Kingdom: Exodus

[0:00] We're in the book of Exodus this morning. Exodus, and we're covering so many chapters that we're not going to read one specific passage. But you'll remember what we're doing is we're trying to get an overview of the story of redemption.

[0:14] The Bible is one book with one story with Jesus at the middle of it all. And everything either foreshadows leading up to Jesus or it's what he's done and the fulfillment and what is to come.

[0:33] And what we've looked at is we've looked at creation, we've looked at sin or the fall, and we've looked at the covenant. And today we're shifting gears and getting into the kingdom.

[0:44] And so we will be in the book of Exodus for four, probably four weeks, and then we're moving on from there. And so, like I said, we're covering this at really high, high altitude.

[0:56] And so hopefully you'll be able to get the big picture. That's really the goal. But let's pray together before we begin. Father, we thank you for the privilege it is to come together and to look at your word.

[1:10] We need you to speak through your word to us. We need to be reminded of your character. We need to be reminded of your attributes. We need to be reminded of your work.

[1:22] We need to be reminded of all the things that you have done for your people so that we understand who you are today to us. Because you are the same yesterday, today, and forever.

[1:35] And so I pray, Lord, that you would open our eyes. You would open our ears. You would speak to us because our hearts need this. We need to see ourselves. We need to see you. And we need to be able to live out tomorrow the truths that you give to us.

[1:50] So teach us, we pray, in the name of Christ. Amen. So as we turn then to the book of Exodus, and as we're walking through this series, when we come to the word kingdom, what we mean here is that a kingdom is being developed out of the nation of Israel.

[2:12] It started with one man and his wife, then one son, then two sons, then 12 sons. And when they go down into Egypt, there are 70 people in all.

[2:23] And when they come out, they will be a great nation. That is a kingdom. And as God sets up the kingdom, he's going to show us not only who his people are and how he forms them as a nation, which is what we'll look at today, but he's also going to show how he will rule over them and direct them and guide them as a kingdom people.

[2:47] And one of the things about the Exodus, there is the book that is titled Exodus, but then there's the event in the first 10 to 12 chapters that's also known as the Exodus.

[2:59] And it's because the people left the land. They exited Egypt, right? And we all know this. And one of the things about the idea of the Exodus is that it is the pinnacle event of the Old Testament.

[3:18] It is the pinnacle event because it foreshadows, represents, and points to Jesus Christ. So over and over again, the prophets and the psalmists will go back and they will talk about how God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

[3:37] And so it becomes for them the pinnacle, central, core, redemptive event. And in the New Testament, obviously, it's the Lord Jesus Christ and his life and death, which is then the pinnacle of all of it.

[3:53] And so as we look at this and as we look at the idea of this Exodus, particularly in the first 10 to 12 chapters, we want to see two things at a real high level about this event that I think will help us in our daily life.

[4:08] And we're going to look at the condition or our condition and we're going to look at God's rescue. We're going to look at the condition and God's rescue. So under our condition, there's two parts to this.

[4:21] First of all is the physical condition of the nation of Israel, of these people of God. In Exodus chapter 1, verse 1 through 7, one of the things that you'll see there when you read it is that the 70 who came down have now multiplied.

[4:37] Joseph, his brothers, they've passed away and they have become a numerous people. So when you get to verse 8, a new king now arises over Egypt who did not know Joseph.

[4:50] And then verse 9, he says, He said to this people, You get what's going on here.

[5:28] There's a lot of them. We're scared of them. Let's give them hard labor. Wow, that makes them have more children. I don't know what's going on here, but they're growing bigger.

[5:40] Now we're even more scared of them. Verse 13, So they moved a step further, right? At first, it's just hard labor.

[5:52] Now they are enslaving them. That's the difference between verses 8 through 12 and verse 13 is at once they're just sort of scared of them and they give them the hard jobs.

[6:03] But now they're so scared of them that they're forcing them into labor. That's what verse 13 is all about. Verse 14, Then we want to turn to verse 15 because the situation gets worse, right?

