In Pastor Grant Brown's sermon titled 'The Law of God (Part 6),' the focus is on the first and second commandments. The sermon begins by emphasizing the primacy of the first commandment, which establishes God as the sole object of worship. Pastor Brown explains that the first commandment sets the foundation for the rest by affirming the existence of one true God. The second commandment is about the manner of worship, prohibiting the creation of graven images or idols as a means to worship God. Pastor Brown uses biblical examples, such as cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant, to clarify that while art is not forbidden, using images as intermediaries in worship is. The sermon stresses that worship should align with God's directives, highlighting the regulative principle of worship. It warns against adopting pagan methods of worship and underlines that God alone determines how He should be worshiped. The sermon concludes by discussing God's jealousy for His glory and the idea that obedience to God's laws leads to generational blessings, while disobedience could incur curses. Ultimately, it points to Jesus as the true image of God, fulfilling the commandments and providing the way to worship God in spirit and truth.

Then God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. 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. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.

May God bless the reading and the preaching of this His word. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. There is a legend from the life of Spurgeon, a story that is told of the Reverend Charles Spurgeon walking into the church office on a Monday morning.

Naturally, he was smoking a cigar. And as he entered the door, he was greeted by the church secretary. His church secretary looked up as he entered the doorway. She greeted her pastor, Pastor Spurgeon. She said to him, Good morning, Pastor Spurgeon.

And then with a look at his cigar, I see that you are worshiping your idol this morning. And in response, the prince of preachers took a thoughtful puff, paused for a brief moment, and then replied, Oh no dear sister, I'm not worshiping it, I'm burning it. Now I cannot vouch for the complete authenticity of that legend, but I could not pass it up when it comes to the second commandment this morning. No idols, no graven images. Oh no dear sister, I'm burning it.

We began anew this morning our study on the law of God. And a number of weeks ago before my family's vacation and Before Easter, our study in Psalm 2, we began to study the Ten Commandments. And we began with the first commandment a number of weeks ago, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. What does the law of God, summarized in the Ten Commandments, begin with? The law of God starts with God.

The law of God starts with God. The Creator speaks to His creatures. Why is that important? Why must God's law start with God Himself? Because if God is not God, then why listen to the rest of these commandments?

If commandment number one isn't true, if God is not the only living and true God, then all these commandments, two through ten, they are just merely an opinion. But God is God. Isaiah 45, God is God and there is none other. And so you must listen. You must obey.

This is his law. The Creator speaks to you, the creature, and there is none other. So obey. He says to you, thou shalt have no other gods before me. You may not worship anyone or anything besides me.

And from that first commandment springs the rest. From that first commandment springs commandments 2-10. From that first commandment springs the rest of the Torah. All of the law of God comes from the truth that there is but one living and true God Yahweh and his son Jesus the Christ so what you have with the first commandment is the who, You have the object of your worship. That's the first commandment, the object of your worship.

The first commandment deals with the who you are to worship. Who is that exclusively? The Triune God. You worship God the Father through Jesus Christ his Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. By the way, just to review the first commandment, Jesus is God, and so because Jesus the Son of God is God, if you don't worship Jesus, then you don't worship the one true living God.

If you don't worship Jesus, you are disobeying the first commandment. If you disobey Jesus, if you aren't worshipping Jesus, if you're not trusting in Jesus, then you're breaking all of the law of God. Because on commandment number one hangs the rest. So Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, every other religion in the world, they do not honor the son, so they do not honor the father. Thou shalt have no other gods before me, says Jesus.

Says Jesus. And so Muslims, Hindus, and all those who embrace Judaism, they are not obeying God's law. And unless they repent, they will be damned for an eternity. So the first commandment deals with the who you worship. The object of your worship, Jesus the Christ, Yahweh, God the Father, and His Holy Spirit, the triune God.

That's the object of your worship. And now in the second commandment this morning, stemming from the first, is the how. The manner of your worship. Commandment number one, the object of your worship. Commandment number two, the manner of your worship.

