JUDGES Living Among Idols
Series: The Flawed And The Flawless
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 12th August 2018
Passage: Judges 2:6-13
00:00:00 --> 00:00:06 What a great night to gather with you, Darcy and Genesis, awesome public declaration of faith in
00:00:06 --> 00:00:11 Lord Jesus. That is just awesome. So great to be part of it. If you've just joined us,
00:00:12 --> 00:00:19 this is our second week in the book of Judges, Old Testament book, which is a little strange,
00:00:19 --> 00:00:26 a bit awkward, but a great start last week. Having said that, there's something I need to
00:00:26 --> 00:00:33 address because there's been a little bit of banter lately, I've noticed, in my presence,
00:00:33 --> 00:00:39 mind you, much more outside of my presence, about the length of my sermons. And I thought that I
00:00:39 --> 00:00:44 needed to address that tonight. And I'm going to do it, first of all, I'm going to do it by giving
00:00:44 --> 00:00:50 you perspective on the length of my sermons. I'm going to do that by reading from Acts chapter 20.
00:00:51 --> 00:00:56 Paul spoke to the people and because he intended to leave the next day, he kept on talking until
00:00:56 --> 00:01:03 midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where they were meeting. Seating in a window
00:01:03 --> 00:01:10 was a young man named Eutychus who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on.
00:01:12 --> 00:01:17 When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:24 So the first thing I want to say is that when someone dies from my preaching, then I'll shorten it.
00:01:24 --> 00:01:31 That's the first thing. The second thing I'd want to say is that what I've noticed is the longer I've
00:01:31 --> 00:01:41 been a Christian is that, and delving into God's Word, there is just so much there. So many gems in
00:01:41 --> 00:01:47 the Bible. And this is the other bit of perspective. You don't get the original script. I get the original
00:01:47 --> 00:01:55 script. I write the original script. And every sermon I write, such as tonight's one, is there is another
00:01:55 --> 00:02:01 whole entire sermon which is scrapped before it gets to the final text. And it's the hard yards of trying
00:02:01 --> 00:02:08 to work out what to keep and what not to keep. There's so much more to be said. And so if you were just
00:02:08 --> 00:02:16 engaged in that Bible reading, you would notice that this passage is a preacher's gift. It's a gift to me
00:02:16 --> 00:02:23 because as Nick was reading it, you would have picked up, I'm confident, that it is the second
00:02:23 --> 00:02:30 introduction to the book of Judges. Judges has got two introductions. And so everything that I didn't
00:02:30 --> 00:02:39 get to say last week, I get to say this week, which is a gift to me and to you. Praise God, you know, come on.
00:02:39 --> 00:02:53 So second introduction of the book of Judges. It is a great text. It is what I did say last week,
00:02:53 --> 00:02:58 and I want to repeat here because in all the confusion of this book of Judges, you can lose
00:02:58 --> 00:03:07 this, is that the book of Judges is pure gospel, absolute pure gospel, good news. You see, Judges
00:03:07 --> 00:03:15 is about the God of mercy, the God of long suffering and patience who continually works in and through
00:03:15 --> 00:03:23 and for his people. And what's more, he does that consistently despite his people's constant
00:03:23 --> 00:03:31 resistance to his purposes. God relentlessly offers his grace to people who neither deserve it nor seek
00:03:31 --> 00:03:39 nor even appreciate it, even after they've been saved by it. And so that, it's a great summary of
00:03:39 --> 00:03:44 the Christian life, if you like. And what sets Christianity apart from every other world religion?
00:03:44 --> 00:03:48 Every other world religion says you come up to scratch and then God will love you to perform in
00:03:48 --> 00:03:53 this particular way and God will accept you. Christianity says you can't do anything to be
00:03:53 --> 00:03:58 acceptable to God. God does all the work on your behalf, which is what the baptism was all about,
00:03:58 --> 00:04:06 declaring that God has saved me by his grace. He's washed me clean from my sins by his death on the
00:04:06 --> 00:04:13 cross. And so what we notice in the book of Judges is that the only, even though there's a bunch of
00:04:13 --> 00:04:20 figures in here who are famous Bible characters, the only true hero in this book is God himself.
00:04:20 --> 00:04:28 And so the verses today, which are before us today, they are a second introduction to the book,
00:04:28 --> 00:04:35 but there are somewhat more than that, a little bit more. They are, in fact, a summary of the whole book,
00:04:36 --> 00:04:41 whole book in summary form. And the really sad thing is that if you were here last week,
00:04:41 --> 00:04:47 you would have noticed the first introduction ended with some kind of hope for Israel's future.
00:04:47 --> 00:04:55 Now, this second introduction ends on a much more depressing tone about the spiritual state of
00:04:55 --> 00:04:59 God's people by the time we get to the end of the book of Judges. And have a look at it there. You
00:04:59 --> 00:05:04 can see it in chapter three, verses five and six. It says, the Israelites lived among the Canaanites,
00:05:04 --> 00:05:08 the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, and they took their daughters
00:05:08 --> 00:05:15 in marriage and gave their own sons to their daughters to their sons and served their gods.
00:05:17 --> 00:05:23 That's the end of it, if you like. That's the end of the picture for them.
00:05:24 --> 00:05:33 Like the first introduction, the second introduction begins with Joshua. What we see with the life of
00:05:33 --> 00:05:42 Joshua is that he had a life that was lived well. Joshua was supremely a servant of his God. He was a
00:05:42 --> 00:05:50 wholehearted servant of his God, of all the leaders of Israel, from Joseph right through, in fact, to
00:05:50 --> 00:05:59 Joshua. Joshua was the very first of them to have the privilege to die and be buried in the land of
00:05:59 --> 00:06:05 his inheritance. Every one of the leaders before then, if they had the opportunity, he said,
00:06:05 --> 00:06:08 don't leave me in this place. When you leave this place, pick up my bones and take it with you.
00:06:09 --> 00:06:19 But not Joshua. His was a life that was lived well in service of his God. However, those that came
00:06:19 --> 00:06:26 after Joshua served the Lord wholeheartedly. It's what we saw last week. But Joshua saw it,
00:06:26 --> 00:06:35 or at least saw the seeds of it, in his own generation. He warned them at the end of the
00:06:35 --> 00:06:44 book that bears his name. Joshua chapter 24, verses 19 and 20, verse 23, he says this to his generation.
00:06:44 --> 00:06:50 You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God. He's a jealous God. He will not forgive your
00:06:50 --> 00:06:57 rebellion and your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster
00:06:57 --> 00:07:05 on you and make an end of you after he has been good to you. And then he says, now then, throw away
00:07:05 --> 00:07:15 the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel. And that's the
00:07:15 --> 00:07:22 theme I want to pick up today, which was in the first introduction, again in the second one,
00:07:22 --> 00:07:30 the concept of yielding your heart wholeheartedly to God as opposed to serving him with other gods.
