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Please take your Bibles and turn
with me to Exodus chapter 20. Exodus chapter 20. Maybe when you were growing up
and in school, your teacher would sometimes say to you, students
put on your thinking caps. How many of you remember that?
I hear some laughs, so you remember that. Put on your thinking caps. And what that meant, figuratively
speaking, is you need to think. You need to pay attention. You
need to listen. This isn't something you can just check out on. You
need to think, and you need to think carefully. Well, we need
to put on our thinking caps, but thank God we have the Spirit
of the Living God who indwells us, who gives us understanding,
who aids the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. And it's
not just us putting on our so-called thinking caps. But I do want
you to be mindful of that concept. We need to understand this. We
need to think about this command, which is very short and simple,
as we'll see in a minute, the second commandment, but yet has
so many far reaching implications and applications for us in our
lives. So this morning in my series
on the 10 commandments, we will continue to look at The second
commandment. Exodus 20, I'm going to read
the first and second commandments, verses 3-6. The first commandment
in verse 3, you shall have no other gods before me. And then
the second commandment, you shall not make for yourself an idol,
or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth
beneath or in the water under the earth, you shall not worship
them or serve them. And here's the reason given for
the commandment, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. And then we see the judgment
of God for false worship, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on
the children and on the third and fourth generations of those
who hate me. But then we see the blessing
associated with true worship. But showing loving kindness to
thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. This morning, I need to review,
because it's tied in. These things are so tied together.
I need to review something of where we were last week. I need
to continue to talk about the basic understanding of this commandment. then expand upon that further,
and then in particular, we'll see how this second commandment
applies to not only images of God the Father, but images of
God the Son. Last week, we began considering
a basic understanding of the second commandment. We saw that
the first and second commandments are related and connected, yet
they're different and distinct. We considered questions like
these. How is the second commandment related yet different from the
first commandment? And what is the second commandment
really prohibiting? Again, this morning, we will
continue to gain an understanding of the commandment and its application. Next week, we'll consider the
reason for the commandment, the jealousy of God for his own glory,
and the judgment and blessing of God associated with this commandment.
So we're going to consider the commandment further, understanding
it in greater detail, and then we're going to ask, again, what
does this mean regarding images of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
second person of the Trinity? There is a relationship between
the first two commandments. How are they related? Well, they
both have to do with God. with us, and then the worship
of the one true God. So they both have to do with
the worship of God. We must acknowledge God, He is
the only God, there is no other, and we are to worship the one
true God and worship Him alone. An idol is not the true and living
God. Therefore, no idol of any kind
is to be worshiped. But there's a distinction between
the first two commandments. The second commandment is not
only prohibiting worshiping false gods called idols, it is prohibiting
the worshiping of the true God by way of making an image or
representation of him. Therefore, the heart of the second
commandment is the subject of how the true and living God is
not to be worshiped, and by extension, how he is to be worshiped. People
may acknowledge or name the true and living God as their God,
the first commandment, and yet seek to worship Him in ways that
are not worthy of Him, nor in accordance with the true worship
of the true God. So we understand there is a distinction
between these commandments. And I said it this way to help
us understand it last week. The first commandment is about
the true God. The second commandment is about
the true worship of God. The first commandment is a prohibition
against worshiping false gods. The second commandment is a prohibition
against worshiping the true God falsely. The first commandment
requires that we worship God alone. The second commandment
requires that we worship God aright. The first commandment
is about worshiping the right God, who is the only true and
living God. The second commandment is about
worshiping the one true living God in the right manner as he
is commanded. So false gods are condemned in
the first commandment. False worship of the true God
is condemned in the second commandment. So we can sum it up in this way.
The first commandment is about who is to be worshiped, the object
of our worship. The second commandment is about
how we are to worship. the manner of our worship. So
the second commandment has to do with worship, who is to be
worshiped, but it's more than that. It's how God is to be worshiped. It's important to understand
what the second commandment doesn't mean. This is not a prohibition
against making any image of any kind in creation for any purpose. So some would say that this means
there'd be no images at all. And as I mentioned last week,
there are some who would even say, therefore you can't take
a picture or make a painting of a person. That's not what
this means. This is not a prohibition against
images, pictures, statues, paintings, and so on of people, animals,
the sun, the moon, the stars, or anything else in creation.
