We're turning in our Bibles this morning to the second book of the Old Testament. The second book of the Old Testament, of course, is Exodus. We open our Bibles once again this morning to the 20th chapter of the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 20, as we again discover God's love letter carved in stone, Exodus chapter 20. According to USA Today survey, Seventy-four percent of Americans can name the three stooges. Some are smiling because they're already thinking Moe and Larry, and the favorite one, of course, is Curly. Twenty-five percent of Americans can name the seven ingredients in the Big Mac sandwich. Now, that's a generational thing today, but some of us learned a jingle a long time ago that we wish we could erase from our memories. while only 14% of Americans can accurately name all 10 of the Ten Commandments. In order to aid us in our study of the Ten Commandments, I'd like to propose that we recite a poem as we begin the sermon this morning. In fact, I'll make this poem available on a card next Sunday. We'll see it together in the slides. If you'll say it together with me, I think our hearts can rejoice as we recite the Ten Commandments together, commandments that we ought to know, that are indelible, unaltered, and make a huge difference in us knowing the love of God in every generation. Are you ready? Here we go. Above all else, love God alone. Bow down to neither wood nor stone. God's name refused to take in vain. The Sabbath rests with care maintained. Respect your parents. all your days. Hold sacred human life always. Be loyal to your chosen mate. Steal nothing, neither small nor great. Report with truth your neighbor's deed, and rid your mind from selfish greed. This morning, we're looking together at the second of the Ten Commandments. And so we've opened our Bibles to Exodus chapter 20. I'm going to encourage you to follow along with me as we begin our reading in verse 3. Commandment 1 says, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Then comes Commandment 2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 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. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Let's bow together as we pray and look into God's word. Father, on this Memorial Day weekend, we're mindful to thank you for the sacrifice of fellow citizens who stood in the breach and willingly laid down their lives that we might enjoy the freedom and liberty that so often we take for granted. But we know, Lord, that every good gift comes down from the Father of lights. And so the wonderful good gift that we have of being citizens in this great country, of having freedom to assemble and freedom to speak. We know, Lord, that it's a gift that's been paid for by the sacrifice of many who've gone before us and took on the uniform to give of their lives for those that they loved. Lord, we gather here today because one came from heaven and took upon himself the robe of flesh laid down his life for his friends. So, Lord, we are so humbled to be able to be called your friends this morning. We ask, Lord, that you allow our songs of praise to reverberate as sacrifices even to heavenly places today. We ask, Lord, that You'd humble us as we review the Ten Commandments that ought to be so well known but so sadly have been forgotten, not just in our culture but in our very Christian homes. Help us to understand this morning the ramifications. of this commandment as we consider what it means to make other gods before the God that we serve and the ramifications of it for our families. Lord, I pray today that you'd give clarity of thought, boldness of speech, that the message that is shared would not be a message from man, but that the Spirit of God would be our teacher in this place. Oh God, we need you this hour. We thank you that your promise is true, that where your people gather, you're in our midst also. So dear Lord Jesus, be glorified. Dear spirit of God, be our teacher. Thank you for the privilege we have of having Christian fellowship, for the privilege we have of casting our care upon you, for the blessing of knowing that you've given us your word. So Lord, help us to seek to live it. May it go down deeply in our hearts. And Lord, may we go out from this service today knowing that we've met with the Lord. For it's in your name we pray, amen. Thomas Watson, the great 17th century Puritan said, in the first commandment, worshiping a false God is forbidden. In the second commandment, worshiping the true God in a false manner is forbidden. In other words, the first commandment forbids true worship of a false god, and the second commandment forbids false worship of the true God. The first commandment calls upon us to settle who the true God is. And so we read in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 2, I am the Lord thy God. The second commandment calls us to worship him his way. And so we read, beginning in verse 4, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. The first commandment forbids worshiping wrong gods and the second command causes us to worship the right God His way. J.I. Packer says, the second commandment deals not with the object of worship, but with a manner of worship. Now, worship is a much discussed topic in the 21st century. It's almost become a buzzword. The American Heritage Dictionary defines worship as the reverent love and allegiance accorded to a deity, an idol, or a sacred object. Reverent love and allegiance accorded to a deity, an idol, or a sacred object. Worship is not what we've just come through and now we're at a different part in the service. Some people today define worship as the song service of their church. That's a false definition. is the reverent love and allegiance accorded to