Well read and treasured in your heart, and turn with me to Psalm 115.
Before I read, let me remind you that this is God's Word to us.
It was written for His glory and our good.
And we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name,
give glory for the sake of Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness.
Why should the nations say, where is their God?
Our God is in the heavens. He does all that He pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak, eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear, noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel.
They have feet, but do not walk.
And they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them become like them.
So do all who trust in them.
O Israel, trust in the Lord.
He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord.
He is their help and their shield.
You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord.
He is their help and their shield.
The Lord has remembered us.
He will bless us.
He will bless the house of Israel.
He will bless the house of Aaron.
He will bless those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great.
May the Lord give you increase, you and your children.
May you be blessed by the Lord who made heaven and earth.
The heavens are the Lord's heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.
The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence.
But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.
Praise the Lord.
This is one of the psalms sung by the Jews at the feast of the Passover.
Which likely means that it was sung by our Lord on the night that he was betrayed and arrested.
It is not certain who or at what time this psalm was penned.
And therefore I'll refer to its writer as the psalmist from here on.
But we can, however, see from its contents that the occasion for its writing is summed up in the question of verse 2.
Why should the nation say, where is their God?
It would seem that God's people have once again found themselves afflicted.
And the psalmist implores God to make himself known for the sake of his name.
In the midst of their suffering, whatever that was, whatever the occasion was.
The psalmist does not wish that God's people would be given glory.
That their name would be made great.
But that God would be given glory.
That he would be beheld as the loving and faithful God that he is.
The psalmist writes in verse 1,
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
The psalmist pleads with God to act.
Not on any merit of God's people as they have none.
But rather on the merit of God's character and zeal for his own glory.
John Calvin in writing concerning verse 1 of Psalm 115 said,
This is a point to which we ought carefully to attend.
That altogether, unworthy as we are of God's regard,
we may cherish the hope of being saved by him.
From the respect that he has for the glory of his name.
And from his having adopted us on condition of never forsaking us.
The psalmist answers the question,
Where is there God?
With confident and holy derision in verse 3.
He writes,
Our God is in the heavens.
He does all that he pleases.
God is in a place where he cannot be seen.
But all of his loving kindness and faithfulness toward mankind can be seen.
And he does all that he pleases.
What an astounding statement that is.
What a limitless statement.
Our God does all that he pleases.
If God wills that something should happen, it happens.
If he does not intend for something to happen, it will not happen.
Beloved, this reality is such a comfort to the afflicted church.
The church militant.
Nothing happens apart from God's providence.
Nothing.
We worship the one true and living God.
There are no other gods.
And the psalmist is going to show us the futility of worshiping any other than our God.
But before we consider verses 4 and following,
I want to show you something about the structure of Psalm 115.
We've looked at verses 1 through 3 in brief.
Verse 1.
The psalmist makes an appeal for God himself to glorify himself.
For him to act in a way that brings his name honor.
In verse 2, we see this expression of wickedness.
The wicked, the nations say, where is your God?
And in verse 3, we see a declaration of God's place, where he is.
He's in the heavens and of his power.
He's sovereign.
He does whatever he pleases.
Now look at verses 16, 17, and 18.
We find these three points made in verses 1, 2, and 3 in reverse in verses 16, 17, and 18
with some small variations.
In verse 16, so track me backwards,
we see a declaration of God's place.
The heavens are God's heavens.
With the addition of man's place, right?
It's granted to him by God.
So man is in the earth.
The earth has been given to man.
In verse 17, we see.
In verse 2, the wicked ask this wicked question.
Here we see that they do not worship God at all.
In no way at all do they worship God.
And then verse 18, in verse 1,
there is an appeal for God to glorify himself.
But in verse 18, we see that God's people are meant to,
are created to, ascribe glory to God in the praise of him.
So you see how it's reflexive in that way.
So in verses 1 through 3, we see the sovereignty of God
bringing about the praise of his name.
And in verses 16 through 18, we see, as God's people,
our image-bearing responsibility to do the same.
There is much talk today about finding God's purpose for your life.
Here it is in this text.
