Matthew 19 verse 16, and you see the
banner behind me?
We're doing Ten Commandments, a series on the
Ten Commandments.
And I'm not gonna go one a week,
I'm gonna do two a week.
Now, there's a couple reasons behind that.
Number one is, I think I can get
a little bit more in on two a
week.
Number two is, Hope Chapel's gonna have all
their Christmas decorations up in five weeks.
So, bye-bye banners for a while.
So, that kind of motivated me, and also
we're here in Matthew 19 on Jesus, talking
about the Ten Commandments, what a perfect tie
-in.
It's something I've been wanting to do for
about a year now.
So, verse 19, I'm sorry, chapter 19 verse
16, Now behold, one came and said to
Jesus, to him, Good teacher, what good thing
shall I do that I may have eternal
life?
And some of you might be asking this
tonight, or even listening to this later on
the radio, or the internet, you're asking, okay,
what must I do to have eternal life?
And I'm gonna give you the answer tonight.
So, Jesus said to him, Why do you
call me good?
No one is good but one, that is
God.
But if you want to enter into life,
keep the commandments.
Now, the difficult part about this sermon is
I could spend a half hour just on
what we just read.
This whole phrase, Why do you call me
good?
No one is good but one, that is
God.
Mormon, Jehovah Witnesses, different groups will say, See?
See, Jesus is saying he's not God right
here.
Well, if you weigh scripture against scripture, there's
dozens of other verses that contradict that.
That he is God.
He is the son of God.
He is good and he is part of
the triune nature of God.
I and the Father are one.
But what we think he's doing here, myself
and many other commentators, is he's acknowledging, he's
telling the man, Why do you call me
good?
I mean, if only God is good, why
are you calling me good?
Are you recognizing that I am God?
You just called me good and only God
can be called that.
So, he's kind of confirming, Hey, do you
know who I am and is that what
you're confirming in this?
But if you want to enter life, keep
the commandments.
Now, this is also interesting because we don't
do anything to enter into life.
You're not going to find salvation by keeping
the commandments.
How do we know that?
Because there's a lot of other verses that
say that we are saved by faith alone,
by grace alone, through faith.
That salvation comes through grace and through faith,
not by works, lest any man boast.
There's nothing we can do.
So, what's Jesus talking about here when he
says, If you want to enter into life,
keep the commandments.
Well, it's interesting, keep here in the Greek
language means to retain possession of.
So, I'm keeping, I'm retaining possession of or
to store in a regular place.
So, if somebody stores God's commandments in a
regular place, if he keeps them in a
regular place, if he possesses them, it's almost
like keeping the course.
If you keep the commandments, it reveals the
heart.
In other words, keeping the commandments does not
save you, but it does reveal if you're
truly saved.
First John, whoever says, I know him, but
does not keep his commandments is a liar
and the truth is not in him.
So, Jesus here is saying, if you keep
the commandments, this is how you enter into
eternal life.
Basically, you know a person's heart is right
before God if they want to keep the
commandments.
And I've seen this many, many times, I'm
sure you have.
You can tell if there's fruit in somebody's
life by how much they love God.
Do they love him?
Do they love his word?
I'm not talking about perfection, I'm talking about
when they fall in sin, they want to
keep his commandments.
There's guilt, there's sin, they want to please
God, they want to please their Father.
They want to keep the commandments.
And it's interesting, you know what happened 500
years ago on today's date, Halloween?
The Reformation.
Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the
church doors in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517.
Actually, it wasn't 500, what, 499 years or
so?
I was off a little bit.
So that's what we, on October 31st, and
it's interesting, I went and I looked this
up.
The first two points he had, now if
you're not, don't know what this is, Martin
Luther came out of the Roman Catholic Church.
He had tons of grievances, tons of issues
with the church.
I mean, why are you charging people money
to spring their relatives out of purgatory, to
build a big cathedral there?
Why are the priests saying, you're absolved of
these sins, go and sin no more, and
penance, and all these things?
He's challenging the church on all these things,
and that started a lot of the Reformation.
People saying, yeah, why does the Pope have
all this authority?
Why are they going away from the Bible?
So the first two points he's challenging are
very interesting.
Number one, he said, when our Lord and
Master Jesus Christ said, repent, he willed that
the entire life of the believer be one
of repentance.
