1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:10,860 Micah chapter 5, beginning from verse 10, let us hear the Word of God. 2 00:00:10,860 –> 00:00:19,200 In that day, declares the Lord, I will destroy your horses from among you and 3 00:00:19,200 –> 00:00:26,920 demolish your chariots. I will destroy the cities of your land and tear down 4 00:00:27,160 –> 00:00:34,240 all your strongholds. I will destroy your witchcraft and you will no longer cast 5 00:00:34,240 –> 00:00:42,680 spells. I will destroy your carved images and your sacred stones from among you. 6 00:00:42,680 –> 00:00:51,680 You will no longer bow down to the work of your hands. I will uproot from among 7 00:00:51,880 –> 00:00:56,119 you your Asherah poles and demolish your cities. 8 00:00:56,119 –> 00:01:05,320 I will take vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations that have not obeyed me. 9 00:01:05,320 –> 00:01:09,220 This is the word of God. 10 00:01:09,220 –> 00:01:14,480 Now we’re continuing our series today, 11 00:01:14,480 –> 00:01:20,459 Close Encounters with the Living God, and our aim is to encounter God as He is, 12 00:01:21,419 –> 00:01:24,099 as He’s revealed Himself in the Scripture and 13 00:01:24,099 –> 00:01:28,580 especially in the person of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 00:01:28,580 –> 00:01:32,279 God sits exalted on the throne of the universe. 15 00:01:32,279 –> 00:01:35,639 He is the sovereign Lord over all creation. 16 00:01:35,639 –> 00:01:38,220 Nothing can touch him, no one can usurp him. 17 00:01:38,220 –> 00:01:43,559 He is father, son, holy spirit, one God adored in heaven and 18 00:01:43,559 –> 00:01:46,940 one day he will be confessed by every tongue on the earth. 19 00:01:46,940 –> 00:01:48,500 He is incomparable. 20 00:01:48,660 –> 00:01:54,879 In a class of his own, he has no peers and he has no rivals. 21 00:01:54,879 –> 00:02:03,059 To whom shall you compare me, says the Lord, who is my equal? 22 00:02:03,059 –> 00:02:07,360 Now the Bible speaks about one God, but our world, obviously, 23 00:02:07,360 –> 00:02:11,919 speaks about many gods and pursues many different forms of spirituality. 24 00:02:11,919 –> 00:02:16,339 In fact, spirituality is one of the largest markets in our society in 25 00:02:17,320 –> 00:02:18,740 these days. 26 00:02:18,740 –> 00:02:22,500 We live in a pluralistic society in which there are many religions. 27 00:02:22,500 –> 00:02:29,080 The phrase, God bless America has become ambiguous in our time. 28 00:02:29,080 –> 00:02:32,399 Because there is no longer a consensus about what we mean by the first word in 29 00:02:32,399 –> 00:02:34,300 that phrase. 30 00:02:34,300 –> 00:02:39,740 Are we referring to Yahweh, or Allah, or Shiva, or Vishnu, or Buddha? 31 00:02:39,740 –> 00:02:44,619 Or are we simply referring to ourselves? 32 00:02:44,899 –> 00:02:47,520 Now, the confusion is not new. 33 00:02:47,520 –> 00:02:53,699 In fact, affirming faith in the living God, when people around you are affirming 34 00:02:53,699 –> 00:02:57,919 many gods, is one of the main themes, one of the most important themes 35 00:02:57,919 –> 00:03:00,580 in the Old Testament story. 36 00:03:00,580 –> 00:03:03,899 In fact, we’ve already come across it in Micah 4, verse 5. 37 00:03:03,899 –> 00:03:05,820 If you glance back there, you’ll see it. 38 00:03:05,820 –> 00:03:11,080 All the nations may walk in the names of their gods, but we will walk in the name 39 00:03:11,419 –> 00:03:16,699 of Yahweh, the name of the Lord, our God, forever and forever. 40 00:03:16,699 –> 00:03:20,639 And in the central passage of the Book of Micah that’s our focus today, 41 00:03:20,639 –> 00:03:24,899 chapter 5, verses 10 to 15, the message is really very simple. 42 00:03:24,899 –> 00:03:30,979 Reading these verses we see that God is saying that he will destroy all idols. 43 00:03:30,979 –> 00:03:37,919 Now, at first sight, I know that the subject of idolatry may seem remote from us, 44 00:03:37,919 –> 00:03:42,279 but I think as we get into this together you will find, as I have found again, 45 00:03:42,279 –> 00:03:45,500 that it actually comes very close to home indeed. 46 00:03:45,500 –> 00:03:50,000 And I want to approach this subject by asking seven questions 47 00:03:50,000 –> 00:03:52,779 that I think will help us understand what God is saying here 48 00:03:52,779 –> 00:03:54,919 and what it means for us today. 49 00:03:54,919 –> 00:03:57,119 The first is very obvious. 50 00:03:57,119 –> 00:04:00,360 What is idolatry? 51 00:04:00,360 –> 00:04:02,559 And a very simple definition would be this, 52 00:04:02,559 –> 00:04:06,559 that idolatry is worshiping created things rather than the Creator. 53 00:04:06,639 –> 00:04:10,399 You find that definition in Romans chapter one and verse 25, 54 00:04:10,399 –> 00:04:11,919 where Paul speaks about those 55 00:04:11,919 –> 00:04:14,880 who have exchanged the truth of God for a lie 56 00:04:14,880 –> 00:04:19,940 and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator. 57 00:04:19,940 –> 00:04:22,079 That’s what idolatry is, 58 00:04:22,079 –> 00:04:26,720 worshiping created things rather than the Creator. 59 00:04:27,799 –> 00:04:29,799 And the surprising thing here is 60 00:04:29,799 –> 00:04:31,959 that when you look at what Micah is saying, 61 00:04:31,959 –> 00:04:33,859 what the Lord is saying through Micah, 62 00:04:33,859 –> 00:04:38,220 that this idolatry was not only being found 63 00:04:38,220 –> 00:04:40,959 among pagan nations, 64 00:04:40,959 –> 00:04:45,959 but it had actually taken root among God’s own people. 65 00:04:46,260 –> 00:04:48,859 Look at what he says. 66 00:04:48,859 –> 00:04:53,739 God speaks of destroying your horses, 67 00:04:54,660 –> 00:04:58,600 your chariots, he’s speaking to his own people, 68 00:04:58,600 –> 00:05:03,600 your witchcraft, superstition among God’s own people. 69 00:05:04,380 –> 00:05:08,380 Your carved images, verse 13, and your sacred stones, 70 00:05:08,380 –> 00:05:12,459 your asherah poles, verse 15. 71 00:05:12,459 –> 00:05:14,299 Now he’s talking here about the folks 72 00:05:14,299 –> 00:05:15,820 who profess faith in Yahweh. 73 00:05:16,779 –> 00:05:18,859 This is the church crowd. 