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. Let us begin first then with the prohibition of the second commandment I'm going to go through some slides here in my original draft of my sermon I give a lot longer introduction But then we'd be here for three days, so I went ahead and cut that out. Verse four. Verse four, the prohibition of the second commandment.

Verse four begins with, you shall not make for yourself an idol now that word there for idol in verse 4 is often translated graven image and that word graven means to cut or to carve or to sculpt an image an idol that represents God You may not make for yourself an image that represents God, that stands in the place of God in your attempt to worship him. So let me say that again. You may not make for yourself, you may not make for yourself, you may not graven an image that represents God, that stands in the place of God in your attempt to worship Him. And God goes on to describe what those idols may look like. 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 so not only God tells us shall you not make any idols to worship but you shall not make any likeness of any created thing You shall not worship them or serve them.

And why is that? Why can't we make any likeness of any created thing in heaven or on the earth or below the earth? Why can't we do that? Because Romans chapter 1 happens. We exchange the truth about God for a lie and worship the creature rather than the Creator.

We exchange the glory of God for images in the form of man or beast or crawling creatures or birds, that's our bent as sinners to take created things like birds in the air, or things on the earth, men and beasts, or things under the earth, crawling creatures and worship. Don't do that, God says. Don't do that. So the prohibition in the second commandment is actually quite simple. No graven images or any likenesses.

But the key to understanding this prohibition is there at the beginning of verse 5. You shall not worship them or serve them. Now some people have come to this text, I've read a lot about this, and many people actually have come to this text and they have said this commandment is a total prohibition against any form of art this is a prohibition against any form of sculpting painting drawing that's what being graven is So this is a prohibition against any and all images. You cannot graven any image. Why?

Why would someone say that? Because God says in verse four, don't make any graven images. And don't make any likenesses of what what does it say not to make a likeness of what does verse four say no likeness of what that which is in heaven and that which is on earth and that and that which is under the earth well how much ground does that cover that's everywhere and so some have argued you can't have any images of anything anywhere is that true Well if all you had was verse 4, you'd have to say yes. God says no art. Verse 4 says no idols and no likeness of anything in creation.

But verse 4 is not the only verse in the Bible. You have to understand verse four in light of what comes immediately after it in verse five. You shall not worship them or serve them. Now that's huge. I'm going to try to show you why That's huge.

The prohibition of the second commandment is to make a graven image for the purpose of worshipping and serving. The prohibition of the second commandment is to make a graven image in the stead of to represent God and to worship God through the graven image. God says in verse 5 you may not worship Him with anything that tries to stand in His place. You may not do that. So let me say that again.

God says you may not worship him with anything that tries to stand in his place, even if you think that you are worshiping him through the object. Don't do that, God says. You may not grave in an image for the purpose of worshiping God through it. As if the image, as if the likeness of something in creation is a medium, is an intermediary through which you may approach God. As if it stands in the place of God, don't do that.

Because that's the way pagans worship. That's the way pagans worship. Shrines, idols, statues, you service the statues, you service the shrines and the idols, you offer sacrifice to God through the graven image, you bow down to God through the piece of art, God says No. That's the worship of pagans, not the worship of the people of God. So the beginning of the era of verse 5, I think, is very helpful in terms of clarifying how you understand verse 4.

Verse 4 is not to be understood as a total prohibition against all forms of art. It's not that all sculptures or all paintings or all images that you make are bad. Rather they shall not be a means of worshiping or serving God verse 5 the beginning of verse 5 clarifies that But it's not just verse 5 if you think does it clarify You actually have much more than just verse five to help bring clarity to the second commandment. Which if you haven't guessed yet, the second commandment, people have written just volume after volume after volume of what the second commandment means and how to apply it. And I got 45 minutes.

I'm not complaining. So you have the rest of the book. You don't just have verse five. Yet you have the rest of the book of Exodus to help you understand this. You have the rest of the Pentateuch to help you understand this.