This commandment is not a prohibition of art or the creation of images
in general, Images are not intrinsically evil. We may create art. However, images of God are evil
and are prohibited by God himself in the second commandment. So
what does the second commandment prohibit? Well, first we could
simply say this. The second commandment prohibits
the worship of images or likenesses of anything in creation. It prohibits
the worship of images or likenesses of anything in creation. No image,
no statue, no painting, no drawing, no picture, no object in creation
is to be worshiped. This is idolatry. Secondly, the
second commandment also prohibits making an image or likeness of
anything in creation, calling it your God, and then worshiping
it. For there is only one true living
God. That's the first commandment. So the second commandment, again,
is related to that, but it expands upon it. Fallen sinners are worshipers. They are prone to worship false
gods, and they often do so by way of an object or representation
of their God. And this is a form of idolatry
as well, which is an expression of the depravity of the human
heart. But thirdly, and at the heart
of the commandment, is this. The second commandment is a prohibition
against making an image or an idol as a representation of the
true and living God. There is to be no worship of
the true God represented by a man-made image. No representation of God
is to be made. That is false worship. You shall
not make for yourself an idol is forbidding worshiping God
through a depiction or representation of him. For this too is a form
of idolatry, even if it's done in the name of the true God. So what does the commandment
prohibit? It prohibits the worship of images and likenesses of anything
in creation. It prohibits the making of images,
calling it your God, and then worshiping it. But at the heart
of it, it prohibits making an image or an idol as a representation
of the true and living God. Now, turn to Deuteronomy chapter
four. Deuteronomy chapter four. Genesis,
you were in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, then Deuteronomy. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses
reiterates God's commands before Israel enters into the promised
land. By the way, what does Deuteronomy
mean? The word Deuteronomy. Deutero, second, that word means
second. Nami, Deuteronomy, comes from
the word namas, which means law. So quite literally, Deuteronomy
means second law. So it means that the law was
given for a second time. When you read through Deuteronomy,
Israel is about to go into the promised land. And so Moses,
reiterates, repeats the law of God again before they go in.
So therefore it's called Deuteronomy, second law, it's given for a
second time. Deuteronomy chapter four, verse 15. There's a warning. So watch yourselves carefully.
Verse 15, So Moses is reiterating here, you did not see any form. He did not reveal himself in
that way. You didn't see God as an image. And so watch yourself, he says
in verse 16, so that you do not act corruptly and make a graven
image for yourself in the form of any figure, the likeness of
male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on earth,
the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, the likeness
of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish
that is in the water below the earth, So he's reiterating again
what God has commanded in the second commandment. And beware
not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon
and stars and all the host of heaven and be drawn away and
worship and serve them. So this is the stated prohibition. But I want you to look back in
verses one and two. Deuteronomy 4, one and two. Now,
O Israel, listen to the statutes and judgments which I am teaching
you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession
of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given
you. You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you,
nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of
the Lord your God, which I command you. So notice here, what he's
emphasizing is to be careful to do what God has commanded,
to keep his commandments. That means you don't add to it,
nor do you take away from it. Now this has implications for
the second commandment in particular as we're considering that. Implicit
in and inferred by the second commandment is this, which is
very important to understand. True worship is honoring God
as He really is and in the manner which He has commanded. So in
this prohibition not to worship God by way of a representation
of some image of Him, Inferred by that is true worship is honoring
God as He truly is and in the manner that He has commanded. We may not take away from His
commands. We may not add to His commands.
That applies to what has been commanded concerning the worship
of His holy name. We may not worship Him in a manner
that He has not commanded. We may only worship Him in the
manner He has commanded because he regulates the worship of his
name. So this is what you've heard
from this place often. Hear it again. This is the essence
of the regulative principle of worship. The regulative principle
of worship is simply saying what Moses said here in Deuteronomy
4, verses one and two in regards to the worship of God. Verse
two, you shall not add to the word which I am commanding you,
you shall not take away from it. So we're only to worship
God in the manner he has commanded. He regulates the worship of his
name. Now, back to this specific prohibition
against making an idol, a representation, an image as a representation
of God. Here is an important point. I
said this last week, but let me reiterate it and elaborate
on it and apply it even further today. Making images of the one
true living God is not worthy of Him. Making images of the
one true living God is not worthy of Him. It makes Him less than
He is. It dishonors His nature. His
being, His majesty, His power, His sovereignty, His self-sufficiency. Whatever you can say about God,
making an image of Him degrades and diminishes His glory. Can
any image or anything created by man rightly and justly represent
God's divine being and attributes? And the answer is no. Anything
we make is finite, but God is an infinite spirit. So making
images of the one true living God is not worthy of him. How
is it unworthy of him? Well, first, we could say it
this way. Simply, it diminishes, degrades, dishonors, disgraces,
and defames His glory. Turn to Romans 1. Romans 1. And I want to expand on this
more. I want to show you more specifically from the Word how
this defames, degrades, dishonors the glory of God. Romans 1, beginning
in verse 18. Again, hear God's word, just
hear it again. I know you're familiar with it,
I've read it before, but hear the word of God, Romans 1, 18.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness. Because that which is known about
God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them And
one of the ways he made it evident is through what he has made.
Verse 20, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes,
his eternal powers, divine nature, have been clearly seen, being
understood through what has been made, so that they are without
excuse. So by the way, this is something
God makes, not man. So don't confuse it. Well, God
made something that shows something of his glory. God made it, not
man. There's a big difference. But, we don't worship those things
as a representation of God. You have to be very careful.