74 00:05:19,739 –> 00:05:22,459 And what we’re learning here is that while God’s judgment 75 00:05:22,459 –> 00:05:25,459 will extend to the nations that did not obey him, 76 00:05:25,459 –> 00:05:27,339 he says that in verse 15, 77 00:05:27,339 –> 00:05:30,260 it nonetheless begins among his own people 78 00:05:30,339 –> 00:05:33,980 who have served created things rather than the Creator. 79 00:05:33,980 –> 00:05:36,619 And that is why Micah says in verse 13, 80 00:05:36,619 –> 00:05:38,220 there you’ll see it, you, 81 00:05:38,220 –> 00:05:39,859 and he’s speaking to God’s people. 82 00:05:39,859 –> 00:05:42,500 You, he says, speaking to us, 83 00:05:42,500 –> 00:05:47,500 you will no longer bow down to the work of your hands. 84 00:05:48,140 –> 00:05:49,779 Now that’s idolatry, very simply. 85 00:05:49,779 –> 00:05:53,179 And the astonishing thing is how deeply rooted 86 00:05:53,179 –> 00:05:54,880 it was even among God’s people. 87 00:05:56,040 –> 00:05:58,100 To take what you have created, 88 00:05:58,100 –> 00:06:00,059 to take what we have created 89 00:06:00,799 –> 00:06:02,700 and to put it in the place of God. 90 00:06:02,700 –> 00:06:07,700 My achievement, my position, all that’s mine. 91 00:06:09,540 –> 00:06:13,000 Idolatry really begins when a person says, 92 00:06:13,000 –> 00:06:15,459 I can play the role of God. 93 00:06:15,459 –> 00:06:18,239 You know who the first person to say that was? 94 00:06:18,239 –> 00:06:19,899 Satan, wasn’t it? 95 00:06:19,899 –> 00:06:22,500 He said I can play the role of God. 96 00:06:22,500 –> 00:06:25,940 He thought that he could see himself on God’s throne 97 00:06:25,940 –> 00:06:29,980 and then he influenced Adam and Eve to think the same way. 98 00:06:29,980 –> 00:06:32,459 You shall be as God, and that’s what they wanted. 99 00:06:32,459 –> 00:06:34,079 We can play the role of God. 100 00:06:35,899 –> 00:06:39,859 Actually, if you look at the history of our world, 101 00:06:39,859 –> 00:06:43,619 the Western world, in the last century and this century, 102 00:06:43,619 –> 00:06:45,420 you’ll see it’s all about idolatry. 103 00:06:46,500 –> 00:06:51,500 Last century’s form of idolatry was called modernism. 104 00:06:52,540 –> 00:06:55,220 The great idea of the last century 105 00:06:55,220 –> 00:07:00,220 was that the human race as a group had come of age 106 00:07:00,980 –> 00:07:04,679 and that humanity, the mass of humanity 107 00:07:04,679 –> 00:07:07,859 could take the place of God. 108 00:07:07,859 –> 00:07:09,920 We were coming off, in the 20th century, 109 00:07:09,920 –> 00:07:12,179 Darwin’s evolutionary theory that had caused 110 00:07:12,179 –> 00:07:15,540 so many people to think of man as his own god 111 00:07:15,540 –> 00:07:19,140 emerging in triumph from the swamp. 112 00:07:19,140 –> 00:07:21,279 The big idea of the 20th century 113 00:07:21,279 –> 00:07:24,720 was, of course, that science and education 114 00:07:24,839 –> 00:07:28,040 would lead us into the perfect world. 115 00:07:28,040 –> 00:07:29,899 When I was at high school, I remember vividly 116 00:07:29,899 –> 00:07:32,920 reading one of the trendy books, in those days, 117 00:07:32,920 –> 00:07:36,000 which was Jacob Bronowski, 118 00:07:36,000 –> 00:07:38,660 the Ascent of Man. 119 00:07:38,660 –> 00:07:41,119 Now, you see, that was the great theme 120 00:07:41,119 –> 00:07:43,640 less than half a century ago. 121 00:07:43,640 –> 00:07:48,500 The Ascent of Man, The Triumph of the Race. 122 00:07:49,880 –> 00:07:51,179 And that sense of triumph, of course, 123 00:07:51,179 –> 00:07:55,679 was caught in that famous quotation of Neil Armstrong, 124 00:07:55,679 –> 00:07:57,179 you remember, Stepping on the Moon? 125 00:07:57,179 –> 00:08:00,579 What he said, it is one small step for man, 126 00:08:00,579 –> 00:08:04,679 one giant step for mankind. 127 00:08:04,679 –> 00:08:08,140 For the Race, The Triumph of the Race, we’re on the moon. 128 00:08:08,140 –> 00:08:11,299 It’s nothing that is beyond us. 129 00:08:12,579 –> 00:08:14,160 Well, of course, two world wars 130 00:08:14,160 –> 00:08:17,100 and the unparalleled bloodshed of the latter part 131 00:08:17,100 –> 00:08:19,779 of the 20th century shattered that illusion. 132 00:08:21,679 –> 00:08:24,320 You don’t find many people in universities today 133 00:08:24,320 –> 00:08:27,320 talking about the triumph of mankind as a group. 134 00:08:28,959 –> 00:08:29,859 That’s gone. 135 00:08:32,580 –> 00:08:34,780 What we have now in the 21st century 136 00:08:34,780 –> 00:08:36,820 we call postmodernism, 137 00:08:36,820 –> 00:08:39,299 which has simply shifted the idolatry. 138 00:08:40,119 –> 00:08:43,580 Instead of the supremacy of the human race 139 00:08:43,580 –> 00:08:44,979 taking the place of God, 140 00:08:44,979 –> 00:08:48,599 we now have the supremacy of the human individual 141 00:08:48,940 –> 00:08:51,619 taking the place of God. 142 00:08:51,619 –> 00:08:54,700 What I feel, what I want, 143 00:08:55,799 –> 00:08:57,919 and there’s no truth above my truth. 144 00:08:57,919 –> 00:09:00,000 There are no values above my values. 145 00:09:00,000 –> 00:09:01,640 There’s no purpose above my purpose. 146 00:09:01,640 –> 00:09:04,479 The supreme question of the 21st century 147 00:09:04,479 –> 00:09:05,960 becomes the individual question. 148 00:09:05,960 –> 00:09:06,859 What do you think? 149 00:09:06,859 –> 00:09:07,719 What do you want? 150 00:09:07,719 –> 00:09:10,460 How do you define success? 151 00:09:12,440 –> 00:09:15,140 So you see the idolatry of the 20th century 152 00:09:15,140 –> 00:09:18,440 was the idolatry of the race of mankind. 153 00:09:18,440 –> 00:09:21,440 We can play the role of God. 154 00:09:21,440 –> 00:09:23,960 We can create the perfect world. 155 00:09:23,960 –> 00:09:25,020 That’s all gone. 156 00:09:25,020 –> 00:09:27,440 The idolatry of the 21st century 157 00:09:27,440 –> 00:09:29,479 is the idolatry of the individual. 158 00:09:29,479 –> 00:09:31,780 I can play the role of God. 159 00:09:31,780 –> 00:09:34,099 What I want is what really matters. 