That we would bring him great glory.
That we would leverage all that we have and do
in order to show God more as he is.
You are never more as God intended you to be
than when you are working in his strength
for the praise of his name.
You are never further from God's intention for you
when you are worshiping lesser things.
These two sets of three verses each serve as an inclusion.
There's a literary term for you today.
As an inclusion bookends for verses 4 through 15.
And they bookend a juxtaposition between the worship of false gods
and the strong confidence that we can have
in worshiping the one true and living God.
So, this has been my prayer for you this morning.
If you are of the nations,
one of those who do not belong to God,
who worship the creation rather than the creator,
my prayer for you is that you will behold
the steadfast love and faithfulness of God this morning
toward his people,
and that you will be moved to place saving faith
in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
If you are of God's people,
if you have placed saving faith
in the person and work of Jesus Christ,
my prayer for you is that you will behold
the steadfast love and faithfulness of God
afresh this morning,
and that he will show you how inclined you still are
to worship at the feet of the creation.
Having been adopted into the family of God,
how likely you are to turn back from him
to lesser forms of worship.
So, in order to do that,
in two points,
number one, verses four through 15,
the futility of false gods,
and number two,
the glory of the one true and living God.
So, number one,
the futility or uselessness of false gods.
Look what the psalmist says about them.
Their idols, the nation's idols,
are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
Idols are created things.
The psalmist tells us in verse four,
they are the work of human hands.
They are made of precious metals in this case,
the specific idols he's referring to,
but they are made all the same.
And he goes on and he elaborates this point
with accusations of their uselessness.
Verse five, beginning,
they have mouths,
but they do not speak.
These graven images have the image of a mouth,
but they say nothing.
Genesis chapter one tells of God creating the world
with mighty words.
But idols are dumb.
They can utter nothing.
They cannot speak words of promise
or encouragement or warning.
They have, verse five,
eyes, but do not see.
When Hagar is told by an angel of the Lord
that she will bear a son,
it is recorded in Genesis 16, 13.
So she called the name of the Lord
who spoke to her.
You are a God of seeing.
For she said,
truly here I have seen him
who looks after me,
who is caring for us
as he observes us
and then interacts with us.
It is a contradiction altogether
to have a God who cannot see.
Verse six,
they have ears,
but they do not hear.
There is no sense
in offering up prayers
to a God that cannot hear your prayers.
Exodus 2, 24
records that God heard their groaning
and God remembered His covenant
with Abraham, with Isaac,
and with Jacob.
Our God is a God who hears.
Idols hear nothing.
On in verse six further,
they have noses,
but do not smell.
This is likely a reference
to God's acceptance of sacrifice.
Genesis 8, 21 records,
verse 7,
and when the Lord smelled
the pleasing aroma
of the sacrifice,
the Lord said in His heart,
I will never again curse the ground
because of man,
for the intention of man's heart
is evil from his youth.
Neither will I again
strike down every living creature
as I have done.
A God who cannot smell
cannot receive
an acceptable sacrifice.
Verse 7,
they have hands,
but do not feel.
False gods cannot sympathize
with our weakness,
nor can they bring us comfort.
The writer of Hebrews,
in Hebrews 4, 15 says,
for we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses,
but one who in every respect
has been tempted as we are,
yet without sin.
Our God became a man
in order that He might
sympathize with us,
understand our suffering,
and come to us in it.
Further in verse 7,
they have feet,
but they do not walk.
False gods have no activity.
They just sit.
The one true and living God
does all that He pleases.
But false gods do nothing.
Isaiah 41, 7,
the craftsman strengthens
the goldsmith,
and he who smooths
with the hammer,
him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering,
it is good,
and they strengthen it
with nails
so that it cannot be moved.
The idol gets nailed down
to the floor
so it cannot be taken.
They have feet,
but they do not walk,
and they do not make a sound.
In their throat.
More literally, I think,
they do not muse.
They do not have thought.
False gods are lifeless
and useless.
This is a comprehensive charge list.
There are seven charges
that are being made here.
Idols are utterly useless,
useless,
and the worship of them
is an exercise
in futility.