deity, idols, or sacred objects. Worship is a composite word in our English language. You hear the word worth and ship placed together. Worship is the ascription of worth to someone, some object that we claim to be divine. Worship is giving God, if you will, the glory that is due to His name, reflecting on the greatness of our God. You realize that throughout eternity, all heaven will be involved in the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Revelation chapter 4, John saw the Lord high and lifted up. And in Revelation chapter 4, around about the throne, he heard the people in heaven crying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. Only Jesus is worthy of our worship. And the second commandment requires us to worship Jesus the right way. In his book, Worship in Spirit and Truth, John Frame observes, it often surprises people to learn that God is not always pleased when people worship Him. We might be inclined to think that God should be thankful for any attention we give Him out of our busy schedules. But worship is not about God thanking us. It's about our thanking Him. And God is not pleased with just anything that we do in His presence. In fact, in Exodus 20, verse 5, the verse that we just read, God says, I am a jealous God. God zealously defends His glory against all those who worship Him in an unworthy manner. In the second commandment, we learn that God requires us to worship Him His way. I'd like to suggest this morning that there are far more people violating the second commandment than actually realize it. We tend to think about the second commandment, this thought of idolatry, and put it as something outside of our Western world experience. But I would suggest to you that there are people who perhaps even have come into this church service this morning. who have violated the second commandment, maybe without consideration or understanding. You see, the Bible tells us how we ought to worship, and the Bible tells us how we ought not to worship. And we need to be very careful never to confuse the two. We're going to look at that very briefly this morning, how we ought to worship, how we ought to worship. You know, the Old Testament is filled with instructions for those who would worship God His way. Put a mark in Exodus chapter 20 and come with me to the 135th Psalm. The 135th Psalm. Psalm 135. As we come to Psalm 135, we discover that right worship must focus on the right person. Right worship must focus on the right person. Psalm 135. In the 135th Psalm, we have a call to worship. It begins this way, Psalm 135 and verse 1. Praise ye the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Praise Him, O servants of the Lord. And immediately we realize this is a very wonderful psalm. Praise ye the Lord, all capital letters in our English versions of the Bible, the capital letters indicate, this is a translation of the Hebrew word Jehovah. When it's L-O-R-D, all in capital letters, that's Jehovah. And Jehovah God is the God who makes promises or covenants. a personal, relational God, if you will. And so this passage tells us we're to come and worship Him. And it says, ye that stand in the house of the Lord and the courts of the house of our God, verse 2, praise the Lord, for the Lord is good. Sing praises to His name, for it's pleasant. For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto Himself, and Israel as His peculiar treasure. You'll discover immediately that Right worship is theocentric, not anthrocentric. Big words. Right worship is focused on God, not focused on man. Right worship is focused on what does God want, what does God expect, not what does man want and what does man expect. Right worship is about God. Right worship is not about me. Praise ye the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. O ye servants of the Lord. Right worship is focused on God's goodness according to this text. For the Lord is good. Verse three. What a blessing to declare the goodness of the Lord. The Lord is good. Sing praises then to his name. It's pleasant to sing to him. For the Lord has chosen Jacob unto himself. He speaks of his saving grace. His kindness on our behalf. Causing us as sinners to know Him. As our personal God who forgives and blesses. He's a good God. He's provided a way for our forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ. He meets our every need. And we praise Him for His goodness. And we praise Him for His greatness. Verse 5, For I know that the Lord is great. that our Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven and in earth and the seas, in all the deep places. Who is like unto our God?" He's great. Right worship is focused on the person of God. Right worship is not necessarily focused on pomp and pageantry. While pomp and pageantry may be on occasion acceptable worship, there are those who set their minds on nothing, it seems, but the program of the service and fail to remember the greatness of the person that causes us to gather together. Rite worship is not necessarily based on creeds. Rite worship is focused on character. the character of our God. Right worship gives attention to the one true God, to the maker of heaven and earth and all that is in it, not on any other being, any other whim, or any other fancy. Right worship focuses on a person. In our worship, let's be clear, our worship today is focused on the person of Jesus Christ, our Savior. As New Testament Christians, we realize that God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the prophets by the fathers, has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed to be heir of all things. Jesus was willing to say in John 14 in verse 9, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. When the church gathers to worship, there ought to be