So see, repentance isn't just, you go sit
in a booth, you tell this guy on
the other side of the screen what you
did, and he says, okay, go son, you're
free of your sin.
Then he comes back a week later, and
a week later, and a week later, and
a week later, and a week later.
That's not repentance.
Repentance, it's a whole life of repentance, because
the person wasn't changing.
They were just saying, okay, here's what I
did.
The priest would say, okay, now your sins
are forgiven.
Then he'd go out and do it again.
Then he'd come back with a bunch, and
then he'd go back and do it again,
as if you can just keep exchanging it.
So the first point there is, it's a
life of repentance.
A believer, a true believer has an attitude
of repentance, don't we?
Somebody who's truly been forgiven, who truly follows
Christ, repentance is a hallmark of their life.
They repent.
It's a sign of getting back, and not
repentance for salvation.
Repentance, I should probably clarify that, too, real
quick.
When the Bible talks about believe and repent,
at some point a person is convicted, and
they repent.
They cry out to God.
They say, Lord, I am a sinner.
I need a Savior.
I need you.
I'm repenting of my sin.
I'm repenting of my old lifestyle.
And they're converted.
They're born again.
But once it happens, you don't live a
perfect life.
There's stumbling, and there's fumbling, and there's mistakes,
and we did this, and we sin.
You go and you repent, and you repent,
and you change your mind about this.
Lord, I'm repenting about how I've been treating
my spouse.
I'm changing my mind.
I'm changing my attitude.
I shouldn't have said that.
I shouldn't have did that.
Anger got the better half of me.
And it's this repentance.
And not all the time walking around, woe
is me, and beating ourselves up, but there
should be a brokenness about us, a humility,
a repentant heart.
It's interesting, then, the next point in the
95 Thesis, he said this.
This word about repentance cannot be understood as
referring to the sacrament of penance, that is,
confession and satisfaction as administered by the clergy.
In other words, that's what I just explained.
It's a sacrament.
They're going there.
Oh, priest, I did this.
I did this, and I did this.
Okay, go, my son.
Go in peace.
And they would go, and they would still
come back.
And also, the priest isn't a mediator.
We have one mediator, Christ Jesus.
You don't go through a man, and he
says, okay, your sins are forgiven you.
See, people sometimes get mad.
Why are you coming against the Roman Catholic
Church?
I'm not.
I'm just saying here's where they differ from
the Bible.
And these are biggies.
Either I confess to Christ or I confess
to a man.
Either I go to Christ or I go
to Christ's mother as co-redeemer.
These are big deals.
You know the old bumper sticker?
I saw it around town.
It said, if you can't find Jesus, look
for his mother.
That's heresy.
If you're saying the Pope is above the
Bible, and you can buy your way out
of purgatory, that is heresy.
That's dangerous.
So when they come out and say that,
true biblical preaching has an obligation to come
out and challenge it.
Here's what you always have to remember.
Truth doesn't run from scrutiny.
It invites it.
So the truth of God's word will not
run from scrutiny.
What scrutiny is, it's like, let's look at
the truth.
Let's look at the truth.
I just actually ran into a guy the
other day at the gym.
He's proud to be an atheist on the
back of his shirt.
Atheists build hospitals.
They don't pray.
Atheists get things done.
They don't pray.
So I said, well, when's the last time
an atheist has built a hospital?
So hopefully I'm going to get lunch with
him next week.
But I just listened a little bit.
I could not resist.
So I wanted to sit and talk to
him about the truth.
Did he want to?
No, he wanted to get out of Dodge.
Not right now.
You know, evolution.
The one I studied science, he said, and
how things came together.
How did all this just happen?
And look at what the words...
If you want to sit down with a
Mormon and watch them wiggle in their seats,
remove the Book of Mormon and let's look
at the Bible.
No, let me go get my bishop.
No, let's talk about...
No, I don't want to.
I'm feeling threatened.
I think you're being mean.
No, I'm not.
Let's just look at the truth.
They don't want to.
They don't want to look at the truth.
So truth invites scrutiny.
So when I sit down with a staunch
Roman Catholic and say, well, let's look at
what...
Well, that was a long time ago.
Well, no, they still teach it.
Well, I don't believe it.
Well, you're in an organization that does.
I mean, let's look at the truth.
So truth always invites scrutiny.
