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We are here in Exodus chapter 20 and we are going to be doing a series through the ten commandments. So we are going to start the first commandment all the way down through all ten commandments here and so I want to first of all let you know that there are ten commandments. So there is a contention out there that there is actually more or there is only nine or there is eleven or something like that but I want to show you first of all that the verses that clearly state that those tablets that Moses brought down off Mount Sinai had ten commandments. So go to Exodus chapter 34 because when you are reading through Exodus 20 that is where the ten commandments are but it doesn't say commandment number one, commandment number two and so you are kind of like well how many are there because you will see more than ten and now shall not. So we have to link them together and part of this series is going to help you with that as far as what goes with what, what is linked together, what is not, all that. So but in Exodus chapter 34 verse 28 it says, and he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights he did neither eat bread nor drink water and he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant the ten commandments. Okay, there is actually three places so that is one of them, go to Deuteronomy chapter four, Deuteronomy chapter four and verse thirteen, Deuteronomy chapter four and verse thirteen. So I just want to validate first of all that yes there is ten, okay, the ten commandments. Now is this all the commandments that God has ever commanded us, of course not and that is you know part of the thing we are looking at too here is that verse thirteen notice what it says, it says and he declared unto you his covenant which he commanded you to perform even ten commandments. So notice the covenant is linked with the ten commandments, it is going to be important especially when you deal with the fourth commandment which is keeping the Sabbath day, that these are the commandments that he gave for this covenant. And so even the ten commandments which he wrote, I am sorry and he wrote them upon two tables of stone, go to Deuteronomy ten and verse four, Deuteronomy ten and verse four. Deuteronomy ten and verse four, it says and he wrote on the tables according to the first writing the ten commandments which the Lord spake unto you in the mouth out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly and the Lord gave them unto me, okay. And so three times we see that it is called the ten commandments, on the first tables of stone before he broke them, ten commandments and then in verse four of chapter ten he is saying on that second table of stones it was ten commandments, okay. So I have never heard this before but there will probably be somebody like wow that second table of stone though, those second tablets they had more you know and there is the seventy elders, there is some weird doctrine out there where it is like well these seventy elders they learn more information than what Moses heard on the mount and all this stuff. Although what I am going to show you is that those seventy elders or those elders actually refused to hear God and they said we do not want to hear God, we want to hear it from you Moses, we are too afraid to hear God himself, okay. So we go to Exodus chapter nineteen just a chapter before we see the ten commandments listed and by the way the ten commandments are also listed in Deuteronomy chapter five, okay. So this is called Deuteronomy for a reason, okay, you see the do in the very beginning of that, you kind of think of the word duo or dos in Spanish, theo in Greek, you know like all these different things as far as dealing with two, okay or the second, okay and nomia or nomos in like the word Deuteronomy is the word for the law, okay. So the law, the second giving of the law is what Deuteronomy even means and that was not in the book of Deuteronomy, it is just named that because it is literally retelling what was told in Exodus, Leviticus numbers and just kind of retelling that story there. But in Exodus chapter nineteen and verse three it says, and Moses went up unto God and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel, Ye have seen what I said unto the Egyptians, and how I bear you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine, and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation, these are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. Okay, so this is the first covenant or what we would call now is the Old Covenant or Old Testament, okay. And notice that condition. The condition was if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you'll be a peculiar treasure, holy nation, a kingdom of priests. Well in the New Testament, it's only based off if you believe, okay. If we believe, then are we that holy nation, that royal priesthood, that peculiar people, and so that chosen generation, and so the Old Testament was predicated on them keeping the covenant, not breaking the covenant, and obviously they broke the covenant over and over and over again, and then it says that God regarded them not, okay. So in the New Testament though, it's an unconditional covenant, okay. See the first covenant was conditional, it was based off them keeping it, but the New Covenant is based off Jesus Christ keeping it, and guess what? He will keep it, right. He is the mediator of the New Testament. He is the high priest at the order of Melchizedek. He will keep everything, and so the first covenant's really showing you that man can't do it, right. Man will mess up, and that's what it's teaching us, and the law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, right. The law is what? To show you that we're exceeding sinful, right, is to teach us that hey, I had not known lust except the law had said thou shalt not covet, right. The whole idea of the law is to give the knowledge of sin, and so that's where this covenant's coming in. So the Ten Commandments are the Ten Commandments, and notice how it equates the Ten Commandments with the covenant, okay. That's important, especially because when you're dealing with the Sabbath day, because in the New Testament the Sabbath day is done away. Now I'm going to preach a whole sermon on that, but you know, you need to keep that in mind, but at the same time, just because you had certain commandments that you're saying these need to be kept, right, for you to keep my covenant, for you to be my peculiar people and my peculiar treasure, you need to keep these commandments. And let's say some of those commandments are like universal moral commandments that are always there, and some of them aren't, okay. That's what, so that's where people get hung up, they're like well, if this is the Ten Commandments, then it still has to be done today, like the Sabbath day, right. And so, but it really comes down to the fact that some of those are moral, some of them are customary, okay. Now I'm just going to list off what the Ten Commandments are, so you're in Exodus chapter 20, these are the Ten Commandments, okay. Like I said, I just want to prove there's ten, okay, because you're going to see thou shalt not more than ten times in that chapter 20. The first commandment is thou shalt have no other gods before me. That's what we're going to be covering tonight. The second commandment is thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image and bow down thyself to them, okay. So