a focus on Jesus. There ought to be a focus on the humility of Jesus, how he laid by his heavenly robes and took upon himself the humble robes of our flesh. There ought to be a focus on the great might of Jesus, who was able in his earthly ministry to still the seas, to cast out the demons, and to cause the dead to come forth and is able to still our noisy souls. There ought to be an emphasis on the power of Jesus. Power to come out from the grave. There's so much focus in so many services, but so little focus on him. We live in a day where there's much debate about worship, so much debate about worship that there's so little declaration of who Jesus is and what great things he's done for us. I've been to Zambia three times, South Central Africa. While in Zambia, I've seen some wonderful things. I've seen Lake Kariba, which is Africa's largest man-made lake. It's huge. While at Lake Kariba, I saw hippopotamus. or hippopotami, I never know which is which. I saw them up close and personal and only afterwards did I discover you're not supposed to get that close to hippopotamus. I'm glad I can tell you about it this morning. I've been on safari in Zambia. I've seen elephants and zebras and giraffes, oh my. I've never seen Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls is one of the great wonders of the world. Victoria Falls is a mile wide. It cascades some 300 feet down to the end where it bubbles up with great mist. I've been within an hour of Victoria Falls twice in my trips to Zambia, Africa, and I've never seen it. I think that all around the world today, there are those who are attending churches. Churches where there ought to be worship given to God. They go out, infatuated by the worship band or the praise group. They may appreciate the pastor's message. Folks, real worship zeroes in on Jesus Christ. True worship is about the person of our God. True worship is about the purpose for which we gather to proclaim His greatness and His goodness, to rejoice intentionally, theocentrically on the wonder of knowing God, the wonder of being able to proclaim we're created as dependent creatures before Him who will one day see Him in resplendent glory. Turn with me to the 96th Psalm. In the 96th Psalm, The right purpose of worship is declared. Psalm 96. In Psalm 96, I read beginning in verse 7. Psalm 96 and verse 7. The Bible says, give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. Bring an offering and come into His courts. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Fear before Him all the earth. Let me ask the question, how can I give God something when He owns everything? Real worship does not add to God's bounty. Real worship affirms God's bounty. We understand that real worship doesn't contribute anything to God's great treasure, but real worship proclaims that we are serving and rejoicing in the God of all treasure." Folks, do you realize we did that this morning in our opening hymn? Seeking to be intentional about a worship service, we sang together, praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation. Oh, my soul, praise Him. where he is thy health and salvation. All ye who hear, now to his temple draw near. Join me, join me in glad adoration. When we sing such songs and we enter into it in a spirit of participation, reflecting upon God's truths, we enter into real worship. You see, real worship is not about me. Real worship is about Him. That means when I've entered into a real worship service, I don't leave the service asking, what did I get? I leave the service asking, what did I give? I don't go to the service asking, what do I like? I go to the service asking, who will I praise? Come back with me to Exodus chapter 20. How we ought to worship, very important. The right person for the right purpose. And in Exodus chapter 20, the second commandment zeroes in on the thought of how we ought not to worship. In Exodus chapter 20 verse 4, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. or any likeness of anything that's in heaven above or that's in the earth beneath, that's in the water under the earth, thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them, for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments." The second commandment warns against worshiping the right God the wrong way. And specifically this passage says, don't make any graven image. So we ask the question, is he saying I can't take pictures? Some people think so. Is he saying I can't use a flannel graph in Sunday school and heaven forbid that we use a PowerPoint? Is he saying, no coloring books in our preschool, please. Stay away from the crayons because we don't want to make any graven image. I don't believe that's what he's saying. And I don't believe it because in Exodus chapter 25, God said, I want you to make an ark, the ark of the covenant. And over the ark of the covenant, I want you to form two cherubim, two angels made of gold to reflect on the greatness of the treasure that's within this ark. Then in Exodus chapter 25, God said, I want you to make curtains for the tabernacle. On the curtains of the tabernacle, in this tapestry, if you will, I want you to weave into the tapestry the images of the cherubim, of angelic beings. He even says in Exodus chapter 28, when you make the garments for the high priest, I want you to have ornaments about the hem of the garment. I want it to be pomegranates that will jingle as bells when He walks about and does His work. So I don't believe God is saying you can't take a picture. Some of you right now are thinking about how many thousands of pictures you have on your cell phone, and you're going, phew. I'm not violating… No, you're not violating the second commandment by taking a picture or by making a painting. or by coloring