160 00:09:34,099 –> 00:09:36,000 I can be my own God. 161 00:09:36,000 –> 00:09:40,200 Either way, we’re talking about two different versions 162 00:09:40,200 –> 00:09:41,280 of the same thing, 163 00:09:42,359 –> 00:09:47,359 worshiping created things rather than the Creator. 164 00:09:49,440 –> 00:09:51,479 I wonder if you’ve noticed how easy it is 165 00:09:51,479 –> 00:09:54,099 to turn God’s good gifts into idols. 166 00:09:56,479 –> 00:10:00,799 Adam was made to enjoy a relationship with God. 167 00:10:00,799 –> 00:10:02,340 That was the very first thing. 168 00:10:03,640 –> 00:10:05,580 It’s true of you, it’s true of me, 169 00:10:05,580 –> 00:10:06,960 true of every human being. 170 00:10:08,460 –> 00:10:10,320 Adam had a relationship with God. 171 00:10:10,320 –> 00:10:13,400 Think about this, before he had a home in Eden, 172 00:10:14,479 –> 00:10:16,840 before he had a job working the garden 173 00:10:17,679 –> 00:10:21,140 and before he had a wife to share his life, 174 00:10:22,080 –> 00:10:25,500 the order is supremely important. 175 00:10:27,239 –> 00:10:30,080 You see, God gave Adam the gift of marriage 176 00:10:31,299 –> 00:10:34,400 but Adam was not made for marriage. 177 00:10:35,599 –> 00:10:37,640 Marriage is not the ultimate purpose. 178 00:10:37,640 –> 00:10:40,000 Very important to know that if you’re married 179 00:10:40,000 –> 00:10:41,700 or if you’re single. 180 00:10:41,700 –> 00:10:43,599 Marriage is not the ultimate purpose, 181 00:10:43,599 –> 00:10:45,940 marriage is a good gift from God 182 00:10:46,020 –> 00:10:48,840 in which you can pursue the ultimate purpose. 183 00:10:50,039 –> 00:10:52,979 You don’t know what the ultimate purpose is. 184 00:10:52,979 –> 00:10:55,840 You’ll not be able to understand the meaning of marriage. 185 00:10:57,659 –> 00:10:59,859 God gave Adam the gift of work 186 00:11:01,460 –> 00:11:04,739 but Adam was not made for work. 187 00:11:04,739 –> 00:11:07,179 Work was not Adam’s ultimate purpose. 188 00:11:07,179 –> 00:11:08,619 Work is a good gift from God 189 00:11:08,619 –> 00:11:11,419 but if you don’t know what work is for, 190 00:11:11,419 –> 00:11:13,140 you just become a workaholic. 191 00:11:13,659 –> 00:11:16,140 Work is a good gift from God 192 00:11:16,140 –> 00:11:20,280 in which you can pursue the ultimate purpose. 193 00:11:22,619 –> 00:11:24,599 God gave Adam and Eve a home, 194 00:11:24,599 –> 00:11:27,840 brought Adam into the garden of Eden 195 00:11:27,840 –> 00:11:31,400 but they were not made for a home. 196 00:11:31,400 –> 00:11:35,119 The home is not the ultimate purpose. 197 00:11:36,520 –> 00:11:38,099 The home is a good gift from God 198 00:11:38,099 –> 00:11:39,640 in which you pursue the ultimate purpose. 199 00:11:39,640 –> 00:11:42,440 You say, okay, then what is the ultimate purpose? 200 00:11:42,440 –> 00:11:45,539 You were made to enter and enjoy a relationship 201 00:11:45,539 –> 00:11:47,619 of love with almighty God 202 00:11:47,619 –> 00:11:49,020 in which you share his life, 203 00:11:49,020 –> 00:11:51,580 his work, his family, his joy 204 00:11:51,580 –> 00:11:54,460 and you do it for time and for eternity. 205 00:11:54,460 –> 00:11:56,580 Man’s chief end is what? 206 00:11:56,580 –> 00:11:58,619 To glorify God 207 00:11:58,619 –> 00:12:00,140 and to enjoy him forever. 208 00:12:00,140 –> 00:12:02,020 It’s not to glorify ourselves 209 00:12:02,020 –> 00:12:03,760 and enjoy ourselves forever, 210 00:12:03,760 –> 00:12:05,859 that is why ministry must always 211 00:12:05,859 –> 00:12:10,859 be God-centered which means of course Christ-centered. 212 00:12:11,679 –> 00:12:13,520 That’s what you were made for 213 00:12:15,200 –> 00:12:18,039 and anything else taking the good gifts 214 00:12:18,039 –> 00:12:20,280 that he’s poured into my life 215 00:12:20,280 –> 00:12:23,299 and placing them on the throne of God 216 00:12:23,299 –> 00:12:27,440 as if they were the ultimate purpose is idolatry. 217 00:12:29,280 –> 00:12:30,859 It always implodes. 218 00:12:33,239 –> 00:12:34,460 What is idolatry? 219 00:12:34,460 –> 00:12:38,000 Worshiping created things rather than the creator. 220 00:12:38,000 –> 00:12:39,919 Here’s a second question. 221 00:12:39,940 –> 00:12:43,440 Why do idols exist and why do idols exist? 222 00:12:45,659 –> 00:12:47,419 Two reasons. 223 00:12:47,419 –> 00:12:48,859 First. 224 00:12:48,859 –> 00:12:52,539 They exist because of our attraction to God. 225 00:12:53,739 –> 00:12:57,580 See, every human being is made in the image of God. 226 00:12:57,580 –> 00:13:00,619 That is true of the most messed up, 227 00:13:00,619 –> 00:13:05,179 dysfunctional twisted person you can think of 228 00:13:05,179 –> 00:13:07,700 and if the most messed up dysfunctional twisted person 229 00:13:07,820 –> 00:13:10,119 you can think of at this moment happens to be yourself, 230 00:13:10,119 –> 00:13:12,619 then it’s true of you, so that’s good news. 231 00:13:12,619 –> 00:13:14,880 You are made in the image of God 232 00:13:14,880 –> 00:13:17,080 and nothing can ever change that. 233 00:13:18,299 –> 00:13:20,219 It’s true of every person in every culture 234 00:13:20,219 –> 00:13:21,799 in every generation and that is why 235 00:13:21,799 –> 00:13:22,900 wherever you go in the world, 236 00:13:22,900 –> 00:13:24,780 in history or in geography, 237 00:13:24,780 –> 00:13:26,619 you find human beings engaged 238 00:13:26,619 –> 00:13:29,479 in some kind of spiritual search. 239 00:13:29,479 –> 00:13:31,880 It can’t be stamped out, communism tried that 240 00:13:31,880 –> 00:13:34,039 and of course failed abysmally. 241 00:13:35,559 –> 00:13:37,460 There is a deep hunger for God 242 00:13:37,479 –> 00:13:40,419 that is imprinted in the soul of every person 243 00:13:40,419 –> 00:13:42,760 ever born into this world, 244 00:13:42,760 –> 00:13:46,539 a God-shaped hole at the center of every life 245 00:13:46,539 –> 00:13:50,739 that by definition only God can fill. 246 00:13:52,419 –> 00:13:54,179 But that’s only half of the answer. 247 00:13:54,179 –> 00:13:57,340 Why do idols exist, first because of our attraction to God 248 00:13:57,340 –> 00:13:59,119 which gets us kind of searching, 249 00:13:59,119 –> 00:14:02,419 but secondly because of our avoidance of God. 250 00:14:03,419 –> 00:14:08,140 You see any thoughtful person who looks at this world 251 00:14:09,299 –> 00:14:12,739 will quickly see looking at the spectrum of religion 252 00:14:12,739 –> 00:14:16,539 that there obviously is some kind of spiritual search 253 00:14:16,539 –> 00:14:18,659 going on, it’s everywhere. 