In connection with the first commandment, found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, and explained by Lord's Day 34, we will read 1 Corinthians chapter 8 tonight. 1 Corinthians chapter 8, we'll read the whole of the chapter. Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing, yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him, as concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols. We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be, that are called the gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be gods many and lords many, but to us there is but one God, the Father of all, of whom are all things, and we in Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him. How be it There is not in every man that knowledge. For some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled. But meat commendeth us not to God. For neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worse. But take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols? And through thy knowledge shall the weaker brother perish for whom Christ died? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh, While the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." As far as we read the Word of God on the basis of that passage, we turn to Lord's Day 34 of the Heidelberg Catechism, found on pages 20 and 21. And we find there, question 92 asks, what is the law of God? And we read the law this morning, so I won't reread that now. And then question 93, how are these the Ten Commandments, how are these divided into two tables? The first of which teaches us how we must behave towards God. The second, what duties we owe to our neighbor. And I do not intend to expand much upon that tonight, but we may remember that the first four commandments belong to the first table of the law, and the last six belong to the second table of the law. But now we come to the first commandment. What doth God enjoin in the first commandment? That I as sincerely as I desire the salvation of my own soul, avoid and flee from all idolatry, sorcery, soothsaying, superstition, invocation of saints or any other creatures, and learn rightly to know the only true God, trust in Him alone with humility and patience, submit to Him, expect all good things from Him only, love, fear, and glorify Him with my whole heart so that I renounce and forsake all creatures rather than commit even the least thing contrary to His will. What is idolatry? Idolatry is instead of or besides that one true God who has manifested himself in his word to contrive or have any other object in which men place their trust. When we begin looking at the Ten Commandments as we do tonight, beloved, it is good for us to ask the question, who is God? And the scriptures are the revelation of God to us, answering that question. He is the living God. He is not a lifeless idol. He is the creating God. He creates all things. He is not an idol that has to be created by men. He is the speaking, the seeing, the hearing God. He is not the idol that has a mouth but cannot speak. He is not the idol that has eyes but cannot see. He is not the idol that has ears but cannot hear. God is the true and living God. And there are especially three things tonight that the Bible teaches us that we have to keep in mind as we consider this first commandment. And the first is that He is the one God. There is only one God. And there is no other God. Secondly, we rejoice as we come to the Ten Commandments in being able to say we know certainly that He is the God who forgives sins. That's not a question for us. As Christians, we do not have to ask the question, is there a God who can forgive sins? And notice the implication is we know very well that no one else can forgive sins. Who but God can forgive sins? No one. So then that makes the question all important. Is there a God who forgives sins and we as Christians make the confident confession, and this comes from Micah 7 verse 18, who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity. There's a God and we know him who forgives sins. Now, that's what the catechism taught us. in the second part of the catechism, our deliverance from sin is the work of God. There is a God who saves sinners. Now that's the foundation for what we're considering here in the third part of the catechism. This God who forgives, who pardons all the sins of sinners, not only is a God who says, I command you to do good works and keep my commandments, But this is who our God is. He's a God who gives what He commands. You understand that? God doesn't simply say, I'm going to tell you what not to do and what to do, but as I tell you what not to do and what to do, I am going to give you my grace. So that this doesn't depend upon you. Keeping the law of God isn't, first of all, about who you are. By nature, a sinner. And now, regenerated, person who has life in Christ, but that's not really what this is all about. This is about the kind of God we serve. Is he the kind of God who only pardons iniquity and leaves people to continue in sin? Or is he the kind of God who comes and says, now, this is what I'm going to do with you. I'm going to put my power on display through you and through your life. I'm going to take you a person who used to be devoted to sin. and died in sin, powerless to do anything but sin. And I'm going to transform you. And I'm going to give you the power to begin, not perfectly, but begin to keep my commandments. This is who our God is. And this is our prayer. Maybe I'll repeat this when we come to each of the