[6:32] Verse 15 and 16 say this, That the king spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one who was named Shephira and the other who was Pua, and he said to them, When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them on the birthstool, if it's a son, you shall put him to death, but if it's a daughter, then she shall live.

[6:51] Then verse 22, Then Pharaoh commanded all of his people, Every son who was born, you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter, you are to keep alive. Now we don't need to belabor this point very long.

[7:04] I just want to be sure you get the flow of what's happening here. They've come down as guests of Pharaoh, who then dies and a new king arises.

[7:17] They've increased in number, and now Egypt's afraid of them. So they increase their workload, but they continue to increase in number. So they enslave them, but they continue to increase in number.

[7:32] So they get the midwives on board to say, Hey, you need to kill these baby boys, but the midwives won't do it. And they continue to increase in number to get to the place where Pharaoh then tells all the people of Egypt, If you see an Israelite boy, drown him in the river.

[7:48] This is where they are. Hated, enslaved. But one of the things we've got to see about this, if we're going to understand the Exodus properly, is we need to understand this truth right here.

[8:03] They are slaves. But slaves are sinners too. They're slaves.

[8:14] And they're being mistreated. And they're having terrible things happen to them. And it is wicked. It is evil. And it ought to be stopped. But they have broken God's law in the same way that their masters have.

[8:30] And that's really what the Exodus is all about. It is the spiritual condition of God's people that's at stake. Now, the spiritual condition, we don't get to see it very much in Exodus.

[8:42] We do see some hints of it. But we get it clearly stated in several other places in Scripture. And I just want to take you to two. The first one I want to take you to is in Leviticus chapter 17.

[8:55] Leviticus chapter 17. I'm not going to say that right a couple times. Beginning in verse 1, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them, This is what the Lord has commanded, saying, Any man from a house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp, and has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting, to present it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, blood guiltiness is to be reckoned to that man.

[9:29] He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. Now just pause for a second. Let's just think about what's being said here and why this is being said. When they come out of Egypt and they cross the Red Sea, they make their way to Mount Sinai.

[9:46] There at Mount Sinai, we know about God giving the Ten Commandments to his people. But the other thing that happens is that he gives them more of his law, and the book of Leviticus primarily is happening at Mount Sinai.

[10:01] So they are just a few weeks, months out of Egypt, and he's giving them instructions about what to do with their sacrifice. And not only that, but he's saying, Listen, some of you, some of you, you take your ox outside the camp and you sacrifice it.

[10:17] Some of you are sacrificing it at your tent, but what you're not doing is bringing it to the tabernacle for sacrifice. And that shouldn't be. Now that doesn't sound like a big deal, but we're going to get into it and you'll see.

[10:31] Okay? Verse, what are we on? Verse 5? Okay, verse 5. The reason is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifice, which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them in to the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord.

[10:53] The priest, verse 6, shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to the Lord.

[11:03] Now let me pause one more time. Now, just be sure you get this before we read verse 7. You're offering your offering in the wrong place. Come offer it at the tabernacle so it can be used as a peace offering.

[11:17] This has only been going on for just a few months. So why is it that he's expecting them to have this habit? Why is he expecting that they've got a problem with the way they do things? Verse 7 says this, They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons.

[11:34] With which they play the harlot. And this shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations. You see, while Israel was in Egypt, they learned to worship the gods of Egypt.

[11:53] They began to sacrifice to the gods of Egypt. That was their habit. They didn't stay pure spiritually. They actually abandoned the Lord God and ran after other gods to the degree that he describes it as sacrificing to goat demons.

[12:12] Which is a very strange Hebrew word that only occurs a few times. And goat demons is what my translation says. Your translation may say devils or something like that. The point is, is that this is not God.

[12:26] And they're not just sacrificing to these gods. But they're playing the harlot. With these gods. Prostituting themselves to these gods.

[12:37] Being unfaithful to the Lord. Well, we know that they adopted these gods from Egypt. Because in Joshua chapter 24 verse 14.