254 00:14:18,659 –> 00:14:22,299 But at the same time, any thoughtful person 255 00:14:22,299 –> 00:14:25,580 would be struck by the fact that there does not seem 256 00:14:25,580 –> 00:14:29,619 to be much coherence about this search. 257 00:14:29,619 –> 00:14:32,260 It’s all over the place. 258 00:14:32,260 –> 00:14:33,539 Now why is that? 259 00:14:33,539 –> 00:14:36,760 If there’s one search, why is the search all over the place? 260 00:14:38,179 –> 00:14:40,280 Well, the reason for this, is that alongside 261 00:14:40,280 –> 00:14:42,659 our deep attraction to God, human beings 262 00:14:42,659 –> 00:14:46,640 are also experts in avoiding God. 263 00:14:47,539 –> 00:14:49,159 And you remember this goes all the way back 264 00:14:49,159 –> 00:14:54,059 to the Garden of Eden, Adam walked with God 265 00:14:54,059 –> 00:14:56,400 among the trees in the garden. 266 00:14:57,500 –> 00:15:00,179 God was the very center of his home, 267 00:15:00,239 –> 00:15:03,679 his marriage and his work, his whole life. 268 00:15:05,059 –> 00:15:07,059 But then one day God came into the garden 269 00:15:07,059 –> 00:15:08,900 to walk and to visit with Adam, 270 00:15:08,900 –> 00:15:11,739 and Adam was hiding. 271 00:15:13,260 –> 00:15:15,659 And God said, where are you Adam? 272 00:15:17,159 –> 00:15:18,760 Adam was hiding in the trees. 273 00:15:18,760 –> 00:15:21,020 Now, why was he hiding in the trees? 274 00:15:21,020 –> 00:15:22,419 Why did he not want to come out? 275 00:15:22,419 –> 00:15:25,000 Why did he not want to walk with God? 276 00:15:26,940 –> 00:15:27,780 Do you know the answer? 277 00:15:27,780 –> 00:15:30,159 It was because he had sinned. 278 00:15:30,159 –> 00:15:32,320 And when you’ve sinned and you know you’ve sinned, 279 00:15:32,320 –> 00:15:34,320 you do not want God showing up. 280 00:15:34,320 –> 00:15:37,659 And if he does, your first instinct is to hide. 281 00:15:39,559 –> 00:15:42,700 So here is the strange enigma about our human nature 282 00:15:42,700 –> 00:15:44,419 created in the image of God 283 00:15:44,419 –> 00:15:47,340 and yet fallen into our sinfulness. 284 00:15:48,640 –> 00:15:50,599 Because these things both constitute 285 00:15:50,599 –> 00:15:52,239 the reality of who we are, 286 00:15:52,239 –> 00:15:55,440 we on the one hand seek after God, 287 00:15:55,440 –> 00:15:58,400 but at the same time hide from him. 288 00:15:59,239 –> 00:16:03,200 I mean this is the ultimate game of hide and seek, isn’t it? 289 00:16:03,200 –> 00:16:04,919 It really is. 290 00:16:04,919 –> 00:16:08,400 The extraordinary thing that I hide from God 291 00:16:08,400 –> 00:16:11,080 at the same time as I’m seeking him 292 00:16:11,080 –> 00:16:13,299 which of course is why the human search for God 293 00:16:13,299 –> 00:16:16,380 never gets very far unless God steps out 294 00:16:16,380 –> 00:16:18,280 and comes seeking after us. 295 00:16:20,760 –> 00:16:23,559 You know have become popular in recent years 296 00:16:23,559 –> 00:16:27,460 to refer to lost people as seekers. 297 00:16:27,460 –> 00:16:28,419 That’s okay. 298 00:16:30,219 –> 00:16:32,640 But you know a fuller description 299 00:16:33,500 –> 00:16:38,500 would be that by nature we are hide-and-seekers. 300 00:16:39,820 –> 00:16:40,659 We are. 301 00:16:42,380 –> 00:16:45,840 Because if we were really seeking God, we’d find him. 302 00:16:45,840 –> 00:16:48,500 Because he’s made himself known to us in Jesus Christ. 303 00:16:49,760 –> 00:16:51,299 The nature of the human condition 304 00:16:51,299 –> 00:16:54,960 is that we are hide-and-seekers. 305 00:16:55,960 –> 00:16:59,940 And you gotta know that there is no better place 306 00:16:59,940 –> 00:17:03,580 for hiding from God than religion, 307 00:17:05,099 –> 00:17:09,380 because being religious allows you to think 308 00:17:09,380 –> 00:17:11,199 that you are spiritual, 309 00:17:11,199 –> 00:17:13,540 while all the time you’re bobbing and weaving 310 00:17:13,540 –> 00:17:17,199 and avoiding real confrontation with God in your life. 311 00:17:18,719 –> 00:17:20,280 You want an example of that? 312 00:17:21,479 –> 00:17:22,939 Look at the Pharisees. 313 00:17:23,780 –> 00:17:26,500 Big on moral values. 314 00:17:27,839 –> 00:17:30,819 Really big on Bible study. 315 00:17:31,900 –> 00:17:33,660 Professional at it in fact. 316 00:17:35,660 –> 00:17:37,260 Devoting their lives to proving 317 00:17:37,260 –> 00:17:38,699 that they were a good upright people. 318 00:17:38,699 –> 00:17:40,380 But according to Jesus the whole thing 319 00:17:40,380 –> 00:17:43,900 was one massive exercise in evasion 320 00:17:43,900 –> 00:17:45,760 of any real encounter with God. 321 00:17:47,739 –> 00:17:49,420 He says it in John 5, 39. 322 00:17:49,420 –> 00:17:52,420 You diligently study the scriptures 323 00:17:52,420 –> 00:17:54,819 because you think by them that you have eternal life, 324 00:17:54,819 –> 00:17:58,180 but these are the very scriptures that speak about me. 325 00:17:58,180 –> 00:18:02,640 And yet you refuse to come to me, and thereby have life. 326 00:18:04,500 –> 00:18:06,859 Doing all this study pretending you’re seeking, 327 00:18:06,859 –> 00:18:09,219 but you won’t come to me Jesus says. 328 00:18:09,219 –> 00:18:11,099 And thereby you betray the reality 329 00:18:11,099 –> 00:18:12,180 that really you’re dodging. 330 00:18:12,180 –> 00:18:13,000 You’re weaving. 331 00:18:13,939 –> 00:18:14,780 You’re hiding. 