That's why you'll see a Christian, you'll rarely
see a Christian, at least who's well-versed
in apologetics, they jump at the chance to
sit down with somebody.
Let me show you what the truth says.
We're not afraid of it.
We're not afraid of the truth.
Well, God killed women and children in the
Old Testament.
Yeah, very hard.
Or he had people kill them.
Very hard and difficult.
But I'm not going to disbelieve God because
some hard passages in the Old Testament.
Let's look at the truth.
Also, we know that these groups, as they
were grown up worshiping false gods and worshiping
idols, would have led the children of Israel
astray.
They had to, God says, wipe out the
entire land.
They're defiled.
And it's actually the sins of the parents
who caused that kind of thing to happen.
So let's not get mad at God.
Let's look at who caused that.
It's the nations who rejected him.
And then verse 18.
He said to him, this is the rich
young ruler.
He said to him, well, which ones?
Which ones do I have to follow?
Jesus said, you shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness.
Honor your father and your mother.
And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The young man said to him, all these
I have kept from my youth.
Which, of course, we know is not true,
right?
Because if you even look at somebody and
start to lust for them in your heart,
you've committed adultery.
If you bear false witness, any of you
watch The Way of the Master, Kirk Cameron
back then, but Ray Comfort, they have a
wonderful way of doing this.
So by your own admission, you're lying, thieving,
adulterous at heart.
Whoa, am I?
Yeah.
Because all of us, have you ever lied?
Oh, yeah, I mean, yeah, I lied.
Okay, well, you lied.
Have you ever lusted after somebody?
No, sure, well, you're lying.
Okay, there's another lying.
And you just go down the list.
And they make a good point.
When you stand before God, your good doesn't
outweigh your bad.
In other words, if you go in front
of a judge for murder, and you say,
yeah, you know, I did.
But I took out the trash.
I paid my taxes.
I helped an old lady cross the street.
And you just go through this whole list.
What's he going to say?
I don't care.
Get out of it.
You're going to death penalty because of that.
So the same thing with God.
It's not these little things we do that
outweigh our bad.
The Bible says we are fallen from birth.
The Adamic nature, theologians call it.
This nature we inherited from Adam.
Adamic nature.
And God says, there's none that are righteous,
no, not one.
That's why the cross.
That's why this is good news.
So he said, Jesus, what do I still
lack?
Jesus said to him, if you want to
be perfect, go sell what you have and
give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven.
And come follow me.
Now let's stop there for a minute.
Why did he only talk about the last
six commandments and not the first four?
No other gods before me.
No carved images.
Sabbath.
Honor the Sabbath.
Don't take the Lord's name in vain.
And, you know, I really couldn't find a
good answer.
And I thought about this a lot, and
I wasn't sure.
But I like what the pulpit commentary said.
Perhaps Christ confines his list to the second
table in order to make the man feel
his imperfection in these ordinary matters, or to
bring out his self-righteous spirit.
Without love of our neighbor, there can be
no true love of God.
So that's something to think about.
But the man said, listen, I have kept
all these from my youth.
Well, Jesus said, if you want to be
perfect.
Now, we think of the word perfect, and
it's interesting.
One of the difficulties with the Bible, with
translating the Bible, is you have this wonderful
Greek language, or in the Hebrew, you have
this wonderful Hebrew language.
And then we take it, and we put
it into how Americans talk, or actually in
the King James, how those in England talk,
thy and thee and thou.
And you try to explain.
So this word perfect is probably not, when
we think of that word, is one that
we would, what Jesus is saying here.
The word actually means, if you want to
be perfect, go and sell what you have.
It means if you want to be complete,
the eternal life there, if you want to
be complete and in right relationship with God,
there's completeness there, go and sell everything that
you have.
Now, we know that selling everything we have
and giving it to the poor will not
save us as well, will not lead to
salvation.
But Jesus, what he's doing here, is he's
leading him down that path.
He's saying, listen, you're not following, you said
you kept the commandments, but you won't even
go and give up what you possess.
That means that your heart's not right before
God.
He had much treasure.
He didn't want to give that up, so
he showed him.
Listen, you love these things.
It's idolatry.
You love these things, and you're not willing
to give them up, because if you give
them up, then you can come and follow
me.
Now, it doesn't mean, and people take it
sometimes, that you have to sell everything.
He's not saying that.
Some people are called to sell a lot
of things.