You've got the whole Bible to help you understand this. So let me just help you. Beyond verse 5, how can we bring clarity to this? Well, the same God who gives the second commandment in Exodus 20, just five chapters later, in the same book, in Exodus chapter 25, the same God that gave the second commandment, goes to Moses, tells Moses, commands Moses to make two cherubim of gold for the construction of the Ark of the Covenant that's in Exodus 25 verse 18. Two cherubim of gold.

Now let me ask you a question. What is, what are two cherubim of gold? That's the likeness of what is in heaven. Isn't it? Look at the end of verse 4 of Exodus 20.

Don't make any likeness of anything in heaven. Same God, five chapters later, make a likeness of that which is in heaven. Two cherubim. Oh no. Is God contradicting himself?

Absolutely not. You're just not understanding verse four if you think that. And God isn't done. Again in chapter 25 God tells Moses make a lampstand in the shape in the image of an almond tree That's x is 25 31 through 40 Now what is that? What is an almond tree?

That is the likeness of something that is on the earth. So the same God who gives the second commandment commands Moses to make a likeness of that which is in heaven cherubim and a likeness to that which is on the earth an almond tree and I want you to keep going I want you to think not just in Exodus but in the book of numbers so through the Pentateuch numbers chapter 21 you remember what happens in numbers 21 the people of God they are rebelling against God the people of Israel they rebel And God sends fiery serpents among them. And they bite the people of Israel. And the people of Israel are dying. And so they cry out to Moses.

Moses intercede for us. Please ask God to take these circles away to heal us, to keep us from dying. And Moses does it, doesn't he? And as Moses intercedes for the people, what does God tell Moses to do? Numbers 21 verse 8, then the Lord said to Moses, make a fiery serpent.

Fashion a graven enemy. Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard and it shall come about that everyone who has bitten when he looks at it he will live the same God same God who gives a second commandment in Exodus 20 tells Moses chapters later make a likeness to a heavenly thing at Jericho and make a likeness to an earthly thing almond trees and then a couple books later make a likeness to a heavenly thing a cherubim and make a likeness to an earthly thing almond trees and then a couple books later make a likeness to a serpent is God contradicting himself absolutely not if you think that you're just not understanding verse 4 Clearly God isn't against all images of all things in all places. Clearly God isn't against beauty. He isn't opposed to aesthetics. I mean later on tonight just for homework, kids I know you love me I know you love you some homework.

This is for your parents though, and you. Later on tonight read through the second half of Exodus. You can skim if it's too much. You start to get a flavor for all of the instruction that God gives regarding the tabernacle. All of the detail that he gives regarding what the tabernacle should look like.

Just be blown away by what is there. Clearly aesthetics matter to God. Art really matters to God. And so art and aesthetics, they ought to matter to you, because they matter to Him. So the way you dress, The way this church is adorned, this building is adorned, the way it looks very much matters to God.

But what also matters to him very much is that any form of art not be made as a means of worship. Verse 4 of Exodus 20 is not a prohibition against all things graven. It is a prohibition against that image, that art, being graven as a means of worship. It's a prohibition of images and likenesses being made in the place of, standing in the place of God by which we may approach and worship God through the image. Don't do that.

And that's ultimately what happened in the wilderness. If you remember Numbers 21, right, God told the people, God told Moses, make the fiery serpent. God didn't break his own law. God didn't break his own law God didn't break his own law and telling Moses to make the fiery serpent God doesn't break his own law God didn't break the second commandment But the people of God broke the law of God when in 2 Kings 18 verse 4, 2 Kings 18 verse 4 we're told that for years the people of God began to serve and worship that bronze serpent. In 2 Kings 18-4 we're told the same serpent that God told Moses to make, which was not a violation of the second commandment, The people took that image and with the image violated the second commandment.

How? The text says by burning incense to it. By burning incense to it. And so in 2 Kings 18, a man shows up. His name is Hezekiah.