00:07:30 --> 00:07:35 So there's three things I want to focus on. Compromising with idols, identifying idols,
00:07:35 --> 00:07:42 and dealing with idols. So first of all, compromising with idols. As you get to verse 10,
00:07:42 --> 00:07:47 so have your text in front of you, open in front of you, chapter 2 of Judges, verse 10,
00:07:48 --> 00:07:55 we see a significant shift from one generation to the next generation. Joshua's wholehearted commitment
00:07:55 --> 00:08:05 is contrasted with the complacency of his own generation, which is then contrasted to the
00:08:05 --> 00:08:16 slippery slide of compromise with the generation that follows. And so verses 10 and 11 of Judges 2
00:08:16 --> 00:08:28 describe a rebellion. Verse 10 says that the generation after Joshua neither knew the Lord nor what he had done
00:08:28 --> 00:08:45 for Israel. Now, that doesn't mean that they didn't know about the Exodus from slavery in Egypt. It
00:08:45 --> 00:08:50 doesn't mean that they didn't know about the miraculous Red Sea crossing, that they weren't aware of the
00:08:50 --> 00:08:56 crossing of the Jordan River into the Promised Land. They weren't aware of the walls of Jericho being
00:08:56 --> 00:09:05 torn down without them even raising a sword. What that verse means is that the saving acts of God
00:09:05 --> 00:09:17 were no longer precious to them. They had not learned to revere and to rejoice in what God had done for
00:09:17 --> 00:09:25 them. They had forgotten the good news that they were saved from slavery in Egypt and brought into the
00:09:25 --> 00:09:36 promised land by the gracious, mighty acts of God. That activity of God on their behalf was not
00:09:36 --> 00:09:43 something that was close to their hearts, where they enjoyed it and revered it. Now, there is essentially
00:09:43 --> 00:09:51 a warning here for Christians to never forget the good news of the gospel. The baptism display that for us,
00:09:51 --> 00:10:00 the good news in physical form, visual display of the gospel of what Christ has done for us.
00:10:01 --> 00:10:06 In fact, the Lord's Supper is the same thing that we, Jesus says, do this in remembrance of me.
00:10:06 --> 00:10:13 Take it and remember again that my body was broken and my blood was shed. There's a warning here not to
00:10:13 --> 00:10:20 forget that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, came into this world, took the just and the righteous
00:10:20 --> 00:10:29 punishment from God that we deserve for making good things ultimate things, for making God's good gifts
00:10:29 --> 00:10:37 the ultimate things and forgetting God the gift giver. See, the essence of idolatry is us substituting a good
00:10:37 --> 00:10:42 thing for an ultimate thing for an ultimate thing. Well, the essence of the good news of the Christian faith
00:10:42 --> 00:10:51 is that God substitutes himself for us. We have put created things, good gifts from God at the center of
00:10:51 --> 00:10:59 our lives and build our lives around them. And so God chooses to put himself where we deserve to be.
00:10:59 --> 00:11:08 Though Jesus was equal with God, the Father, he emptied himself of his glory. He came down and took the
00:11:08 --> 00:11:16 place of a servant, our place, and he gave his life for ours. He traded his life for ours. He took our seat
00:11:16 --> 00:11:24 so that we can take his. He died our death so that we can live his life. And as long as we remember who
00:11:24 --> 00:11:30 God is and what he has done for us in the Lord Jesus, we will serve him wholeheartedly, radically,
00:11:31 --> 00:11:38 and joyfully. And it's not just a simple matter of knowing that intellectually, it is actually adoring
00:11:38 --> 00:11:46 that truth, of that truth, building, you're building your life around that truth, wholeheartedly being
00:11:46 --> 00:11:58 determined by that truth. Now the consequence of forgetting is in verse 11 of chapter 2 of Judges,
00:11:59 --> 00:12:05 they did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals.
00:12:05 --> 00:12:20 Now what's interesting here is that God's definition of doing evil is in fact turning away from God and towards
00:12:20 --> 00:12:29 loving and serving idols. That's his definition of evil. And it's also interesting that the word Baal
00:12:29 --> 00:12:37 is a Canaanite word for Lord. And so the description here is that this generation forgot
00:12:37 --> 00:12:48 to put the true Lord, they forgot the true Lord, and they replaced him by serving many lords instead.
00:12:50 --> 00:12:55 And it happened within a generation. Commitments replaced by complacency, which is replaced by compromise.
00:12:55 --> 00:13:04 Now, let me just, you know, divert over here just for a moment. We've got kids in kids' church right
00:13:04 --> 00:13:08 now. And if you're a parent here, you're a godparent. In fact, you're someone who's an older generation
00:13:08 --> 00:13:17 with kids amongst us as a church. We as a church have a core value called Christ-centered Bible
00:13:17 --> 00:13:23 saturation. And it says there that we are committed to passing on to the next generation a biblically
00:13:23 --> 00:13:27 informed love of God. And there's a bunch of passages in the Bible that you want to go to to
00:13:27 --> 00:13:33 talk about that. But there's one, a couple that really sort of stand out for me. Deuteronomy 6
00:13:33 --> 00:13:42 verses 4 to 9 and 20-25 are really instructive, I think. Deuteronomy 6 was written to avoid
00:13:42 --> 00:13:51 the generation that does not know God relationally or personally, as you see in the beginning of the
00:13:51 --> 00:13:56 book of Judges. It was written just before they entered the promised land. And they'd obviously
00:13:56 --> 00:14:03 forgotten it somehow in a very short period of time. And Deuteronomy 6 tells us how they and we
00:14:03 --> 00:14:11 should lead the next generation. And ultimately, it's about us. So if you're a parent, you're a godparent,
00:14:11 --> 00:14:17 you're an older member of a congregation here and there's younger members in our church,
00:14:17 --> 00:14:27 firstly, here's a few tips. We must love God ourselves. We have God's Word at the centre of
00:14:27 --> 00:14:33 our hearts and our lives. That means that we're not hypocritical. We're not inconsistent in our behaviour.
00:14:33 --> 00:14:40 God's Word impacts every aspect of our lives. We are confident in it as the Word of God and
00:14:40 --> 00:14:47 transforming our lives by it. You see, young people see inconsistencies so clearly.
00:14:49 --> 00:14:56 Secondly, we are to apply and reflect on the Gospel practically. This is not just an academic or an
00:14:56 --> 00:15:03 abstract exercise for the Christian to just increase your knowledge of the Bible. Deuteronomy 6-7
00:15:03 --> 00:15:14 is, does not promote regular family lecture times. The reference in there in Deuteronomy 6 is when
00:15:14 --> 00:15:21 you're sitting, walking along, lying down, getting up. That is in, it refers to the daily routines of life.
00:15:22 --> 00:15:27 Instruction in God's truth is not so much a series of lectures and classes
00:15:27 --> 00:15:34 as it is showing how God permeates every aspect of your everyday life.
00:15:36 --> 00:15:42 It is a call to be wise and thoughtful about how the values and the virtues of the Gospel
00:15:42 --> 00:15:48 distinctively influence our decisions and our priorities.
00:15:48 --> 00:15:58 Thirdly, verses 20 and 25, 20 to 25 of Deuteronomy 6, tell us that we are to give personal
00:15:58 --> 00:16:03 testimony to the difference that God has made to us. The sort of thing that Darcy was doing tonight.
00:16:03 --> 00:16:08 Personal testimony. How God has brought us from bondage to freedom.
00:16:09 --> 00:16:13 We are not just to speak of beliefs and behaviours,
00:16:13 --> 00:16:18 but of our own personal engagement and experience of God Himself through His Word.
00:16:19 --> 00:16:24 We are to be open about our own struggles and weaknesses as we grow.