commandments. Lord, command what thou wilt, and then give what thou dost command. Lord, tell us what to do. But don't leave it at that. Give us the grace to do it. And so we consider tonight the unity of God as we look at the first commandment. This is God's oneness. And we consider three points that there is one God. that we have one God and that we must serve one God. There is one God. The first commandment is teaching us that when it says in Exodus 20 verse 3, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. The Heidelberg Catechism says this commandment requires that you know rightly or learn rightly to know the one, the only true God. There is one God. That is the foundation of our Christian faith. If anyone says, I believe in many gods, they reveal by that confession, they're not a Christian. Or if anyone says, I believe in zero gods, I don't believe in one God, I believe in no gods, by that confession, they reveal that they are not a Christian. The Christian says, I believe I know the one true God and there is no other. And this is our witness to the world. God has made himself known to us. And this is the foundation of all of our knowledge. We know the one true God. The apostle shows here in 1 Corinthians chapter eight that this is basic knowledge for the Christian. Now there's a weaker brother who struggles with this in the church in Corinth. But in the first six verses especially, the apostle is saying those of you who have been nurtured in the faith, you have come to not now, you've gone beyond being a babe in the faith and you have become an adult in the faith, you have knowledge of this. You have knowledge of the one true God, and he says, therefore you know that an idol is nothing in the world. There is none other but one God. In verse 5 he says these idols are called gods, but verse 6 he says, to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom all things by whom are all things, and we by him. That's well known to us tonight as well, isn't it? And we understand that this is the basic truth for the people of God going back to the very beginning. Although we don't read of that in Genesis 1, 2, or 3, that God specifically told Adam and Eve, I am the one God and there's no one else. When we confess Psalm 90 verses 1 and 2, which we did this morning in the call to worship, that before the earth or before the mountains were made, even from everlasting unto everlasting, God is God, we understand that that's what Adam and Eve knew from the beginning. God just created us, and he just created the mountains and the seas, and he created all of the animals and all of the creatures, but these creatures that are not eternal, these creatures are not divine, are not God, God alone is God. And so, we are taught to know the uniqueness, the onlyness, The proper way to say it probably is the divinity of God. I'd like to say it this way tonight, the godness of God. He alone is eternal. To know God rightly means you know that He alone is the creator as God. To know God rightly means you know that He alone is unchanging. It means that you know that you can point to all of the creatures of this world, even the greatest creatures, even the spiritual creatures, even the angels or Satan himself and the other demons, and you can say, they are not God. They didn't create. And they're not unchanging, they are subject to change. To know God rightly means you know that He alone is infinite and that there's a difference between human power and the power of God's godness, His divinity. There's a difference between human wisdom and knowledge and grace and righteousness, and the divine wisdom and knowledge and grace and righteousness of God. He is God, and to say that is to say that He is not only infinite, But He is the ruler and He is the judge and He is the standard of all of His creatures. It means that the creature says, I must never try to make God measure up to me. I may never say, here's my thought of God, and now, when it comes to what I think a gracious God is, or a truthful God is, he had better measure up to what I think. Beloved, we see that all around us, and that sometimes is even our attitude towards God. But now the first commandment comes and says, no, he's God, meaning he's the standard. And he says, as God, whether you like it or not, all of you, my creatures, you must measure up to me as the standard. I'm the standard of truth, of righteousness, of grace, and all things. He is God. And not only does Paul here in 1 Corinthians 8, but Moses in Deuteronomy 4 say, and there's none other. He alone is God. But to know him rightly, and the Apostle Paul emphasizes that, doesn't he, in verse 6. It means you not only know him as the triune God, one God, three in person, but you know him as the God who became man. Verse six, but there is to us one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. Jesus Christ is the revelation to us of God. We know John 14, verse six, where Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. But we also should listen to verse seven, where he says, if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also, and from henceforth ye know him and have seen him. And what Jesus is saying is, you want to know the one true God? You can't do that if you're a Jew and you don't believe in me. You can't do that if you are a Muslim and you don't believe in me. You can't do that if you're a Jehovah's Witness and you say, I believe in one God, but you don't believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who is God come in our flesh. This beloved is the true stumbling block