And Hezekiah takes that serpent that Moses had made and breaks it into pieces. Why? Because the people had turned that serpent into an idol. He didn't break the serpent because God had made a mistake. No, no, no.

There was no sin in numbers 21 in Moses Graving that serpent out of metal God did not break his law nor did Moses No, has a Kaya broke the serpent Because the people had turned what was a memorial to the mercy and grace of God into an idol. It turned it into a violation of the second commandment. They actually exchanged the glory of God and worshiped the creature rather than the creator because they thought they knew better than God. Superstition became attached to the image. Superstition became attached to the lightness of the snake.

It turned a memorial image of God's grace into a means of worship. It burned incense to it. And so Hezekiah said, that's enough. And he broke it. Are you getting a sense, maybe, of what God prohibits in the second commandment?

In the first commandment, we are to worship Yahweh exclusively. We are not to worship the false gods of pagans. You got that from A month ago? Don't worship the false gods of pagans, commandment number one. But just as much so, it's not just that you aren't to worship the gods of pagans, you are also not to worship the one true living God the way pagans worship the false ones.

That's huge. Not only are you to not worship the false gods of pagans, but you're to not then look at the one true living God and say, and I'll worship you the way the pagans worship the false ones. Don't do that, God says. Don't bring pagan worship. You will worship me my way, God says.

We are not to worship the false gods of pagans, nor are we to worship the one true living God the way pagans worship so it is not okay to say with your mouth you're worshipping God and then to act like the one true living God is the same as all the other false gods in the world. That's what the second commandment forbids. Don't worship me, God says, like pagans. I've got the thinking, how can I summarize the second commandment in like a few words? That's the best I could come up with.

Don't worship me like pagans. Pastor and theologian Peter Lightheart says it this way and I quote, The second commandment prohibits making images for a particular purpose, to worship before them and serve them. Consider those two words, worship and serve. Worship describes a bodily posture to prostrate oneself, and the word serve is a general term for the work of Levites and priests. Ancient pagan priests serviced images of their gods, and ancient pagan priests brought meals to the image, cleaned the image, bowed down before it, and praised the image.

That's the ministry Yahweh forbids in His house." End quote. And so that is precisely why we as a church do not adorn our sanctuary with images of Jesus Christ. That is why we do not have any relics or statues by which we kneel before or pray to as intermediaries. That's why we do not light candles to effigies or burn incense for them. That's the type of ministry that Yahweh forbids in His house.

It's not how my people worship me, God says. That's not how the church, that's not how the Israel of God is to worship me, God says. Why? Why? Why do that?

Why the second commandment, God? Because God is God. And he sets the terms of how he is to be worshiped. The reason you obey the second commandment, the reason for the second commandment is because God is God and you are not. That's why.

And that brings us to the principle of the second commandment, the principle of the second commandment, which is the regulative principle of worship. Now why must we worship God without making graven images as a means by which we may worship Him? Why is that such a big deal, God? Why can't we make images to help us worship you? We'll look at verse 5.

Look at verse 5. You shall not worship them or serve them. Why? Why? Keep going in verse 5.

For I the Lord your God am a jealous God. What's the reason we must worship God apart from graven images? Verse 5. Because the one speaking is the Lord your God. Just pause there.

I am the Lord your God. He's the Lord. God is God. And he alone sets the terms of how he's to be worshipped. So brothers and sisters, you're not to approach God with the thought, how do I want to worship God?

That is rampant in our day. How do, What are my felt needs? How do I feel? Come on. How do I feel I need to worship God?

Well, that's ridiculous. Your feelings are so fickle. You don't start with that question, how do I want to worship Almighty God? What idolatry in your heart? What pride?

No, you must approach the worship of the living God with the question, how does the thrice holy God desire to be worshiped? How does the thrice holy God desire to be worshipped? How does the thrice holy God demand to be worshipped? God is God. You are not.

So listen to Him. You listen to Him. He is not one to take your counsel. You take His. But you might say, you might say, God, I want to serve you.

