Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

The Second Commandment

Bryan Schneider · September 18, 2021

Exodus 20:3-6

sharonrpc.org/sermons/the-second-commandment

Summary

The first commandment identifies whom believers worship; the second governs how the one true God is worshiped.
God forbids carved images as objects or aids of worship and refuses to be represented by human invention.
The golden calf shows that idolatry can claim to honor the LORD while corrupting worship with an unauthorized image.
Because worship is offered to God rather than consumed by the congregation, God determines its elements through his Word.
God's jealousy warns against divided devotion, while his covenant mercy is magnified in Christ, the true image of the Father and the only perfectly obedient worshiper.

Do I approach worship primarily as something I offer to God or something designed to satisfy my preferences?
Have tradition, novelty, visual attraction, or personal taste added practices that God has not commanded?
What heart-idols compete for the devotion and obedience owed to God?
How does Jesus, the true image of the invisible God, expose the inadequacy of man-made representations?
What does God's promise of covenant mercy teach me about worshiping through Christ?

Idolatry: Giving worship to a creature or fashioning a creaturely representation through which to worship God.
Regulative principle of worship: The conviction that the church should include in worship what God commands in Scripture rather than inventing its own religious elements.
God's jealousy: His holy zeal for his own glory and the undivided love of his covenant people.
Image of God: A title fulfilled uniquely by Jesus Christ, who truly reveals the Father without being a humanly fashioned idol.