in that commandment you'll see two thou shalt nots, but it's all one sentence, okay. So that's the second commandment. Third commandment, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Fourth commandment, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. The fifth commandment is honor thy father and thy mother. The sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill. The seventh, thou shalt not commit adultery. The eighth, thou shalt not steal. The ninth, thou shalt not bear false witness. The tenth, thou shalt not covet, okay. So hopefully after I get done with this series that you'll have it memorized, and most of you probably have it memorized, I'm not saying you don't, but have the Ten Commandments memorized, have know what they are, know the order that they're in, okay. And I'm going to be going through these. Now again, the thing that's significant about the Ten Commandments too when it comes to the Old Testament is that this is the only thing that all the elders heard from God, okay. So notice what it says in Exodus 20 and verse 18. Exodus 20 and verse 18. So he says the Ten Commandments, right, he's speaking not just to Moses but to all the elders of Israel. And notice what it says in verse 18. And all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, and when the people saw it, they were removed and stood afar off, and they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear, but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, for God has come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces that you sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. And the rest of that, when you start reading the rest of this in this chapter, it's God speaking to Moses, and Moses is supposed to relay this. So when you get in chapter 21, 22, and you see all these judgments and all these things that are said to Moses, they didn't hear that, they heard it from Moses, okay. So the significance about the Ten Commandments is that everybody heard it, okay. Everybody that started that covenant, they heard those Ten Commandments. And after that, it was expounding on those Ten Commandments, okay. So that's when you get into all the judgments on like, you know, murder, and you're getting into stealing and restitution and all these different things, it's expanding on that, but they heard ultimately those Ten Commandments. So just want to lay that foundation there when it comes to the Old Covenant and the Ten Commandments there, there are ten. And the first one is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. It's interesting because we talked to a Mormon today. We actually went out and we were both wearing white shirts, you know, and we're like, we look like Mormons, only we're not 17, and we don't have our elder badges. But we're just kind of, you know, people are going to think we're Mormon, all this stuff, and we literally, that's one of the only conversations we had before the last guy, is with a Mormon and LDS guy, and you know, obviously their big problem is they believe there's other gods, okay. They believe that there's multiple gods, that you can become a god, and I preached a whole sermon on that. But let's get into that, you know, what does it mean to be, have no gods before me, okay. Now that doesn't mean like, before you came to God, you didn't have any other gods before you, okay. Now this kind of really rings true because I'm reading through Revelation, I'm actually reading through it in the Greek New Testament, and the thing that pops out to me is that it keeps talking about before the throne, before the lamb, before God, right, be like they stood before God, they stood, they did this before the throne, so in Revelation it keeps saying before this, before that, before this, before that, and it's talking about basically in his presence, okay, it's not talking about like, like before like not now, but before, does that make sense? It's talking about not having any other gods in the presence of him, right, no gods beside him, in front of him, before him, behind him, to the left of him, to the right of him, don't have any gods around him, okay, that's what he's saying, okay. So that's what it means. Most of you probably already knew that, okay, but I just want to explain that the word before sometimes just means like in the presence of, okay, like don't bring that before me, you know, that's what it's talking about. So Hosea chapter 13, Hosea chapter 13 and verse 4, and I just want to go through these verses about the fact that God is the only God, okay. There's only one God, and you know what, there's a lot of so-called gods out there, but we're only to have our one God, don't put anybody else beside him or before him. So in Hosea chapter 13 and verse 4, notice what it says, it says, yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, thou shalt know no God but me, for there is no Savior beside me. And that was one of the points, go to Isaiah chapter 44, Isaiah chapter 44, and we were talking to the gentleman, he was a nice guy, you know, and I don't believe it was unfruitful or anything like that, I think that he listened and at least took to heart what we were saying, but one of the things that I brought up, I said, you know, the Bible says that God, that there's no Savior beside him, because what they'll say, what Mormons will say is like, well, you know, there's God, but then there's Jesus who's our Savior, okay, and I said to him, I said, well, if there's no Savior beside God, then how can Jesus be a Savior then? Titus says it back and forth, right, Jesus Christ our Savior and God our Savior, Jesus Christ our Savior and God our Savior, and it uses us back and forth that Jesus is our Savior and God is our Savior, well, if God, if there's no Savior beside him or next to him or near him or anything like that, if he's the only Savior, that means Jesus is God, okay? And he couldn't answer that, you know, rightfully so, I mean, I don't know how he could answer that, but that's what it's stating, and now go to Isaiah chapter 44 and verse 6, because I don't know how else you could say this, okay, because what, like people like the Mormons or even Jehovah Witnesses, you know, Jehovah Witness, I don't believe, I don't think they believe in multiple gods, but you know, maybe Hindus or something like that, where they believe in, like, they're polytheists pretty much, what they'll try to do is say, well, in this universe there's only one God, to you there's only one God, you know, for us human beings there's only one God, right, and you've got to be like, no other gods in any universe, multiverse, anywhere out there that could ever be imagined, there's no other God, you know, you got to like, I don't know how else to explain it, right, you're just like, no other God anywhere else, and you know, the Bible says this, and I don't know how you could really else say it besides being ridiculous, being just kind of really foolish in the aspect of, like, what you'd have to do to get that across to people, but in Isaiah 44 and verse 6 it says, Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first, and I am the last, and beside me there is no God. It's another point I brought up, I said, it says that he's the first and the last, beside him there is no God, and Jesus said, I am the first and the last, and I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore, Amen, and behold I have the keys of Helen of death. How do you answer that? Okay, he is God, and beside him there is no