I want to worship you, and I'll do that by creating these pictures, I'll do that by putting images up on the sanctuary, and these pictures and these images and these statues, they will help us worship. I'm going to worship you better if I make these things. I know that I'll worship you better. I will glorify you more through these images. Friend, do you know better than God?

Do you know how to worship Almighty God better than the Almighty God knows? If that's so, If you knew better than God, you'd be God, which would make the first commandment out the window. You'd be breaking the first commandment. Now there's only one true living God, the living God, and here is how he's to be worshipped. Beginning with the second commandment.

No graven images to worship or serve them. We call this principle the regulative principle of worship, the regulative principle of worship. God regulates, God is the one who declares how he's to be worshiped. For I am the Lord your God. So brothers and sisters, we're not to get creative with our worship.

You do know that, right? If you approach worship thinking, I want to be creative with the way I worship God, you are on dangerous, dangerous grounds. The call is not to be creative with your worship. No, instead you are to listen to the creator. To the creator, you're not to be creative, you listen to the creator.

The calling on your pastors who lead you in the worship of Almighty God is not to get creative in what they put on the worship guide. No, we're called to listen to the Creator and to ask Him the question, in what ways have you declared that your people shall worship you? Right here in this book, he tells us. He tells us. Here is the way in which we worship Him.

That's the regulative principle of worship. What does God want of us? God regulates the manner of our worship. God regulates the manner of our worship. That's the second commandment.

And why is it true? Why does God get to regulate our manner of worship? Because of verse five, the one we worship is the Lord, our God. So children, children, you know this to be true. You know this to be true.

Even just with your parents. So children listen to me for just a second. Answer, think through this question and then answer in your mind. Imagine that you wake up tomorrow morning. I hope you do.

And you eat breakfast you eat breakfast biscuits and great that's what I'm going for you eat breakfast great meal you look at your father, maybe he's still home, he's not, he hasn't left for work yet, and your father or your mother, they tell you, sweetheart, go make your bed, go make your bed. So you walk into your room, but instead of making your bed, You go into your room and you work on Lego set a Really cool Lego set like your mom and dad are gonna be impressed by this This is gonna be legit And so 15 minutes come goes by 20 minutes goes by your father comes in your mother comes in you hold up your Lego set that's not made but you hold up your Lego set look at this thing this is amazing isn't it? You think they're going to smile? No. No.

What if, children, what if you tell your father, I thought you'd like this Lego set more than my bed made. How's that going to fly? At least at my house, it's gonna get you a spanking. It'll get you discipline. Why?

Because my children need to know. They don't know better than their parents. They don't know better than their parents. At least not usually. So how much more so with God, children?

You never know better than God. You never know better than Him. And children, God tells you how to worship Him. God tells you without any kind of confusion, here is the way you approach me with worship. Come to me apart from images when you come to my house.

Oh children, it's not your job to be more clever than God. It's not your job to be more clever than God. You can't be more clever than God. Your mother and father cannot be more clever than God. So obey Him.

Listen to Him. And that obedience, that listening begins with no greater images. So as we think through this principle of the second commandment, I want you to see another example in the scriptures. It's not very far to turn, but turn to the right in your Bible, just a few chapters, 12 chapters, turn with me to Exodus 32. I want you to see probably the preeminent example of a second commandment violation.

Exodus 32, I'm looking at verse 1. Exodus 32, and look at verse 1. Exodus 32 verse 1. Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, come, make us a god who will go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.

Aaron said to them, tear off the gold rings, which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took this from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf. And they said, This is your God, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord. So the next day they arose early and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, go down at once for your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf and have worshipped it and have sacrificed to it and have said this is your God, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. They violated the second commandment. Now, I want you to just think about this passage for a moment with me.

You have the people of Israel, and they've just received the second commandment in Exodus 20. Directly from God. As far as I understand Exodus 20, they receive it directly from God. And now Moses, after receiving the 10 Commandments, Moses then goes up on the mountain because the people are too frightened. They do not let God speak anymore to us.