00:16:25 --> 00:16:30 We are to be transparent about how repentance works in our life with the younger generation,
00:16:30 --> 00:16:36 which means older people say sorry to kids when you fail them. That's what it means.
00:16:36 --> 00:16:47 Really, really important. How rare it is for parents to humble themselves, for adults to humble themselves
00:16:47 --> 00:16:52 and to bend a knee and look a kid in the eye and say, I have failed you.
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 Show them how repentance works.
00:16:56 --> 00:17:07 If you don't do that, they will just look at you as proud and arrogant.
00:17:10 --> 00:17:15 We must be consistent in behaviour, wise about reality and warmly personal in our faith.
00:17:15 --> 00:17:19 In other words, love and serve God wholeheartedly.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:32 And to do that, we need to be so real about the idols that lurk in our hearts, the idols of our hearts.
00:17:32 --> 00:17:34 We need to identify them and we need to deal with them,
00:17:35 --> 00:17:38 which is the things we're going to move to right now, identifying idols.
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 One of the great things about this book of Judges is,
00:17:44 --> 00:17:48 the thing you wouldn't normally think of when you read through Judges is the subtlety of the storyline.
00:17:48 --> 00:17:51 There's not a lot of subtlety in the book of Judges, frankly.
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 There's a lot of blood and guts, not a lot of subtlety.
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 But there is a subtlety to the storyline.
00:17:58 --> 00:18:08 Verse 19, it doesn't say that Israel stopped serving God who rescued them from Egypt.
00:18:09 --> 00:18:12 It just says that they opted for some alternative gods.
00:18:12 --> 00:18:22 It just simply says they also served the Baals and the Ashtoreths in verse 13.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 They did both.
00:18:27 --> 00:18:35 That is, Israel's spiritual life was way more complex than a simple decision to stop worshipping this god
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 and start worshipping those gods.
00:18:37 --> 00:18:39 Much more complex than that.
00:18:41 --> 00:18:42 They, in fact, combined the two.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:46 In fact, there's a great verse that you would just read over if you didn't notice it at all.
00:18:46 --> 00:18:52 In Judges 17, verse 3, it's an Israelite woman who gives her valuable stuff to her son
00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 and says this to him.
00:18:54 --> 00:19:02 I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver.
00:19:04 --> 00:19:12 I consecrate, I dedicate my valuables to God so that my son, with those valuables, can go and make an idol.
00:19:14 --> 00:19:15 Do both things.
00:19:15 --> 00:19:25 Now, when Westerners think of idols, our minds, we sort of wander off into sort of like carvings
00:19:25 --> 00:19:31 and incense and candles and dark rooms and stuff like that.
00:19:32 --> 00:19:38 You know, the biblical concept is much more sophisticated than the Western mind.
00:19:38 --> 00:19:41 And certainly my Western mind.
00:19:43 --> 00:19:53 Idolatry in the Bible integrates intellectual, psychological, social, cultural and spiritual categories.
00:19:54 --> 00:20:07 There are personal idols, such as romantic love and family and or maybe a love of money and power and achievement.
00:20:07 --> 00:20:11 Or access to particular social circles.
00:20:12 --> 00:20:16 Or the emotional dependence of other people on you.
00:20:18 --> 00:20:18 Or...
00:20:19 --> 00:20:22 Sorry, this has gone crazy.
00:20:23 --> 00:20:24 Can I go back to a blank slide? Is it up there?
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 Yep, thank you.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:32 Romantic love, power, emotional dependence of others on you, health, fitness, physical beauty.
00:20:32 --> 00:20:39 Many people look to these things in our culture for hope and for meaning and fulfilment that only God can provide.
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 There are also cultural idols.
00:20:41 --> 00:20:48 For instance, military power, technological process, progress, economic prosperity.
00:20:48 --> 00:20:51 In fact, every election that rolls around in this country,
00:20:51 --> 00:20:57 the biggest thing that is there front and centre in front of people is economic prosperity.
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 We will make you richer.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:03 That's the promise of every government because it's the idol of our culture.
00:21:04 --> 00:21:10 The idols of traditional societies include family, hard work, duty, moral virtue and other stuff.
00:21:10 --> 00:21:13 Those of Western cultures include Western...
00:21:13 --> 00:21:20 Sorry, individual freedom and personal choice and self-discovery, personal affluence and happiness.
00:21:20 --> 00:21:33 Now, all of these good things can and do take on disproportionate size and power with a person and with a society.
00:21:34 --> 00:21:43 These things, when you have them, promise you peace and safety and happiness and identity
00:21:43 --> 00:21:49 in such a way that you base your life on them and they will offer you these things.
00:21:49 --> 00:21:53 Now, to understand our hearts and our culture, we need to be able to discern
00:21:53 --> 00:21:59 what are the idols that influence both our culture and our hearts.
00:21:59 --> 00:22:03 If we don't know them, we can't deal with them.
00:22:04 --> 00:22:10 And if we don't know that they're there, we are defaulting in exactly the same way the Israelites are
00:22:10 --> 00:22:15 of trying to meld gods together.
00:22:16 --> 00:22:18 Now, you might be sitting here and say, I'm not a Christian.
00:22:18 --> 00:22:18 That's fine.
00:22:18 --> 00:22:21 You're just worshipping a certain set of idols.
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 Christians here are doing both.
00:22:23 --> 00:22:33 So Romans 1, 21 to 23 shows us that idolatry is not one sin amongst many,
00:22:33 --> 00:22:38 but the core issue that is fundamentally wrong with the human heart.
00:22:39 --> 00:22:46 There may be a long list of sins, and there is a long list of sins that create misery and evil in our world,
00:22:47 --> 00:22:50 but they all germinate in the soil of idolatry.
00:22:50 --> 00:22:55 Martin Luther, he's a German monk and a church reformer.
00:22:55 --> 00:22:58 He pointed this out centuries ago.
00:22:59 --> 00:23:05 He said that 10 commandments begin with a commandment against idolatry.
00:23:06 --> 00:23:11 And he argues that you never break the other nine commandments
00:23:11 --> 00:23:14 without first breaking the first commandment.
00:23:15 --> 00:23:20 The other nine is ultimately a breaking of the first.
00:23:20 --> 00:23:25 And so the secret to change is to identify and dismantle the idols in our heart.
00:23:25 --> 00:23:31 So my starting point here is to assume that you're all idolaters, as I am.
00:23:31 --> 00:23:32 I'm just making that assumption.
00:23:33 --> 00:23:36 And that they are hidden in every one of us.
00:23:37 --> 00:23:39 And the important question is what to do with them.
00:23:39 --> 00:23:41 How do we get some clarity on them?
00:23:42 --> 00:23:47 How do we get some clarity so that we don't remain under their power?
00:23:48 --> 00:23:51 How do we free from the idols so that we make sound decisions, wide choices,
00:23:52 --> 00:23:57 and be finally free from all idols that will ultimately crush us?
00:23:57 --> 00:23:58 They never set us free.
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 They never give us what they promise.
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 So here's four tests.
00:24:02 --> 00:24:04 First one, look at your imagination.
00:24:04 --> 00:24:07 Archbishop William Temple.
00:24:07 --> 00:24:12 He was an Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury during part of World War II.