of our Christian faith. This is what separates us even from those who say they believe in one God, but they don't believe Jesus Christ is God. You and I, when we quote Micah 7 verse 18 and say, who is a God like unto thee who pardoneth iniquity. We know that we only know God as the God who forgives sins in the face of Jesus Christ. This is why we do celebrate this time of year, the incarnation and the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is through him that we have the full knowledge and revelation in our human capacity of our God. When the human race fell into sin, God did not cease being the only God. And Jesus coming again did not make God again the only God of the universe. But we can think of it this way, Jesus coming is the revelation of that again that was hidden to some degree. Man in his blindness and sin, He knows the eternal power and Godhead of God, but he suppresses that. He rejects that knowledge. And it's the Lord Jesus Christ who comes again, who God sent to die on the cross to redeem us, to give to us the ability to believe in Him, so that The godness of God is known to us as his people in Jesus Christ. We know God as the creator through Jesus Christ. We know God as infinite in wisdom and grace and knowledge through Jesus Christ. We know God is the ruler of the universe through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the one who has redeemed the world and who rededicates it to God, and he's the one who has ascended into heaven and rules over all things at the right hand of God. Through Jesus Christ, if you truly believe in him, you say, I believe in the one God of Scripture, the God and Father of Jesus Christ. And this means that through Jesus Christ, we know and confess that idols are not real. They are not real gods. Some idols are purely, well, mythical. They exist only in the minds of men. I think you can say that of many of the Greek and the Roman gods. Zeus has never lived, Hermes, Diana, Jupiter, Mercury. These are literally gods that have no existence that man has made up with his mind. There are some idols. that we would say, well, they are real. If men fall down to worship the mountains, as men have done throughout history, if men fall down to worship the sun, as men have done throughout history, or if men do what the Corinthians were doing in 1 Corinthians 8, and they carve images out of wood or stone, and they bow down to those things, we would say those mountains, the sun, those images, those are real things, and they are real creatures. But there's no divinity in them. They are false gods. Mountains are old. But Psalm 90 tells us, doesn't it, they are not eternal and therefore not God. The sun is powerful. But Psalm 19 tells us the Son is not infinite in power, the Son is under the power of God. The Son is not God, S-U-N, but God is God. And those carved pieces of wooden stone in Corinth. They didn't have any power to hear prayers when people came to dedicate food to them. They didn't have any power to give any blessing to the people who sought blessing from them. Those idols, from that point of view, were nothing. They're not gods. There is only Jehovah, the God of Scripture, the God and Father of Jesus Christ. And when we establish that truth, beloved, we come then to the second point and recognize this is true for all men. We have but one God as creatures, as human beings. And this is what Paul is saying to the Corinthians, that there are people who worship many gods, who are dedicating their lives to idols, But we as Christians understand that those idols that they have invented and that they call gods are no gods. So that even these ignorant, unbelieving people, in a sense, and we have to say this carefully, because this doesn't refer to having God in a believing way, but they have a God, a God who gave them life, a God who sits enthroned above them and rules over them. A God who tells them what to do and what not to do. And a God who judges them. Not only will, but He is the God who is judging them for their unbelief and other sins. And this is the testimony of Scripture, and this is something that we need to take to heart and for our comfort recognize too. Even though there are people in the world who are going around saying, I don't believe in God, I don't believe in the God of Scripture, I don't believe in this God and Father of Jesus Christ. And even though the majority of the people loudly proclaim that they don't believe in this God and live as if He doesn't exist, the testimony of Scripture is He's still their God. Not personally, not savingly, in the way that He is our God, but He is the only God of the world. Isn't that the testimony, beloved, for example, of Moses and his work that he did on behalf of God in Egypt? Pharaoh thought of himself as a god. And he did not believe in the God of Moses. And along with Pharaoh, all of the people of Egypt believed in the Nile River as a God, and they believed in many other creatures as God. And what is it that God revealed there in Egypt concerning Pharaoh and all of the creatures in Egypt? God revealed that He is God in heaven. The Nile River is no God. I am the God who can turn that river into blood for seven days. And these other creatures that you may worship, that you may fear in your superstitious idolatry, I am the God of the locusts and of the frogs and of darkness and light and of every creature, the weather, the hail, the fire that falls from heaven. I am the God of all of that. And so today, And when we have opportunity, we need to witness this to men. When they say they