Transcript
Quick review this morning. Last week we were looking at three basic principles of
relationship with God in terms of meeting our needs that we need to
understand, lest life fill us with disappointment. Very quickly, number one,
only God can be the ultimate source of our life. He is the true God. He is the
living God. He created heaven and earth, everything that is in them, every other
God, Scripture says, is worthless because they are not truly self-existent. Number
two, God often uses third parties, very often people, to meet our needs. We talked
about that in some detail last week. And then number three, our tendency, of course,
is to confuse the two. That is to say we confuse the bucket with the fountain, we
confuse the gift with the giver. So God brings a special friendship into my
life. Pretty soon that friendship becomes more important than God, and what my
friend wants and expects of me is more important than what God wants and God
expects of me. God brings possessions into my life, blesses me with good things,
and before you know it, my hope and my trust lies in my riches, in my wealth,
instead of the true and the living God. And on and on it goes that in Scripture
is known as idolatry. It means we are taking our eyes off the true and the
living God who wants to have a personal relationship with each of us, and we look
to things other than God to meet the fundamental needs of our lives, and then
we start living for the approval and the blessing of that other thing or that
other person. Idolatry, you will recall, is the
besetting sin of Israel in the Old Testament. It cost them eventually their
inheritance in the promised land. It got them sent off into exile. Idolatry, you
will notice here in Acts chapter 14, is the besetting sins of the Gentiles as
they look to their mythological God, Zeus and Hermes in this case, to provide
them with every good and perfect gift as opposed to the living God. And to be sure,
idolatry continues to be the besetting sin of our generation. Somebody has said
that if the greatest commandment of all is that we should love the Lord our God
with all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind, then what do you suppose is our
greatest sin? Our greatest sin is not all the bad things we might do. Our greatest
sin is the one thing that we don't do, which is to love the Lord our God with
all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind. And while that is true of the world around
us in general, sadly, not infrequently, it is even true of you and me. Because
isn't it true that like Israel of old, our loyalty towards God is often a
mixture? On the one hand, yes, we love him. On the one hand, yes, we want to live for
him. But on the other hand, there are all these things around us that draw our
attention and that occupy our loyalty. Let me just ask you these pointed
questions to try to bring that issue home in your life and in my life. And I
don't do this judgmentally. I don't do this to point fingers or to make us feel
bad. I do this to try to expose to us the places where we really find
ourselves and where we really do our living. When you go to bed at night,
what's the last thing you think of? When you wake up in the morning, what is the
first thing you think of? And when you are about your day, what is it that most
preoccupies your time and your attention? And when you're confronted with a
question, when you are confronted with a challenge, when life is difficult, what is
the first place you turn to to try to find solutions to the issues that beset
you? Isn't it true that more often than not, we pay lip service to the things of
God and yet our real heart and our real loyalty lies not so much with God as the
fountain in the source of life, but the other sources that he has created that
we think are easier to get along with and that are easier to get answers from. I
wonder sometimes if we really understand what it means to have no other God
before the true and the living God. I wonder sometimes if we truly understand,
if we really understand how incredibly jealous God is of our hearts and how
determined he is that we should have no other gods before him. Listen again to
how Paul puts it in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11. He says, "I am jealous for you
with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ." He is picturing
himself here as the matchmaker, the the best man if you will, or whoever it is
who keeps the bride in safety. "I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so
that I might present you as a pure virgin to him, a woman who has not known
any other men. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's
cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure
devotion to Christ. That your minds may be led astray from your sincere and pure
devotion in Christ." What God is looking for is people whose hearts belong without
mixture to God and to God alone. See we tend to think when we read the Old
Testament stories of Israel that they forsook the living God and they only
pursued Baals, but that's hardly ever the case of what happened. What happened was
they mixed the two. On the one hand they would go to the temple and on the other
hand they would serve Baal. How different is that from you and me? On the one hand
we go to church, we worship God, we want him to be number one in our lives, and yet
isn't it true so often our hearts and our loyalties lie elsewhere? Am I being too
hard on us? Is it an accurate reflection of where we find ourselves so often? I've
been reading in my own reflections of late the book of Jeremiah and I'm
starting to feel sorry for God. I'm feeling sorry for God because the people
that he has wooed, the people that he has wanted to be his own, refuse to come to
him and they find lovers elsewhere all over the place. Assuming that what I'm
saying applies, if not to your life, at least to mine, what do we do about our
propensity towards idolatry? Well, three suggestions, don't know if we'll be able
to cover all of them this morning, but let's make a start. Number one, we must
identify the idols of our hearts. We must identify the idols of our hearts.