When you look at the beauty of a sunrise, that you're not worshiping
the sunrise, but instead you say, what a powerful, wise God
who created that, and controls it, and has given the limits
of those things in His creation. So, Paul is simply saying that
God has revealed something about himself, but yet man in his sinfulness
suppresses the truth about God, and they do not acknowledge him,
they do not honor him. Verse 21, for even though they
knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks. What
is that? That's a violation of the first commandment. They don't
honor him as the one true living God. but they became futile in
their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing
to be wise, they became fools." Now, verse 23 is key to understanding
the second commandment and how making images of God is unworthy
of Him. Verse 23. Here's what they do. They exchanged the glory of the
incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man
and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
So here you see a contrast. The glory of the incorruptible
God. And then the image in the form
of corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and crawling
creatures. And in man's depravity, in his
idolatry, He makes images. And when an image of God is made,
an exchange takes place. The word here, exchange the glory
of the incorruptible God. The word exchange means to make
otherwise, to change, to alter. The glory of God is now changed,
not literally, but in their false worship or in their idolatry
is changed into an image made like corruptible man. What is
so wrong with this, in fact evil and wicked, is that it takes
the glory of God and it exchanges it, it changes it into an image
of that which is corruptible. Notice the contrast, the glory. of God, the glory of God, His
radiance, His brightness, His splendor, His majesty. You've
heard me say before, the glory of God is a sum total of all
of who He is and all His attributes. God is glorious. And it takes
the glory of God and it changes the glory of the, notice the
adjective, incorruptible, the incorruptible God. The word incorruptible
here means immortal, imperishable. It's the same word used. Now
to the king eternal, immortal! Invisible, the only God, be honor
and glory forever and ever. 1 Timothy 1, 17. We just sang
a hymn based on that verse. God is eternal, immortal, imperishable,
incorruptible. And making an image or representation
of God changes or exchanges the glory of the eternal, immortal,
imperishable, incorruptible God into that which is corruptible,
it says. Whether it's an image of man
or an animal, it is corruptible. The word corruptible means subject
to decay and destruction, mortal, perishable, transitory. An idol, the image itself that is made
is corruptible. The thing made is corruptible
and the created thing in whose image it is made is also corruptible. So the sin here is the exchange
of what is incorruptible with that which is corruptible. That
which is imperishable changed or exchanged into that which
is perishable, that which is unchanging and immutable with
that which is changing, that which is immortal with that which
is mortal. This is not worthy of God. It
obscures and diminishes his glory. Verse 25. talks of another exchange. They exchanged a different Greek
word here, but similar in meaning to the word of verse 23. They
exchanged the truth of God for a lie. They exchanged the truth
about God for a lie. And what happens? They worship
and serve the creature rather than the creator who is blessed
forever. Amen. So when this happens, There is
no true worship of God taking place, for the truth about God,
the true God, is exchanged for a lie and a false worship. And notice how the Creator is
described here. You wonder if the Apostle Paul
has the first two commandments in mind. who is blessed forever. That's the first commandment.
You shall have no other gods for me because he is the one
and only God who alone is to be worshiped and praised forever
and ever. Amen. He's glorious. He's worthy of praise. And yet
images in the worship of the true God obscures his glory. It's a form of idolatry. It degrades
God. It dishonors his glory. It makes him less than he is.
Consider the golden calf that Israel made in Exodus chapter
32. They may have been attempting to produce an image that would
depict God's strength, his might, and his power. But a calf? A four-footed creature? What
about God's, not just His power, but His immortality or self-sufficiency,
His immutability, His wisdom, His justice, His righteousness,
His mercy, His kindness, His grace? A golden calf cannot display
those things. A man-made image cannot display
or represent the glory of the incorruptible God. Therefore,
an image or representation of God is incomplete. But worse
than that, it is a distortion of who he really is. To use such
images in the worship of his name, again, is to disgrace and
defame his name. By the way, here we see how the
second commandment is tied to the third commandment. You shall
not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. To make an
image of God is also to take His name in vain. It treats God
as less holy than He is. His name is not hallowed and
treated as holy. You see the coherence and unity
of these commandments. Now this is serious. We see how
serious it is by God's response. Look at verse 24, Romans 1 verse
24. I skipped that verse. But notice it, therefore God
gave them over in the lust of their heart to impurity so that
their bodies will be disgraced among them. When there's false
worship, God acts. There are always consequences
to false worship or the worship of a false god. There are always
repercussions, there are always consequences upon the person
who worships false gods or who worships the true God falsely.
And we'll see that when we consider next week the judgment and blessing
of God associated with the commandments. He visits iniquity on those who
falsely worship him. They're said to hate him, but
loving kindness to those who love him and keep his commandments.
So this kind of false worship is actually hating God. No matter
what the intention is, the act itself is a form of hatred of
God. So making images of the one true
living God is not worthy of him. It diminishes His glory. It degrades
Him. It dishonors Him. It defames
His glory. But also, secondly, it makes
God lifeless and impersonal. When in reality, He's living
and active, ruling and reigning. He is the living God. You hear me say this sometimes.
