from ESV) and http://www.reformed.org/documents/wlc_w_proofs/

Detail:

Ten Steps to the Good Life

#2 – How to Have Great Worship

Exodus 20:4-6:  4  “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6  but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

 

We Must Worship the Real God His Way to Have Great Worship in the Good Life

 

  1. REFUSE to Worship God Your Way –

 

     Exodus 20:4 - “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness

 

               But what is Idolatry?

                              Deut. 4:12-16

                              Hosea 8:6

 

     What this DOES NOT mean –

 

               Not a prohibition against all…                                    Ex 26,28,39 –  

 

               Not a prohibition against religious art for…                            Exodus 20:5

 

               Why?     We are religious creatures who…                              Ecclesiastes 3:11  

 

                              We are fallen creatures with..                       Rom 1:1; Deut 4:15

 

                              If left to our own imagination we will make God…

                                             To strict –  

                                             To lenient –  

 

  1. RECOGNIZE the True God –

 

     He made Himself known as he really is.

 

               Romans 1:20-21 –

               Exodus 20:5-6

 

     He makes Himself known in His Son…

 

                              Colossians 1:15   

                              Luke 11:46 –  

                              John 4:17-18 –  

              

               We see Him on the cross  

               See him after the resurrection    

               See him at his ascension  

               Hear him say in John 14:9

 

 

Westminster Larger Catechism

http://www.paullytle.com/WLC/index.html    with Scripture Proofs from the ESV

http://www.reformed.org/documents/wlc_w_proofs/

  1. 107. What is the second commandment?
  2. The second commandment is: You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 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 fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

 

  1. 108. What does the second commandment require?
  2. The second commandment requires us to receive, respectfully perform, and preserve completely and purely all the regulations for religion and worship that God has established in his word. These include: prayer and thanksgiving in the name of Christ; the reading, preaching, and hearing of the word; the administration of and receiving the sacraments;  church government and discipline;  the administration and upkeep of the church;  religious fasting;  swearing by the name of God;  and making vows to him.  Also included are disapproving, denouncing, and opposing  false worship  and doing our best, in accordance with our position and calling in life, to eliminate it and all forms of idolatry.

 

  1. 109. What particular sins does the second commandment forbid?
  2. The second commandment forbids: imagining,1 recommending,2 demanding,3 practicing,4 or in any way approving any religious worship not established by God himself;5 creating any likeness of God as the Trinity or as anyone of his three persons, either internally in our minds or externally in the form of any kind of image or representation of a created being;6 any worship of such created likenesses7 as if God were in them or as if they were a means to worshiping him;8 the creation of any likenesses of invented gods,9 any worship of them or service relating to them;10 and all superstitious contrivances.11 Also forbidden are: any departure from the true worship of God12 by adding to or taking away from it,13 whether by our own invention14 or received from some other tradition,15 and whether justified by antiquity,16 custom,17 devotional practice,18 good intentions, or any other excuse;19 simony20 and anything sacrilegious;21 and finally any neglect of,22 contempt for,23 hindering,24 or opposition to the worship and regulations established by God.

 

  1. 110. What reason is added to the second commandment emphasizing how important it is to obey it?
  2. The reason added to this commandment to emphasize its importance is in these words: For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.1 In addition to calling attention to the fact that  God totally rules over us, so that we belong to him,2 these words point to his fervent eagerness to be worshiped correctly,3 and that he is angered and takes vengeance on all false worship, which  he sees as spiritual prostitution.4 He views breaking this commandment as equivalent to hating  him and threatens to punish those who do break it for several generations.5 He also equates observing this commandment with loving him and keeping all his commandments, and promises mercy for many generations to those who do it.