Number of years ago, Dan Allender in "Tremper Along Wind III" wrote a
marvelous little book called "Breaking the Idols of Your Heart." It's a study in
the book of Ecclesiastes and in the book they outline eight idols of the heart
that predominate in the book of Ecclesiastes and in the time that we have
this morning. Let me try to walk us through some or all of those as quickly
as we can just to get a flavor of where those idols of the heart can be
found. First idol of the heart they mention is "chasing after power. I can
control my world." Chasing after power, I can control my world. Let me elaborate on
that just a little bit because it sort of sets the stage for everything that
follows. When God created us, as you know, he created us in relationship with
himself and in relationship with himself he gave us dominion over the work of his
hands and as Adam and Eve submitted to God, God gave them power and authority. In
the fall, this relationship was broken. We now live in the world over here. We are
cut off from God and a lot of the power and the authority originally giving to
Adam and Eve we have lost. That leaves us with a hole in our hearts. It leaves us
struggling against a broken and a cursed world. So what do we do? Well what God
wants us to do is turn to him because in turning to him he will restore our
position of authority and power as is so clearly demonstrated in Jesus who was
obedient even unto death but is now seated at the right hand of God in glory
with the name that is above every day. But see the human heart doesn't want to
do that and so what does the human heart do? It begins to try to regain control
over its chaotic world and we do that in a lot of different ways. We do that by
trying to gain control over our own lives. We try to gain control over the
lives of other people and we try to gain control over the environment and over
the situations and the circumstances of our lives. But all of that will
ultimately fail because apart from relationship with God we are under the
authority of Satan and he doesn't love us one iota and he fully intends to use us
and then throw us away. So power, regaining power, finding security in
power is one of the idols of our hearts ill-of-fallen world and as Christians
you can imagine we're not automatically immune to that. Second idol of the heart
is chasing after relationships. Relationships bring me fulfillment. What
was one of the first things that God did when he looked on the creation after
Adam was created? What did God decide was not good? The fact that Adam was alone.
What did God do in response to Adam's aloneness? He provided him with a
wife, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh and again the teaching of scripture is
that in relationship with God Adam had everything that he needed including
human companionship. In a fallen and a broken world we are separated from God,
we are alienated from him, we have loneliness in our lives now, we don't
trust God to provide for us, so what do we do? We reach out and we try to find
friendship. How many people don't you know who live for their spouse? How many
people don't you know who will sell their souls for the approval of their
friends? How many people don't you know for whom the opinions of society are far
more important than the opinions of God? Isn't that true? That's idolatry but it
comes to us so naturally that we can't even begin to see through the
implications. Remember Israel in the Old Testament wanted a king. Why? Because they
wanted to be like the nations. Remember that? What the nations thought and felt
was what became their mantra. They wanted to be like that instead of having to
depend on the Lord God Almighty. Alright third one, chasing after work and money.
Money brings me freedom. Again same thing applies as we have seen before. In
relationship with God, Adam had all the resources that he needed to do to live
his life with a fulfilling task. God gave him a job in the garden. Remember that?