God, beside him there is no Savior, keep reading there in verse 7, it says, And who, as I shall call and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people, and the things that are coming shall come, let them show unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid, have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? And these are even my witnesses, is there a God beside me, yea there is no God, I know not any. So not only is he saying there is no God beside me, he's saying, I don't know any other God. So if you're going to claim, you know, the Mormons are going to claim that God is all knowing, and knows everything, he's saying he doesn't know any other gods. Well especially if you think that you're going to become a God, that wouldn't make any sense, okay. Well at least did Joseph Smith become a God? You know, he's supposed to be better than Jesus. And so, you know, obviously it's very clear, there's no God beside him, he knows not any, go to Isaiah 45, Isaiah 45 and verse 5. So I just want to really plant this in that the Bible is very clear, there's no other God, there's only one God. You're like, well you believe that Jesus is God and the Father is God, yea the Trinity, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. For there are three to bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. Yeah, there's one God. Three persons, one God, and you know what, you say, well that doesn't make sense. It doesn't really matter if it makes sense to you, okay. God is unique, and God is three persons, one God. That's what the Bible teaches, and you just have to take that by faith. And Isaiah 45 and verse 5, it says, I am the Lord, and there is none else. There is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside me, I am the Lord, and there is none else. So very clear again, go down to verse 20, verse 20. It says, assemble yourselves and come, draw near together ye that are escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a God that cannot save. Tell ye and bring them near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside me. I've just gotten a Savior. There is none beside me. So come to me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. So I'm going to leave it at that. There is no God beside him. There's no Redeemer. There's no Savior. There's nothing beside him. He's unique. There's no one else like him. And now, this is the verse they'll usually take you to, and say, well, there's other gods. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 8, 1 Corinthians chapter 8, 1 Corinthians chapter 8, and verse 4 there, verse 4 says, as concerning therefore the eating of things that are offered and sacrificed 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 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 whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. So this is the verse that if you were talking to Mormon, they'd be like, well, isn't there gods many and lords many? The whole point is he's saying, there be though, it says, for though there be that are called gods, as there be gods many and lords many, meaning there's plenty of people that call themself a god. There's plenty of things that call themself a god, whether in heaven or in earth. And notice, go to Deuteronomy chapter 32, you'll see this in 1 Corinthians as well, is that these people are sacrificing not unto idols, but unto devils. And what it comes down to is that the Bible likens devils, the devil himself, as unto a god. So when you're dealing with a lower case, you know, gods, you're dealing with devils. So there is a spiritual realm to it, it's not like, okay, well, when he says no other god is before me, there's really no one that could be before him. So that being said, there has to be something that could be beside him, right? And what he's saying is that there's no real true god beside me, okay? But there's those that are called gods, that try to put themselves beside him, and that people put beside God, okay? And in Deuteronomy chapter 32 in verse 15, it says, but Jashurin waxed fat and kicked, thou art waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness, then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. So he's talking about, okay, they provoked him to anger, they had these strange gods. Notice what it says in verse 17, they sacrificed unto devils, not to God, to gods whom they knew not. So notice how he's equating the gods with devils, okay? So devils are real beings, okay? They're fallen angels, the devil and his angels, right? These are real spiritual beings that fell, that left their first estate, okay? That sinned and have no hope of salvation, by the way. But their whole modus operandi, as the devil is, is to accuse the brethren, to bring as many people to hell as they can, okay? Their destination's set, nothing can change that, but, you know, they're in this world trying to destroy everybody that looks like God, you know, everybody that's made in the image of God. It says, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not, of the rock that beget thee, thou art unmindful, and has forgotten God that formed thee. And it says later in that chapter, their rock is not as our rock, you know, and the idea is that, you know, their gods, they're nothing, right? They're devils. And so, what happens, though, is people will put those up against God. And you know, it really comes to that, you know, where the Bible says, he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, because that really is laughable when you think about it. The devil compared to God, you know, he created him. You know, it's the creature against the creator, and it's laughable that the devil thinks that he could even come close to God, okay? And go to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, and I just want to show you point blank that the Bible calls the devil a god, okay? Now, this isn't like the Mormons where, you know, like he's, you know, on par or anywhere close to that when it comes to God, okay? What it's basically stating is that he has dominion or, you know, his realm is here in this earth as far as to do certain things. And so, when we're talking about gods, we're talking about devils, okay? And there's some passages in the Bible, and I was going to bring it up, but it really didn't fit with the sermon, but there's passages where it talks about gods when it's talking about people, okay? And I didn't want to really get into that realm, because that would be getting into the weeds, and it's a whole kind of separate doctrine than what I'm trying to talk about right now, which is not having any other gods besides God, okay? Not having anything that would even, you know, come close to God in your life. And in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 3, it says, but if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. You're talking about the devil blinding the minds of those here on the earth, okay? And it calls him the prince of the power of the air, you know, the god of this world, like different things that it gives him. And so, when you see in the Old Testament, it says they worship these gods, which are devils, then it makes sense that the devil would be referred to as the god of this world, okay? Now, go to Isaiah chapter 14, and you'll see why that makes sense, that it'd be referred to like that, but again, there'd be many that are called gods, okay? Notice that he's not a god, okay? He's called a god, whether in heaven or in earth, okay? And that's where, you know, the Mormons would be like, well, it says in heaven, though, you know? So therefore, it's got to be people that are in heaven that are called gods. It didn't say there are gods, okay? It says they're called gods, and therefore, the devil's called a god, okay? And he's still in heaven, you know? Night and day accusing the brethren, the Bible says, until he's cast out, and that obviously happens in the end times to where he's no longer going to be able to be in heaven accusing the brethren anymore, and so, you know, I think Isaiah 14 and verse 12 here is really going to help you understand, you know, why is he called, you know, they're called gods, okay? Because they're trying to be like god is what it really comes down to, and in verse 12 here it says, how art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation and the sides of the Lord. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high, yet thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit. I just want to add that in there, you know, because obviously his end game is he's going to be cast into hell, also going to be cast into the lake of fire, where the smoke of his torment is going to ascend up forever and ever, okay? Now, the idea, though, is that he's going to be like the most high. You remember what the devil said to Eve when he was in the garden? Go to Genesis chapter 3, Genesis chapter 3, and again, this is where I was kind of going into that realm of, like, talking about people that are called gods, okay? But again, I think that's another sermon for another day, and it's really cryptic passages. You know, I didn't want to get into that. But this idea that what he's telling people, you know, what's the original thing that's really setting people to sin, you know, from the beginning, is that I want to be as a god, you know? And in verse 4, so Genesis 3 verse 4 says, And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Okay? So from the very beginning, the idea of, like, being like a god, you know, the devil wanted to be like god, and he's telling Eve, you're going to be as a god, right? This idea is from the very beginning. So whether it be devils or whether it be people, don't have any gods before you, okay? And you know, the thing is, is that, you know, I'm going to get into the devil aspect. I'm going to go to Jude, go to Jude. But you know this to be true, that people can be a god to other people, right? Think of all the celebrities. Think of the actors, the singers, the athletes. People will worship these people, like, literally worship. I think they burn incense to them half the time, and that's not even a joke. I mean, they're literally people that, like, that worship these celebrities. And so, you know, what's the difference from that and, like, having another god? I mean, that is what it is, right? You're worshipping and serving somebody. And so this can be, you say, well, how does this affect me? Because I'm not, like, you know, worshipping, like, I'm not calling out some other god or, you know, whatever. I'm not a Hindu that has multiple gods. But what you have to understand is that, hey, you know, this stuff can be in your realm of activities, okay? So this is where it comes into play as far as when you're dealing with worshipping other people, whether it's politicians, which I don't know why you'd ever do that. But you know, when it comes to politicians, you know, Donald Trump's not my god, okay? He's not my savior, okay? And you know, I don't care if Ron Paul would have gotten in, he wouldn't have been my god and my savior. Okay, meaning that I'm not, like, putting my trust in him, you know, and, you know, the president we trust, no. And people literally have things, in Donald Trump we trust. And like, all these different things that people will do and elevate him to godhood pretty much. And that stuff is not to be in Christianity and it's not to be in your life. You need not be holding anybody up to that level at all, okay? Not your pastor, not any preacher, not any celebrity that's out there, you know, all those people need to be brought down where they belong, which is, we're all sinners, either saved by grace or you're lost, you know? So but in Jude, I wanted to explain a passage a little bit because in Exodus chapter 22 and verse 28 it says, Thou shalt not revile the god nor curse the ruler of thy people. What you have to understand is that when it's talking about reviling the gods, I believe it's talking about that spiritual realm, okay? And so go to Jude in verse 8 and dealing with things that we don't understand, okay? Meaning that there's a spiritual realm with devils and all that stuff, we don't really understand all that stuff, we don't have a lot of information about it. And what this really comes down to is reviling or speaking evil or railing accusations are basically you're throwing out stuff that you don't even know is true or not. Does that make sense? Like, you don't throw out accusations at somebody if you don't know that it's true, right? And let's say it was true but you didn't know it was true, that's still wrong to do, right? You're just like, well, it ended up being true though, right? But at the same time, you're throwing out something that you don't even know is true, that is not something to be doing, okay? And so when it comes to this spiritual realm, we're really in the dark on that, okay? As far as what's going on behind the scenes with the devil and this is why you don't blame everything on the devil. You don't be like, oh, I got that flat tire. The devil did it. It's like, listen, the devil's done a lot, okay? There's a lot of stuff to accuse the devil on, right? One is having Eve eat that fruit, okay? You can accuse him all day long of that because that's actually what happened, okay? But we don't want to put out accusations or speak evil of somebody even if they're a bad person, right? It needs to be laid out and true, okay? I don't care if it's a reprobate, okay? Be like, well, they're full of lies and hypocrisy themselves. It's like, yeah, but you don't do that, okay? I don't care if it's a reprobate, someone that hates God. If you make an accusation against that person, it better be true, okay? You better know that it's true, okay? And so in Jude, in verse 8 there, and that's what it says there, it says, likewise also these filthy dreamers defy the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said the Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not, but what they know naturally as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. And notice that what you're seeing there in all this is that they don't know what they don't know. They're making accusations on something they don't know, okay? And what people do is they throw, it'd be like, well you should never say anything bad about a ruler or about somebody that's in a position of power that's over. You should never call them out and say something bad about them. Now what it's saying is you don't make a railing accusation, okay? You don't say something that you don't know is even true, right? If someone, let's say someone in public view committed adultery, it was confessed, everything happened, you said that's wicked, that's vile, they should have never done that, the Bible condemns that, that's not a railing accusation, right? It's known to be true, and you're like, the Bible condemns it, you're stating a fact, right? But if you say, well I heard, you know, from this source in the Babylon bee, you