[12:51] Joshua at the end of the book says, Now therefore fear the Lord, serve him in sincerity and truth. And put away the gods which your father served beyond the river. That's the Euphrates River.

[13:02] That's going to be Abraham. So your father Abraham and his family served gods over in Euphrates. Right? Near Babylon. In the plain of Shinar. They worshipped gods there.

[13:12] Put those away. And in Egypt. Your fathers in Egypt. The gods that your fathers in Egypt served. Put them away and serve the Lord.

[13:27] Here's the point. The point is that these slaves who are being physically abused and enslaved and captured in this moment. Are idolaters at heart.

[13:39] And their idolatry in their heart is spiritual adultery. They are unfaithful to God. And even though they're enslaved to Egypt.

[13:49] And even though their children are being thrown into the Nile. And even though their kids are being killed. And even though they're being forced to all of these things. They turn and they trust in Ra. They turn and they trust in Osiris.

[14:02] They turn and they trust in Horus. And Anubis instead of the God who brought them to this place. They're guilty of spiritual adultery.

[14:12] Which is called idolatry. That's the problem of the book of Exodus. And the truth be told. You and I as blood bought Christians.

[14:26] We struggle with idolatry as well. You and I still struggle with idolatry. You might have been a Christian for 200 years.

[14:38] None of you are that old. I'm just giving that number just because. But you still struggle with idolatry so long as you breathe on this planet. What is idolatry?

[14:50] Let's just think about that for a second. Idolatry is when we trust in created things. Rather than the creator. It's when we trust in that which is before us.

[15:02] For our hope and happiness. For our significance and our security. We want to have a form of hope in life. That gives us that positive sort of thing.

[15:13] And we look to other things besides God. To give us that hope. We want happiness. We want significance. We want security.

[15:24] And when we look to anything besides God. To get that. That thing is an idol. We are to look to God.

[15:35] And to God alone. For our hope. Our happiness. Our significance. And our security.

[15:47] There's a gentleman. Christian author. That Michelle and I like to read. His name is Paul David Tripp. He writes a lot of books on marriage. Parenting. Communication. Counseling. And this kind of a thing.

[15:57] Great. Great books to read. But in one of his books. About this idea. Of idols of the heart. In Christians. He tells the story.

[16:08] About being a pastor. On staff. At a local church. And the church. Decided to have an Easter brunch. One Sunday. And so they were going to gather together. A little bit earlier. Than the service.

[16:19] And make this big old brunch. And set it aside. And invite the community to come. And they were really doing. A lot of things. To try to reach out. To their community. And it just so happened.

[16:29] On this day. That he had to be there. A little bit earlier. That for some reason. It was taking his wife. An extraordinary amount of time. To get ready. And as he was pacing around.

[16:39] Thinking to himself. How nervous this was making him. He began to think to himself. That he could say some things. That might help. Move her along. A little faster.

[16:51] And so he said some things. Like this. Honey. I just wanted to remind you. That it is indeed. An Easter brunch. And not an Easter supper. And then he comes back.

[17:03] A little bit later. And says. I just want you to understand. That I am one of the pastors. And it would not be a good thing. For a pastor to be late. You see.

[17:14] In that moment. What he wanted. Was the approval. Of people. The satisfaction. Of his own desires.

[17:25] Others. And that ruled. His heart. In that moment. So that what came. Out of his mouth. Was a sin. Against. His. Wife.

[17:38] Even. We. Who are blood. Bought. Saved. Headed. To heaven. Struggle. With idolatry. Now I am trying to make the case. That you do.

[17:49] Struggle with this. And let me give you one final verse. And then we are going to talk about it. And how to deal with this. First John chapter 5. Verse 21. John is writing to Christians.

[18:01] And he tells them. Little children. Guard yourselves from idols. He expects Christians. To be struggling with idols. Not little statues.

[18:13] Hidden in a cupboard. Somewhere. That you burn incense to. And bow before. You can't think of an idol. As something. Like a little statue. Of gold and silver. Or an idol. Is something we want.