332 00:18:19,160 –> 00:18:20,800 Now a large part of religion then 333 00:18:20,800 –> 00:18:23,199 is really like a forest of trees 334 00:18:23,199 –> 00:18:27,020 offering lifelong opportunities for hiding from God. 335 00:18:28,400 –> 00:18:31,780 This is surely Satan’s masterpiece of deception 336 00:18:31,780 –> 00:18:33,040 to put people in a position 337 00:18:33,040 –> 00:18:35,380 where they think that they are spiritual, 338 00:18:35,380 –> 00:18:37,479 where they think that they are seeking after God 339 00:18:37,479 –> 00:18:40,560 when actually they are really avoiding him. 340 00:18:41,959 –> 00:18:46,819 Most people think of the pervasiveness of religion 341 00:18:46,819 –> 00:18:49,640 in the world as evidence of how much 342 00:18:49,640 –> 00:18:52,359 people really want to find God. 343 00:18:53,819 –> 00:18:56,300 But the Bible’s perspective 344 00:18:56,300 –> 00:18:58,339 is that the pervasiveness of religion 345 00:18:58,339 –> 00:19:00,959 is actually as much evidence 346 00:19:00,959 –> 00:19:04,520 of how far we will go to avoid Him. 347 00:19:06,020 –> 00:19:07,619 Think of Jesus words. 348 00:19:09,400 –> 00:19:11,859 You diligently search the scriptures, 349 00:19:12,979 –> 00:19:16,520 but you will not come to me. 350 00:19:20,000 –> 00:19:21,099 What is idolatry? 351 00:19:22,180 –> 00:19:24,760 Worshiping creative things, rather than the creator. 352 00:19:25,859 –> 00:19:27,119 Why do idols exist? 353 00:19:27,119 –> 00:19:30,160 Because of our attraction to God on the one hand, 354 00:19:30,160 –> 00:19:34,180 but matched with our avoidance of God on the other. 355 00:19:36,000 –> 00:19:36,880 Third question. 356 00:19:36,880 –> 00:19:39,920 What forms does idolatry take? 357 00:19:39,920 –> 00:19:41,800 Now, let’s look a little bit more closely 358 00:19:41,800 –> 00:19:44,400 at these verses that are before us here. 359 00:19:44,400 –> 00:19:46,579 Professor Walter Kaiser points out 360 00:19:46,579 –> 00:19:51,579 four dimensions of idolatry here in Micah chapter five. 361 00:19:52,020 –> 00:19:54,819 The first is self-help. 362 00:19:54,819 –> 00:19:57,239 That’s a form of idolatry in verse 10. 363 00:19:57,239 –> 00:19:58,540 In that day declares the Lord, 364 00:19:58,540 –> 00:20:01,239 I will destroy your horses from among you 365 00:20:01,239 –> 00:20:03,319 and demolish your chariots. 366 00:20:03,319 –> 00:20:05,260 Now horses and chariots in the Old Testament 367 00:20:05,260 –> 00:20:08,699 were usually associated with a spirit of self-confidence. 368 00:20:08,699 –> 00:20:10,660 We can do it. 369 00:20:11,939 –> 00:20:13,339 Believe in yourself. 370 00:20:13,339 –> 00:20:14,800 You’ve got the horses. 371 00:20:14,800 –> 00:20:16,060 You know, that kind of thing. 372 00:20:16,079 –> 00:20:17,719 Well, you see, that’s idolatry 373 00:20:18,900 –> 00:20:23,099 because the truth is that my next breath, 374 00:20:23,099 –> 00:20:25,199 my finishing the sermon 375 00:20:26,479 –> 00:20:30,000 depends on the upholding hand 376 00:20:30,000 –> 00:20:31,920 of God’s sustaining power 377 00:20:31,920 –> 00:20:34,020 that keeps me breathing moment by moment 378 00:20:34,020 –> 00:20:35,319 and keeps you breathing, 379 00:20:36,819 –> 00:20:37,640 even right now. 380 00:20:40,540 –> 00:20:43,400 I do not have life in myself. 381 00:20:43,400 –> 00:20:44,619 Only Christ has that. 382 00:20:46,939 –> 00:20:51,939 In a world that tells us there’s nothing you can’t do 383 00:20:52,619 –> 00:20:56,020 what room is there for God in your life? 384 00:20:57,199 –> 00:20:58,079 That’s idolatry. 385 00:21:00,920 –> 00:21:02,260 Secondly, self-defense. 386 00:21:02,260 –> 00:21:04,739 I will destroy the cities of your land 387 00:21:04,739 –> 00:21:07,280 and tear down your strongholds, verse 11. 388 00:21:07,280 –> 00:21:09,660 Here’s the security that you build for yourself, 389 00:21:09,660 –> 00:21:11,500 the cities, the strongholds. 390 00:21:11,500 –> 00:21:13,199 Little different for us in our day. 391 00:21:13,199 –> 00:21:15,819 Tends to be financial, doesn’t it? 392 00:21:16,060 –> 00:21:18,780 The security I’ve built for myself, my portfolio. 393 00:21:20,319 –> 00:21:22,119 The career, the achievements that have put me 394 00:21:22,119 –> 00:21:26,560 in a position of strength, it’s idolatry 395 00:21:26,560 –> 00:21:28,239 to put your trust in that. 396 00:21:31,599 –> 00:21:33,520 Third, self-deception. 397 00:21:33,520 –> 00:21:35,040 I will destroy your witchcraft 398 00:21:35,040 –> 00:21:38,660 and you will no longer cast spells. 399 00:21:38,660 –> 00:21:41,839 I think it was G.K. Chesterton who said 400 00:21:41,839 –> 00:21:45,479 that when men stop believing in God 401 00:21:45,479 –> 00:21:47,439 they don’t believe in nothing, 402 00:21:47,439 –> 00:21:49,739 they believe in anything. 403 00:21:49,739 –> 00:21:51,000 That’s a very perceptive comment 404 00:21:51,000 –> 00:21:53,260 and it speaks widely to our culture today. 405 00:21:54,140 –> 00:21:57,520 The spiritual search is all over the map 406 00:21:58,599 –> 00:22:02,119 because so many have lost confidence and trust 407 00:22:02,119 –> 00:22:05,119 in the living God who’s made himself known in Jesus Christ. 408 00:22:06,199 –> 00:22:08,760 And then there’s self-worship. 409 00:22:08,760 –> 00:22:11,219 Verse 13, I will destroy your carved images, 410 00:22:11,219 –> 00:22:12,920 your sacred stones from among you, 411 00:22:12,920 –> 00:22:16,380 you will no longer bow down to the work of your hands. 412 00:22:16,380 –> 00:22:19,780 What I’ve achieved, the work of my hands, 413 00:22:19,780 –> 00:22:22,780 what I’ve become, the work of my hands, 414 00:22:22,780 –> 00:22:24,640 the giftedness I’ve been given, 415 00:22:25,500 –> 00:22:27,699 what I’m able to offer in the marketplace, 416 00:22:27,699 –> 00:22:31,619 trust in these things, idolatry. 417 00:22:34,439 –> 00:22:36,000 Now here’s the fourth question. 418 00:22:37,119 –> 00:22:42,119 Why is idolatry so offensive to God? 419 00:22:43,400 –> 00:22:45,719 And the answer to that question is simply 420 00:22:45,719 –> 00:22:50,099 that idolatry is a theft of identity. 421 00:22:51,719 –> 00:22:54,020 You see, God alone is God. 422 00:22:55,199 –> 00:22:56,479 I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about this 423 00:22:56,479 –> 00:23:01,239 but everything in the created order belongs to a class. 424 00:23:01,239 –> 00:23:03,680 There are planets, there are fish, there are birds, 425 00:23:03,680 –> 00:23:05,839 there are animals, there are humans, there are angels, 426 00:23:05,839 –> 00:23:07,420 and so forth and so on, but everything 427 00:23:07,420 –> 00:23:10,180 in the created order belongs to a class. 