Sermon: Counterfeit Worship

Scripture Text: Exodus 20:1-6

Quotes for Reflection

Kevin D. Young, The Ten Commandments
If the first commandment is against worshiping the wrong God, the second commandment is against worshiping God in the wrong way.

John Calvin, Commentary on Exodus
God wishes to be worshiped in a spiritual manner. If we turn away from this, we lapse into idolatry.

Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods
What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.

John Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life
Idolatry has two senses: (1) worshiping a false god, and (2) worshiping any god by means of an idol. The first commandment deals primarily with the first form of idolatry, while the second commandment deals with the second form of it. But of course the two are intimately connected. To worship a false god (first commandment) is to direct our worship to something creaturely, namely an idol (second commandment). And to worship an idol (second commandment) is to rob God of worship that he alone deserves (first commandment). So the two commandments imply one another and serve as two perspectives on our worship. In that way, the second commandment, like the first, covers all aspects of human life.

Application Questions

1. Idols can be real both individually and corporately. What idols hold power in the American church today?

2. John Calvin writes that “God wishes to be worshipped in a spiritual way.” What value does that have for faith?

3. How does true and false worship shape generational faith? How have you seen this to be true in your own life?