don't know where their life comes from, they don't know in whom they live and move and have their being, we have to tell them, as Paul did in Acts chapter 17, you have your life and your being and you move in this one God who created all things and rules over all things. And when men deny that God rules over their life, we have to tell them. Even though you don't want to believe that snow comes from God, it does. He is the God who rules and who judges. So beloved, this is the condition of the lost people in the world in which we live. They have a God, one God. and they live in rebellion against Him and are ignorant of Him. And they give themselves to worship idols that are no gods at all. We ought to pity them. Their condition is miserable. But you and I are the ones who have the knowledge of faith We are the ones who not only have one God, but we know it. We know it in a personal relationship with Him. We know it in a saving relationship with Him. We know it because He's made it plain to us, not only in the creation, His power and His Godhead, but in His Word. We know it because he's revealed it to us in Jesus Christ. Notice how the apostle ties that in, not only in verse six, but he speaks of the weaker brother, even the man who struggles with clearly understanding that an idol is nothing, and that you may, you may eat meat sacrificed to that idol that is nothing. There's a brother who doesn't understand that, and yet Paul says, he's a brother for whom Christ died. We know God through Jesus Christ. And Paul says, this is your liberty, your freedom. You're free from idols. And this comes, beloved, in the second point, could fit in the third point. We'll come to that in a moment. with this message. Know you're free and walk in that freedom. Or negatively, know you're free and don't put yourself in bondage to an idol. It's bondage, that's bondage. You can sense that, can't you, the freedom you have? Just thinking about it sounds like bondage to me, and maybe it does to you. To make a meal and think, before I eat this, I have to present it to a carved piece of wood and seek blessing and favor from that dead chunk of wood? That's superstition and bondage. I'm glad I don't have to depend upon Zeus or any other mythical god to bless me if he's pleased with me. And by the way, I don't know what would please him because he's never told anyone what would please him. All that those who worship him do is guess. And I don't have to be afraid that somehow I would displease him, and again, nobody really knows what would displease him because he's never told us, but I don't have to be afraid that he might curse me. Which is what Greek and Roman mythology is full of. Gods who are a terror to people. I'm glad I don't have to put my faith in any men. That would be bondage. I don't have to put my faith in the institutions of men, powerful men, and I'm glad. I don't have to be God. Too often I try and it never works. No one can bear the burden of being the infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-gracious God but God. You understand then, beloved, that we know that looking to idols never works, whether it's an idol out there or if we look to ourselves. If we rely upon an idol, if we look to an idol for comfort, if we look to an idol for happiness, if we look to an idol for help, if we look to an idol to give us freedom from fear, it will only bring more uncertainty and fear. This is our liberty. And we thank God that we know him and that he is our only God. We know where our life comes from, Psalm 139, and the life of our children. We know who has fearfully and wonderfully made us. We know who has saved us. We know who holds our soul in life. We know who controls the world. We know who is the God of the church. We know who is the God of our families and of all of our life. We know who to worship as God. We know who to turn to in times of trouble. We know who to rely upon for all things we need for our bodies as well as for our souls. But probably, not probably, ultimately more important than that is God knows us. This is the profound point that I ran across recently when I was reading Knowing God by J.I. Packer. And what he stresses is that it's not only that God knows us, but that we know God knows us, that is of ultimate importance. God has known us, and then his knowledge becomes the foundation of our knowledge, the source of our knowledge, so that we recognize that it's not simply this, that we know God is the only true God, but God is the one who knows himself as the only true God, and he knows us, as his people, and he knows himself to be our only God. And the scriptures do assure us of this. Psalm 103, he knows us. He knows our frame. He knows that we are dust. He knows we need mercy and forgiveness. He knows we need his divine saving power. Isn't that really most precious? To know I'm in the mind of God. To know that I'm never out of His thoughts. To know that He knows me in love. He knows me this way, as friend. He's never distracted. He's determined to bless me even though He knows my sin. He knows my sin and sees my sin in a way that no other man sees sin. He knows my sin more thoroughly even than I know my sin. And this is what He tells me so that I may know it, that even that knowledge of me as a sinful, twisted person doesn't turn Him away from me, doesn't make Him determined to cut me off. No, this is the kind of God He is. He knows me in Christ, saves me in Christ, and He wants me to know, this is how I know you, redeemed, friend, saint. You are my people. I am your God. God is