I think materialism has got a death grip
on our culture, for sure, and it's very
healthy to get rid of a lot of
things, because the more you own, the more
owns you.
It is good to live simple lives, below
your means, and not have all the, because
these things do compete for us.
They compete for our time and for our
energy.
What we're not willing to give up reveals
a great deal.
So this man was not willing to give
up.
It's funny, sometimes I'll read where people say,
well, it cost him his life, and this
man, I mean, we don't know if this
rich young ruler took some time, maybe turned
back to God later on.
It's just not recorded.
We don't know.
But right now, he comes up to Jesus,
says, I'm following all the commandments.
What must I do to enter eternal life?
Jesus says, sell everything and follow me, and
it will show that your heart's in the
right spot.
And he said, I can't do that.
Well, you can't follow me.
And I thought it's interesting.
Following Jesus has a cost.
Somewhere along the way, we got away from
that, and we think, well, where's my big
savings?
Where's my nice house on the hill?
Why do I have problems?
I'm following Jesus.
We know you're listening to a TV preacher
too much, and not to the word of
God, because there's a cost.
Look at this football coach who just got
fired, because he dared to pray on the
field with his team.
Wow.
Or this other player who's pointing up, a
football player pointing up to God, touching on
the referee, says, if you do that again,
you're out of the game.
Everybody's like, oh, what's going on?
There's a cost.
And actually, we're not paying any cost close
to what they're paying in Syria and Iraq
and Iran.
There's a cost there.
And I think if we tell people, I'm
going to tell my kids as they grow
up, there's a cost, because what happens is
kids get into, after high school, they get
into college, yeah, we just love Jesus.
Why doesn't anybody else love Jesus?
Why do they hate me?
And they're just confused, and they don't understand.
If you prepare them for the battle now,
saying this is why they'll hate you, darkness
hates the light.
They actually don't hate you per se.
They hate what you stand for.
It's amazing how you can have wonderful conversations
with people, they love you, and you're having
a great time.
As soon as you mention, oh, you're a
Christ follower, then everything changes.
They don't like that because now they're convicted.
And really, a lot of this has to
do with conviction.
And there's a cost.
Remember when there's, I won't say his name,
but there's a fast food chain that's a
Christian chain, they make a lot of chicken
sandwiches.
He came out and said he was in
support of traditional marriage, and they got a
lot of flack.
And I'm sad to read that actually retracted
some of that statement.
And they, well, you know, we didn't mean
to say it.
People need to say, hey, here's what we
meant to say.
It's gonna cost us some money.
This is following Jesus.
We're not gonna retract, we're not gonna back
up.
I think that's the problem.
They know we just back up and count
according.
Now, we're not supposed to go out and
fight like a revolutionary war and be these,
you know, warmongers.
But we are called to stand our ground
and say, hey, listen, here, no more.
You can mock Christ, but I'm not gonna
turn from him.
You can tell me to stop praying, but
I'm not going to.
And here's why, I have to follow God,
not man.
And you see, to me, these are wonderful
opportunities to stand up.
The person who owned this chicken restaurant, if
he just said, you know what, that's my
convictions, that's my beliefs.
This nation used to believe if this nation
doesn't get back to God, we're in trouble.
What a wonderful platform instead of apologizing.
So there's a cost.
Look, Jesus said, anytime you're gonna follow Christ,
there's a cost.
There's a cost to pay.
For some people, it's drink.
For some people, it's drugs.
For some people, it's a relationship with somebody
else.
For some people, it's status and recognition.
For some people, it might not be as
much money because when you start to follow
God, things change.
Sometimes you'll bless people, though.
We don't know.
I mean, I'm a big fan of God
blessing people.
Please, Lord, give us more blessings.
And as we line up our lives with
him, I believe that blessings are often a
byproduct of following God.
But it's not the blessings we think sometimes.
It's what he's called us to in his
word.
So let's look at the Ten Commandments briefly
before I get off track again.
The Ten Commandments, number one and number two,
you'll find those in Exodus 20.
Exodus 20.
And God spoke all these words.
I am the Lord your God who brought
you up out of Egypt, out of the
land of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before me.
That's the first commandment.
The second commandment, you shall not make for
yourself an image in the form of anything
in heaven above or on the earth beneath
or in the waters below.
The reason I wanted to marry these two
is because to me, even though there are
two separate ones, don't get me wrong, they
actually are one.