Till the garden and God gave him everything that he needed. Again we got
separated from God and now we live in a world where everything comes at us to
try to rob us of identity and purpose and so how do we try to regain our
status in life? Well some people do it by throwing themselves into work. Why do we
throw ourselves into work? Because it helps us to accumulate power, it helps us
to accumulate wealth and how many people don't you know who put their hope in
earthly riches? For whom making money is more important than living in
relationship with God and for whom money truly becomes their God. It's the last
thing they think about when they go to sleep. It's the first thing they think
about when they wake up in the morning. It's not the money that is the issue you
will recall. It is the love of money that scripture says is the root of all evil
and again it becomes idolatrous when instead of receiving it as a gift from
God to be used for his purposes gratefully and with Thanksgiving it
becomes more important than God and if we make deals that compromise the heart
and the value of God then we are no longer serving God we are serving money
and you might recall what Jesus had to say about that he said no one can serve
two masters either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted
to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money the old
translation you cannot serve both God and mammon and mammon in scripture is
seen as the personification of money and there are many people who believe that
there is a God called mammon who stands behind the scenes and who stirs up greed
and who stirs up lust and who stirs up an ability to find your life in finances
and in financial success at the cost of loving God and again remember there's
nothing wrong with money there's nothing wrong with being rich there is nothing
wrong with loving your work but it has to be secondarily submitted to the
primacy of the authority of God and if it fails that test it's become idolatrous.
All right moving on to the next one a very practical one in this day and age
chasing after pleasure. Pleasure will satisfy me chasing after pleasure
pleasure will satisfy me. Pleasure is anything that makes us feel good a good
meal a gentle touch a new adventure a satisfying job they can all give me
pleasure and contrary to what some Christians seem to think pleasure is not
wrong sometimes Christians get such a warped sense of who God is and what God's
values are that if it feels good it must be wrong so I better not be doing it you
know only when it's really painfully difficult can God be honored in our
service that's nonsense. I love what Psalm 16 says verse 11 you've made known
to me the path of life you will fill me with joy in your presence with eternal
pleasures at your right hand but again the same principle applies doesn't it?
God wants to be number one in my life and because he loves me he gives me
pleasures pleasures forevermore God wants me to enjoy all good things Paul
writing to Timothy says tell them to gratefully receive with thanksgiving the
gifts of finances for example only let them use them wisely for the coming of
God's kingdom but in a fallen world we're separated from God we are left
empty at the core of our lives so what do we do we try to fill those empty
places with pleasures we try to make ourselves feel good in a world that
makes us feel bad and for some people that means sexual promiscuity for some
people that means drugs or alcohol or extreme sports or or whatever it is that
turns your crank music is a big one it gives me pleasure and again pleasure is
okay as long as pleasure takes a secondary place to God Almighty who
wants to be my ultimate priority and if pleasures take us away from God if
pleasure becomes more important than my loyalty to God then pleasure has become
my God and I am guilty of idolatry to the extreme and who of us can say
honestly that we're never guilty of falling into that aren't you glad you
came to church this morning chasing after wisdom knowledge will put me over
the top chasing after wisdom knowledge will put me over the top same thing
applies again God as my father in relationship with me has promised to
give me what I need to know to do life and if I need to turn this way he will
help me to make that decision if he wants me to go straight ahead in the
relationship with me he knows everything he knows the end from the beginning he
can help me walk it out and the simplicity of the life of Jesus if you
look at him is that he was so in tune with the father that he could live life
in the most relaxed fashion because he was never taken by surprise and he
always knew what to do and what to say don't you wish that were true of you you
always know what to say or what to do and you never stick your foot in your
mouth well in a fallen world we're separated from God we don't know
everything by a long shot we live under Satan's deception we are lost and now
there are some people for whom knowledge becomes the key to a good life if I get
the best education I'll have the edge on my neighbor if I understand all
mysteries I won't be caught short there are some people who want to understand
everything that is going on because only when they know everything do they feel
they are in control of all the forces out there that they cannot naturally
control and again nothing wrong with knowledge nothing wrong with wisdom but
it's the fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom and so when I stuff
my head with the security of being in control through knowledge or wisdom that
has become my idol for some people education is an idol for some people