I refer to it as the one true living God. He's the one God,
He's the only God. There are not many gods, there's
one true living God. He is the true God, He alone
is God, but He is also the living God. And this description of
Him as the living God is found throughout the scriptures, Old
and New Testaments. 15 times in the Old Testament,
He's described as the living God. 13 times in the New Testament,
He's described as the living God. My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God. Psalm 42 verse two. Peter said,
you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Matthew 16 verse
16. Hebrews 10, 31. It is a terrifying
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. It's not terrifying to fall into
the hands of an idol. The imagination of man's mind
crafted and carved by his hands. But it's a terrifying thing to
fall into the hands of the living God. You see, God is the living
God. He is not dead and lifeless.
He's not dependent upon man. He's the living God. And so making
an image of God makes him lifeless and impersonal, when in reality,
he is the living God who is active, who is reigning, who is ruling.
Listen to Psalm 115. Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to your name give glory. because of your loving kindness,
because of your truth. Why should the nation say, where
now is their God? But our God is in the heavens.
He does whatever he pleases. Their gods, he says, their idols
are silver and gold, the work of man's hands. They have mouths,
but they cannot speak. They have eyes, but they cannot
see. They have ears, but they cannot hear. They have noses,
but they cannot smell. They have hands, but they cannot
feel. They have feet, but they cannot walk. They cannot make
a sound with their throat. They are not the living God.
There's one true living God. And our God is in the heavens.
He does whatever He pleases. He's eternal, incorruptible.
He rules, He reigns, He acts for His namesake and for His
glory. He is the living God. And so
to make an image of the living God is to make God lifeless and
impersonal. And you say, well, what if I
don't make a literal physical image in idol? What if I just
have an image of him in my mind? Someone has said this, God's
real attack is on mental images of which metal images are more
truly the consequence rather than the cause. In other words, how you think
about God is important. So you may not just say, well,
I won't make it. The commandment talks about making
an idol. But what if I just think of God
in those terms? Well, the making of idols really
comes from the mind anyway. Here's how I think of God. So
we can commit idolatry in our thinking as well. How we think
about God is important. Do you think about God rightly
and biblically as he has revealed himself and as he truly is? The
Westminster Larger Catechism, question 109, asks, what are
the sins forbidden in the second commandment? And it answers it
this way. The sins forbidden in the second
commandment are all devising, counseling, commanding, using,
or any wise approving any religious worship not instituted by God
himself, tolerating a false religion, And then it says this, the making
any representation of God of all or of any of the three persons
either inwardly in our mind or outwardly in any kind of image
or the likeness of any creature. So notice here, even in our minds.
Listen, wrong thoughts about God are a form of idolatry. Idolatry can be in the mind.
That is what one thinks, in particular what one thinks about God himself.
Wrong thoughts about God are as dangerous as physical images
of God. To think something about God
that is not true of him is a form of idolatry. And sadly, this
form of mental idolatry pervades much of the professing church
today. Listen to what A.W. Pink wrote
in 1975 in his book, The Attributes of God. The God of the 20th century
no more resembles the supreme sovereign of holy writ than does
the dim flickering candle of the glory to the midday, excuse
me, comparison of the flickering candle to the glory of the midday
sun. The God who is now talked about
in the average pulpit spoken of in the ordinary Sunday school,
mentioned in much of the religious literature of the day, and preached
in most of the so-called Bible conferences, is a figment of
human imagination, an invention of maudlin, meaning mushy, sentimentality. The heathen outside the pale
of Christendom form gods out of wood and stone, while millions
of heathen inside Christendom manufacture a god out of their
own carnal mind. In reality, they are but atheists,
for there is no other possible alternative between, as he speaks
of the sovereignty of God, between an absolute supreme God and no
God at all. A God whose will is resisted,
whose designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated,
possess no title to deity, and so far from being a fit object
of worship, merits nothing but contempt. So there, he's talking
about people who deny the sovereignty of God. God they made up in their
own imagination. The heart of the problems with
the church today is that The church no longer believes in
the God of the Bible. There is much in the name of
Christianity that is nothing more than idolatry. The God that
is proclaimed and supposedly worshiped is nothing more than
a golden calf. This is why A. W. Tozer wrote
in his book The Knowledge of the Holy Let us beware, lest
we in our pride accept the erroneous notion that idolatry consists
only in kneeling before visible objects of adoration and that
civilized peoples are therefore free from it. The essence of
idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are
unworthy of him. It begins in the mind and may
present where no overt act of worship has taken place. When they knew God, wrote Paul,
they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
then followed the worship of idols, fashioned after the likeness
of men and birds and beasts and creeping things. But this series
of degrading acts began in the mind, Tozer says. Wrong ideas
about God are not only the fountain from which the polluted waters
of idolatry flow, they are themselves idolatrous. The idolater simply
imagines things about God and acts as if they were true. He
writes, perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in
which they appear. The long career of Israel demonstrates
this clearly enough, and the history of the church confirms
it. So necessary to the church is a lofty concept of God that
when that concept in any measure declines, the church with her
worship and her moral standards declines along with it. The first
step down for any church is taken. when it surrenders its high opinion
of God. And therefore, you have probably
heard Tozer wrote, worship is pure or base as the worshiper
entertains high or low thoughts of God. So he says this is the weightiest
issue the church faces. a right understanding of God.