[18:26] An idol. Is something we. Desire. And we desire it so much. That it begins to warp. Our relationship. With God. And you need to be able to tell.

[18:39] That you. Indeed. Truly have. An idol. In your own heart. As a matter of fact. Let me just say it this way. If you can hear my voice.

[18:50] Right now. You have idols. In your heart. Understanding what they are. Understanding how to get rid of them. Is a great thing.

[19:00] And that's what we're going to talk about. But if you can't come to the place. Of saying you're right. I do. I have idols in my heart. Then the rest of this sermon. Is useless to you. Because if you're going to say to yourself. Well I don't have any idols.

[19:11] No. I don't have any idols. Then your idol. Is self-righteousness. Adoles. And you need to understand. We all have idols. So how do we identify them?

[19:21] How can we tell that we have an idol? And let me just give you two little ideas here. One. Is this. Is there something you want. That you're willing to sin.

[19:32] To get. Is there something you want. That you're willing to sin. To get. Even if you entertain.

[19:44] The idea of sinning. To get this thing. But something in you. Holds you back. And says no. I can't. That's just a bridge. Too far for me. Then that thing. Was still something. That was too high.

[19:56] In our hearts. You can see it in the teenager. Who sneaks out at night. To go be with his friends. Because he's willing to disobey. Rebel. And even cause.

[20:08] Anxiety. In his parents. Just so he can have. What he wants to have. You can see it in couples. Where one. Wants to feel. Listened to. Loved.

[20:19] Wants to feel. Important. To the other spouse. And when they don't get that. They will stoop. To holding a grudge. Calling names. Or even using. The silent treatment. Which is a form of.

[20:29] Murder. If we're willing to sin. To get it. Then it's an idol. In our heart. Secondly. What are you angry about?

[20:41] You know. Anger is a whole person. Response. Based on a moral judgment. Of a perceived. Injustice. James. James. Chapter 4. Teaches us. That anger.

[20:52] Is a sign. Of. Idolatry. That there's something. In our heart. That's causing us. To do. These things. Because we want.

[21:02] Something. So badly. Every time. We get mad. We know. We can look back. And. 99.9% of the time. There's an idol there. And it can be.

[21:13] Good things. It could be. Respect. It could be. Friendship. It could be. Love. It could be. Acceptance. It could be. Comfort. It could be. Leadership.

[21:25] And let me. Let me just say it this way. Just. Just so you. You don't think. I'm trying to beat up on you. If you. Have ever seen me. Angry. Angry. Which.

[21:36] If it hasn't happened yet. You will. Not because I want. To promise to be angry. But. But I'm a sinner. That anger.

[21:46] That you saw. Was a window. Into my soul. That said. There's an idol. Working behind that. It wasn't about you.

[21:58] What I can never say to you. Is that you made me mad. You don't make me mad. I get mad. When I can't have my way. We don't like to say that as adults. Because that makes us sound like toddlers.

[22:09] But the truth of the matter is. Is that's exactly who we are. We. Have idols. How do you tell. Here's one way.

[22:19] There's several ways. We could get into. And I'm going to get through this. And we're going to move on. To the next point. But I want you to think about this statement. Life only has meaning. If. Fill in the blank. Life.

[22:31] Only. Has meaning. If. Fill in the blank. Life. Only. Has meaning. If.

[22:42] I can. Be. An influence. On other people. So you're saying. That if you can't influence anybody. Your life has no meaning. That's an idol.

[22:55] Life. Only. Has meaning. If. I feel loved. And respected. By. My wife. If my wife. Doesn't love and respect me. Does that mean.

[23:06] My life has no meaning. No. Not at all. My life has meaning. Because I'm made in the image of God. My life. Only. Has meaning.

[23:18] If I can get to a specific kind of pleasure. Or if I can feel protected. Or if I can. Be completely free of obligations and responsibilities.

[23:29] Or if I can free myself from these negative emotions that I feel. Life has meaning. And only. Meaning. If and only. If I can get rid of. The negative emotions.