00:24:13 --> 00:24:14 And he said,
00:24:15 --> 00:24:19 your religion is what you do with your solitude.
00:24:20 --> 00:24:23 Your religion is what you do with your solitude.
00:24:23 --> 00:24:33 In other words, the true God of your heart is what your thoughts effortlessly go to
00:24:33 --> 00:24:37 when there's nothing else demanding your attention.
00:24:38 --> 00:24:45 In other words, what do you effortlessly daydream about?
00:24:45 --> 00:24:47 What do you enjoy daydreaming about?
00:24:48 --> 00:24:52 What occupies your mind when there's nothing else to think about?
00:24:54 --> 00:24:56 You know, when your head hits the pillow at night,
00:24:56 --> 00:25:00 you've got an opportunity to dream about all the weights of the world on you.
00:25:00 --> 00:25:03 And just what consumes your mind?
00:25:05 --> 00:25:11 Do you develop potential scenarios about career advancement or material goods like the dream home,
00:25:11 --> 00:25:18 a relationship, or one or two daydreams is an indication of idolatry.
00:25:18 --> 00:25:27 But what do you habitually think about to get joy and comfort and escape in the privacy of your heart?
00:25:27 --> 00:25:29 What is your habit there in that moment?
00:25:29 --> 00:25:31 That's the first test.
00:25:31 --> 00:25:39 The second test of a heart's true value is how you spend your money, your spending habits.
00:25:39 --> 00:25:44 And I think I want to develop this a little bit more since even speaking about it this morning.
00:25:44 --> 00:25:48 It's more than what's your spending habits, but what are your habits of your money?
00:25:49 --> 00:25:50 What do you do with your money?
00:25:50 --> 00:25:57 Jesus said your heart is wherever your treasure is in Matthew 6.21.
00:25:57 --> 00:26:03 And our money flows most effortlessly towards our heart's greatest love.
00:26:03 --> 00:26:09 It flows effortlessly towards our heart's greatest love,
00:26:09 --> 00:26:15 to the thing that we get our affirmation, our applause, our security from.
00:26:16 --> 00:26:21 In fact, one measure of an idol is that we spend too much money on it.
00:26:22 --> 00:26:26 And it's the one area where if you're married, your spouse is saying to you,
00:26:26 --> 00:26:29 you need to exercise some more self-control there.
00:26:29 --> 00:26:34 I'm noticing the number of visits in the last two weeks to Bunnings.
00:26:35 --> 00:26:38 You know, or somewhere.
00:26:39 --> 00:26:44 What is it that you need to exercise constant self-control in?
00:26:47 --> 00:26:48 Now, this one's important.
00:26:48 --> 00:26:51 I've made the change from spending habits to what you do with your money
00:26:51 --> 00:26:54 because some of us don't spend it, some of us save it instead.
00:26:54 --> 00:27:01 So if you're habitually pushing your money to investments, saving,
00:27:02 --> 00:27:08 it most likely means that your sense of identity is wrapped up in security.
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 I need security.
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 That's the big idol of my heart.
00:27:14 --> 00:27:17 But if it's spending, what is it spending on?
00:27:17 --> 00:27:23 Because you can see that that's a good indicator of where your affirmation lies.
00:27:23 --> 00:27:26 You see, if God and his grace is the thing that we love the most,
00:27:27 --> 00:27:31 we will give our money away to ministry, charity, and the poor in astonishing amounts.
00:27:33 --> 00:27:38 Most, however, tend to overspend on clothing, on travel, on their children,
00:27:39 --> 00:27:45 on success symbols like cars and houses and whatever else.
00:27:45 --> 00:27:48 Okay, third test.
00:27:51 --> 00:27:56 And this is especially for those who profess a faith in Jesus.
00:27:57 --> 00:28:02 It is possible to declare faith in Jesus, be regular at a place of worship,
00:28:02 --> 00:28:07 have an orthodox set of beliefs, be rigorous in practicing those beliefs,
00:28:07 --> 00:28:11 and yet have a different functional saviour at the core of your heart.
00:28:11 --> 00:28:19 And one way to test this is how we respond to unanswered prayers and frustrated hopes.
00:28:23 --> 00:28:26 So, for instance, if there appears to be silence from God,
00:28:27 --> 00:28:31 it is reasonable, I think, to become sad and disappointed.
00:28:31 --> 00:28:37 But if it's not an idol, you won't be crushed by it.
00:28:38 --> 00:28:39 Life goes on.
00:28:40 --> 00:28:43 However, if it's something that you're consistently asking for,
00:28:44 --> 00:28:45 but you don't get it,
00:28:46 --> 00:28:48 and you get angry,
00:28:50 --> 00:28:52 is it that that thing is your functional saviour?
00:28:53 --> 00:28:56 You're using the true saviour to get to your functional saviour,
00:28:56 --> 00:28:58 to provide you with your functional saviour.
00:28:58 --> 00:29:03 If we pray and work for something you don't get,
00:29:03 --> 00:29:05 and you respond with anger and despair,
00:29:05 --> 00:29:09 it's possible that you have found your true saviour in that moment,
00:29:09 --> 00:29:10 your true God, your idol.
00:29:12 --> 00:29:14 Fourthly, this test works for everyone.
00:29:15 --> 00:29:18 Take a look at your most uncontrollable emotions.
00:29:19 --> 00:29:22 If you are angry over something,
00:29:23 --> 00:29:23 ask,
00:29:23 --> 00:29:27 is there something here way too important to me?
00:29:28 --> 00:29:32 Is there something here that I must have at all costs?
00:29:32 --> 00:29:35 And the reason I'm getting angry is because someone or something
00:29:35 --> 00:29:38 is blocking me from getting it.
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 Do the same with fear,
00:29:42 --> 00:29:43 with despair,
00:29:43 --> 00:29:43 with guilt,
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 with shame.
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 Ask yourself,
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 am I so scared
00:29:46 --> 00:29:50 because something in my life is being threatened
00:29:50 --> 00:29:53 that I think is a necessity for my life
00:29:53 --> 00:29:55 when in actual fact it isn't?
00:29:56 --> 00:29:59 Am I so down on myself
00:29:59 --> 00:30:01 because I've lost or I've failed at something
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 I think is a necessity
00:30:02 --> 00:30:05 when it's not?
00:30:07 --> 00:30:09 If you are overworking
00:30:09 --> 00:30:11 and driving yourself into the ground
00:30:11 --> 00:30:12 with frantic activity,
00:30:12 --> 00:30:13 ask yourself,
00:30:13 --> 00:30:15 do I feel that I must have
00:30:15 --> 00:30:19 this thing to be fulfilled and significant?
00:30:19 --> 00:30:19 Second,
00:30:20 --> 00:30:24 I think what test number four is suggesting
00:30:24 --> 00:30:26 is that when you grab your emotions
00:30:26 --> 00:30:29 and pull them up from the roots,
00:30:29 --> 00:30:32 you will notice your idols generally attached to them.
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 So let's deal with them.
00:30:41 --> 00:30:41 You see,
00:30:41 --> 00:30:44 idolatry is not just a failure to obey God.
00:30:44 --> 00:30:47 It is fundamentally setting your heart
00:30:47 --> 00:30:49 on something besides God.
00:30:50 --> 00:30:53 And this can't be fixed simply by repenting
00:30:53 --> 00:30:57 or with a determination to live differently.
