Princeton Presbyterian Church

Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1737

June 28, 2026

Exodus 20.4-6              Click here for audio worship.

Dr. Ed Pettus

(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)

 

“Second Commandment – What is Required”

 

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

 

• Worship Through God’s Word

 

We have worked through some of the requirements of the First Commandment and some of what is forbidden in the First, and now we move on to what is required of us in the Second Commandment. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything...You shall not bow down to them or serve them…” While the First Commandment teaches us about who we are to worship having no other gods but the Living God, the Second Commandment teaches us how we are to worship, no false manner of worship. This Commandment begins our journey into how we are to worship the Lord. That journey is nurtured throughout the Bible. We are guided by Scripture on the proper reverence and manner of worship.

The Larger Catechism teaches that the Second Commandment “requires us to receive, respectfully perform, and preserve completely and purely all the regulations for religion and worship that God has established in his word.” It is because the Bible is God’s Word that it is our sole authority for worship. So the Catechism first takes us through the authority of the Word in order for us to understand that it is the authority for worship. Moses, for instance, speaks of the Word as our very life, Deuteronomy 32.46-47, “he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” The apostle Paul emphasizes the Word for Timothy, 2 Timothy 3.16-17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

I would not place a great deal of emphasis on this point I am about to make, but it seems interesting to me that the definition of liturgy is “the work of the people”. Our work in worship is through the liturgy of praise and confession and prayer and preaching and sacrament. We work together in an order of worship for the purpose of focusing on the Lord God of the Bible to whom we offer our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. While I’m sure Paul was referring to good works of kindness and mercy in speaking of being equipped for every good work. Could he not have also had the good work of worship in mind as well? The Word teaches and trains us to worship the Lord and is profitable to that end. It is what the disciples did in the book of Acts, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (2.42). Teaching (God’s Word) for the sake of worship, fellowship (gathered community of faith) in worship, breaking bread in communion (sacrament), and prayers! This was the liturgy of the early church, the work of the people.

• Elements of Worship

 

Presbyterian worship has always been informed by the Scriptures. The Catechism breaks down the elements of worship into prayer, thanksgiving, reading, preaching and hearing of the Word, and the administration of and receiving the sacraments. These are the basic elements of worship that we have from God’s Word. When we stray from these elements we stray from God’s Commandment to bow down in any other manner. One may wonder if some of the more modern forms of worship are appropriate and in accordance with God’s Word. The somewhat exaggerated criticism of some worship in our time is singing a bunch of songs that hardly praise God but rather make the worshipers feel good about themselves, a brief look at the Bible, and then one illustration after another that says very little about what the Bible teaches. The Bible is clear on what is required of us in worship and therefore in keeping the Second Commandment.

 

The Bible calls us to prayer and thanksgiving in worship:

Philippians 4.6, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Ephesians 5.20, “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

The Bible calls us to the reading of the Word, preaching of the Word, and hearing of the Word!

Acts 15.21, “For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

2 Timothy 4.2, “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

James 1.21-22, “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

 

The Bible calls us to the administration of and receiving the sacraments:

1 Corinthians 11.23-26, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”

 

It anyone has ever wondered why we do what we do in worship, we do, hopefully, all that the Bible requires of us. Nothing more, nothing less. It is our hope that our worship is in accordance with the Word of God and therefore in accordance with Jesus’ teaching to worship in spirit and truth, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him” (John 4.23).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Disciplines of Worship

 

The Second Commandment requires us to practice discipline in the church. This keeps the church pure and united for the sake of proper worship. In line with that we practice certain things and do things decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14.40). A part of that discipline is how we govern ourselves as a church and particularly in the area of church discipline.

Matthew 18.15-17,“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

Paul deals with keeping purity of the body in 1 Corinthians 5.9-13 when he speaks of those who are sexually immoral, “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you.’”

This is a very important verse for church discipline. So many people falsely fall back on “Judge not, lest you be judged.” But that is not a verse for how the church operates within. We are called, for the sake of the peace, unity, and purity of the church, to practice church discipline. Paul says we are not to judge those outside of the church, but we have the responsibility as followers of Christ to judge those within. That judgment is for the sake of reconciling the offender but also for the sake of the Second Commandment, that we keep the purity of worship in tact.

Second to church discipline is the administration and upkeep of the church. These are terms used in the Larger Catechism to help us worship well and truthfully in order to eliminate any idolatry.

God has given gifts to the church for the sake of building a solid church. Ephesians 4.11-12, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”

1 Timothy 5.17-18, “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” The Greek word for elder is presbuteros, which is where we get our denominational and church name. We are Presbyterian because of how we are governed, by the Elders. I am a Teaching Elder and the Session consists of Ruling Elders. Our responsibilities include oversight of all things that help us be the church that worships the Lord our God by keeping His Commandments.

Some of the other things within the teaching of the Catechism are fasting, taking oaths, and paying our vows. Just a few quick references! Joel 2.12, “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” Deuteronomy 6.13, “It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.” Psalm 116.14 “I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.”

All these things thus far, worship by the Word, elements of worship found in the Word, and the discipline of the church; they all lead to preventing and eliminating idolatry, the worship of any other gods or any false worship of the true Living God.

 

 

 

• Elimination of Idolatry

 

What the First and Second Commandments teach is the utter elimination of idolatry. The more we worship and the more we worship in the Spirit, the greater our devotion to God and the lesser our tendency to fall into any kind of idolatry. When we forsake worship, we set ourselves up to greater tendency to break the Second Commandment. The Bible has plenty of places where false worship is challenged and corrected.

 

Acts 17.16-17, “Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.” We should be provoked within because of all the idols of our culture! I know we are provoked and saddened by all the garbage and false worship that goes on in every sector of our country. From the worship of socialism to the idolatry of consumerism, we live in the midst of no regard for the First or Second Commandment, or any of the Commandments. The Bible also gives warning to those who worship falsely or false gods, Psalm 16.4, “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.”

This might be my last Bible passage quote! The prophet speaks to what we have seen thus far, that we follow God’s Word in shaping our worship. We are to walk in His ways of discipline for the sake of a strong church. So the prophet Isaiah says it this way: “And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!” (Isaiah 30.20-22) Walk in God’s way, in God’s Commandments so that we might say to all the idols of this world, “Be gone!” Be eliminated from our devotion, from our worship, and from our lives. This is how we guard against idolatry, by keeping Commandment and not turning away from God’s Word. A prevailing sin in our culture is idolatry. I would commend a book for you called The Boniface Option. It’s basic premise is that we are called to chop down all the idols in our culture so that Christianity has a positive effect on the world.

The church gives witness to the world when we keep firm to the Ten Commandments. The Second Commandment requires us to give that witness by worshiping God in a manner worthy of our call and worthy of the holiness of the Lord. We are to worship by the structure given us in the Bible. We are to worship God in the elements of worship and through the discipline of the church governance. We are called to eliminate any and all forms and shapes and hints toward idolatry. We have to have the courage to call out and chop down the idols of our world: the woke agenda, the LGBTQSSA++ agenda, the abortion agenda, the socialists/communist agenda, and on and on the idols march. Most important, we cannot allow those idols a foothold in the church. Never. Keep the Second Commandment and come, let us worship the Lord our God and give all praise and glory to His name. Amen.