He says the heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian church
today is to purify and elevate her concept of God until it is
once more worthy of Him. And what is worthy of Him? That
we think rightly about Him. And how do we do that? By thinking
of Him as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures. and then to
worship Him as He really is in light of the revelation of Himself
in the Word and in the manner He has commanded. How many times
I've heard someone say, my God would never, and then they say
something about God that's not true from the Bible. And in this
way, people make up a God in their mind, call him the God
of the Bible, it's nothing more than idolatry. My God would never
send people to hell. My God is too loving. It's idolatry,
it's not the God of the Bible. God needs me. God can't live
without me. He loved me so much that he didn't
want to spend eternity without me. That's idolatry. It's not
the God of the Bible. It's not served by human hands
as if he needed anything or anyone. So in order to guard ourselves
from such idolatry, In idolatrous thoughts about God, we need to
study this book. It doesn't get back to the basics
of the Christian life. We need to understand what God
has revealed about himself in the scriptures. And so knowing
and believing the Bible is a safeguard against this form of idolatry.
As we know God as he has revealed himself, we are guarded from
idols. So making images The one true
living God is not worthy of him. And one must be careful to not
have thoughts that are not worthy of him, not true of him. Now,
this brings up a question. Are images of Jesus, the second
person of the triune Godhead, prohibited by the second commandment? What about images of Jesus, pictures
of Jesus, stained glass windows with depictions of Jesus? What
about children's Bibles with pictures of Jesus? What about
Sunday school curriculum? What about manger scenes, passion
plays depicting Jesus? What about portraits of Jesus
in your home? Are images of Jesus, prohibited
by the second commandment. Well, here's a summary of some
of the views. People have differing views on
this. Let me give you a summary of differing views to the answer
to that question. I guess the first is simply this.
Some have never thought about it. Maybe you're in that category.
You say, wait a minute, I've never thought about this. And
I encourage you to think about it and consider what scripture
has to say. It's an important question. Secondly, some people
believe that images of Jesus, in whatever form it's found,
is not only permissible in general, but it's often encouraged as
a means of devotion and worship. For example, there is the Roman
Catholic practice of what is called the Stations of the Cross. One source describes this practice
in this way. Stations of the cross is a series
of 14 pictures or carvings portraying events in the passion of Christ,
from his condemnation by Pontius Pilate to his enthronement or
entombment, excuse me. And so the series of stations,
there are 14 of them, are these, Jesus is condemned to death,
Then Jesus is made to bear his cross. Jesus falls for the first
time. Jesus meets his mother. Simon
of Cyrene is made to bear the cross. Then a station, a place,
a carving, a picture, something as Veronica wipes Jesus' face,
which isn't even in the Bible. Jesus falls a second time. The
women of Jesus weep over Jesus. Jesus falls a third time. Jesus
is stripped of his garments. Jesus is nailed to the cross.
He dies on the cross. He's taken down from the cross.
He's placed in the sepulcher. These are the 14 stations. And
this source says, the images are usually mounted on the inside
of walls of a church, a chapel, but it may also be erected in
such places as cemeteries, corridors of hospitals, religious houses,
or on mountainsides. And each station is commonly
visited with some variation of prayer. We adore you, O Christ,
and we bless you. And so, there are these images
that help in your devotion to Christ. And you go before those
images of these scenes, these stations of the cross. And it's there that you adore
Him. Images, statues, carvings are
a staple of the Roman Catholic Church. But every scripturally
informed believer should reject such images of Jesus. So there
are some who say, no, they should be used in our devotion and worship.
But there is the view, some would prohibit pictures, images, and
statues and such of Jesus at church as a means of worship. However, it wouldn't prohibit
various images of Jesus for teaching or evangelistic purposes. And
then finally, there's the belief that all images of Jesus for
any purpose are prohibited by the second commandment. This
is the position that I take. Now, there are godly people who
disagreed and who disagree about this subject. There are some
who may agree on some points and agree about some areas. Yeah,
it shouldn't be in church. You shouldn't have a picture
of Jesus here. Maybe at home it's okay. So there
are variations of it. I would simply ask that you consider
this subject. Maybe you haven't thought about
it. Maybe just without defensive posture, I know sometimes when
there's something that maybe you've just grown up a particular
way. Maybe you grew up in a home where there was a picture of
Jesus. I don't remember if it was my home. I think it was my
grandmother's house. I remember a picture of Jesus. It's a very common picture where
he's kneeling and there's a light shining upon him. I have this
recollection of that in my memory. And maybe you grew up where in
your home or grandparents home or whatever the case may be. And you may think, oh, it's very
harmless. It didn't affect me in any way.