knowing how human psychology works or how people are going to react or behave
in a given situation it becomes an idol and idols always lead us away from the
truth and the living God all right very quickly two more chasing after
spirituality my spiritual life will save me chasing after spirituality my
spiritual life will save me remember again Adam and Eve had a relationship
with God that governed all the rest of life remember they walked with him in
the garden they had a sense of immediacy with God that is just out of this world
it's the same kind of immediacy that Jesus has in the New Testament so that
he invites us to have to one degree or another in the already but not yet but
they got separated from God didn't they and so when they got separated from God
they got kicked out of the garden and they lost that sense of intimacy with
God and as I said earlier in this fallen world our first propensity is to try to
fill that vacuum with material things with power and with relationships and
with money and with sex and Lord knows whatever else but you know here's what
happens in the world eventually people discover that material things don't do
it they become aware of a hunger inside that isn't filled with a bigger house
and a bigger car and more fame and more success it is the hunger after God and
after spiritual things that begins to drive people's lives and so there comes
a point where people start searching for spiritual life for some people that
leads them in a search for the true and the living God but the true and the
living God requires repentance and requires faith that requires humility and
admitting that I haven't got it and a lot of people aren't prepared to pay
that price and so what do people do well there are many people who turn to the
spirits of the age who remembers here you know the Beatles at the peak of their
success in 1968 what do they do anybody remember they went to India why do they
go to India well they went to consult a Maharashi Mahesh Yogi who taught them
the principles of transcendental meditation transcendental meditation is
a way of trying to get in touch with the principalities and the powers of the
universe they in fact so popularized it that that that served as an inroad into
the Western world and how many people don't you know today who are caught up
in New Age spirituality that has nothing to do with Jesus but that makes people
feel good and in many cases gives them power to accomplish some very remarkable
things that's the old-fashioned idolatry these idols the Greeks worshipped Zeus
and Hermes and all hundred of them they weren't just stupid idols made of stone
or wood though that's often how they're pictured in Scripture they are fronts
for principalities and powers behind the scenes that offer you as Satan did to
Jesus the whole world if you will but fall down and worship me and how many
people aren't there who draw on spiritual powers to enable them to become
the successful dominating forces in the universe but it's even trickier than
that because you see even true spirituality can be perverted so that
our spiritual practices become idolatrous anybody here remember the
song the heart of worship you'll recognize it as soon as I read you some
of the lyrics because we've done it here quite a number of times when the music
fades all is stripped away and I simply come longing just to bring something
that's of worth that will bless your heart I'm coming back to the heart of
worship and it's all about you Jesus that ring a bell what's the history of
that song well the history of that song and Roberta first pointed this out to me
some time back is that back in the late 90s Matt Redmond and his church went
through a period of apathy he is part of a church in England and despite the
country's overall contribution to the current worship revival his congregation
was struggling to find meaning in its musical outpouring at the time that
Redmond of course is one of the premier songwriting musicians of our generation
we sing a lot of his songs but the church found itself in a funk so here's
what the pastor did wonder how that would go over here if we tried it there
was a dynamic missing says Matt Redmond so the pastor did a brave thing he
decided to get rid of the sound system and the band for a season and we gather
together with just our voices his point was that we lost our way in worship and
the way to get back to the heart would be to strip everything away and reminding
his church family to be producers in worship and on just consumers the pastor
said when you come through the doors in a Sunday what are you bringing as your
offering to God and he said the question initially led to some embarrassing
silences but eventually people broke into acapella songs and heartfelt
prayers encountering God in a fresh way story goes on to say that eventually of
course they brought music back in but do we understand this morning how even the
very best gifts that God gives us can become idolatrous isn't it true that
sometimes music or worship or what we feel or how we live the Christian life
becomes more important than God himself true that's one of the reasons Roberta
in the praise team this morning was trying to lead us into worship to focus
us on who is the true and the living God he deserves our worship whether we feel
like it yes or no because he is the great king who made everything and by
faith in Jesus gives us the power and the ability to say Lord we love you may
not feel like it much today but you're worthy of my love you're worthy of my
allegiance give me a revelation of who you are and out of that revelation I