They fit together.
Because if you have other gods before him,
you're going to start to make things idolatry
and put things first, and these fit together.
If a person doesn't have any other gods
and God is number one, then the second
one probably wouldn't catch them off guard.
They'll be following both of these or they'll
either be disobeying both of these.
So the imagery we have here is not
putting something before God and then not making
for yourself an image in the form of
anything.
We don't do that anymore.
Oh no, we just park them in the
garage.
Do you want to be honest?
Donna's sermon, right?
We don't have little idols, we have big
ones.
They're about $40,000 parking in the garage
and we pay another $250,000 for it
to keep it nice and clean.
And then when it held in there, put
little dents in it, we got all mad
and we had to go fix the dents
in our car.
We worship our idols.
That's what this is, is putting something before
God.
You shall not bow down to them nor
worship them.
Well, we don't do that, right?
We don't have things in our, I mean,
we're not mesmerized by a little statue.
No, now it's a 44-inch screen, affectionately
known as an entertainment center.
Now, I'm poking fun and of course, are
TVs bad and cars bad?
No, but they open the door to idolatry.
Idolatry is putting anything before God.
I've seen people put golf, lose their soul
over golf three times a week.
They work to buy $15,000 golf clubs.
They want to be this.
They want to go to this tournament.
Their whole life is revolved around golf.
It's idolatry.
That's their God.
They're putting that before God.
Listen, anytime God has to be in the
background so you can focus on something else,
you border on idolatry.
Any of us can.
I can put the ministry.
The ministry can be an idol.
Let's build a church here and here and
here.
It's all about the ministry, all about the
ministry, idolatry.
God says, seek me, let me build your
church.
Idolatry.
How many moms put their kids on the
idol platform?
Their kids, they idolize their kids.
Their kids are everything.
And that's idolatry.
So it's putting anything before God.
That's why he says, you shall not bow
down to them or worship them.
For I, the Lord your God, am a
jealous God, punishing the children for the sin
of the parents to the third and fourth
generation of those who hate me, but showing
love to a thousand generations of those who
love me and keep my commandments.
When an entity, a person, an object is
worshipped instead of God, our passion for something
outweighs our passion for him and it draws
us away.
That's why idolatry was so, why it's so
dangerous.
Anything that draws us away from God becomes
an idol and we begin to listen to
that instead of God.
I think Joshua said, choose this day whom
you will serve as for me and my
house, we will serve God.
Not the idols that your father served.
At some point, there's a fight there to
serve the one and only true God and
not put an idol before him.
Do you know how many men have wrecked
their lives over the idol of career and
the idol of chasing the almighty dollar?
Yeah, they'll go to church on Sunday, but
what's their real focus?
Where's their real energy?
Where's their heart at?
That's the question.
Where's the heart at?
Because you can be very successful in business
and put God first.
We should be the best business men and
business women and fathers and husbands and wives.
We should be the best because we're putting
God first.
And really, here's the thing we have to
remember.
Worship.
Worship is not just singing, it's positioning the
heart.
Because there's a lot of people who worship
who are not seeking God with all their
heart.
I can take you to some churches where
there's a whole bunch of young adults going
like this for an hour and they think
they're worshiping God and then they leave and
they get high.
And they put on their MTV and their
50 cent and all that stuff, just Lady
Gaga.
You guys know what I'm talking about, right?
The older crowd's going, I have no...
But see, we play a game.
We play a game.
We come into the house of God, we
do some things like God's, you know, okay,
I did my time, I did my checklist,
but then everything else comes before Him.
That's idolatry.
And it draws you away.
How many people have been drawn away from
God by a relationship?
Or a substance?
It's idolatry.
That's why.
Now, a few points I want to clarify
in this because people think this is one
thing, I guess, why Oprah doesn't believe the
God of the Bible.
She said, I was sitting in a Baptist
church, well, I'm paraphrasing, I'm trying to remember.
She was sitting in a Baptist church one
day and they read that God is jealous.
And she said, oh, it did it for
me.
Like, oh, I think there's a lot more
to it than just that.
Nobody's going to...
Because jealousy can be good.
What spouse is going to not be jealous
for their spouse talking to somebody else in
the wrong way?
Oh, I don't care about that kind of
stuff.
Might as well marry them.
No, it's a healthy jealousy.