know, I'm just kidding, I heard over here that he was into this, and he was over here, and like it's conspiracy theories, or it's just, you know, you heard off this person or this person said, you heard this commentary say this, and you're like, that's wicked, that person's this or that. Now you're making, you don't know that, right? And it could be true, right? It could very well be true, and I believe what's being said about the devil here is that he's disputing about the body of Moses, okay, and I'm not here to claim I understand exactly what's going on here with Moses' body, but what I believe is going on is that I don't believe Michael knows what the devil did, or what's going on there, right? And so it's basically, they're speaking evil things that they don't understand, okay? That is what you're not supposed to do, okay? There's nothing wrong with calling out somebody, I don't care who they are, because that's a respecter of persons, right? If I'm gonna call out someone that's of low authority for their sin, then why can't I call out someone that's in high authority for their sin? By the way, John the Baptist did that with Philip, or I'm sorry, with Herod, who took his brother Philip's wife and said that he's an adulterer, okay? So you can't just throw out the baby with the bathwater when you see one verse and you're like, well, how do you explain that, okay? But you're dealing with wickedness in high places. Go to 2 Peter chapter 2, 2 Peter chapter 2. So not only with the devil and Michael, so Michael's the archangel, right? And the devil would be like the leader, right? You have Michael and his angels, and the devil and his angels, they're fighting together, okay? So Michael's the leader of the good guys, the devil's the leader of the bad guys. But even on the realm of all the angels that are under Michael, they don't do it either, okay? And they're greater in power than we are, and he's saying they're not bringing railing accusations either, okay? They're not speaking evil things they don't understand, okay? It's okay to speak evil of things that people do that's clearly known to be true, okay? And this is where people get into, like, it's like all they want to talk about is things they don't know, right? Well, it didn't not say it, right? Or you know, like, well, what about this book over here? You know, what about the things, the Bible didn't say this, well, what about the things the Bible did say? You know, that's what you should be focusing on. And in 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 10 there, it says, but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government, presumptuous are they, self-willed, they're not afraid to speak evil of dignities, okay? So that's what keeps being brought up here is, like, speaking evil of dignities, speaking evil of, you know, those that are in government, all this stuff, right? And it says, whereas angels which are great in power and might bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. But these unnatural beasts made to be taken destroyed speak evil of the things that they understand not and shall utterly perish in their own corruption. So when it's talking about, you say, well, what's a railing accusation? Okay, well, you know what an accusation is, right? A railing accusation would be something that's like a harsh accusation that's brought across somebody. But in context, in both these cases, what is it talking about? Speaking of things you don't know or understand, okay? And we just had, we were out soul-winding and the guy's like, I know who you guys are, you know? Like, who, he probably thinks we're Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses, right? And the idea is that you don't like, you don't just start making accusations. You'd be like, these people are Mormons, you know? These people are, did you even ask us, you know? Did you give us a chance to even speak, right? And the idea is that when you're dealing with rulers and people and stuff like that, you say, well, that person's a devil, maybe, okay? That person is a puppet, maybe, okay? Do you really know what's going on behind all the scenes, okay? And I'm not a Trump supporter here, but I'm not, I'm not, I'm not here going to be like, well, he's the, he's, you know, he is the devil incarnate and he is doing this and he's just putting on the front here and, you know, Jared Kirschner this and, you know, like, you know, you get it all through these things, but in the end, do you really know who's like, obviously there's wicked people in high places, go to Ephesians chapter six, Ephesians chapter six. You know, like, I thought you were talking about having other gods before me. Well, I'm getting to the point here is that there are people in high positions of authority, okay, and ultimately we are not to make, to put God's second best of those authorities, right? We ought to be God rather than men, okay? So you have two sides of the spectrum here, okay? You have the side of the spectrum over here where it's like, well, the Bible says not to revile the gods or speak, to curse the ruler of thy people and therefore you need to do everything the government says, lockstep no matter what. And then you have over here, it's like, well, we got to obey God rather than men, therefore I'm going to curse them and I'm going to speak every accusation that I can say against them, you know, whether it's true or not, okay? Both those are wrong, okay? Meaning this is that we ought to obey God rather than men, okay? So if they tell us to do something that's against the Bible and that's sinful, we need to obey God rather than men, okay, but we are not to just throw out all these accusations on people that we don't even know are true, okay, or things that we don't understand or know. So if you don't know it to be true, then you're better just keeping it to yourself, okay? And that's the principle I believe that's getting across here, but just to show you that, hey, there are wicked devils in high places and it's saying that even Michael didn't bring a railing accusation against the devil and he's in greater power than we are and the angels themselves didn't bring railing accusations against them, so that means we are not to do that. And so in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10, it says, finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. And I believe that's what it's talking about when it's saying don't revile the gods and don't curse the ruler of thy people, is you're dealing with in high places, you're dealing with spiritual wickedness in high places, you're dealing with things that you don't really understand really what's going on in a lot of those cases and it's fine to point out sin like John the Baptist did, right? But to really get into the weeds on like all the spiritual web and wickedness that's going on in the spiritual realm, to be like, well, the devil's doing this. Is he? Now, no doubt the devil's doing some wicked stuff, right? But do you know that the devil put this person into power and that person into power or this person over here, do you see how you're making, you don't know that though, okay? And that's where I believe you're getting into trouble there. Now go to 2 Corinthians chapter 11, 2 Corinthians chapter 11, and the idea of, you know, there's people that are devil-possessed, let's just say it, okay? So if devils are considered to be gods, okay, then that means people that are demon-possessed could be considered that, okay? I know I said I wasn't going to get into that realm, but here we are. So in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 12, and again, it's called gods, whether in heaven or in earth. It's not that they're really gods, okay? It's just that they're trying to be like God, they're taking that position that God is supposed to be in, in people's lives, and, you know, it's not right, but in verse 13 it says, For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works. And you say, well, who would this be? Judas. Judas is a great example of this, because what did Jesus say? Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil, okay? And so there are many that are called gods, and that's what I'm trying to get across here, okay, is that the Mormons are going to say, well, that means that we're going to become gods. That's never a good thing, okay? If the Bible's calling someone a god, it's not a good thing, okay? Any of these places where I've talked about gods is they'll be like, man, I hope I'm one of those, okay? So it's talked about in the negative on all those cases. What they want you to believe is that, well, we can become gods, and we can become benevolent gods and all this stuff. Never will you ever see gods being shown as being benevolent and anything that's good. It's always in a bad manner, okay? But go to 1 Kings chapter 11, 1 Kings chapter 11. I do want to say this, is that when it comes to, and I know this melds into idolatry, because having no other gods before me is true, and I'm glad that verse is there, right? Because the principle goes into idolatry, where you're worshiping other gods through inanimate objects, okay? So if you didn't have the first commandment of have no other gods before me, they can say, well, I'm worshiping this god, but I don't have an object, you know? I don't have this object I'm bowing down to, so I'm good, right? And I believe the second commandment is going into the idea that you're worshiping another god and you have this man-made object that you're using to represent that god that you had before god, okay? So that's why I believe that there's a separation, and now the Catholic church puts those two together, okay, and they believe that, and the reason why is they don't want to talk about graven images, because their church is full of them, and you'd be like, well, we don't worship them, then why do you bow down and burn candles to it, you know? Why are you praying to it? Answer me that. Riddle me that. When you come married into a graven image, that's kind of the definition, okay? But in 1 Kings chapter 11 here, I want to show you a Christian man, you say Christian, and he was, well, he was believing on Christ before he came, okay? But Solomon, who's saved, he's the wisest man upon the earth, that'd be really dumb to say if he wasn't saved, right, because the fear of the Lord is beginning of wisdom, and so obviously salvation, he didn't have salvation, he would not be anywhere close to the wisest man on the earth, but in verse four here, let's see what it says. It says, for it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milkum, the abomination of the Ammonites, and Solomon did evil on the side of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build in high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon, and likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrifice unto their gods. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods, but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. So this is, you want to say, well who broke that commandment? Solomon broke that commandment, that's what happened. Now ultimately, what was the cause of this? Did he just like find these gods and be like, man I want to worship them. Now what turned his heart? Women. Multiplying multiple wives. And this is why God commanded, not the only reason, but a big reason why God commanded saying not to multiply wives unto yourselves, you know, unto the kings, he says don't multiply wives unto yourselves, because they're going to turn your heart away from God, okay. And that's exactly what happened. Proverbs 31 talks about this. Proverbs 31 is basically saying don't give your power unto women, okay. The Antichrist, it says that his desire will not be given to women, I believe, I might be misquoting that a little bit, this is where a lot of people say, well he's going to desire men. No, I believe what it's saying there, because it keeps talking about how he's not going to worship these other gods of the past, but he's going to worship the god of forces, okay. So it's basically saying women are not going to be his god, okay. And that's ultimately what happened with Solomon, okay. You know, these other gods, it was really that he was appeasing his true gods that he was having before God, which is women, okay. And this could be very well a god of many men, okay. Or women, you know, this could go in the other direction as far as men, as far as, you know, that going above God. And I never talked about this with marriage, as far as is your wife, you know, before God, you know, is your husband before God. And you can look at this in the fact that, hey, it doesn't have to be a graven image that could come before God, okay. You know, your family and all that can come before God. And listen, you say, oh, you're going to put God before your family, well, yeah. Ultimately your family will be better off because you put God before him. Because God commands you to take care of your family. God commands you to love your wife. God commands you to bring up your children in a nursery and an admission to the Lord. God commands you to provide for your own, and if you don't, you're worse than an infidel. So yeah, I'm going to put God before my family, but ultimately if I put God before my family, my family is going to be better off, okay. But you don't want to reverse those roles, okay. You don't want to make your family above God, okay. Whether it's your wife, whether it's your children, or whatever it is, and that's what Solomon did. He put his wives before God, okay. And ultimately I believe that these other gods, they were, that wasn't like, I don't think he really cared for those other gods. I don't think he was like, ah man, this is a true God here. I think that he was appeasing his strange wives, okay. He was appeasing them because they ultimately were the God that he was putting before the true God, okay. So that can happen in our own lives where we put our family before God as far as that goes, and ultimately your family will suffer for that, okay. It doesn't seem to make sense, right, you should think, well, if I want my family to turn out the best, I need to put them first, okay. But you know what, there's a lot of things in the world that don't make sense in your mind, but the Bible will contradict it, okay. Now, think about this, you need to put your children above your wife. That is basically purported today that your children should be first, your wife second. That's hogwash, and that's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches is that your wife should come first, then your children, okay. God, wife, children, that's the way it should be, and you say, well, I can't, your children are third on the list, well, it's not that, it's going to be better that way, okay, because if your marriage fails, guess what, your children are going to fail too, and if your walk with God fails, guess what, your marriage is probably going to fail too, okay. And so it doesn't