00:30:58 --> 00:30:59 It's not less than those things,
00:30:59 --> 00:31:01 but it's so much more than just repenting
00:31:01 --> 00:31:04 and a determination to do differently.
00:31:06 --> 00:31:07 Let's see
00:31:07 --> 00:31:10 how we go about dealing with idols.
00:31:10 --> 00:31:13 And I think Colossians 3, 1 to 5
00:31:13 --> 00:31:15 is a great place to start.
00:31:16 --> 00:31:17 Since then,
00:31:17 --> 00:31:18 you've been raised with Christ,
00:31:18 --> 00:31:20 set your hearts on things above
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21 where Christ is seated
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 at the right hand of God.
00:31:23 --> 00:31:25 Set your minds on things above,
00:31:25 --> 00:31:27 not on earthly things.
00:31:27 --> 00:31:28 For you died
00:31:28 --> 00:31:30 and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
00:31:31 --> 00:31:32 When Christ,
00:31:32 --> 00:31:33 who is your life,
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 appears,
00:31:34 --> 00:31:37 then you also will appear with him in glory.
00:31:37 --> 00:31:38 Put to death, therefore,
00:31:38 --> 00:31:41 whatever belongs to your earthly nature,
00:31:41 --> 00:31:42 sexual immorality,
00:31:42 --> 00:31:42 impurity,
00:31:43 --> 00:31:43 lust,
00:31:43 --> 00:31:44 evil desires,
00:31:44 --> 00:31:44 greed,
00:31:44 --> 00:31:47 which is idolatry.
00:31:48 --> 00:31:51 He's saying all those things are idolatry.
00:31:53 --> 00:31:53 So,
00:31:53 --> 00:31:54 see the right beginning,
00:31:54 --> 00:31:55 set,
00:31:55 --> 00:31:57 setting the minds on things above
00:31:57 --> 00:31:58 where your life is hid with Christ.
00:31:59 --> 00:32:01 What that means is
00:32:01 --> 00:32:03 appreciating,
00:32:05 --> 00:32:06 rejoicing,
00:32:07 --> 00:32:09 and resting
00:32:09 --> 00:32:11 in what Jesus
00:32:11 --> 00:32:13 has done for you
00:32:13 --> 00:32:14 in the gospel.
00:32:15 --> 00:32:16 That's what that means.
00:32:17 --> 00:32:19 And it includes
00:32:19 --> 00:32:20 joyful worship
00:32:20 --> 00:32:23 and a sense of God's reality in prayer.
00:32:23 --> 00:32:26 Jesus must become
00:32:26 --> 00:32:27 more beautiful
00:32:27 --> 00:32:29 in your imagination
00:32:29 --> 00:32:30 and more attractive
00:32:30 --> 00:32:31 in your heart
00:32:31 --> 00:32:32 than idols.
00:32:33 --> 00:32:34 That's what
00:32:34 --> 00:32:36 Colossians 3 is saying.
00:32:36 --> 00:32:38 And this
00:32:38 --> 00:32:39 is the only way
00:32:39 --> 00:32:40 to replace an idol.
00:32:41 --> 00:32:42 It's so much more
00:32:42 --> 00:32:44 than just repenting
00:32:44 --> 00:32:45 and being determined
00:32:45 --> 00:32:46 to work harder.
00:32:48 --> 00:32:48 Idols
00:32:48 --> 00:32:50 are removed
00:32:50 --> 00:32:51 by them being
00:32:51 --> 00:32:52 forced out
00:32:52 --> 00:32:54 from the
00:32:54 --> 00:32:55 centre of our lives
00:32:55 --> 00:32:56 by something
00:32:56 --> 00:32:57 that is
00:32:57 --> 00:32:58 greater.
00:32:58 --> 00:33:02 an idol
00:33:02 --> 00:33:02 is something
00:33:02 --> 00:33:03 that we
00:33:03 --> 00:33:04 is dear to us.
00:33:04 --> 00:33:05 It's something
00:33:05 --> 00:33:06 that we love.
00:33:07 --> 00:33:08 We become
00:33:08 --> 00:33:09 enslaved to
00:33:09 --> 00:33:10 what we love.
00:33:10 --> 00:33:11 And the only way
00:33:11 --> 00:33:12 to remove
00:33:12 --> 00:33:14 something that we love
00:33:14 --> 00:33:15 is for
00:33:15 --> 00:33:16 a greater love
00:33:16 --> 00:33:17 to come in
00:33:17 --> 00:33:18 and push it out.
00:33:19 --> 00:33:20 That's what
00:33:20 --> 00:33:21 Colossians 3 is saying.
00:33:21 --> 00:33:26 which means
00:33:26 --> 00:33:27 for the Christian
00:33:27 --> 00:33:29 rejoicing
00:33:29 --> 00:33:30 and repentance
00:33:30 --> 00:33:31 go together.
00:33:34 --> 00:33:34 Repentance
00:33:34 --> 00:33:36 without rejoicing
00:33:36 --> 00:33:38 leads to despair.
00:33:38 --> 00:33:38 Oh,
00:33:38 --> 00:33:38 woe is me.
00:33:39 --> 00:33:39 I'm such a rotten
00:33:39 --> 00:33:40 individual.
00:33:41 --> 00:33:42 Rejoicing
00:33:42 --> 00:33:43 without repentance
00:33:43 --> 00:33:44 on the other hand
00:33:44 --> 00:33:45 is shallow
00:33:45 --> 00:33:45 and at best
00:33:45 --> 00:33:46 it produces
00:33:46 --> 00:33:47 a fleeting
00:33:47 --> 00:33:48 inspiration
00:33:48 --> 00:33:49 to pull up
00:33:49 --> 00:33:50 your socks
00:33:50 --> 00:33:51 instead of
00:33:51 --> 00:33:52 going through
00:33:52 --> 00:33:52 deep,
00:33:53 --> 00:33:53 deep,
00:33:53 --> 00:33:53 deep heart
00:33:53 --> 00:33:54 change.
00:33:56 --> 00:33:57 When we
00:33:57 --> 00:33:57 repent
00:33:57 --> 00:33:58 out of fear
00:33:58 --> 00:34:00 of consequences
00:34:00 --> 00:34:01 which fundamentally
00:34:01 --> 00:34:02 is what religion
00:34:02 --> 00:34:03 is all about
00:34:03 --> 00:34:06 we aren't
00:34:06 --> 00:34:06 actually saying
00:34:06 --> 00:34:07 sorry for our
00:34:07 --> 00:34:07 sins
00:34:07 --> 00:34:08 we're actually
00:34:08 --> 00:34:09 saying sorry
00:34:09 --> 00:34:10 for ourselves.
00:34:11 --> 00:34:12 You know,
00:34:12 --> 00:34:12 it's the fire
00:34:12 --> 00:34:13 insurance
00:34:13 --> 00:34:14 just in case
00:34:14 --> 00:34:14 I must repent.
00:34:16 --> 00:34:17 Repentance
00:34:17 --> 00:34:18 because of
00:34:18 --> 00:34:18 fear
00:34:18 --> 00:34:19 is actually
00:34:19 --> 00:34:20 self-pity.