with crayons, or even by statuary. Well, what's he saying then? God is saying, don't allow a picture or a statue to somehow be used to enhance your worship experience. Don't allow a graven image to be an aid in your worship experience because that aid may actually be a detraction. Folks, there are those who kneel before crucifixes with Jesus Christ on the cross and they will say, it helps me to remember His sacrifice and the pain of His sacrifice, and they don't realize it may be obliterating A more wonderful truth yet, that Jesus Christ is not in the grave and He rose again and He reigns victorious. When we make images and focus on the image, we actually obliterate other truths that our transcendent God wants us to realize. There may be those who say, I love to go into a place where I see a square and a compass. It reminds me that God is the architect of the universe. Yes, and He's more than the architect of the universe. He's the sustainer and the redeemer of all things. Be careful about those aids. There are some who sentimentally say, I have a picture of a lamb at home, even as Adam sang, the picture of the shepherd finding that lamb and bringing the lamb back, and it aids me in my thoughts of the tender relationship I have with Jesus. Be careful. Be careful, this passage is actually saying God's ways are not our ways, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and don't try to bring God down into an image that helps or assists you in worship in any way. The second commandment says, that you're not to make these graven images. In fact, look at the end of Exodus chapter 20, the 23rd verse. It seems like God is actually repeating the second commandment. In Exodus 20 and verse 23, God says, you shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall you make unto me gods of gold. Is he repeating the second commandment? God is never redundant. Why is he reiterating, if you will, the importance of this second commandment? We find out very quickly as we move through the Old Testament why God would reiterate this commandment. He does so because mankind falls prey to this problem often, often without even realizing it. I want to take a moment this morning and make this study really practical. But you're going to need to hold on. We're going to go very quickly. As we go quickly this morning, you need to hold on because we might be a little bit provocative. Remember I said I think there are more people who are violating the second commandment in our culture than actually realize it. In his book, The Glory Due His Name, my friend Dr. Gary Reimers cataloged some of the ways the second commandment is being violated in the culture in which we now live. I want to highlight some of those ways. Take your Bibles and go with me to Exodus chapter 32. In Exodus chapter 32, In Exodus chapter 32, we find one ramification of the second commandment. That ramification is this, God does not desire worship that's based on imagination. God does not desire worship that is based on imagination. As we turn to Exodus chapter 32, Moses is up on Mount Sinai, his brother Aaron is leading the children of Israel, and in the absence of Moses, the children of Israel are becoming discontented, and so we discover in verse 2, the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain. The people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and they said to him, Up, make us gods which shall go before us. For as far as this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what's become of him. How does Aaron respond? No, we can't do this. That would be a violation of the second commandment. That's not what he does. Instead, verse 4, he received from them, from their hand, their gold from off their ears, verse 3. He fashions it with a graving tool. He made it into a molten calf. And they said, these be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. When Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation saying, tomorrow is a feast unto the Lord. By the way, you see verse 5, the end of verse 5, the word Lord that's being used there. Tomorrow is a feast of the Lord. You notice that it's all in caps. Tomorrow is a feast unto Jehovah, right God, wrong way, with a golden calf. Aaron has brought the people up and they're going to worship with a golden calf. Why the golden calf? The golden calf would seem to them to be a reminder of the strength of God. But if you think about it, the golden calf, an ox, if you will, for the people of Israel, the ox could plow the fields. It could be a big help to them in the time of plowing and harvesting. But then you could put the ox in the barn and not worry about the ox the rest of the year. What a perfect image of the God that many people worship. When I need him, he's there. When I don't need him, I just put him back into the box and I don't have to worry about it any longer. What happened when these people worshiped God in this way? Well, they displeased the Lord. And in verse 7, the Lord said to Moses, go get thee down. For thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They've turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. Folks, there are many people today who worship a God based on imagination. They take his love, his mercy, his grace, his soft attributes, if you will, but they don't have any time for his justice, his wrath, or his judgment. That's not a true worship of God. Beware. That's a worship based on imagination. Take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Leviticus chapter 10. Leviticus chapter 10. In Leviticus chapter 10, We discover the nephews of Moses, the sons of Lot, corrupting worship. And in Leviticus chapter 10, we discover that God does not desire worship that's based on innovation. God fastidiously gives the