Exodus chapter 20, the first three verses. 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. Amen. In 1543, John Calvin, the great reformer, wrote a treatise entitled On the Necessity are reforming the church. The preface was written to the Emperor Charles V. And in it, he gave a defense of the Reformation and to explain the reason or the purpose of the Reformation movement, at least from his perspective. Calvin wrote this. He said the whole substance of Christianity virtually is this. It's a knowledge first. of the mode in which God is duly worshipped, and secondly, of the source from which salvation is to be obtained. In other words, as Calvin looked at the need of the Reformation, he set the mode of worship as the very first principle. He believed that the proper goal of the Reformation was to be a pure worship of God. Right doctrine is important. Its purpose, though, is to be ultimately to ultimately make us to be true worshipers. You see, the more you know of God, the more you study theology, the more it should lead to doxology, the more it should lead to praise and worship. See, doctrine is good. It's good to be Orthodox, good to be right in our doctrine. But that doctrine doesn't lead us to God and worship. Then it's meaningless to us in many ways. Now, Calvin's understanding of the priority worship came in part his understanding of the preface to the Ten Commandments, where God says, I am the Lord, your God, who bought you or brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Those words are rich with meaning. They really set the whole tone. for the commandments which follow. First, they define for us who God is, and then they tell us what he has done for his people in history. But there's a sense in which they're also prophetic and that they will point us forward to Jesus Christ, and that's what we're going to be looking at over these next few weeks as we look at these commandments, how Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of these commandments. So I want us to draw our attention this morning to this preface. We'll look at the first commandment. The first thing we're going to see here is that he says, I am the Lord, your God. I am the Lord, your God. Before God first gives them the law, he establishes to them who he is and what he has done for them. I am the Lord, your God, he says. Now, as God says this, He could have simply said, I am the Lord God. But he doesn't do that, does he? He says, I am the Lord, your God. Within his own nature, he is God. He created all things without our help. He didn't need our help. He created all things and and he continues to provide for his creation. But as he says here, I am the Lord, your God. He brings out the special relationship that he has entered into with Israel. Now he is their God by right of redemption. I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Again, to be sure, he is the creator of all things, and in that way he is simply God. God over all. But now the God of creation pledges himself to Israel to be. Their God, they will be his people in a special way. So that all that he is. In a sense, he is for them. A gift of common providence. Are not comparable to those of the covenant of love. Indeed, beloved, What a great privilege and what a high honor to be brought into covenant with God, because it means there that we shall share in his inheritance. It means that we will have fellowship with him forever. That can't be said about all people, it's an exclusive thing, but here he says, I am the Lord, your God. And he means here that he is not merely the God of past generations, he is the God of the covenant and every generation of his people. So what God was to Moses, He is for you today. What He was for Peter and Paul, He is for you today. What He was to Martin Luther and John Calvin and Bollinger and the other Reformers, He is for you today. What He was for Jonathan Edwards and other great men, He is for you today. God has not changed from generation to generation. He is God. And so the psalmist declares in Psalm 145. Verses three through four, these words great is the Lord and highly to be praised. And his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your mighty works. We are not left in the dark as to who God is. I am the Lord. Your God, he says. Think of the countless masses who don't know God as we were coming here today, looking at the roads cluttered with cars going back and forth to know who knows where. Not coming to worship the majority of them, unfortunately. Countless masses. Who don't know, Lord, the scriptures describe them as to being in darkness. They're in darkness. Think of the sorrows, the hardships that they go through. Virtually, there are no different than yours. You go through the same hardships, the same trials, oftentimes that they go through. What's the difference between you and them, though, as you go through your hardships? They don't have the Almighty. They can't lean upon him. They can't draw comfort from him. But to you, he has revealed himself that you might delight in him. that you might be instructed by him and that you might live for him in gratitude. But he could have also gone on to say, I am the Lord, or he could have said, I am the God who brought you out of Egypt. That would have been a very true statement, I am the God who brought you out of Egypt. But again, he doesn't say that. He says, I am the Lord, your God. Of course, you'll notice that the Lord, there's all