[23:40] Christians. What I'm saying to you. Is that we struggle. With idolatry. And we have got to. Come to the place. Of admitting the problem. So that we can deal with it.

[23:54] It is. What makes a person. A non-Christian. Non-Christians. That is their biggest thing. Is that they. They. Worship and serve anything. And everything. Besides the Lord God.

[24:06] You and I. At least as Christians. We have idols. But yet. We want to serve God. And there's that fight in us. That wants to get rid of that. So what did God do.

[24:17] For Israel. To rescue them. From Egypt. From their idolatry. I want you to notice. We'll. You go over to chapter 2. Of the book of Exodus.

[24:28] I want you to notice. The order of things. That happened. In God's rescue. And that is. First. Israel cried out. You can look at verse 23. It says. Now it came about.

[24:38] In the course of those. Many days. That the king of Egypt. Died. And the sons of Israel. Sighed. Because of the bondage. And they cried out. And their cry for help.

[24:50] And their cry for help. Because of their bondage. Rose up. To God. I want you to be. Very clear. About what they're doing. Their slavery. And their bondage.

[25:01] Is weighty. Upon them. And they cry out. They sigh. Which means. They groan. And the word. Cry out. Means to ask.

[25:12] For help. But what's in their mind. Physical. Slavery. They're not saying.

[25:24] Oh. God. That you would deliver us. From our idols. No. They're just saying. We're in slavery. We can't stand this. This is awful. If this feels terrible.

[25:34] We just need help. And they're not even calling. On God. Himself. They're just crying out. Because they can't stand it anymore. They're just crying out. Because it weighs them down.

[25:46] So more. Here's what you got to understand. Their cry for help. Is tainted. With sin. And selfishness. There's nothing commendable.

[25:56] About their cry for help. But the second thing. Is that God. Remembers. His covenant. That even though their cry for help.

[26:07] Is so tainted with sin. God in his mercy. Responds. Look at verse 24 and 25. So God heard their groaning. And he remembered his covenant. With Abraham.

[26:18] Isaac. And Jacob. And God saw the sons of Israel. And God took notice of them. He remembered his covenant. He remembered his promises. To Abraham. Isaac.

[26:28] And Jacob. He remembered his self-maledictory oath. That he swore by himself. That he would prosper Abraham. And give land. Seed. And blessing. To his offspring. He remembered the promise.

[26:39] That the offspring. Would go into the land. For 400 years. And then God would. Rescue them. This is the grace of God. That God looks at. Tainted. Sinful.

[26:50] Crying out. Faith. That's full of idolatry. And he comes to them. And remembers his promise. And then what's the next thing that happens?

[27:03] He rescues them. In Exodus chapter 3 and 4. God goes to get a mediator. To come and rescue them. This is the whole story of Moses.

[27:14] All these excuses. And all these things about Moses. But why does he get Moses? Because Moses is an Israelite. You can see that all over. But I just think it's interesting. How God says in chapter 3 verse 6.

[27:26] I am the God of your father. The God of Abraham. Isaac. And Jacob. He's connecting Moses. Right to that covenant. You are going to be my covenant mediator.

[27:39] You're going to be the one to go. And tell Pharaoh to let my people go. But not only does God then get a mediator. God performs miraculous signs.

[27:50] Chapter 7 through chapter 11. You know. One of the things about redemptive history. If you will look at it. There are pockets of places. Throughout redemptive history.

[28:00] From Genesis to Revelation. Where God is about to do something. And when he does. He begins to surround it. With miraculous signs. But there are some periods.

[28:10] Of biblical history. Where there are no signs being done. One of the places. That the signs occur. Is here at the Exodus. Another place.

[28:21] Is when the prophets increase. There in the kings. And then the other place. Is in the ministry. Of Jesus. And his apostles. Outside of that. They're not that often. And so here we are.

[28:33] In this very first moment. As God. Comes. To rescue his people. He does so. By performing. These signs. And these signs. Are these plague.

[28:43] After plague. After plague. And with these plagues. You got to understand. That at first. The Egyptian magicians. Are trying to mock God. And mock Moses. By repeating.