seem to make logical sense that if you care about your children, you're like, I want them, that's the primary number one, is if they turn out right, then you better put God above your wife and your wife above your children, because that is the way it's supposed to be. But the world doesn't see it that way, and how many people have you heard, and I've heard, say my children come above my spouse, that's why your marriage is going to fail. Just point blank, that's why you don't get due benevolence like you should, because your children are coming above your marriage, and then you get a divorce, because your children came above your marriage, and therefore, now you're split, and now your children are suffering with a broken home. But you know what, these are truths that need to be said, and don't make your children a God before God, don't make your wife a God before God, don't make your husband a God before God, and just make God, it's just him, and guess what, all of the other stuff will take care of itself. If you have God and nothing else, then God will tell you love your wife, then God will tell you raise your children right, God will tell you provide for your family, God will tell you stay married, God will tell you don't commit adultery, and it will all take care of itself. But in your mind you think, well no, I need to bring this up higher, I need to put this up on that level. But you need to have God first, know the God before him. Go to Colossians chapter 3, Colossians chapter 3, Colossians chapter 3, is that a kazoo? Colossians chapter 3 and verse 5, that's just probably my children, Colossians chapter 3 and verse 5, it says, mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, cleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. Now you say idolatry, we haven't got to that commandment yet. The second commandment is dealing with graven images that become idols, but you can have an idol and it not be a graven image. American Idol, literally a show called American Idol, where you listen to people that can't sing for anything or whatever they do on that show. People are idols. Who here is, Michael Jordan is my idol, or so and so is my idol, and I'm going back to my childhood when Michael Jordan was like the man in basketball and you had Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, and all these other people that, I wasn't a cowboy fan, but I'm just saying those are like the names, they're idols and all this stuff because they won all these championships or whatever. So people can be your idol, but also, you know, it says here that covetousness can be an idol or another god, meaning that things that you possess, and it says this, right after that, it says, for which thing's sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience and the which ye also walk sometime when ye lived in them. You say, well, I'm not a child of disobedience anymore. I believed on Christ. Yeah, but your flesh still is, right? Your soul is a child of God. Your spirit is without guile, but your flesh is still a child of wrath. It's still dead in trespasses and sins, and therefore covetousness, listen, that'll destroy you, and it's likening it onto idols. Why? Because covetousness will take you to where, guess what, money and materials are above God, or you're putting it beside God, okay? And notice that it doesn't say have no other gods above me. It says have no other gods before me, meaning that don't have any of this in my presence, right? So he's not just saying, well, you can have it on par with me, you can have it in my presence, but not above me. No, don't have it before me. Don't have it in my presence. Don't have it anywhere near him, okay? Don't let it become like the most high in your life, okay? Having food and raiment let us be there with content. We need to not worry about possessions. We need to just use them, right? We have things. I'm not against having nice things, right? You can have nice cars, you can have new things, but listen, ultimately, what do you have them for? To use them, right? You're using them, okay? And so that's what you should think of as like, am I using all this? Do I need all this stuff? My wife wants our house to be like a little bear's house where there's nothing in it but a grandfather clock and a chair, okay? So she's just like constantly just throw all this stuff out and I'm like, I don't care what you throw out, but at the same time, we are using some of that stuff, right? There are things in there that are being put to use, but there are a lot of things that are just there, right? You're like, I'm not using that. Why is that there? Just for show. It's like the thing you put on your, it's like those stupid pillows that you put on the bed, ladies. Why are all those little pillows on the bed? Just so you can throw them off, right? It's for looks. Who's going to see it but your husband? This message is brought to you by all the husbands that hate those little pillows on their bed. But all I'm saying is that, I don't know how I got off on that track, but the idea is that covetousness, right? I'm not saying it's simple to have pillows on your bed that aren't useful, okay? Just getting that off my chest, you know? But all I'm saying is that, obviously, when it comes to covetousness, you need to think about what do I need, right? Food and raiment, obviously you need that. And then there's other things, well, a dishwasher, a washer, all that stuff, and I'm not saying those are things you need, right? Those are things that are going to make you productive for the Lord, right? If you don't have them, you're down at the river washing your clothes and you can't come soul winning, okay? So obviously, there's things that are goods and devices that will help you to where you can serve God, but you shouldn't be saying, I want that just so I can look at it, right? I want that just because I want it, you know, I just want to have it. So go to 1 Samuel, chapter 15, and I'm just giving you some ideas of like how things could become a God, okay? Because I got the whole devil thing out and worshipping devils, obviously that would be putting other gods before him, right? But that's not something that we usually deal with here in America, right? We're not dealing with idol worship or things like that. I mean that's, unless you're like into orthodoxy, you know, which then you need to get saved anyway and get out of that. But you know, what we're dealing with though is covetousness is a real thing, and that's a commandment by the way, we'll get to that. But how about stubbornness, okay? So in 1 Samuel, chapter 15 and verse 22, 23, I'm sorry, it says, for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry, okay? Being stubborn, okay? And I believe particularly in context, you're dealing with being stubborn with God's commandments, okay? Because ultimately, when you read the Bible, what's the final authority? Is it your opinion, or is it what it says? And there's a lot of stubborn Christians out there that come with the preacher rapture, they come with Zionism, they come with a lot of different doctrines that are in the Bible, and it's just, it's just stubbornness. And you know what they're doing? They're making their own opinion an idol to God, right? Their own, you know, intellect, or you know, and the stubbornness is their pride, right? They're holding that above God and saying, I'm not willing to get that up, I'm putting that above you and your work, okay? And so stubbornness is something that