accoutrements of worship throughout the pages of the Old Testament. One of the things that the Bible teaches in Exodus chapter 30 when it comes to the incense that was used in the tabernacle and then in the temple, the ingredients for that incense, very important to the Lord. Exodus chapter 30 gives and defines the specific ingredients. Follow with me now. Watch what happens in Leviticus chapter 10. nephews of Moses, took either of them as censer, put fire therein and put incense therein, and offered strange fire before the Lord which He commanded them not." What did they do? They just mixed up the elements of the incense a little bit. Like a different scent once in a while when I go into the temple, the tabernacle. Like it to smell in a different way. I like cinnamon a little bit better than the parsley that's been burning. I don't know what they're burning. God calls it strange fire. Look what happens. They went out fire from the Lord and devoured them and they died before the Lord. Moses said to Aaron, this is it that the Lord spoke saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh unto me. For all the people will I be glorified. How does Aaron respond when his sons are struck dead in a worship service? He didn't answer a word. He stood mute, if you will, before the Lord. What are we learning here? God's displeasure with innovation. In this passage is immediate for our instruction. God's displeasure with innovation. Let's face it. The market-driven church movement is all about innovation. How can we do worship differently? In fact, in his book, Worship the Ultimate Priority, John MacArthur says, there seems to be no limit to how far some churches will go to be relevant, contemporary, in their worship services. Nothing, it seems, is too profane or too outrageous to be fused with Christian lingo and labeled as worship. I could little have imagined as a child that any church called Christian would ever have interpretive dance on its platform. You know what? We don't need dance to interpret the Scriptures. We need expositors. We need the Spirit of God doing the wonderful work of illumination that only He can do. But people become so desensitized as to expect that's okay. It's not okay. It's the very kind of innovation that brought the fire from God when just a little different scent was placed into the incense. We live in a generation where it seems anything goes. I drive by a sign pretty much annually. We're gonna have our annual sacred blessing of the pets Sunday. There are a lot of times I don't wanna bless my pet. Anything goes. Is God pleased? You see, it's not just about worshiping the right God. These be thy gods, O Israel. Tomorrow we're going to have a worship service to the Lord, Jehovah. How are you going to do it with a golden calf? It's about worshiping the right God the right way. Take your Bibles and go with me to Deuteronomy chapter 12. Deuteronomy chapter 12. These things are in the Old Testament for our understanding. They're written unto us upon whom the ends of the earth have come. In Deuteronomy chapter 12, we learn that God does not desire worship that's based on imitation. Deuteronomy chapter 12, we have a striking passage beginning in verse 29 where God simply says the rituals of the pagans will never bring me pleasure. And so God extracts from the rituals of the pagans one of the worst things that the pagans would ever do in their ritual services. And we read, beginning in verse 29, when the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them and dwellest in their land, take heed to thyself, that thou be not stared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee, that thou inquire not after their gods. saying, how did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God. For every abomination to the Lord which he hateth have they done unto their gods. For even their sons and their daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods. They've actually offered their children to their gods. God pulls out one of their practices and says, isn't this abhorrent? And yet when we read the book of Jeremiah, the 32nd chapter, we discover that the children of Israel entered in the land of Canaan and became so desensitized within their community that they actually offered their sons and daughters in the fire to the Lord. the right God the wrong way. Dr. Gary Riemers in his book, The Glory Due His Name, wrote this and it captured my attention. Until the 1970s, there was a clear distinction between the world and God's people on the issue of rock music. Rock musicians unashamedly identified the purpose of their music. They wanted to communicate their own devotion to sexual immorality, to drug and alcohol use, to rebellion against authority, everything about their music they deliberately designed to promote their sinful lifestyle choices. Some Christians, noting the widespread popularity of rock music, wondered if it would be possible to incorporate some aspects of rock music into Christian music. And this was the birth of contemporary Christian music, which has dominated the worship services of our churches ever since. I remember when people said, what if we use rock music, we could get more people to come to church and then we could give them the gospel. What were they doing? Worship based on imagination and failing to remember Romans 12 gives the mandate for New Testament worship this way. Be not conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. We better be in the book, folks, before we're in the culture. And those who are in the book discover that worshiping the right God the wrong way can bring great challenge. Go with me to 1 Kings 12. 1 Kings 12. In 1 Kings 12, we discover that God does not desire worship that's designed to be convenient. 