00:34:21 --> 00:34:22 We don't
00:34:22 --> 00:34:22 learn to
00:34:22 --> 00:34:23 hate the sin
00:34:23 --> 00:34:24 we learn
00:34:24 --> 00:34:24 to hate
00:34:24 --> 00:34:25 ourselves
00:34:25 --> 00:34:29 and the
00:34:29 --> 00:34:29 sin
00:34:29 --> 00:34:30 doesn't
00:34:30 --> 00:34:31 lose
00:34:31 --> 00:34:31 its
00:34:31 --> 00:34:31 attractive
00:34:31 --> 00:34:32 power.
00:34:34 --> 00:34:35 On the
00:34:35 --> 00:34:36 other hand
00:34:36 --> 00:34:37 when we
00:34:37 --> 00:34:37 rejoice
00:34:37 --> 00:34:39 in God's
00:34:39 --> 00:34:40 sacrificial
00:34:40 --> 00:34:42 suffering
00:34:42 --> 00:34:43 love for
00:34:43 --> 00:34:43 us
00:34:43 --> 00:34:44 where he
00:34:44 --> 00:34:45 has given
00:34:45 --> 00:34:45 us
00:34:45 --> 00:34:46 everything
00:34:46 --> 00:34:46 even though
00:34:46 --> 00:34:47 we don't
00:34:47 --> 00:34:47 deserve
00:34:47 --> 00:34:48 anything
00:34:48 --> 00:34:50 we learn
00:34:50 --> 00:34:51 to hate
00:34:51 --> 00:34:51 the sin
00:34:51 --> 00:34:51 for what
00:34:51 --> 00:34:52 it is.
00:34:54 --> 00:34:55 We see
00:34:55 --> 00:34:57 what our
00:34:57 --> 00:34:57 sin
00:34:57 --> 00:34:58 costs God
00:34:58 --> 00:34:58 and we
00:34:58 --> 00:34:59 see what
00:34:59 --> 00:34:59 his love
00:34:59 --> 00:35:00 cost him
00:35:00 --> 00:35:01 and
00:35:01 --> 00:35:03 you see
00:35:03 --> 00:35:04 fear-based
00:35:04 --> 00:35:05 repentance
00:35:05 --> 00:35:06 makes us
00:35:06 --> 00:35:06 hate
00:35:06 --> 00:35:07 ourselves
00:35:07 --> 00:35:08 joy-based
00:35:08 --> 00:35:09 repentance
00:35:09 --> 00:35:09 makes us
00:35:09 --> 00:35:10 hate the
00:35:10 --> 00:35:10 sin.
00:35:12 --> 00:35:12 Rejoicing
00:35:12 --> 00:35:13 in Jesus
00:35:13 --> 00:35:14 is so
00:35:14 --> 00:35:14 essential
00:35:14 --> 00:35:16 because
00:35:16 --> 00:35:16 idols
00:35:16 --> 00:35:17 are
00:35:17 --> 00:35:18 almost
00:35:18 --> 00:35:19 always
00:35:19 --> 00:35:19 good
00:35:19 --> 00:35:20 things.
00:35:21 --> 00:35:22 They are
00:35:22 --> 00:35:22 good gifts
00:35:22 --> 00:35:23 that have
00:35:23 --> 00:35:23 been given
00:35:23 --> 00:35:24 to us
00:35:24 --> 00:35:24 from our
00:35:24 --> 00:35:24 God
00:35:24 --> 00:35:26 and
00:35:26 --> 00:35:26 instead
00:35:26 --> 00:35:26 of
00:35:26 --> 00:35:27 honouring
00:35:27 --> 00:35:27 him
00:35:27 --> 00:35:28 for them
00:35:28 --> 00:35:28 we've
00:35:28 --> 00:35:29 made
00:35:29 --> 00:35:29 the gift
00:35:29 --> 00:35:29 the
00:35:29 --> 00:35:30 ultimate.
00:35:30 --> 00:35:31 it's
00:35:31 --> 00:35:32 the
00:35:32 --> 00:35:32 ultimate.
00:35:39 --> 00:35:40 And so
00:35:40 --> 00:35:41 if we've
00:35:41 --> 00:35:41 made
00:35:41 --> 00:35:42 idols
00:35:42 --> 00:35:43 out of
00:35:43 --> 00:35:43 our
00:35:43 --> 00:35:44 work
00:35:44 --> 00:35:45 or
00:35:45 --> 00:35:46 out of
00:35:46 --> 00:35:46 family
00:35:46 --> 00:35:47 or
00:35:47 --> 00:35:48 a bunch
00:35:48 --> 00:35:48 of
00:35:48 --> 00:35:48 other
00:35:48 --> 00:35:49 things
00:35:49 --> 00:35:49 we
00:35:49 --> 00:35:50 actually
00:35:50 --> 00:35:50 don't
00:35:50 --> 00:35:50 want
00:35:50 --> 00:35:50 to
00:35:50 --> 00:35:51 stop
00:35:51 --> 00:35:51 loving
00:35:51 --> 00:35:51 our
00:35:51 --> 00:35:52 family
00:35:52 --> 00:35:52 and
00:35:52 --> 00:35:53 stop
00:35:53 --> 00:35:53 loving
00:35:53 --> 00:35:54 our
00:35:54 --> 00:35:54 work.
00:35:55 --> 00:35:55 That
00:35:55 --> 00:35:56 is
00:35:56 --> 00:35:57 fear-based
00:35:57 --> 00:35:57 repentance.
00:35:57 --> 00:36:00 we
00:36:00 --> 00:36:00 actually
00:36:00 --> 00:36:01 just
00:36:01 --> 00:36:01 need
00:36:01 --> 00:36:01 to
00:36:01 --> 00:36:02 see
00:36:02 --> 00:36:02 and
00:36:02 --> 00:36:03 experience
00:36:03 --> 00:36:03 that
00:36:03 --> 00:36:03 Jesus
00:36:03 --> 00:36:04 is
00:36:04 --> 00:36:04 in
00:36:04 --> 00:36:04 fact
00:36:04 --> 00:36:05 better
00:36:05 --> 00:36:07 that
00:36:07 --> 00:36:07 he's
00:36:07 --> 00:36:07 bigger
00:36:07 --> 00:36:08 and
00:36:08 --> 00:36:08 that
00:36:08 --> 00:36:09 he's
00:36:09 --> 00:36:09 greater.
00:36:10 --> 00:36:10 We
00:36:10 --> 00:36:11 actually
00:36:11 --> 00:36:11 want to
00:36:11 --> 00:36:12 treasure
00:36:12 --> 00:36:12 Jesus
00:36:12 --> 00:36:12 so
00:36:12 --> 00:36:13 much
00:36:13 --> 00:36:15 that
00:36:15 --> 00:36:15 we
00:36:15 --> 00:36:16 are
00:36:16 --> 00:36:16 no
00:36:16 --> 00:36:16 longer
00:36:16 --> 00:36:17 enslaved
00:36:17 --> 00:36:18 by the
00:36:18 --> 00:36:18 attachments
00:36:18 --> 00:36:19 but set
00:36:19 --> 00:36:19 free
00:36:19 --> 00:36:20 in order
00:36:20 --> 00:36:20 to love
00:36:20 --> 00:36:21 them
00:36:21 --> 00:36:21 as they
00:36:21 --> 00:36:21 should
00:36:21 --> 00:36:22 be
00:36:22 --> 00:36:22 loved
00:36:22 --> 00:36:23 as
00:36:23 --> 00:36:24 gifts
00:36:24 --> 00:36:24 from
00:36:24 --> 00:36:24 God.