can be in the idea of another God, right? And what are you doing? You're putting yourself above God. You're putting yourself before God and saying, hey, no, I know more, no, there's a way that seemeth right unto a man with the end there over the ways of death. The heart is desperately wicked, it is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? You need to know that, hey, listen, God is the final authority, and I need to submit myself to that. How about Matthew chapter 6? Matthew chapter 6, how about money? I know consciousness kind of goes into that realm, but money, okay? Money can be a God, okay? And specifically in Matthew chapter 6 here, it's stating that you can't serve both. Verse 24 says, no man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon, okay? So the idea is that you can't do both, right? And the idea with the thou shalt have no other gods before me is just that. You can't say I'm serving God and I'm serving this at the same time, okay? Just as much as you can't say I love God and I hate my brother, right? There's certain things that can't be done together and be true, okay? You can't say I'm abiding in Christ, but I'm committing sin, you know? And so when it comes to this, you can't say why I'm serving, my whole life is to make money, right? It's to make money, have riches, and have all these material things. Then you're not serving God, okay? For the love of money is the root of all evil. And we need to be content with the things that we have. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 6 where it says that. And this is where I believe a lot of people put above God. And people say, well, I'll serve God when I got my finances in order. Let's just face it, you're not going to have your finances in order. No one has their finances in order completely, okay? Some people are better at it than others. But everybody has those down times when everything breaks and you just don't have any money or other things that are like that. Just know this is that you're never going to have your finances in order, you're never going to have enough money to have children, you're never going to have money to ever get by. Just know that and then just move on from that, okay? But this idea of, well, I need more money, well, now you put that above God, right? Because God says to serve now. It says go to now. You either say today or tomorrow. We're going to such a city and live there and buy and sell and get gain, right? Whereas you know not what should be on tomorrow. So the idea is that, you know what? Yeah, money answers all things but ultimately you just need to serve God and that will take care of itself. Now in verse 6 here it says, but godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out and having food and raiment let us be there with content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of money is the root of all evil. Which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things, follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. So you know as a Christian we should say, you know what? You know what? There's nothing wrong with having money, okay? There's nothing wrong with having money, paying the bills, having nice things, working hard. And you know I am not one of these communist socialist lunatics out there that thinks you need to redistribute your wealth because you worked hard for your money, okay? If you worked hard for your money, then you deserve that nice vehicle. If you worked hard for your money, you deserve that nice house. And you know what? I don't need to distribute it to people that don't work for a living or that didn't work to get what they got, okay? You know, live under your own fig tree, under your own vine, your own fig tree and drink waters out of your own cistern. That's what the Bible teaches. It's not this communistic socialist garbage stuff that they're trying to shove down your throat today, okay? So but that shouldn't be what you love, okay? Because ultimately when you look at the Ten Commandments, what do you see? Go to Matthew chapter 22, Matthew chapter 22, and I'm going to end on this. When we go through these Ten Commandments, what you're going to see is this theme. Love God and love your neighbor. That's what you're going to see, okay? Love God, love your neighbor. And notice what Jesus says here in verse 35, so Matthew 22 and verse 35. So if you love money, can you love God? No. The Bible says you can't have, you can't serve God in mammon. You can't have love of money and God beside themselves. Matthew 22 and verse 35 says, then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question tempting him and saying, master, which is that, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love thy, I'm sorry, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Okay, so when you're looking at these Ten Commandments, what do you see? Love God and love your neighbor, right? Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, thy neighbor's house, right? What are you doing? You're loving your neighbor if you keep those commandments. If you have no other gods before him, if you don't, you know, make any graven images and bow down to it, and if you don't take the Lord's name in vain, what are you doing? You're loving God. Okay. I'm going to get into the Sabbath and what that represents as well, you know, because there is something that the Sabbath represents, but I don't want to preach the whole sermon now, so. But all that I say is that that's what all the law and the prophets hang on. Love God and love thy neighbor. You do that, guess what? Love is the fulfilling of the law. All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And you say, well, what about loving God? If you don't love your neighbor, you don't love God, right? If you love your neighbor, that means you love God, okay? And so, you know, that, when we go through these commandments, we're going to go through each point, and a lot of these overlap, right? We saw here with having no other gods before me, doesn't that overlap a little bit with idolatry, which goes into the graven image portion of it? It also overlaps into covetousness. So some of these do overlap, okay? But I think that some of these commandments, you know, are taken to an extreme they shouldn't be taken to sometimes. Some are misunderstood, and so I think this will be a good study to go through each one and seeing, you know, what does the Bible teach about this, what is it saying, and, you know, all that. So the Ten Commandments, this is the first one, thou shalt have no other gods before me, and we'll continue on this, Lord willing, the rest of the weeks here going through all the Ten Commandments. Let's end with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you today and just pray that you'd bless the time that we have together and through this week, and just pray that you'd be with those of our church, and I specifically pray that you'd be with the Russell family, and be with Miss Bethany, and Lord, just pray for healing, and Lord, just pray that you'd be with them, bless them, and bless all those in our church, pray that you'd be with those that are pregnant, and Lord, just pray that you'd bless the delivery, be with the ladies, and the whole delivery process, the babies, that they'd all be healthy, and everything would go well with that. And Lord, just pray that you'd be with us throughout the rest of this week. Lord, we love you. Pray also in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.