You go. You go and be our guide. So Moses goes up onto the mountain, and for 11 chapters he hasn't returned yet. And so what happens to the people of Israel? They get nervous.

Their fingernails chewed down to a nub. So they get nervous. They get to a point where they say, Aaron, you're talking to the brother of Moses, Aaron, make us a graven image. But I think we sometimes misunderstand this passage. And we think, I think some of us might be tempted to think that the Israelites have abandoned Yahweh already.

Like totally abandoned Yahweh. I just don't think that's totally the case. It's not totally the case. I want you to notice some things in this passage in Exodus 32. Look in verse 4 of Exodus 32.

What does Aaron say about the graven images that he's made? Look at the end of verse 4. This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out up from the land of Egypt. Now, did Israel know who had brought them out of Egypt?

Yes, it was not very long ago in the narrative that they know exactly who has brought them out of Egypt. It was the same God who had just spoken to them from the mountain in the giving of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. So the people of God, the Israelites knew exactly who had brought them out of their bondage in Egypt. Yahweh had done that. And so in Exodus 32, the people of Israel, they aren't trying to worship a false god.

They're not trying to worship a different god. What are they trying to do? They want to worship Yahweh who had brought them out of Israel. At least that's my contention. And This is confirmed very much in verse 5.

If you doubt that, look in verse 5. Who does Aaron proclaim a feast to? Who does he proclaim a feast to? This makes the graven image. Oh, are they going after a different God, no longer Yahweh?

Look at verse 5. Who does Aaron proclaim a feast to? The Lord Yahweh. This is a feast to who? The Lord.

The covenant name of God, Yahweh. Again, Israel is not trying to worship a false god. They want to worship the one true living god. They're trying to worship Yahweh, but what's the problem with their worship? They're doing it in a way that God forbids.

They are wanting to worship God in a way that God hates. They're breaking God's law by making the graven image as a means to worship. They're breaking the second command. You cannot break God's law and call it worship. You can't do that.

Because law breaking isn't worship. So you either worship God as he directs, or you disobey him. Those are your two options. And we can so quickly make our own golden calves, brothers and sisters. We can so easily make our own golden calves.

Lord, I think you'd be worshiped better with images. I think if we had pictures of Jesus in our sanctuary, it would help us worship you more effectively. I think if we all held crucifixes in our hands as we prayed, you'd get more glory. Of course we'd be worshipping you, Father, but the images would just help us channel better. It's so easy to go there.

God hated that pride 3, 500 years ago, and he hasn't changed his mind. Thou shalt 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. Thou shalt not worship them or serve them for I the Lord your God and a jealous God so God is God brothers and sisters God is your God through faith in Jesus Christ And you are to listen to Him. That's the principle of the second commandment. He is to regulate the worship of your church.

This church. His church. And He's a jealous God, the text says. You see that there in verse 5? He is a jealous God.

Now I want you to think on that. He loves you. He loves you Christian. He bought you with the precious blood of His Son. He's made you into one of His children, adopted into his household.

He wants you to be happy. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. So don't for a second think that this second commandment is somehow a killjoy. No, no, no, it's the opposite. This is a pathway to joy.

These commandments are not killjoys. They are the path to joy. The Lord is a jealous God. Isaiah 42 verse 8, he will not share his glory with another. So any image that you construct in any effort to worship him will not be able to capture his glory.

And so if we try to use images in the worship of God and those images cannot capture His glory adequately, if we try to do that and present those images to you, what will that be communicating? That would be communicating a false notion of who God is. And when you see an image that is less glorious than the one that you can see in God, you'll not know Him as you ought to. You'll not know God as you ought to. And you will not have the greatest joy.

You will not be happy. I want you to think about this Christian. God is jealous for his glory. The same glory that he wants you to see by faith. The same glory that he wants you to be transformed by can't be captured by images.