[28:54] The same. Plagues. But when they get to the third one. They look at Pharaoh. And they say. This is the finger of God. We can't even. Counterfeit. This miracle.

[29:06] And each time. The plague comes. Pharaoh. And the people's hearts. Are hardened. To not believe. And to not submit. To God's will. And then God. Begins to make a distinction.

[29:16] Between Egypt. And Israel. As Egypt. Is destroyed. Israel. Is saved. And they get a first row seat. To watch the hand of God. And so what happens.

[29:28] How is it. That these plagues. Help. Them. Because. In the judgment of God. He comes. And he strikes.

[29:39] Egyptian God. After Egyptian God. After Egyptian God. With the Nile. Turning to blood. It's as though.

[29:49] He kills. Happy. The Egyptian God. Of the Nile. With the plague. The second plague. The swarm of the frogs. Just as though. As he's messing. With the goddess. Of fertility. Hecate.

[30:00] And on and on. We could go. You get the god. Of the dust. Of the earth. Geb. You get the god. Of flies. Kapiri. You get the god. Of love. Depicted as a cow.

[30:11] Hothor. You get Isis. Struck. Who's the goddess. Of medicine. In the boils. Upon God's people. Over and over. And over. Again. These gods. That Israel.

[30:22] Has become used to. These idols. That Israel. Has become used to. God. Including. Including the darkness. Right? Darkness was a strike. It raw. The sun god.

[30:32] And in the death. Of the firstborn. Pharaoh himself. Who is considered a god. Can't even keep. His own son. Alive. Because when god.

[30:44] Rescues. He. He brings his judgment. His power. And his signs. To bear. But the other thing. That god does. Is he provides. A sacrifice. In exodus.

[30:56] Chapter 11. And 12. As the 10th plague. Is coming on. We get the story. Of the passover. And how each. Family. To escape. This. There's been a distinction.

[31:08] Made. For a season. Now in the 10th plague. The distinction. Is made. By the blood. Of the sacrifice. God. Rescues.

[31:18] His people. From Egypt. By getting. A mediator. Performing. These signs. And giving.

[31:30] A sacrifice. What does that sound like? Jesus. The mediator. Who came. Performed.

[31:41] The signs. In order to show. Who he was. And offered. Himself. As a sacrifice. You see. Here's the thing. We have got to. Distinguish. Between. What it was.

[31:52] That Jesus. Did on the cross. The history. Of our salvation. Versus. How we experience. That today. That is the. Experience.

[32:04] Of salvation. If you will. It's the idea. Of redemption. Accomplished. And redemption. Applied. When he was on the cross.

[32:16] When he went to the cross. For us. Not only did he die. In order to pay for our sins. But you have to understand. That what he's doing. And paying for our sins. Is he's taking upon himself.

[32:28] All of our idolatry. Even idolatry. That we haven't even seen yet. In our own hearts. He's taking that to the cross. And he's having it crucified there. And he's judging it completely.

[32:38] So that it is no longer. Held against us. So that when we die. We have nothing. Held against us. Because we go straight. Into the presence. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. Never suffering.

[32:49] Another moment for it. But he did that. At the cross. He doesn't do that. By my actions. He did that. At the cross. Where it was. Fully. Paid.

[33:02] God. Came. To rescue. Idolaters. You don't have to be in bondage.

[33:14] To your idolaters. Idols. Any. Any longer. Here's. Here's the way I would say it. God is not interested.

[33:25] Just in. Giving you. A ticket. Out of hell. So that you can make heaven. And that's all he wants of you. That's not the. That is a great thing.

[33:35] And it's a beautiful thing. And he wants that for us. But he wants more. Than that for us. And I would say it this way. He wants to be. The one thing. In your life.

[33:46] That defines. And drives. All of your thinking. Affections. And behavior. He wants to be the one thing. In your life. That defines. And drives.

[33:58] All of your thinking. Affections. And behavior. So that when you are down. And depressed. He wants to be the defining. Driving force.