It's what does the scripture say? What is God commanded about
the worship of his name? And so let me give you some arguments
that people give for permitting images of Jesus, at least in
some cases, and for specific purposes, and then give you my
response to those arguments. Some would say that the second
commandment does not prohibit images of Jesus because Jesus,
the Son of God, became a man and dwelt among us. And since
the second person of the Trinity became a man, the argument is
that it is permissible to make images of Jesus, but not of the
other persons of the Trinity, not of the Father, not of the
Holy Spirit. For, they would say, Jesus became
flesh and blood. The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us. The apostles speak of they touched
him, they beheld him, they saw him. He was flesh and blood. Very man. He was truly man. He was not just a spirit who
appeared to be a man. You know, that is the heresy
of docetism. The word docetism comes from
a Greek word that means to seem, to appear. And so there were
those who would say, because they believed that all physical
things were inherently evil, that Jesus couldn't have become
flesh and blood, for that would be taking upon something which
is inherently evil. And since he is only holy, he
only seemed and appeared to be a man, when in reality, he was
only a spirit. And so scripture condemns that.
1 John speaks of those antichrists, those who are heretics, those
who teach falsely that Jesus did not come in the flesh. That's
the spirit of the antichrist. He did. And some would argue,
well, since he had a physical body, if we Don't depict it. If we depict Bible scenes, maybe
from the gospels, but without Jesus, won't that appear that
we don't believe that he's really man, that he became a man? We
don't wanna be docetistic. Let me just respond a little
to this argument. First, a person is not a docetist. or implying it at all just because
he believes that visual depictions of Jesus are a violation of the
second commandment. That's not what's at issue here,
it's an issue of understanding the second commandment. And I
would ask this, do we need depictions to betray his humanity? I would say no, God has given
us a sufficient revelation of the person of Christ, who he
is and what he has done for sinners. We know of his two natures in
one person, not because of images of him, but because of God's
revelation in the scriptures about who he is. And is the word of God, it always
comes back to this, is the word of God sufficient for knowing,
loving, and worshiping Jesus? I would argue that a man-made
depiction of Jesus is not needed. and it surely will not be worthy
of him. How do you depict the Son of
God who became flesh and blood? What did he look like? Scripture
does not describe the face and features of Jesus. And we know
he had a beard because they plucked it out. But you only know that
by way of that description of how his sufferings and his passion
He became flesh and blood, but what were his physical features?
What was his complexion like? What color were his eyes? You
can only surmise. And so any depiction of Jesus
is completely made up and contrived. So wouldn't that be true if we
make images of Abraham or Moses? We don't know what they look
like, yes, but they were mere men and nothing more. If a betrayal
of Moses falls short of him in some way, we're not falling short
of portraying the God-man, but only of a mere man. We do not
know what Jesus looked like because scripture doesn't tell us. Often
when I preached about the birth of Christ, it pointed out that
all the details of his birth are not described. It's just
he was born, who he is, and that he was born in a very
humble means. But it doesn't describe him.
We want to know, how much did he weigh? How long was the baby?
What's the color of the cow? What's it look like? We want
to know that. Nothing of that matters. Do you like Joseph or
Mary? It doesn't matter. The Bible simply doesn't reveal
these things to us. Shouldn't that tell us something?
Images of Jesus will always fall short of portraying him, even
of his humanity. So how does it help me in any
way to have a depiction of a man who is supposedly Jesus, conjuring
up thoughts and ideas about Jesus that are neither accurate nor
necessary? But Jesus is not just a man.
He became flesh and blood, but he is the God-man, truly God
and truly man, He is one person with two natures. He's described
in Hebrews 1 verse 3 in this way. He is the radiance of the
Father's glory, the exact representation of his nature. He upholds all
things by the word of his power. Therefore, aren't all physical
depictions of Jesus less than who he is? Could it not be argued
that to depict his humanity alone is to diminish who he is? Here's another argument for images
of Jesus. If they're not used for worship,
would they not be permitted? So this argument points out that
the second commandment is addressing the worship of God. You shall
not worship them or serve them. So as long as they're not used
for worship, wouldn't they be permitted? Therefore, some have
argued that artistic portrayals of Jesus are allowed as long
as they're not for the purpose of worship, devotion, veneration. So the argument says that images
of Jesus, those types of images of Jesus are not intended to
evoke worship to him. If only it were that simple.