1 Kings 12. We need to be careful here. The air conditioning is running this morning. The seats are pretty comfortable. I'm glad for all of that. But watch what happens in 1 Kings chapter 12. You'll remember that Jeroboam and Rehoboam split the kingdom of Israel. And in verse 25, we read that Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim and dwelt there, became his capital. And in verse 26, Jeroboam said in his heart, now shall the kingdom return to the house of David. And he feared that. He didn't want them going back to Rehoboam. If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of the people turn again to the Lord, even to Rehoboam, the king of Judah, and they shall kill me and go again after Rehoboam, king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel and made two calves of gold and said unto them, it's too much for you to go to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set one in Bethel and the other in Dan. This thing became a sin for the people who went to worship before the one, even Dan. What did he say? He said, it's too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. You know, going up to Jerusalem meant going up crooked roads, craggy passes, ascending, ascending, ascending. to a place where conveniences were few for some, over 100 miles, three times a year to go to Jerusalem to worship. I got a better idea, says Jeroboam. How about we put a worship center in Dan and a worship center in Bethel? Forget what God said about Jerusalem and about the temple. This will be far more convenient. I can't help but think when I read this passage about Saturday services in America today. There is a Lord's Day according to Revelation 1. And the Lord's Day has been made more convenient. Now, I'm not suggesting that we ought to have our services at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning because we want to be inconvenient. But I am saying we ought to take note. Church today in America is often a drive-by experience, all intended for the pleasure and comfort of those who gather. Come back with me to Exodus chapter 20. Pastor Phelps, is this really that big a deal? Come back to Exodus chapter 20 and let's see how big a deal it is to God. Exodus chapter 20, I read beginning in verse 1, I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers. Exodus 20 and verse 5, I'm a jealous God. Now this is in connection with the keeping of the second commandment, worshiping the right God the right way. I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of the third and fourth generation, to them that hate me, showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments." What does this mean? Some would suggest that those who don't follow the second commandment and worship the right God but the wrong way, well, God somehow passively stands back and allows some form of judgment to come to their families. But that's not what this says. In verse 5, God is active. He says, I visit the iniquity. of the fathers upon the children." In other words, he says, I will actively involve myself in punishing those who violate the second commandment, and I'll punish them and their families. Folks, that's a passage that's hard to consider. For every dad, every granddad, every mom, aunt, uncle, person that loves the generation to come after, We need to recognize the responsibility that we have as we lead in worship. It's often been said that the teacher's doubt becomes the student's dogma. As generations go on and become more and more desensitized in what we would call evangelical Christianity, it should come as no surprise to us to see the excesses of the next generation becoming even more flagrant. We need to recognize a responsibility in every generation. God help me. Help me not to mess up about this, to be very careful about this, because I love my children. And I believe you're true. Now watch it how it ends. Thank the Lord for its ending, verse 6. He shows mercy unto thousands of them that love him and keep his commandments. He's a good God, a great God. And he promises that he'll bring blessings to those who are careful to worship him the right way. Now, there may be someone in this room this morning who said, Pastor Phelps, that's a lot of Old Testament. So let me take you to the New Testament for a moment. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12, and we'll end here this morning. Hebrews chapter 12. In Hebrews chapter 12, the author of the book of Hebrews, by the Spirit of God, addresses a topic of worship. And he reiterates everything we've just learned condensing it in a very powerful passage that we find at the end of Hebrews chapter 12, beginning in verse 28. Wherefore, Hebrews 12, 28, we receiving a kingdom that cannot be moved, this wonderful heavenly inheritance that we've been given, let us have grace whereby we may serve God. That Greek word that's translated serve is the Greek word lutreo. often translated worship, so I'm going to read it that way. Because we've been given this kingdom that can't be moved, let us have grace so that we may worship God acceptably. You see, there's some worship that's unacceptable. This is a New Testament passage. We worship God acceptably, how? With reverence. There's a forgotten word in a 21st century culture. With reverence. Godly fear, personal caution, why? Folks, our God is a consuming fire. We come with shame-facedness, with reverence, understanding we come boldly only through the blood of Jesus Christ. I appreciate what MacArthur said when he said, when the church comes together on the Lord's Day, it's no time to entertain the lost. or to amuse the brethren or otherwise cater to the felt needs of those in attendance. This is when we should bow before our God as a congregation and honor Him with our worship.