jealous of that knowledge. And part of that means that he doesn't want you and me to have any other God because he wants us to be faithfully devoted to him as our only God, as he is devoted to us as his only people. But that God is jealous of that knowledge means that he's going to do whatever he can to protect that relationship, to maintain that relationship. And when he sees you and me walking in unfaithfulness, he won't abandon us. But he'll come to us with his word, say to us, no, no, you're not to have another God, another lover. But thou shalt have no other gods before me. I'm the only God. You have only one God, me. And now, thirdly, we consider what he demands. We must serve the one God. That's what Jesus said and that's probably emblazoned in our minds, isn't it? When he was facing the devil and the devil said in that third temptation, bow down to me and I will give you all of the kingdoms of the world. Jesus said, it is written, thou shalt serve the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve. He did it, didn't he? Perfectly. Served God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength so that he could go to the cross to pay for our gross sin of idolatry and that he may now be the power of God through His cross that comes to us and says, now, He's your God. Do these two things. First, in the language of Lord's Day 33, be sorry. Be sorry for all of your idolatry. Be sorry for that idolatry, not just because God says that's a sin. But be sorry for all of that idolatry because that is spiritual unfaithfulness to the God who loves you and the God that you now love. And the God who says, I am your God. And before my face, when you serve an idol, you say, my car is my God. My phone is my God. I am my God. And God says, be sorry for that. And then hate that sin and flee from all idolatry. will never be perfect, but daily conversion, beloved, in the terms of Lord's Day 33 says you need to do this more and more in your life. Make that idol smaller and smaller in your life. Make that idol less and less of a part of your heart and a part of your mind and a part of what you devote your time to. And there's many things we could say about this, but for me and maybe for you too, this really comes down to this. I must decrease. To flee from idolatry. means I need to quit loving myself. Means I need to see that life is not to revolve around me, my desires, my glory, my rights. I don't have to have my way all the time. I don't have to be told all the time I'm right. I'm not God. And secondly, using the language of Lord's Day 33 in true conversion, to implement the first commandment in your life means you love God. And that your heart be a place where there's a shelf only for Him. He's God and no one or nothing else. and in my mind and in the way that I spend or use my time. It means he must increase as I decrease. Let God be right. Let God be praised. Let God be served. Let Him be God when my life is going well. And when I am filled with riches, I'm not going to worship them, but I'm going to worship God. But also this, Peter says, when you are suffering as a Christian, sanctify God in your heart. Because that's going to be a time when you're going to be tempted to say, I need some comfort, I need some help from some other source beside the one true God. And Peter says, don't you do it. When you are suffering, even for a well-doing, sanctify, that is glorify, praise, devote yourself to God. At the end of the day, What I do or don't do is not the important thing. That's what Paul is saying here in 1 Corinthians 8. You might think that the all-important thing here is Christian liberty. That's the subject Paul was teaching about. And then we begin to think this is all about how the stronger brother treats the weaker brother, and the weaker brother treats the stronger brother. And am I going to be able to assert my freedom here? I have knowledge. I know that that idol is nothing. I may do what I'm free to do. And Paul does. say you do have to think about your brother, not just about you. But at the end of the day, beloved, what he says really matters is Christ. Not you, not your freedom, not what you think of your brother, not what your brother thinks of you. But he says, you sin so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience Ye sin against Christ. And then what he's saying there then in verse 13, wherefore if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. What he's really saying is, I'm going to be governed by this. Yes, I'm going to do what's best for my brother. but I'm going to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and through him, the one only God. May God bless that word to our hearts, amen. Father in heaven, we confess that thou alone art God, Creator, Redeemer, and the God who has the power to sanctify us. Grant that we may be sensitive to the relationship that we have with Thee, our God, our spiritual Father and husband even. And then may we be sensitive to the seriousness of all idolatry, the spiritual unfaithfulness, even hatred for thee, the God who loves us. Lord, fill us with the love for thee. that we may be jealous for thy glory, and that we may not mock thee in walking in idolatry, that we may show forth the power of thy grace in our lives to love thee and to love one another. Not ever elevating anyone to a position of an idol as a god, May we love each other properly as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ and encourage each other in serving Him alone as our God and Savior. We pray it in His name. Amen. Psalter number 409.