So God's jealousy is, listen, I have an
affection for you.
I want that to be reciprocal.
I want you to have an affection for
me and when you're chasing other gods and
I see you're destroying your life, I'm a
jealous God.
I'm jealous for you.
What's wrong with that?
I'd rather have God jealous for me than
upset at me.
So jealousy in that context is not bad.
Also, take time if you want to read
Ezekiel 18.
God says he will no longer punish future
generations because it says here that God visits
the sin of the parents down to the
third and fourth generation.
Ezekiel says, I will no longer.
If a man turns from his righteousness and
does what is evil, he will die because
of it.
If a wicked man turns from his wickedness
and does what is right and lawful, he
will live because of it.
I will no longer judge the children for
the sins of their parents, Ezekiel 18.
If you get a chance, it's interesting.
But on this note, and I get emails
sometimes on the two words generational curse.
Shane, do you believe in a generational curse?
Now, I want to be careful here because
I think many times we're saying the same
thing, but I don't use that language because
I don't think, well, my dad was cursed,
now I'm cursed, I'm in trouble.
There's this curse I've got to break someday.
A curse is basically when you remove yourself
from God's shelter of obedience to his word,
following his commandments, loving him with all your,
when you remove yourself from that, like in
Deuteronomy, he talked about when the people begin
to leave God, then there's a curse.
When you follow God, there's a blessing.
So a curse is when you reject God,
you leave him.
Theoretically, there's a curse there over your life
because there's not the blessings of God flowing.
So I don't believe in a generational curse,
but I do believe in a general predisposition,
or generational.
In other words, if a father was inclined
to do this, so will the son.
If a mother, so will the daughter.
You've got to fight these predispositions of how,
but to say, oh, my family's cursed, I've
got to break this generational curse, I don't
see that in the New Testament, I don't
use that language.
But I think what people are saying is
predisposition.
If a father has a problem with this,
then the son, how about anger?
Angry father, angry son.
If father liked alcohol, son might.
Problem with women, son might.
Same thing on the women's side.
So you see this, and it might be
more in the DNA and different things, I'm
not sure, but I personally don't use the
word generational curse, or I don't teach a
generational curse that somehow you have to go
and break, and hopefully you can break it,
because if not, you're in trouble because you're
cursed, your family's cursed.
I don't see that.
And again, there's interesting books on the topic
if you're interested.
I think we make a mountain out of
a molehill because I think people are saying
the same things.
Sin, the tendency to sin can be passed
down, and the mistakes that a father made
in his life can be, the consequences can
flow into the family, so if you want
to call that a curse, okay, I call
it consequences.
So a lot of times we're saying the
same thing.
Work, entertainment, status, recognition, relationships, addictions are all
forms of idolatry.
Putting an idol first, putting things before God.
I like what the New Testament says about
idols.
First John 5, 21, little children, keep yourself
from idols.
Keep yourself from idols.
That word, oh, here's that word keep again.
Keep, right, to keep watchful care of, to
keep the course.
Because in Christianity, I probably won't remember most
of what I'm talking about, but remember this.
There's no such thing as cruise control.
Keep, there's a fight, there's a battle.
You can't just push a button, say I'm
on cruise control now for the rest, no,
there's a battle.
Everything's contending, idolatry.
Things are contending for our time and our
energy, and idolatry is one of them.
Colossians 3, 5, put to death therefore what
is earthly in you.
Put to death.
Now, this is interesting, because a lot of
times we talk about God take this away,
God take this away, and he will.
But there's sometimes a fight.
You have to make no provision for the
flesh.
You have to endure the temptation that you
may be able to bear it.
You have to not conform yourself to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind.
You have to fight the good fight.
You have to put on the armor.
You have to use the breastplate of righteousness,
the sword of the spirit.
You have to keep yourself from idols.
You have to put to death what is
earthly.
And many times people say, oh, God's not
taking this away.
No, because there's a battle, and you gotta
fight.
We forgot how to fight.
We forgot there's a satanic force working against
us.
And we have to fight.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in
you.
And I think it'd be a good time,
maybe during closing worship, to look, what is
in us?
What's earthly in me?
Earthly of our flesh.
We have to put that to death.
Sexual immorality, of course.
Impurity.
Impurity means there's just stuff in us that's
not pure and right before God.
Wrong passions, evil desires, and covetousness.