Created images diminish the glory of God, which means they diminish the joy you are to have in God when you see Him in the scriptures and you worship Him. We are scripture-centric people. God didn't give us a motion picture by which we may know Him, did He? He did not give that to us. He could have.

He made the world. It would not have been too hard for Him to give us a VHS. Long time ago. DVD. Streaming.

He didn't do that. Here is how he has revealed himself. And so when you try to capture the glory of God in ways that God is unordained and worship God in that way those images diminish the awe and the wonder and the transformation that is to be yours if you would instead of images see him by faith in his word. So Christian, you should praise God that he is a jealous God because he will not let you his children settle for small joys and cheap glory. He will show you Himself through His Word.

He will show you His glory through the eyes of faith in hearing His Word. And he will show you his glory through his son Jesus the word may flesh and that's where we'll end this morning the promise of the second commandment The end of verse 5 describes the promise of a curse on the offspring of the disobedient to the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me. Now that's pretty interesting isn't it here at the end? Should make us pause I think. Disregarding, look at verse 5, the end of verse 5.

Disregarding what God says about worshipping Him is equivalent to hating Him. Did you make that connection? Ignoring what God says in his law is equivalent to hating God. I'll make you pause. But what does that mean at the end of verse 5?

A curse on the offspring of those who hate him to the third and fourth generations. What? Well, a couple things. For one, we see that very thing play out in the Old Testament with the kings of Israel. So Peter Leithart points out, and I quote, in the history of the northern kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam set up golden calves, violating the second commandment.

And all the kings of Israel followed the sin of Jeroboam. But Yahweh arrested each dynasty after three or four generations. He didn't let liturgical idolatry go on forever." So God did that in 1 and 2 Kings. He does it today. So fathers and mothers, especially fathers, fathers, husbands as heads of households, you really need to hear me right now.

If you've checked out, check back in please. Your regard for the law of God or your disregard for the law of God will have generational consequences. If you reject the law of God, you can expect generational sin to exist in your household. If you're gonna, you're all going to pass something down you're either going to pass a blessing or a curse down to your home either generational blessing or generational iniquity what legacy are you going to leave, fathers? What legacy?

So I talk to fathers sometimes who are struggling with sexual temptation, covetousness, some other sin, lying, And I tell them that one of the things that has helped me, your pastor, more than any other thing in my fight against any and all sin in my life. One of the things is this promise from God found here at the end of the second commandment. And repeat it throughout the scripture. Grant Brown, if you open the doors of your life to sin, if you don't shut the gates to this iniquity, then you are opening up the floodgates of sin and its curse over your entire household. Because that's how a covenant household works.

I didn't make it up. God said so. Fathers verses 5 and 6 tell you God views your household in covenant terms. And when the head of that household, when you, fathers in this room, when you as the covenant head open up the doors of your home to iniquity, when you won't deal with sin, when you won't confess your sin, when you will not heed the law of God and the call of God to repent of your sin, when you leave that gate open to your iniquity, you can expect your whole house to be devoured. Devour men, oh men, husbands Men, oh men, husbands and fathers, let that spur you on to shut those gates right now.

For the sake of those immortal souls under your watch care, under your authority in your home, for the sake of your own soul, deal with your sin. Let this promised curse at the end of verse 5 spur you on to pluck out what must be plucked out. To cut off what must be cut off in a spiritual sense. To do whatever it takes to burn the idols in your life down to the ground. Confess your sins.

Call your sins what God calls them. Drag them all out into the open. Get them before the Lord. Get them before those who need to know. And then live as free men.

Live as free men. You will be free. Live as forgiven men. Free men in Jesus Christ. Free men in Christ who cancels the power of sin and sets the prisoner free.

Live as free and forgiven men who open a different covenant gate wide open, a gate of blessing to their whole household. The blessing of verse 6 to a thousand generations. Husbands and fathers leave a legacy of repentance and faith to your children and to your children's children and to your children's children's children, to a thousand generations. You want to know motivation to lead that kind of blessing? A thousand generations!