428 00:23:11,180 –> 00:23:14,479 But God is in a class of his own. 429 00:23:16,619 –> 00:23:18,719 Now what idolatry wants to do in our time, of course, 430 00:23:18,719 –> 00:23:21,040 is to say that there is a class called God 431 00:23:21,040 –> 00:23:23,819 and anything that claims to be God belongs in that class. 432 00:23:23,819 –> 00:23:27,640 That is completely opposite to what the God of the universe, 433 00:23:27,640 –> 00:23:28,880 the Creator says to us, 434 00:23:28,880 –> 00:23:32,239 to whom will you compare me, who is my equal? 435 00:23:32,239 –> 00:23:35,280 He is in a class of his own. 436 00:23:35,280 –> 00:23:38,920 And that means that anyone or anything 437 00:23:39,079 –> 00:23:43,020 that wants to pose as God is stealing the identity 438 00:23:43,020 –> 00:23:44,640 that belongs only to him. 439 00:23:45,680 –> 00:23:49,319 Idolatry is a theft of identity. 440 00:23:50,900 –> 00:23:52,319 During the summer, my son Andrew 441 00:23:52,319 –> 00:23:54,359 was working selling books in Rhode Island. 442 00:23:54,359 –> 00:23:57,439 He got into a routine in which early in the day 443 00:23:57,439 –> 00:24:00,479 he went training, changed and showered and so forth 444 00:24:00,479 –> 00:24:03,719 before he went running at the YMCA. 445 00:24:03,719 –> 00:24:05,319 One day put his stuff in the locker 446 00:24:05,319 –> 00:24:07,319 just a few moments while he was in the shower, 447 00:24:07,319 –> 00:24:08,439 came back, got dressed, 448 00:24:09,260 –> 00:24:11,520 and then discovered that his bank card 449 00:24:11,520 –> 00:24:13,920 had disappeared from his wallet. 450 00:24:13,920 –> 00:24:15,520 And he did the right thing, called the bank, 451 00:24:15,520 –> 00:24:18,959 found that within an hour whoever had taken the card 452 00:24:18,959 –> 00:24:22,479 had spent several hundred dollars. 453 00:24:22,479 –> 00:24:25,520 That’s identity theft. 454 00:24:27,300 –> 00:24:30,160 Taking what belongs to another person 455 00:24:31,719 –> 00:24:33,099 as if it were your own. 456 00:24:33,939 –> 00:24:37,739 Now, whenever anyone or anything in the created order 457 00:24:37,739 –> 00:24:40,619 takes the place of first importance, 458 00:24:40,619 –> 00:24:44,859 you’re dealing with the ultimate case of identity theft. 459 00:24:44,859 –> 00:24:48,140 Only God is God. 460 00:24:49,540 –> 00:24:51,819 I am the Lord, he says, 461 00:24:51,819 –> 00:24:53,880 and beside me, there is no other. 462 00:24:53,880 –> 00:24:55,459 To whom will you compare me? 463 00:24:55,459 –> 00:24:57,900 And the offense of idolatry 464 00:24:58,920 –> 00:25:00,520 is that something 465 00:25:01,300 –> 00:25:05,160 or someone in the created order 466 00:25:05,160 –> 00:25:10,160 dares to pose in the place of God. 467 00:25:14,020 –> 00:25:16,160 You say, well, what will God do about it? 468 00:25:16,160 –> 00:25:17,859 That’s the fifth question. 469 00:25:17,859 –> 00:25:22,040 What will God do with the idols? 470 00:25:22,040 –> 00:25:24,400 The answer that Micah gives us, very simply, 471 00:25:24,400 –> 00:25:26,640 is that God will destroy every idol 472 00:25:26,640 –> 00:25:29,479 and will vindicate his own name. 473 00:25:29,500 –> 00:25:31,000 He speaks of a day coming. 474 00:25:32,420 –> 00:25:36,839 When God will, and let’s focus on what he says here. 475 00:25:36,839 –> 00:25:38,719 I hope you have it open in front of you. 476 00:25:38,719 –> 00:25:40,099 Will you just look at the verbs 477 00:25:40,099 –> 00:25:44,479 just to see how clearly God speaks here? 478 00:25:44,479 –> 00:25:47,160 What he says he will do, verse 10, 479 00:25:47,160 –> 00:25:51,199 I will destroy, demolish. 480 00:25:51,199 –> 00:25:54,359 Verse 11, destroy, tear down. 481 00:25:54,359 –> 00:25:56,160 Verse 12, destroy. 482 00:25:56,160 –> 00:25:58,180 Verse 13, destroy. 483 00:25:58,180 –> 00:26:00,699 Verse 14, uproot and demolish. 484 00:26:00,699 –> 00:26:02,420 Verse 15, take vengeance. 485 00:26:02,420 –> 00:26:05,780 Not the most popular words, but that is what God says. 486 00:26:08,180 –> 00:26:10,180 I want you to notice not only the verbs here, 487 00:26:10,180 –> 00:26:11,939 but I want you to notice the subject. 488 00:26:11,939 –> 00:26:15,219 God is telling us that this is something he will do. 489 00:26:15,219 –> 00:26:16,060 Notice it. 490 00:26:17,199 –> 00:26:19,380 I will destroy your horses. 491 00:26:19,380 –> 00:26:21,619 I will destroy your chariots. 492 00:26:21,619 –> 00:26:23,160 I will destroy your cities. 493 00:26:23,160 –> 00:26:24,920 I will destroy your witchcraft. 494 00:26:24,920 –> 00:26:26,900 I will destroy your carved images. 495 00:26:26,979 –> 00:26:28,859 I will uproot your asheraples. 496 00:26:28,859 –> 00:26:30,839 I will take vengeance and anger and wrath. 497 00:26:30,839 –> 00:26:32,439 Just look down these verses. 498 00:26:32,439 –> 00:26:37,119 I will, I will, I will, six times I’ll do it. 499 00:26:40,619 –> 00:26:42,599 Now, by the way, that’s very important. 500 00:26:43,800 –> 00:26:46,939 God does not tell us to do these things. 501 00:26:49,420 –> 00:26:52,099 He’s not calling us to direct action. 502 00:26:54,099 –> 00:26:55,839 He says, there will come a day 503 00:26:55,939 –> 00:26:58,699 when I will do it myself. 504 00:27:00,180 –> 00:27:01,619 It’s very important. 505 00:27:01,619 –> 00:27:02,479 Very important. 506 00:27:04,160 –> 00:27:06,040 Our warfare is spiritual. 507 00:27:09,439 –> 00:27:12,359 The destruction of the idols, God himself 508 00:27:13,599 –> 00:27:14,739 will take care of. 509 00:27:14,739 –> 00:27:15,680 It’s what he says. 510 00:27:16,900 –> 00:27:18,780 But what he says is that there will come a day 511 00:27:18,780 –> 00:27:21,239 when he himself will take direct action 512 00:27:21,239 –> 00:27:23,060 and will dethrone all other gods. 513 00:27:23,140 –> 00:27:23,979 What do we do? 514 00:27:25,099 –> 00:27:26,839 There’s a wonderful story in the Old Testament 515 00:27:26,839 –> 00:27:29,579 that gives us a picture of God’s direct action. 516 00:27:29,579 –> 00:27:32,000 You can read it in 1 Samuel, chapter 5. 517 00:27:32,000 –> 00:27:34,099 It’s the story of when the Ark of the Lord 518 00:27:34,099 –> 00:27:35,420 was captured by the Philistines. 