First of all, we're prone to idolatry. And this is a sin which
is not easily avoided. But even more important than
this, if those images of Jesus are not for the purpose of evoking
worship, then what is their purpose? What is the purpose of an image
of Jesus? Now, I'm gonna address shortly purposes that people
might say, well, it's pedagogical or it's evangelistic. But what is the purpose of an
image or a picture? A picture of Jesus, does it not
cause you to think about Jesus? An image or depiction of Christ
in some scene with Christ in it from the Bible, does it not
cause you to think of Christ in some way? Does it not communicate
something about Christ? It gives a knowledge of something
about Christ, whether it's accurate or not. And thinking about Christ
should always lead to what? Worship. Should I think of Christ,
I should say, and not worship? Should I have thoughts of Christ
and not be drawn to worship Him? When we think of Christ, should
we not worship Him? Can I ever say I should have
a thought about Christ and then it not evoke worship to Him? Every thought of Christ. should
be, in a sense, adoration of worship. And so when an image
is made of Christ, how can I say, oh, I'm to think of Christ, but
I'm not to worship Christ in any way in conjunction with what
I'm seeing and how that's communicating something to me about Christ? And by the way, people can easily
get tied to a picture and venerate it. Consider a person who has
a picture of Jesus in a room in the house. Every time he walks
by it, he thinks of Christ. His thoughts are drawn to Christ.
Eventually, he wants to have his devotions in that room because
of the picture. He feels closer to Christ. He likes to pray in
that room. When trials come, trials come, he finds comfort
in that room. Why? Because of the picture of
Christ. We can easily fall into idolatry,
to worshiping through images and objects. Some would say, well, what if
the use of images of Jesus are solely, although I don't believe
it can be solely for this, but solely for evangelistic or pedagogical
purposes. Pedagogical means for teaching
purposes. Evangelistic purposes, let's
say, to share the gospel through passion plays or movies. Well,
all of what I've already said applies. But let me answer this
in an additional manner. Has God not specifically prescribed
how we are to evangelize and how we are to make disciples? God has not only prohibited certain
things, but he has prescribed and commanded certain things.
God has spoken in his written word about how we are to make
disciples and teach. All that Jesus has commanded,
and it does not say, make images of the scenes in the Gospels. It tells us how to evangelize.
It's through verbal proclamation. Not through pictures. We have the written word of God.
God sends preachers. They preach. They don't sculpt
and draw. There's no indication that the
apostles in the early church made images of Jesus as tools
for evangelism and discipleship. Our devotion to Christ, our following
Christ, if we want to use, if we want to be pedagogical, if
we want to teach, we want to make disciples, our devotion
to Christ, our following Christ, our love for Christ, our worship
for Christ is not tied to sight. but to the word that has been
spoken and now inscripturated. In 1 Peter 1 verse 8, Peter says,
though you have not seen him, you love him. And though you do not see him
now, you believe in him. You see, love for him and belief
in him is not tied to sight. No, it's tied to hearing the
message. They had not seen Jesus. They did not currently see Jesus,
but they believed in him. How? They heard the gospel. The
gospel came through verbal proclamation about Jesus and what he had done
to save sinners. They did not need a visual depiction
of Jesus to believe. God sends preachers, not artists. Preachers, not cinematographers. We open our Bibles and we speak
the truth of the Gospel and evangelism. We do not carry around depictions
of Jesus, sufferings of Jesus, through pictures, paintings,
videos. That is a sufficient means of
evangelism because it is the God-ordained means. So what about
movies or passion plays? Someone might argue that movies
or videos have been used as tools to bring people to saving faith
in Christ. The end does not justify the
means. The whole idea that if a person,
one person professes faith in Christ through some means, and
that makes it a legitimate way to do it, that's nothing more
than pragmatism. If it works, it must be of God.
As long as we get results, we must do it. No, God cares about
the means. Yeah, I've probably shared this
with you before, but somehow got into a silly, I think somewhat
silly discussion and argument in college with some believers
about, as we drove by and saw Jesus or hell painted on a bridge
about whether that was the proper way to do evangelism or not. Is that permissible? Well, that's
not the God or day means. Jesus or hell? The Gospel must
be explained, taught. You have to take the Word and
Jesus. Who is Jesus? Hell. And of course,
defacing property and all the other things that are involved
in that. God has given us a means to do it, so why go around? If
one person saw that and came to Christ, isn't that okay then
to do that? No. Christians should ask this question. This commanded of God. What is
the ordained means of the gospel going to sinners? It's not can God use those things,
it's what is God commanded? You see, at the heart of this
whole issue is really the rego to principle applied to other
areas as well, the sufficiency of scripture. Yet many believe that we need
more. It's a visual society, and we need it. It'd be more
effective if we show these images. You remember, The Passion of
the Christ. Mel Gibson, who produced the movie The Passion of the
Christ, said, you can read about it, but I want to make it more
real. More real than what God has revealed in His Word. This
supernatural book that is living and active and the Holy Spirit
uses, Mel Gibson said about the movie The Passion of the Christ,
I made the ultimate superhero film. When you think about Christ,
you should not be remembering an image conjured up by Mel Gibson
or some portrayal of Jesus by an actor. You should not think
of Jim Cavazel when you think of Jesus. Cavazel said, and you
may recall some of this when the movie came out, he said this,
I think it's very important that we have mass every day, at least
I need, that I need to play this guy, he said. I felt if I was
going to play him, I needed the sacrament in me. And so Mel Gibson
provided that for him. People proclaimed it, it's gonna
be the greatest evangelistic tool in the history of Christianity. Where is it now? What was the
fruit of it? The Word, the written Word, and
then that Word now proclaimed by believers is a sufficient
means of evangelism. Galatians 3.1, listen to this.