[34:08] That helps you to rejoice. In affliction. When you're anxious. He wants to be the defining. Driving force. That gives you. Trust.

[34:18] In the middle of uncertainty. When you're angry. He wants to be the defining. Driving force. That helps you to. Forgive. And let it go.

[34:29] He does not want you to be defined. And driven. By your friends. He does not want you to be. Defined. And driven. By your family. By your job.

[34:40] By your pleasures. By society. By substances. By finances. He saved you. In order to be. The defining. Driving force.

[34:51] In your life. That's why. We can. Come to him. When we notice. We have idols. Because he's already paid for it.

[35:01] So if you find in yourself. You know. I told this story. Weeks or months ago. About ice cream. Going to marble slab. And myself. And I'm not going to repeat this story here.

[35:12] But one of. One of the idols that I have. Is that I want things my way. In case you didn't know. I'm a little controlling. But when Christ died on the cross.

[35:25] He died for that. He destroyed it. So how do I. How do I get rid of it? How do I live. In such a way. As to get rid of that. Let me give you four things.

[35:36] Just real quick. Number one. Reckon. Your idol. Is dead. Dead. If Christ has already killed it at the cross. Then believe that.

[35:49] Reckon. That it's already dead. Number two. Rehearse. What Jesus did for you. On the cross. You have got to keep the cross. In front of you. All the time.

[36:00] That's what Hebrews chapter 12. Verse 3. Is all about. Third. Repent. Of that idol. As soon as you see it. Repent.

[36:10] That means you got to change your mind. That it was a good thing. It means you got to change your mind. That it's to be pursued. In that manner. Repentance is a change of mind.

[36:23] It means I'm agreeing with God. It means the next time. That I go into marble slab. And they give me marshmallow cream. Instead of marshmallows. And I want it my way. Or it's the highway. I have to repent of that.

[36:34] And recognize that my way. Is not the best way. That God's way is the best way. And if he in his providence. Gives me something I don't want. It means that that's the best thing for me.

[36:44] And what I wanted. Is not. Now that's hard. That's hard to swallow. You know. I mean. When we think about ice cream. Most of us would sit here and go like. Oh yes. That's true. That's the truth. Yeah. But what about the rest of your life?

[36:57] I mean. We all think to ourselves. That the way we would do things. Is the best way. And so when we God brings something into our life. That we don't like the way this is going. We have a tendency to complain.

[37:09] And if we're going to repent of our idol. It means we've got to say. God. I don't understand why you've brought this into my life. Keeping me from the thing that I really really want. But your way is best.

[37:19] My way is not. And I'm going to trust you. That's repentance. The fourth thing is continue to seek Jesus. Continue to seek in Jesus.

[37:32] The thing you wanted. From your idol. You want happiness. You want hope. I mean this is.

[37:43] This is. This is the kind of thing. That will make marriages thrive. Or die. Because your spouse. Was not meant to be a place. For you to mine out.

[37:54] Hope. Happiness. Security. And significance. She cannot bear the weight. Of what I need. When it comes to hope. She cannot bear the weight. Of what I need. When it comes to happiness.

[38:06] Security. And significance. I must get that. From the Lord Jesus Christ. And not my wife. Love. So as Christians.

[38:17] We need to continue to seek. In Jesus. That for which we were longing. And let me just say one final thing. There are some. Who listening to this. May say to themselves. You know. I have no idea what you're talking about.

[38:29] I'm not even sure that I believe that God is real. And I would say to you. That's exactly. Correct. You have an idol in your heart. You have an idol in your heart. And if you don't get rid of that.

[38:41] You're going to suffer like the Egyptians did. Under the wrath. And the judgment of God. And I don't want you to do that. I'm not happy about that. I do not want you to suffer.

[38:52] Under the wrath of God. In hell for your sin. I want you to be set free. I want you to. I want you to. I want you to. Reckon. That Christ has paid it all.

[39:03] And turn. Turn from yourself. Turn to Christ. And let him be the boss. Of your life. Let's pray together.