519 00:27:35,420 –> 00:27:37,280 Do you remember this? 520 00:27:37,280 –> 00:27:39,939 And it was taken off to the temple of Dagon, 521 00:27:39,939 –> 00:27:41,680 the Philistine god. 522 00:27:41,680 –> 00:27:43,859 And they put the Ark of the Lord, 523 00:27:43,859 –> 00:27:44,900 the enemies of God’s people, 524 00:27:44,900 –> 00:27:46,699 put the Ark of the Lord on a shelf 525 00:27:46,699 –> 00:27:47,699 in the temple of Dagon, 526 00:27:47,699 –> 00:27:48,660 shut it up for the night. 527 00:27:48,660 –> 00:27:50,420 The attendant went home and had a lovely night’s sleep 528 00:27:50,420 –> 00:27:51,699 and then came back in the morning. 529 00:27:51,699 –> 00:27:53,020 And guess what he found? 530 00:27:54,060 –> 00:27:56,000 That in the presence of the Ark of the Lord, 531 00:27:56,000 –> 00:28:01,000 Dagon inexplicably had fallen off his perch. 532 00:28:01,060 –> 00:28:02,979 The idol was on the floor. 533 00:28:02,979 –> 00:28:05,060 So the attendant, rather disturbed by this, 534 00:28:05,060 –> 00:28:06,760 picked the idol up, dusted it off, 535 00:28:06,760 –> 00:28:10,260 put it back on its stand. 536 00:28:10,260 –> 00:28:11,479 The next morning he came back, 537 00:28:11,479 –> 00:28:12,680 guess what had happened? 538 00:28:13,800 –> 00:28:15,319 The idol had fallen off the stand, 539 00:28:15,319 –> 00:28:17,739 only this time, its head had smashed on the floor 540 00:28:17,739 –> 00:28:20,119 and its palms were lying severed from the body. 541 00:28:20,479 –> 00:28:25,479 God Himself will dethrone all the other gods 542 00:28:29,420 –> 00:28:34,420 and will be glorified throughout the universe 543 00:28:36,619 –> 00:28:37,719 for all eternit. 544 00:28:39,239 –> 00:28:40,800 He will vindicate His own name. 545 00:28:42,420 –> 00:28:46,439 That’s the message of Micah in Chapter Five. 546 00:28:46,439 –> 00:28:48,219 It’s taken up in the new testament, of course, 547 00:28:48,219 –> 00:28:51,359 where we’re told this way, every eye will see, 548 00:28:51,359 –> 00:28:54,780 every knee will bow, and every tongue confess 549 00:28:56,280 –> 00:28:59,260 that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father. 550 00:28:59,260 –> 00:29:00,260 Do you believe that? 551 00:29:03,540 –> 00:29:05,000 So here’s the sixth question. 552 00:29:06,180 –> 00:29:08,579 What should we do about our idols? 553 00:29:10,060 –> 00:29:13,599 And the answer is very simply, we’ve got to turn from them. 554 00:29:14,739 –> 00:29:16,079 You have this beautifully expressed 555 00:29:16,160 –> 00:29:18,699 in 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse nine 556 00:29:19,560 –> 00:29:21,780 where Paul writes about some believers 557 00:29:21,780 –> 00:29:23,359 and he describes the miracle that has 558 00:29:23,359 –> 00:29:24,319 happened in their lives. 559 00:29:24,319 –> 00:29:27,319 He says, you turned to God from idols 560 00:29:27,319 –> 00:29:29,000 to serve the living and the true God. 561 00:29:29,000 –> 00:29:30,339 That’s what we’ve gotta do. 562 00:29:32,239 –> 00:29:35,719 John the Apostle writes in his New Testament letters 563 00:29:35,719 –> 00:29:37,060 to Christian believers. 564 00:29:37,060 –> 00:29:39,599 He says, Little children, here’s what you’ve gotta do, 565 00:29:39,599 –> 00:29:41,760 flee from idols. 566 00:29:43,199 –> 00:29:44,040 This is for us. 567 00:29:46,119 –> 00:29:49,560 You were made for a God-centered life, 568 00:29:49,560 –> 00:29:53,119 you were made to glorify Him and to enjoy Him forever. 569 00:29:53,119 –> 00:29:57,400 Turning from idols means letting God at last 570 00:29:57,400 –> 00:29:59,839 be God in your life. 571 00:29:59,839 –> 00:30:02,640 It’s to recognize what will be the eternal reality 572 00:30:02,640 –> 00:30:06,180 of the universe and to let it begin in you right now. 573 00:30:07,760 –> 00:30:12,439 That you worship Him, that you love Him for who he is 574 00:30:13,260 –> 00:30:17,760 and no longer seek to use Him as a means to an end 575 00:30:17,760 –> 00:30:21,319 because trying to use God as a means to an end 576 00:30:21,319 –> 00:30:23,540 is, of course, just a form of idolatry. 577 00:30:24,920 –> 00:30:28,520 John Piper makes this point, I think, quite brilliantly. 578 00:30:28,520 –> 00:30:33,520 He says, I cannot say to my wife I feel a strong delight 579 00:30:33,719 –> 00:30:37,420 in you so that you will make me a nice meal. 580 00:30:37,420 –> 00:30:40,079 That is not the way that delight works. 581 00:30:40,099 –> 00:30:45,099 It terminates on her, it does not have a nice meal in view. 582 00:30:46,359 –> 00:30:49,979 I cannot say to my son I love playing ball with you 583 00:30:49,979 –> 00:30:52,680 so that you will cut the grass. 584 00:30:52,680 –> 00:30:55,400 If my heart really delights in playing ball with him, 585 00:30:55,400 –> 00:30:57,939 that delight cannot be preformed as a means 586 00:30:57,939 –> 00:30:59,619 of getting him to do something. 587 00:31:00,739 –> 00:31:02,920 See, if you say to your wife or your son 588 00:31:02,920 –> 00:31:05,439 that you love them because you want a nice meal 589 00:31:05,439 –> 00:31:07,300 or because you want them to cut the grass, 590 00:31:07,300 –> 00:31:08,859 that’s not love. 591 00:31:08,859 –> 00:31:11,900 We have another word for it, manipulation. 592 00:31:11,900 –> 00:31:13,219 Try and do that with God. 593 00:31:13,219 –> 00:31:14,900 You’re putting yourself in the place of God, 594 00:31:14,900 –> 00:31:16,979 trying to manipulate him, that’s idolatry. 595 00:31:19,140 –> 00:31:22,339 So when something that you want from God 596 00:31:22,339 –> 00:31:25,359 becomes more important than God himself to you, 597 00:31:27,260 –> 00:31:28,819 you slipped into idolatry. 598 00:31:31,500 –> 00:31:34,939 Come to see God as a provider of your wishlist 599 00:31:35,939 –> 00:31:38,079 that is in a higher place than God himself. 600 00:31:40,219 –> 00:31:42,180 Well then it’s time to turn from idols. 