Paul says, you foolish Galatians, who's bewitched you before whose
eyes Jesus was publicly portrayed as crucified? Now, the Galatians actually did
not see Jesus with their literal eyes as crucified. How was Jesus' crucifixion portrayed
to them? Through the verbal proclamation
of the gospel. It was proclaimed and explained
verbally. And so it's spoken of figuratively
there, before whose eyes, not their literal eyes they saw it.
You didn't have to see the crucifixion of Jesus. No, you had to hear
the Word proclaimed, the Gospel preached, the message of the
cross. And that's how they heard it.
It was sufficient. Why? Because faith comes from
hearing. And hearing by the Word of Christ. It is the Word, the
message of the cross that is proclaimed. So the gospel must
be proclaimed and explained. The visual cannot explain events. Words must explain the events. The gospel cannot be seen. It
must be proclaimed, explained, taught. How do you explain God
made him, or how do you visualize God made him who knew no sin
to be sin on our behalf? Can a passion play a movie explain
God caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon him. I have to confess, when I was in
college, I went on a mission trip with YWAM, Youth With A
Mission, and I was in a play that depicted the gospel out
of ignorance. I was Adam in the play, it was
called The Maze. You have to envision this, because
I know you might think this is a little humorous. Pastor Greg
did this, he was an actor, and it was like mime, and I was in
this maze, and it was like I'm trapped in this because of sin,
and Jesus enters into the maze, and he ends up dying. I've done
things like that, and people do that. I remember going to
what used to be Heritage USA here locally and seeing a passion
play. I still have images of scenes
in my mind from that play, most of which were very unbiblical. So I think of this, how can anyone
play Jesus? You say, why don't we have images
here? Why don't we have passion plays? Which man among us wants
to play Jesus? No, the worship of this, of God,
would mean I don't wanna play God, play Jesus in any way. The word of God is a sufficient
means of discipleship in evangelism. And so, everything I've said
about the second commandment, I believe applies to Jesus too.
Making images of the one true living God is not worthy of him.
Jesus is God. Man-made images of Jesus diminish,
degrade, dishonor, degraces, and defames his glory. And it
all comes back to the sufficiency of scripture in what we understand,
taught from scripture that we call the regulative principle
of worship. God not only prohibits certain forms of worship, he
prescribes how we are to worship. He instructs us how we are to
worship him. And images of Jesus are not a
part of the instruction of God in his word. And in fact, we
must beware of and reject images of any of the three persons of
the Trinity. For God has said, you shall not
make for yourself an idol. We must give ourselves to the
God-ordained means of worship and evangelism and discipleship. Our worship is hearing, reading,
studying, meditating. Our spiritual growth is through
hearing, reading, studying, meditating on the word of God and obeying
the word. We grow and we worship through
prayer. We sing to God, we speak to one
another in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. These are the
God-ordained means by which we worship Him and by which we grow
in holiness. And they're all void of images
of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So let us
worship Him. But not in our prescribed ways,
but in the ways He has commanded. For He is worthy of that kind
of worship. Let's bow our heads together
in prayer. Fathers, we consider these things,
Lord, we know there are some things in
our lives that sometimes for the first time, or maybe it's
come back up to our attention of things that we need to consider
about you and about the true worship of your name. So Father,
I pray in these things, even as we think about our children
and raising our children and what we portray of them. of Christ
as we think of Bibles and how we are to bring them up in the
discipline instruction view. Lord, I pray in all these things
that we would be quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to
anger, that we would be those who humbly receive your word
and consider these things. I pray for the body of Christ.
I pray for believers, not only here, but in other churches and
believers in every place where that we would consider how we
are to glorify you, the God of all glory and worship your name.
And I pray that our worship, our devotion, our love would
be in the manner you have prescribed in your word. We may not make
up how we want to worship you, The only worship that is worthy
of you is the worship you have prescribed and commanded in your
word. Father, I pray that we would
not think that we know better in how to evangelize or make
disciples, but that we would do so only as we see prescribed
in your word, which is our sole authority and sufficient. for all things as we seek to
honor and glorify you as your people and love you and worship
you. For you indeed are worthy of
our worship and it's in Christ's name we pray, amen.
True Worship of the True God - Part 2 (The Second Commandment - Part 2)
Series 10 Commandments (2024-25)
God regulates the worship of His name (The Regulative Principle of Worship). Images of God (Father, Son, or Holy Spirit) are unworthy of Him and degrade, diminish, dishonor, and defame His glory. This includes images of Jesus.
| Sermon ID | 421242230407494 |
| Duration | 1:06:01 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Exodus 20:4-6 |
| Language | English |
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