00:36:26 --> 00:36:26 And
00:36:26 --> 00:36:27 at that
00:36:27 --> 00:36:27 point
00:36:27 --> 00:36:28 we
00:36:28 --> 00:36:28 won't
00:36:28 --> 00:36:28 be
00:36:28 --> 00:36:29 crushed
00:36:29 --> 00:36:29 by
00:36:29 --> 00:36:29 them.
00:36:31 --> 00:36:31 Rejoicing
00:36:31 --> 00:36:32 in
00:36:32 --> 00:36:32 Jesus
00:36:32 --> 00:36:33 is
00:36:33 --> 00:36:33 in
00:36:33 --> 00:36:33 fact
00:36:33 --> 00:36:33 to
00:36:33 --> 00:36:34 treasure
00:36:34 --> 00:36:34 Jesus.
00:36:34 --> 00:36:34 It's
00:36:34 --> 00:36:35 why
00:36:35 --> 00:36:35 we
00:36:35 --> 00:36:35 as a
00:36:35 --> 00:36:35 church
00:36:35 --> 00:36:36 exist
00:36:36 --> 00:36:36 to
00:36:36 --> 00:36:36 treasure
00:36:36 --> 00:36:37 Jesus.
00:36:37 --> 00:36:38 It
00:36:38 --> 00:36:38 is
00:36:38 --> 00:36:38 to
00:36:38 --> 00:36:39 assess
00:36:39 --> 00:36:39 his
00:36:39 --> 00:36:39 value
00:36:39 --> 00:36:40 to
00:36:40 --> 00:36:40 you
00:36:40 --> 00:36:40 to
00:36:40 --> 00:36:43 reflect
00:36:43 --> 00:36:43 on
00:36:43 --> 00:36:44 his
00:36:44 --> 00:36:44 beauty
00:36:44 --> 00:36:44 and
00:36:44 --> 00:36:45 his
00:36:45 --> 00:36:45 worth
00:36:45 --> 00:36:45 and
00:36:45 --> 00:36:45 his
00:36:45 --> 00:36:46 importance
00:36:46 --> 00:36:47 until
00:36:47 --> 00:36:48 your
00:36:48 --> 00:36:49 heart
00:36:49 --> 00:36:49 rests
00:36:49 --> 00:36:50 on
00:36:50 --> 00:36:50 him.
00:36:53 --> 00:36:54 This
00:36:54 --> 00:36:54 is so
00:36:54 --> 00:36:54 much
00:36:54 --> 00:36:54 more
00:36:54 --> 00:36:55 than
00:36:55 --> 00:36:55 just
00:36:55 --> 00:36:55 an
00:36:55 --> 00:36:56 intellectual
00:36:56 --> 00:36:56 assent
00:36:56 --> 00:36:56 and
00:36:56 --> 00:36:57 knowledge
00:36:57 --> 00:36:57 of
00:36:57 --> 00:36:57 the
00:36:57 --> 00:36:57 Christian
00:36:57 --> 00:36:58 faith,
00:36:58 --> 00:36:58 the
00:36:58 --> 00:36:58 core
00:36:58 --> 00:36:59 doctrines
00:36:59 --> 00:36:59 of
00:36:59 --> 00:36:59 the
00:36:59 --> 00:36:59 faith.
00:37:01 --> 00:37:01 This
00:37:01 --> 00:37:01 is
00:37:01 --> 00:37:02 seeing
00:37:02 --> 00:37:02 the
00:37:02 --> 00:37:02 value
00:37:02 --> 00:37:03 of
00:37:03 --> 00:37:03 them,
00:37:03 --> 00:37:03 the
00:37:03 --> 00:37:03 beauty
00:37:03 --> 00:37:03 of
00:37:03 --> 00:37:03 them,
00:37:03 --> 00:37:04 the
00:37:04 --> 00:37:04 worth
00:37:04 --> 00:37:04 of
00:37:04 --> 00:37:04 them
00:37:04 --> 00:37:05 until
00:37:05 --> 00:37:05 your
00:37:05 --> 00:37:06 affections
00:37:06 --> 00:37:06 fall
00:37:06 --> 00:37:08 up.
00:37:08 --> 00:37:11 And
00:37:11 --> 00:37:12 the
00:37:12 --> 00:37:12 way
00:37:12 --> 00:37:12 of
00:37:12 --> 00:37:13 the
00:37:13 --> 00:37:15 idols,
00:37:15 --> 00:37:15 the
00:37:15 --> 00:37:16 tools
00:37:16 --> 00:37:16 that
00:37:16 --> 00:37:16 God
00:37:16 --> 00:37:16 has
00:37:16 --> 00:37:16 given
00:37:16 --> 00:37:17 us
00:37:17 --> 00:37:17 for
00:37:17 --> 00:37:17 that
00:37:17 --> 00:37:18 is
00:37:18 --> 00:37:18 what
00:37:18 --> 00:37:18 has
00:37:18 --> 00:37:19 traditionally
00:37:19 --> 00:37:19 been
00:37:19 --> 00:37:19 called
00:37:19 --> 00:37:20 spiritual
00:37:20 --> 00:37:21 disciplines.
00:37:22 --> 00:37:22 They
00:37:22 --> 00:37:23 include
00:37:23 --> 00:37:23 things like
00:37:23 --> 00:37:24 meditation
00:37:24 --> 00:37:24 on his
00:37:24 --> 00:37:24 word,
00:37:24 --> 00:37:25 that we
00:37:25 --> 00:37:25 might be
00:37:25 --> 00:37:25 flooded
00:37:25 --> 00:37:26 with the
00:37:26 --> 00:37:26 gospel
00:37:26 --> 00:37:27 and God's
00:37:27 --> 00:37:27 graciousness
00:37:27 --> 00:37:28 and his
00:37:28 --> 00:37:28 goodness
00:37:28 --> 00:37:28 to us
00:37:28 --> 00:37:29 consistently.
00:37:29 --> 00:37:30 That
00:37:30 --> 00:37:30 another
00:37:30 --> 00:37:30 one of
00:37:30 --> 00:37:31 these
00:37:31 --> 00:37:32 tools
00:37:32 --> 00:37:32 is
00:37:32 --> 00:37:33 corporate
00:37:33 --> 00:37:33 worship,
00:37:33 --> 00:37:34 what we're
00:37:34 --> 00:37:34 doing
00:37:34 --> 00:37:35 right now,
00:37:35 --> 00:37:36 and private
00:37:36 --> 00:37:36 prayer.
00:37:37 --> 00:37:37 These
00:37:37 --> 00:37:37 disciplines
00:37:37 --> 00:37:38 will
00:37:38 --> 00:37:39 ultimately
00:37:39 --> 00:37:40 over time
00:37:40 --> 00:37:40 take head
00:37:40 --> 00:37:41 knowledge
00:37:41 --> 00:37:41 and make
00:37:41 --> 00:37:42 it life
00:37:42 --> 00:37:42 shaping
00:37:42 --> 00:37:43 reality
00:37:43 --> 00:37:43 for us.