A legacy of children growing up in a home where they will never be confused about how to confess their sins because daddy has paved the way. The legacy of faith, the legacy of blessing, because the legacy you leave is Jesus the Christ. So fathers and mothers, look at that passage, look at verse 6. The blessing in verse 6 is so far and above triumphant over the curse at the end of verse five. In the giving of the law, you have echoes of Genesis 3.

The curse comes, but God says, I'm sending someone that's going to reverse that. I'm sending someone who will conquer the curse so that eternity will bear out triumph three and four generations a thousand generations this is triumph language the curse for those who hate God's laws for three or four generations but the promise of his loving kindness is to a thousand. That's victory. That is triumph over generational sin through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. His loving kindness is greater than the curse for all who believe.

Are you hearing that? His loving kindness through his son Jesus to your life Christian is greater than the curse that hangs over you. He triumphs over sin. He triumphs over your slavery to your sin. He triumphs over the guilt and shame you have because of your sin.

There is more victory and there is more righteousness in the Lord Jesus than there is sin in you for generations versus a thousand. Who is this blessing promised to? Who is this thousand generation blessing for? Look at the end of verse six. To those who love me, God says, and keep my commandment.

Okay. God says, I will pour out my loving kindness to a thousand generations on those who love me and keep my commandments. Does that phrase sound familiar to you? At the very end of verse 6? Who was it that said those exact same words in John chapter 14?

If you love me, you will keep my commandments who said that Jesus in John 14 verse 15 and John 14 verse 21 twice Jesus quotes God's word in Exodus 20 and the Gospel of John as his own. Who's speaking in Exodus 20? God. Who's speaking in John's Gospel? Jesus.

So who's really speaking in Exodus 20? Jesus. Someone beat me to the punch. Jesus says if you love me keep my commandments. Who is Jesus?

He's God. He's the law giver. He says to you in Exodus 20 verses 4 through 6 in the second commandment don't make any images as a means to worship me. Why? Why no images, Jesus?

Because Colossians 1.15 is true. Jesus says, I am the image of the invisible God. As you think through the second commandment, whoa! The image of God came! That's why I can't have any artificial image.

Because the image was promised in Genesis 3. The image was promised to Abraham to bless all the world, all the families of the earth. That's where we get the thousand generations language. And This image came. He fulfilled all righteousness.

The invisible God came down and was made visible. John 14, 9, if you've seen the Son, you've seen the Father. He came and fulfilled all righteousness. He loved you. He gave Himself for you as a substitutionary sacrifice on a cross.

He rose up from the grave proving that for all who call upon Him and Him alone for salvation, they will be saved. They'll be right with God forever, justified, regenerated, brought home to glory, and they'll be free to worship God rightly. How? How? Colossians 1.15, because Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

There is one image, not graven, not created, but eternally begotten from the Father, that we are to worship and serve, and that is the Son, Jesus, the Christ. There is one image, not created, but eternally begotten from the Father who is the radiance of His glory and the exact imprint of His nature. And through Him, and Him alone, through Jesus, the image of the invisible God, the one who fulfilled the second commandment given 3500 years ago, through him You may approach the mercy seat through him and him alone You have a great high priest and through him and him alone You are to worship the one true living God in spirit and in truth Praise the Lord for Jesus That's great. Oh Father thank you for a wonderful truth that you have not left us to our own devices about how we are to worship you Cause us Lord to be excited We may be regulated we may be led by you are great shepherd in the glad and joyous worship of your name. We thank you for your son Jesus, who is the ultimate fulfillment of the second commandment.

He really did come to fulfill all righteousness. He is the image of the invisible God. And in him we are righteous. And in him we may approach you with confidence, cleansed by His blood and wrapped in His righteousness. We thank you for your son.

If you want to be more like him, help us. Grant us grace to go out of here full of love and affection that you would make us and graft us in to your household. We thank you for your law. Make us a people that delight in it. In Jesus name, Amen.

That delight in Jesus name. Amen.