capital letters. really is in the Hebrew God's covenantal name. Really, we don't know what the exact pronunciation of it is, but Yahweh perhaps is a good assimilation of it. The name Yahweh is believed to be derived from the Hebrew verb. Yeah, meaning to be. This is the name that God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, declares his self existence and his eternal nature. In Exodus chapter three, you might remember there when Moses asked God, what is your name? God responded by saying, I am who I am, he said, thus, you shall say to the sons of Israel, I am has sent me to you. I am. This. Name. identifies himself as being a personal God. You see, God is not just some it. He's not just some force. He is a personal God, and he hears the sign of his people. There's an interesting thing. If you were to go to Psalm 115. I've been thinking about this psalm all week long. In Psalm 115, the unbelieving nations, the unbelievers ask, where is there a God? You know, it's a term of derision, a mockery. Where is our God? Verse three says, but our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. Though heaven be his true dwelling place, he has sovereign control over all things. So he is near to each and every one of us. But in contrast, to that statement that our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. The psalmist then goes on to show the nature of men's idols. He says they have mouths, but they can't speak. They have eyes. They can't see. They have ears. They can't hear a thing, right? They can't hear. They have noses, but they can't smell. They have hands, but they can't feel. They have feet, but they cannot walk. They cannot make a sound with their throat. And because of the weak nature of the idols, they are nothing. They're really nothing. And so the psalmist goes on to exhort the reader, O Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. Our God is not the God of the idols. He is a personal God. He hears. He sees. He speaks. He can do whatever he wills. And therefore, O Israel, Trust in Him. Do not fear. God says that He hears the misery of His people, their groanings and their moanings, as they are under bondage. And He covenants to care and to love them. He comes personally to redeem them. I am who I am. I am the God who is with you. Beloved, what do you have need of today? Perhaps it's peace. Perhaps it's joy. Perhaps it's security or hope. God says, I am. I am. I am your peace. I am your joy. You remember when God came to Abram in Genesis Chapter 15? Just before he establishes the covenant with his servant, Abram, God said to him, Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield. You're exceedingly great reward. God himself is and will be a shield to his people to secure them from all destructive evils. He is a shield round about them. This is good news. There is a song that says, as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people. God surrounds us. That news should be sufficient to silence all our tormenting, perplexing fears. I am, God says. As happy as God himself could make us, he says, I am your exceeding great reward. Not only is he your rewarder, but he is your reward. So great is our God. Is it the God of the first commandment here, the God of this preface is the God whose presence is with us. To deliver us, it is the will of God that his people should not give way to prevailing, prevailing fears, whatever should happen. And so he says, I am your God. Well, since we've alluded to it, we can go back to the early chapters of Exodus. To see what all this means, you like to turn with me to Exodus chapter two, then versus 11 and 12. We read this. Now, it came about in those days when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own brethren. And so he looked this way and that. And when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hit him in the sand. Now, Hebrews chapter 11 gives us a further insight to all this there, the inspired writer says, by faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin and considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. He was looking for the reward. And as he was looking for this reward in an effort to also try to deliver his brethren, his people, he struck down the Egyptian and killed him. It goes on to say that the next day, There was two Hebrews fighting with each other. He said to the offender, Why are you striking your companion? And he said, Well, who made you a prince or judge over us? Are you intending to kill me as you kill the Egyptian? And Moses was afraid and said, Surely, the matter has become known. And so he fled, ran into the wilderness for 40 years. During that time, for most of it, he tended sheep. But then in Exodus, Chapter three, Verse one, now Jethro was pastoring the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush, and he looked and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not being burned up. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. He said, Here I am. Then he said, Do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet for the place in which you are standing is holy ground. It's interesting, this land, this portion of ground was holy. The angel in the midst of the bush identified himself also, though, as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In verse eight, God said that he heard the cries of his people, that he has come down now to deliver them. Moses, 40 years ago, tried to deliver the people, he tried, but he failed. It was God who needed to come and to act and deliverance. And so now, as God comes to act and save, he then sends Moses off to Egypt to demand of Pharaoh six times, he said. Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, let my people go that they might serve me. Now, Pharaoh, did you know the story? He did not listen to Moses. God revealed his great power, though, as he brought judgment upon judgment on the Egyptians. Eventually, he forced Pharaoh to finally let his people go. The plague of death, the firstborn. And as the people left Egypt, God led them and brought them through to Sinai. I love the statement from from Exodus chapter 19 and verse four. You yourselves have seen what I've done to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. But God demanded Pharaoh let my people go that they might see serve me. They might serve you see God did not save his people simply for the sake of saving them from slavery. There was a purpose behind his actions of salvation. He freed the people from slavery in Egypt so that they could serve him as the Lord their God. Now that word serve is the word that was also used for the priest in their service in the temple. It calls us here then to know that God saves us in order that we might serve and that we might worship him. Everything that you and I do is is to be something of an act of worship to the one true God who delivers us and redeems us. There's something else that's a very astonishing here in Exodus chapter three again in verse two. It says the angel of the Lord appeared to him and a blazing fire for the midst of a bush. Now, the word angel, both in Hebrew and in the Greek, means messenger. The messenger of the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush and he called to him. But in verse four, this angel of the Lord says that he is the Lord. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. How can the messenger of the Lord be the Lord? There's a similar question in Luke, Chapter 20, verse 44, where Jesus quotes from Psalm 110, and he says, David said, The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand and tell him, make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Jesus then asked the Pharisees, therefore, David calls him Lord. How is then he his son? Jesus, the son of David, is the promised Lord of David. who came as David prophesied in the song. How is that possible? How is it possible that the Lord is the messenger of the Lord? Well, Jesus said directly to the Jews before Abraham was I am. Thus, he links himself to be the angel of the Lord. Who is the Lord? Of course, as Christians, we do believe that Jesus is God. The New Testament very clearly reveals the truth of that statement to me. References to go through to listen here. We're not going to do that this morning, but I'm going to give you a few. Nonetheless, Matthew, as you remember, records the birth of Christ, records the the angel announcing the birth. Joseph, when he found out that Mary was pregnant. It wasn't his child who's going to put her away silently. But then he had a dream and in the dream the angel Lord came to him and he says there. That. That this child is Emmanuel. Fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. This is Emmanuel. Emmanuel means God is with us. God is with us. This child is God who is with us. Romans, chapter nine, verses three through five, Paul writes, for I wish I could myself be accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites and from whom is the Christ, according to the flesh, who is overall God blessed forever. Amen. Paul very clearly calls Jesus Christ God bless forever. The Paul John writes in first John, chapter five, beginning with verse 20. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true in his son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourself from idols. What is he saying? He's saying that Jesus Christ is the true God. He gives eternal life. Now, the first commandment here says you shall have no other gods before me. Jesus says, I and the father are one. He says, also, I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father, but through me, he who has seen me has seen the father. Do you not believe that I am in the father, the father is in me? Jesus shares the father's essence, so he says all things have been handed over to me by my father. And no one knows the son except the father, nor does anyone know the father except the son and anyone to whom the son wills to reveal him. See, Jesus has the same essence as the father, so he can reveal the father. He can know the father and the father knows him. Not only does Jesus share the same identity of God, he proves his identity by doing the saving works that only God can do. And Genesis chapter 15, going back to that chapter, God said to Abraham, no, for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they'll be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years. And so there Israel was in Egypt for 400 years being oppressed. But I will also judge the nation whom they serve. And we see that fulfillment in Exodus, but the Lord said to Moses, In Exodus chapter three, I've come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians. But now listen to Jesus. He says the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to do what? Among things, to proclaim liberty to the captives and to set at liberty those who are oppressed. Jesus. Is bringing. Deliverance to his oppressed people. Ezekiel, Chapter 34, God says, Behold, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out, Jesus says, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to say that which was lost. Back in Ezekiel 34, God says, As a shepherd cares for his scattered sheep, so I will care for my sheep and I will deliver them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a gloomy and cloudy day. Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. I came that they might have life and have it abundantly. You see, in all ways, we see Jesus as being God. Now, the first commandment, as we go back to it, was bind upon the people because God saved them from Egypt. God destroyed Pharaoh, God destroyed Pharaoh's army, and he brought Israel to Sinai that they might serve him, that they might worship him. But this deliverance from Egypt really was but a shadow of a greater deliverance that God would accomplish in redeeming his people from the very power of a greater Pharaoh, the very power of sin and Satan and death itself. I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, he declares. As a foreshadowing of Christ's victory, For in Christ all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form, Paul says in Colossians, and having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public display of them, triumphing over them in the cross. Therefore, because God saves us, you shall have no other gods before me. We need to see that this salvation that Christ has won is God himself acting on our behalf. And we need this salvation. Because, as John Calvin so rightly said, and you yourself know that the human heart is nothing but a factory of idols, as it were. We tear down one idol in order to build up another idol, don't we? When God created man, he so deeply planted a need for himself and human beings that when we suppress the knowledge of God, we invent false gods. false religion, false worship. There are no real atheists in the world. Augustine said that we have a God shaped hole in our hearts, and the question is, what are you going to try to fill that hole with beloved? We must be careful. That we don't put ourselves at the center of things. We must be careful not to think that God exists. for our own personal happiness and fulfillment. He is not the great, big genie in a bottle who bends down to your whim and will. He is the sovereign God. I am the Lord your God, he says. We need to remember that the idols can be dressed up also in pious, spiritual clothes. So we must always go to his word. First commandment calls us to see that God will never, ever share His glory with anyone else. Nor will He share His sovereign claims over you with anyone else. Because He is God. Because He is your Lord and your Savior. He has a full and a complete right to your whole life and existence. You are to live supremely with heart, mind, soul and strength for his glory. Now, when we allow things to compete with his exclusive claims upon us, whether they be illegitimate things like false knowledge or false belief systems, sin or legitimate things like family and work and things like that, we broken this commandment, we stand condemned. When we let other things stand between us and God and we began to chase after these other things. There is a real sense, and I say it reverently. That God must save us from himself. God is against us in our sin. God is against us as we build up our interact our idols. He must punish sin. But praise God, he saves us. by sending his son, Jesus Christ, who is very God, a very God himself to take that wrath in our place. So you see how this commandment that is even filled in and Jesus. Out of love, God became the savior of his people. Jesus being very God, a very God. Very man, a very man is our true redeemer, and that's why Jesus said, He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. And honoring Christ, beloved, we keep the first commandment. As we honor and worship Him, we honor and worship the one true God who delivers His people. And all who fail to worship the Son are breakers of the first commandment. Jesus said, no one comes to the Father but through Me. And so, as we close this morning, we've seen how important it is that the one who we are worshipping is the one who is described in Revelation, who is the Lord of Glory, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The very God we worship is made visible in the person of Jesus Christ. And here in this commandment this morning, we find a law that forbids us to place our faith in ourselves or in anything else besides the one true living God who has reconciled us to himself through the person and work of Jesus Christ. As all the idols of Egypt. All the idols of our thoughts, our minds, Our words and our deeds are destroyed by the one true living God. Let us rejoice that he thus redeems us. And so here's the gospel that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And whosoever believes in him. Shall not perish, but have everlasting life and beloved being taken up with that spiritual idea, that understanding being taken up with the spiritual blessings really is an excellent means to keep us from being so much taken up with the things of this world. It's being occupied with God. We lose our interest in idols. May God give us His grace to believe this, to bring all our thoughts, all our hearts, all our actions into closer conformity to this commandment through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Let us pray.