00:37:44 --> 00:37:44 What we're
00:37:44 --> 00:37:44 doing
00:37:44 --> 00:37:45 as we
00:37:45 --> 00:37:46 gather
00:37:46 --> 00:37:46 tonight
00:37:46 --> 00:37:47 with
00:37:47 --> 00:37:47 baptism,
00:37:47 --> 00:37:47 preaching,
00:37:47 --> 00:37:48 singing,
00:37:48 --> 00:37:48 prayers,
00:37:48 --> 00:37:48 all that
00:37:48 --> 00:37:49 sort of
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 stuff,
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 you know
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 what we're
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 doing,
00:37:50 --> 00:37:51 what we
00:37:51 --> 00:37:51 do tonight
00:37:51 --> 00:37:52 and every
00:37:52 --> 00:37:52 time we
00:37:52 --> 00:37:53 gather
00:37:53 --> 00:37:55 is just
00:37:55 --> 00:37:57 being reminded
00:37:57 --> 00:37:57 again of
00:37:57 --> 00:37:58 the magnificence
00:37:58 --> 00:37:58 of Jesus,
00:37:59 --> 00:38:00 of our
00:38:00 --> 00:38:00 priorities
00:38:00 --> 00:38:02 again
00:38:02 --> 00:38:03 and again
00:38:03 --> 00:38:03 and again
00:38:03 --> 00:38:04 and again
00:38:04 --> 00:38:05 and again
00:38:05 --> 00:38:05 for him
00:38:05 --> 00:38:05 to shape
00:38:05 --> 00:38:06 our lives,
00:38:06 --> 00:38:07 for us
00:38:07 --> 00:38:07 to declare
00:38:07 --> 00:38:08 how good
00:38:08 --> 00:38:08 he is,
00:38:08 --> 00:38:09 to be reminded
00:38:09 --> 00:38:09 of that,
00:38:09 --> 00:38:09 to hear other
00:38:09 --> 00:38:10 brothers and
00:38:10 --> 00:38:11 sisters do
00:38:11 --> 00:38:11 that.
00:38:13 --> 00:38:13 You see,
00:38:13 --> 00:38:13 spiritual
00:38:13 --> 00:38:14 disciplines
00:38:14 --> 00:38:15 are a
00:38:15 --> 00:38:15 form of
00:38:15 --> 00:38:15 worship
00:38:15 --> 00:38:17 and worship
00:38:17 --> 00:38:19 very simply
00:38:19 --> 00:38:22 worship
00:38:22 --> 00:38:22 is the
00:38:22 --> 00:38:23 ultimate
00:38:23 --> 00:38:24 way to
00:38:24 --> 00:38:24 replace
00:38:24 --> 00:38:25 idols in
00:38:25 --> 00:38:26 our heart,
00:38:26 --> 00:38:27 giving God
00:38:27 --> 00:38:27 the due
00:38:27 --> 00:38:28 honour
00:38:28 --> 00:38:29 to him.
00:38:31 --> 00:38:31 You see,
00:38:31 --> 00:38:31 you cannot
00:38:31 --> 00:38:32 get rid of
00:38:32 --> 00:38:33 idols simply
00:38:33 --> 00:38:33 by understanding
00:38:33 --> 00:38:34 what they
00:38:34 --> 00:38:34 are,
00:38:34 --> 00:38:36 just by
00:38:36 --> 00:38:36 identifying
00:38:36 --> 00:38:37 them.
00:38:37 --> 00:38:38 We actually
00:38:38 --> 00:38:39 have to
00:38:39 --> 00:38:39 get the
00:38:39 --> 00:38:40 peace that
00:38:40 --> 00:38:41 Jesus gives
00:38:41 --> 00:38:42 and that
00:38:42 --> 00:38:44 only comes
00:38:44 --> 00:38:44 as we
00:38:44 --> 00:38:45 worship him
00:38:45 --> 00:38:46 as our
00:38:46 --> 00:38:46 merciful,
00:38:47 --> 00:38:47 patient,
00:38:48 --> 00:38:48 sovereign
00:38:48 --> 00:38:49 saviour.
00:38:51 --> 00:38:52 And that
00:38:52 --> 00:38:52 process,
00:38:52 --> 00:38:53 my friends,
00:38:53 --> 00:38:54 is the bad
00:38:54 --> 00:38:54 news for you
00:38:54 --> 00:38:55 quick fix
00:38:55 --> 00:38:55 people.
00:38:56 --> 00:38:57 That's an
00:38:57 --> 00:38:58 entire life
00:38:58 --> 00:38:58 process.
00:38:58 --> 00:38:59 process.
00:39:00 --> 00:39:01 It's a
00:39:01 --> 00:39:01 process of
00:39:01 --> 00:39:02 rejoicing and
00:39:02 --> 00:39:02 repenting,
00:39:02 --> 00:39:03 rejoicing and
00:39:03 --> 00:39:04 repenting all
00:39:04 --> 00:39:04 of our
00:39:04 --> 00:39:05 lives.
00:39:05 --> 00:39:05 You see,
00:39:06 --> 00:39:06 mature
00:39:06 --> 00:39:07 Christians are
00:39:07 --> 00:39:07 not those
00:39:07 --> 00:39:08 who've got to
00:39:08 --> 00:39:08 the bottom
00:39:08 --> 00:39:09 of their
00:39:09 --> 00:39:09 hearts,
00:39:09 --> 00:39:09 you know,
00:39:09 --> 00:39:10 finally hit
00:39:10 --> 00:39:11 bedrock,
00:39:11 --> 00:39:11 clunk,
00:39:11 --> 00:39:11 clunk,
00:39:11 --> 00:39:12 clunk,
00:39:12 --> 00:39:12 nowhere
00:39:12 --> 00:39:12 further to
00:39:12 --> 00:39:13 go.
00:39:13 --> 00:39:14 Mature
00:39:14 --> 00:39:14 Christian
00:39:14 --> 00:39:16 are those
00:39:16 --> 00:39:16 who keep
00:39:16 --> 00:39:17 digging,
00:39:17 --> 00:39:18 who never
00:39:18 --> 00:39:19 stop digging
00:39:19 --> 00:39:20 into the
00:39:20 --> 00:39:20 depths of
00:39:20 --> 00:39:21 their hearts
00:39:21 --> 00:39:22 and constantly
00:39:22 --> 00:39:23 rooting out
00:39:23 --> 00:39:23 the idols of
00:39:23 --> 00:39:24 their hearts.
00:39:24 --> 00:39:26 setting your
00:39:26 --> 00:39:27 heart on
00:39:27 --> 00:39:27 Jesus as
00:39:27 --> 00:39:28 your peace
00:39:28 --> 00:39:29 and your
00:39:29 --> 00:39:30 hope and
00:39:30 --> 00:39:30 your life
00:39:30 --> 00:39:32 is the
00:39:32 --> 00:39:32 road to
00:39:32 --> 00:39:34 true freedom,
00:39:35 --> 00:39:36 freedom from
00:39:36 --> 00:39:37 enslaving idols
00:39:37 --> 00:39:39 that crush
00:39:39 --> 00:39:39 us,
00:39:40 --> 00:39:41 that control
00:39:41 --> 00:39:42 us and
00:39:42 --> 00:39:42 will ultimately
00:39:42 --> 00:39:44 destroy us.