601 00:31:45,339 –> 00:31:47,819 Maybe that leaves you saying, well, I can see that. 602 00:31:47,819 –> 00:31:49,579 I can see I’m much more of an idolater 603 00:31:49,579 –> 00:31:51,020 than I ever thought I was. 604 00:31:53,260 –> 00:31:55,000 I can see that I need to turn from idols, 605 00:31:55,000 –> 00:31:57,140 but how in the world am I gonna do that? 606 00:31:58,260 –> 00:32:00,260 They have a very strong hold in my life. 607 00:32:01,020 –> 00:32:05,260 Please, there’s a one word answer to that question, 608 00:32:05,260 –> 00:32:09,119 how can I turn from idols, and it’s simply the word grace. 609 00:32:10,260 –> 00:32:13,319 So maybe you’re drawn to God right now 610 00:32:13,319 –> 00:32:14,680 as the Spirit speaks to you, 611 00:32:14,680 –> 00:32:16,560 but something inside you holds back, 612 00:32:16,560 –> 00:32:18,359 you say, yeah, I am drawn, 613 00:32:18,359 –> 00:32:23,239 but how do I overcome this avoidance that I see within me? 614 00:32:24,959 –> 00:32:27,859 Listen, that is why Jesus Christ has come into the world. 615 00:32:28,560 –> 00:32:32,560 He came to seek and save the lost. 616 00:32:34,579 –> 00:32:36,579 He told a story about a lost sheep, 617 00:32:36,579 –> 00:32:38,459 sheep wandering off so far 618 00:32:38,459 –> 00:32:40,819 that the sheep couldn’t find its way back, 619 00:32:40,819 –> 00:32:42,579 but the shepherd goes and gets the sheep 620 00:32:42,579 –> 00:32:44,939 and brings it back. 621 00:32:46,380 –> 00:32:48,920 Christ came into the world because he loves you. 622 00:32:50,619 –> 00:32:52,500 So he came to bring you back to seek 623 00:32:52,500 –> 00:32:55,160 and to save you from your idolatry. 624 00:32:55,780 –> 00:32:59,859 He gave himself on the cross so that 625 00:32:59,859 –> 00:33:04,859 our idolatry might be cleansed and forgiven. 626 00:33:06,880 –> 00:33:09,199 He came so that by his spirit you would 627 00:33:09,199 –> 00:33:12,359 be weaned off self-love 628 00:33:13,880 –> 00:33:15,760 and become a true worshiper and 629 00:33:15,760 –> 00:33:17,619 lover of God for his own sake. 630 00:33:19,800 –> 00:33:21,859 And he reaches out to embrace you 631 00:33:21,859 –> 00:33:25,180 even where you’re hiding from him in the trees. 632 00:33:27,599 –> 00:33:30,020 I’ll tell you, it takes a lot of energy 633 00:33:31,060 –> 00:33:34,060 to go on resisting love like that. 634 00:33:35,420 –> 00:33:40,339 That reaches out to you wherever you’re hiding today. 635 00:33:42,819 –> 00:33:43,819 So what’s your idol? 636 00:33:46,040 –> 00:33:48,099 What’s the created thing that you’ve 637 00:33:48,099 –> 00:33:49,819 put in the place of God? 638 00:33:49,819 –> 00:33:50,920 Is it relationships? 639 00:33:51,000 –> 00:33:53,760 A career, reputation, personal goals, 640 00:33:53,760 –> 00:33:54,699 some pleasure? 641 00:33:56,760 –> 00:33:58,760 Just before the book of Micah, 642 00:34:00,199 –> 00:34:01,599 there’s the story of Jonah. 643 00:34:03,660 –> 00:34:08,659 Great story about a man who had a great ministry. 644 00:34:11,239 –> 00:34:13,100 Things are going just fine in his life 645 00:34:13,100 –> 00:34:14,379 until God upset him. 646 00:34:17,280 –> 00:34:19,399 Jonah didn’t like what was happening in his life 647 00:34:19,399 –> 00:34:21,040 until he put himself in the place of God 648 00:34:21,040 –> 00:34:23,000 and started moving in the opposite direction. 649 00:34:23,000 –> 00:34:24,820 Then things didn’t go so well. 650 00:34:26,199 –> 00:34:28,080 Eventually, they found himself in the stomach 651 00:34:28,080 –> 00:34:31,639 of a great fish, and that’s where he came to his senses. 652 00:34:32,959 –> 00:34:35,040 They began to pray, and in Jonah 2 8, 653 00:34:35,040 –> 00:34:36,340 this is what he said, 654 00:34:37,320 –> 00:34:40,679 Those who cling to worthless idols 655 00:34:41,840 –> 00:34:44,560 forfeit the grace that could be theirs. 656 00:34:46,260 –> 00:34:49,000 Those who cling to worthless idols 657 00:34:49,300 –> 00:34:52,580 forfeit the grace that could be theirs. 658 00:34:54,399 –> 00:34:57,800 There’s idols, and there’s grace. 659 00:34:59,159 –> 00:35:03,100 You can cling to the idol, and you can miss the grace. 660 00:35:03,100 –> 00:35:06,479 You can forfeit the idol, and you can receive the grace. 661 00:35:06,479 –> 00:35:11,239 Think of the grace that could be yours. 662 00:35:11,239 –> 00:35:14,199 Saving grace, redeeming grace. 663 00:35:14,199 –> 00:35:15,800 Grace to make you more like Jesus, 664 00:35:15,800 –> 00:35:17,639 grace for service, for ministry. 665 00:35:17,639 –> 00:35:21,100 Gifts of grace, think of the grace that could be yours. 666 00:35:21,100 –> 00:35:22,840 Now, what’s the worthless idol? 667 00:35:24,679 –> 00:35:27,159 What’s so good in your life that you would forfeit 668 00:35:27,159 –> 00:35:30,399 what God could do, if you were unreservedly 669 00:35:30,399 –> 00:35:32,100 placed into his hands? 670 00:35:33,760 –> 00:35:38,199 See, Jonah had been a believing man for years, 671 00:35:40,320 –> 00:35:42,580 but in his darkest hour he came to the place of saying, 672 00:35:42,580 –> 00:35:43,620 I’ve been a fool. 673 00:35:44,620 –> 00:35:47,300 I’ve been clinging to a worthless idol 674 00:35:49,379 –> 00:35:50,780 and I’ve lost out. 675 00:35:52,560 –> 00:35:55,560 I can’t live like that any longer. 676 00:35:55,560 –> 00:35:59,939 And God’s grace reached out to him in the belly of a fish. 677 00:36:01,580 –> 00:36:03,639 And then when the fish brought him up the next morning 678 00:36:03,639 –> 00:36:07,379 on the beach, he moved forward into a new life, 679 00:36:08,659 –> 00:36:12,419 a whole new chapter in his usefulness to God. 680 00:36:12,419 –> 00:36:13,260 You know? 681 00:36:13,320 –> 00:36:16,320 And that could happen for you today. 682 00:36:18,419 –> 00:36:20,919 Let’s pray together, shall we? 683 00:36:23,120 –> 00:36:24,540 Father in Heaven. 684 00:36:26,600 –> 00:36:28,520 Every idol I have known. 685 00:36:31,959 –> 00:36:34,800 From that, now set my spirit free. 686 00:36:37,719 –> 00:36:40,219 And make me worship you alone. 687 00:36:41,159 –> 00:36:43,239 And reign supreme in me. 688 00:36:45,699 –> 00:36:49,199 You have said in your loving mercy, 689 00:36:49,199 –> 00:36:53,899 you shall no longer bow down to the work of your hands. 690 00:36:55,820 –> 00:37:00,820 May that be true in my life from today for Jesus’ sake. 691 00:37:07,979 –> 00:37:08,820 Amen.