Covetousness?
Oh, that's in the Ten Commandments.
We'll get to it later.
That is an epidemic.
That's an epidemic in our culture, I believe,
in America.
Think about this.
When your friends buy a big new house,
do you wanna downsize?
Or do you wanna supersize?
I just bought this new Ford truck.
They pull in the driveway.
They have 0% financing and nothing down.
You're like, mm.
You know what?
Mine's three years old.
I need a new one.
It's time.
And we want.
Like, look what they have.
Look what.
And we want these things.
That's why some of these shows on TV,
like House Makeover or Mansions and all, they're
like, wow, man, it really fosters covetousness.
The commercials we watch.
It's like, why don't I have that?
Especially Facebook.
Man.
Remember how I joke about that often.
Everybody's either on vacation, they're at the gym,
they're drinking a latte.
They just bought their new this, and they
love their wife, and they have the best
husband, and they love their brownies, and they
just had the best chicken dinner that their
husband made them.
They rub their feet, and the wife is
off to the spa again, and they've got
a babysitter for the third night in a
row.
And you just sit there and go, my
life stinks.
Facebook is not your friend.
Because none of the bad stuff, and it's
an illusion.
It's an illusion of what's really going on.
Monitor it very closely.
I'm worried for my kids growing up in
this culture, because they'll think everything.
My kids, they'll say, I hate this day.
Why they hate this day?
Because it's not going like they thought.
And we have to teach that.
Where or what are we passionate about?
What are we addicted to?
How do we spend our downtime?
Where is God on the priority list?
The idol demands worship, and we'll fight for
it.
And idolatry, I know some of the kids,
you guys have to go to the children's
ministry now, and workers.
But idolatry, you have to remember, the idol
doesn't want to give you up.
The idol doesn't want to be given up.
The idol wants to maintain that position in
your heart and my heart.
We save money to purchase the idol.
We work to maintain the idol.
We become angry when we can't keep the
idol, and we die following the idol.
And I actually came across an incredible poem.
I wanted to read with you.
I've edited it down a little bit, that
I think is going to help a lot
of people.
It's very powerful.
It's actually a poem on addiction, which addiction
is idolatry.
Did you know that?
Anything that takes your heart, captivates your heart,
sexual addiction, drug, whatever it is, it's idolatry,
because that's leading you.
Now, God's not.
It's leading you.
It's idolatry.
And I don't know who wrote it.
Many different things.
I went on, even on Snoop's, is that
what it's called?
You know, looked in, and it's like, well,
there's three different, we don't know where it
came from.
So anyway, author unknown.
Very, very, very good poem.
Let me read it and put in context
this area of addiction or idolatry.
And if you need to get this to
somebody, we gave you copies.
It'll be in our sermon, obviously.
So let me read that.
I destroy homes, tear families apart, take your
children, and that's just a start.
I'm more costly than diamonds, more costly than
gold.
The sorrow I bring is a sight to
behold.
Just try me once and I might let
you go, but try me twice and I'll
have your soul.
When I possess you, you'll steal and you'll
lie.
You'll do what you have to do just
to get high.
You'll forget your morals and how you were
raised.
I'll be your conscience.
I'll teach you my ways.
I take kids from parents and parents from
kids.
Just remember, we had two friends in the
church who lost their kids to heroin over
the last few years.
I take kids from parents and parents from
kids.
I turn people from God and separate from
friends.
I'll take everything from you, your looks and
your pride.
I'll be with you always, right by your
side.
I'll take and take till you have nothing
more to give.
When I'm finished with you, you'll be lucky
to live.
If you try me, be warned, this is
no game.
If given the chance, I'll drive you insane.
I'll ravish your body.
I'll control your mind.
I'll own you completely.
Your soul will be mine.
The nightmares I'll give you while lying in
bed, the voices you'll hear from inside your
head, the sweats, the shakes, the visions you'll
see, I want you to know these are
all gifts from me.
But then it's too late and you'll know
in your heart that you are mine and
we shall not part.
You'll regret that you tried me, they always
do, but you came to me, not I
to you.
You knew this would happen many times you
were told, but you challenged my power and
you chose to be bold.
You could have said no and just walked
away.
If you could live that day over now,
what would you say?
I'll be your master.
You'll be my slave.
I'll even go with you when you go
to your grave.