want to serve you and honor you and do your will am I making any sense
sometimes oh here's a personal confession Roberta knows this because we
talk about it every Christmas season for me as a pastor Christmas season is
liturgically the most difficult season of the year do you know that and that's
not because I don't like baby Jesus or I don't like Christmas although our
reformed forebears I must tell you we're so intent on not celebrating special
days they didn't celebrate Christmas because you're supposed to celebrate
Christmas every day not just seasonally but one of the reasons from a pastoral
point of view and less so today than in the past but one of the reasons for me
personally that has sometimes been difficult is because Christmas comes
with the spirit of Christmas you ever notice that it invades our communities
and fields or people with tinsel and presents and joy and gladness and carols
the meaning of which nobody hardly knows but you know what the spirit of
Christmas as defined by our society is not necessarily the spirit of Jesus
would you not agree how many people ever get converted listening to Christmas
carols in the mall not too many that I know of and I like Christmas carols and
I sometimes even go to the mall not very often let the life do the shopping but
here's my point the very gifts that God gives us can be perverted so that they
become idolatrous and they become more important than the spirit of Jesus
isn't that true and whenever we fall into that we have strayed into idolatry
one more and then we've covered all eight chasing after immortality I will
have a long life if I take care of my body chasing after immortality I will
have a long life if I take care of my body again same principle applies when
God created Adam and Eve he never created them to die did he they were
intended to live forever can't begin to imagine what life in the world would have
been like if they had not fallen into sin and had continued to live forever
well again living forever was contingent on our relationship with God and it was
when they disobeyed that God said to them the day that you eat of that tree
of the knowledge of good and evil that day you will surely die and death began
as soon as they disobeyed and we live in a world now where dust we are and to
dust we return that's a frightening thing because death is the final enemy
and while there are people who prefer death over life because life is too
painful there is also the realization that death is an enemy it is foreign and
so lots and lots of people are trying to put off death and illness and aging for
as long as they possibly can isn't that true and so there is a huge emphasis
today on eating right if you'll only eat this special supplement you may not live
forever but you might reach a hundred and if you will exercise faithfully and
regularly you can put off death and you will be fit to 120 or whatever and not
only that think of the huge market of anti-aging products you know here's an
interesting little tidbit when I was a kid we used to have Dutch magazines on
the one hand and some North American magazines on the other hand Star Weekly
or something like that and I remember at one point laying to the side-by-side and
they both had a full-page spread about oil of Olay anybody here remember oil of
Olay an amazing product that was touted in the Dutch magazine as being a great
American product I kid you not and in the European or in the in the North
American magazine it was being touted as a great European product and in both
cases it promised you our wrinkle-free skin if only you applied it religiously
well did a little research P&G bought out the product now they call it Olay and
it still sells like hotcakes it actually comes from South Africa where it was
invented in 19 what's the year 19 something or another anyway 1949 I think
but here's what's funny they've done tests with that and all this other
anti-aging stuff that you can buy and I'm thinking of this because of the
Oscars last Sunday and the comments on which of the stars were aging
gracefully and which were not aging gracefully ignore that for a moment you
can apply Olay for 12 weeks solid and it will diminish your small wrinkles by 10%
such a small percentage in fact that the naked eye will not be able to see it not
making friends with P&G I know but you get the point that I'm trying to make
now you know if the bar needs painting you paint it right whatever it takes
but we worship youth do we not we worship youth and we hate aging and I
can understand that getting older myself don't necessarily like it much harder to
get out of bed in the morning than it used to be fact of the matter is good as
exercise is good as eating healthy is and good is Lord knows whatever anti-aging
products you can find none of those in the final analysis will give you life
the only thing that gives you life is the Lord God Almighty life and death are
not in our hands are they they are in the hands of God again don't misunderstand
me eating right is important exercise is important everything we can do to be
healthy to do the will of God is important but don't ever think it
replaces God or a relationship with God because in the end he has the power of
life and death isn't that true anything short of that becomes idolaters so
whenever I hear people talk in reverent tones about this product or that exercise
or that other thing I I cringe in the inside because I know how easy it is to
cross over into attributing God like qualities to things that are no God
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