Now that you have met me, what will
you do?
Will you try me or not?
It's all up to you.
I can bring you more misery than words
can tell.
Come take my hand.
Let me lead you to hell.
That's idolatry.
That's addiction.
That's powerful.
That's truth.
That's how it works.
It pulls and it pulls.
That's why he said little children, keep yourself
from idols.
Keep yourself from idols.
Now of course I wouldn't leave you on
that point because I want people to know
that Jesus Christ sets them free.
Christ and Christ alone sets them free.
Now here's where it gets difficult.
Many people say Christ took this away from
me.
I'm free, but many people have to fight
for the rest of their life.
Do you know that?
Jesus doesn't take some things away.
There are people in this room.
You're one drink away from wrecking your life.
You're one hit away from restarting a habit.
You're one pill away from restarting what you
know God wants.
There's a fight there.
There's a struggle.
So Jesus, why am I still struggling?
You're supposed to be right.
But the freedom's in Him and resting in
Him and carrying His burden and spending time
with Him and looking to Him and having
Him be your priority because when Jesus is
the priority, the idolatry and the idol has
to get in the back seat or they
have to leave completely.
Whoever's your priority, you will follow.
That's why Paul in Romans said, Whatever you
choose to obey becomes your master.
Who is our master?
So the young man said, What good thing
shall I do that it may have eternal
life?
What do I still lack?
Romans 3.23, For all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God.
Romans 3.10 adds, There is none that
are righteous, no not one.
There is none that understands.
There is none who seeks after God.
Romans 6.23, For the wages of sin
is death.
Oh no, Shane, this is so discouraging.
Well, let's keep reading.
Romans 6.23, For the wages of sin
is death.
But the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
It's very encouraging.
That's how you smash an idol.
You put Christ back on the throne.
See, there's too many people that love to
sit on the throne while Christ is still
up on the cross.
Actually, He needs to come back up on
the throne.
We need to get on the cross and
carry our cross and put Him on it.
I mean, put us on it.
Carry our cross, follow Him, allow Him to
be on the throne.
Through that relationship, that's how you destroy the
idol.
That's how you defeat the idol.
Romans 10.9, If you confess with your
mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your
heart that God has raised Him from the
dead, you will be saved.
Hey, I've got to come back to this
almost at every sermon.
Charles Spurgeon said about 150 years ago that
in the same way that every village or
every town, every little town throughout England, they
all lead to London, every scripture should take
you back to Christ and the centrality of
Christ.
We're here because of Christ.
We worship Christ.
We don't worship doctrine.
We don't worship theology.
We look to doctrine and theology to point
us back to Christ.
And anybody who says, I'm bored of that
topic is in a very hard spot.
Their heart is not in the right spot.
We should never be bored of too much
of Jesus because it should be a fresh
encounter.
It's like taking a shower again.
The world is so polluted.
Just look at the news.
We go out and we're dirty spiritually.
We come here and let Christ wash and
cleanse.
Let Christ wash and cleanse us again.
So I want to remind you that though
the road ahead may be uncertain at times,
the solid ground beneath will never shift.
It's all about who you know.
And if there's people here now listening later
on that don't know him, you don't have
a relationship with him, you've just been playing
games, I would encourage you to look to
the word of God because it does not
lie.
It says if you confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord and believe in your
heart that God has raised him from the
dead, you will be saved.
And this word belief here is interesting.
It means to put complete trust in.
I mean there's people putting more trust in
their social security than Christ.
And I'm not going to tell you about
how the government almost voted last night to
allocate 150 some million or billion of social
security.
And they're going to have to start taking,
folks.
The retirement is not secure.
I'm not being the bearer of bad news,
but you have to trust in Christ alone.
They're going to have to take social security.
They're going to have to take from retirement
to pay the deficit, to pay the debt.
We've got ourselves in a pickle.
The Titanic has been hit.
Wake up.
Where's our only trust?
So I'm positioning myself when they say there's
no social security.
That's fine.
I trust in Christ.
But I'm using wisdom, right?
We all have to use wisdom, but who
are you trusting in?
Because the last time the stock market crashed,
go online and find out how many suicides
happened across the United States.
Guns to the head, off bridges, pills.
Why?
Because they trusted in the wrong thing.
It's idolatry.
Come take my hand.
Let me lead you to hell.
I'll show you the way.