In studying these charges
against false gods,
my mind was drawn
to the taunting words
of Elijah
to the prophets of Baal.
You may recall
1 Kings 18, 27
from our reading together
not too long ago.
Elijah says,
I'm sorry,
that's in the future.
It's been one of those weeks.
He says to the prophets of Baal,
cry aloud,
for he is a God.
Either he is musing,
or he is relieving himself,
or he is on a journey,
or perhaps he is asleep
and must be awakened.
False gods have nothing
to offer us.
But the psalmist continues
by telling us in verse 8,
those who make them
become like them.
So do all who trust in them.
This is the one-two punch
of the point
that the psalmist
is trying to make
about false gods.
Let me elaborate on that
a bit more.
There's lots of this kind of language
in the Scripture
about having eyes
but not seeing,
and ears but not hearing.
Let me give you a couple
of examples of this.
Jeremiah 5,
21-24.
God says,
Hear this,
O foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes
but see not,
who have ears
but hear not.
Do you not fear me,
declares the Lord?
Do you not tremble before me?
I place the sands
as the boundary of the sea,
a perpetual barrier
that it cannot pass.
Though the waves toss,
they cannot prevail.
Though they roar,
they cannot pass over it.
But this people
has a stubborn
and rebellious heart.
They have turned aside
and gone away.
They do not say
in their hearts,
Let us fear the Lord our God
who gives the rain
in its season,
the autumn rain
and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
the weeks appointed
for the harvest.
But God says
to people of Israel,
as rebellious people of Israel,
You have failed to see me
as the creator,
as the emphasis
that He's making
throughout this passage
in Jeremiah.
Who has held the sea
in its boundaries?
Who set the shore?
And no matter how hard
the sea tries,
it cannot come past
the place
I have told it.
I give the rain
in its season,
the autumn and the spring.
I schedule out
when the harvest
will happen.
Verse 21 says,
You are a foolish
and senseless people.
Have eyes,
but do not see.
Have ears,
but hear not.
You are like
the very things
that you worship.
Another place,
Ezekiel 12, 2.
Son of man,
you dwell in the midst
of a rebellious house,
who have eyes to see,
but see not,
who have ears to hear,
but hear not,
for they are a rebellious house.
All of us
were once these people.
Eyes that did not see.
Ears that did not hear.
Praise God
that by His Spirit
He works faith
in blind and deaf people.
We once were blind,
but now we see.
We once were deaf.
I'm going outside the song now,
but now we hear.
In Matthew chapter 13,
verses 11 and following,
Jesus responds
to the apostles
asking why He speaks
in parables,
and He says this,
To you it has been given
to know the secrets
of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them
it has not been given.
For to the one who has,
more will be given,
and he will have an abundance,
but from the one who has not,
even what he has
will be taken away.
This is why I speak to them
in parables,
because seeing,
they do not see,
and hearing,
they do not hear,
nor do they understand.
Indeed, in their case,
the prophecy of Isaiah
is fulfilled that says,
and this is Isaiah 6, 9, and 10,
you will indeed hear,
but never understand,
and you will indeed see,
but never perceive.
For this people's heart
has grown dull,
and with their ears
they can barely hear,
and their eyes
they have closed.
Lest they should see
with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart,
and turn,
and I would heal them.
But blessed are your eyes,
for they see,
and your ears,
for they hear.
For truly,
I say to you,
many prophets
and righteous people
long to see
what you see
and did not see it,
and to hear
what you hear
and did not hear it.
Oh, beloved,
we have much reason
to praise God
for his grace
to us in Christ.
He has caused us
to be born again.
He has given us
our sight,
and given us
the ability to hear.
He had made us
not like idolaters
any longer.
He's restored in us
our imago Dei,
our willingness
and our ability
to praise him
and worship him
as we should.
Now,
most of us
I would presume
to think all of us
do not find ourselves
in a position
to bow down
to carved images.
I did not grow up
in a house
where as a follower
of Jesus Christ
I had to neglect
the shrine
that was held
someplace.
However,
the Bible
is relentless
about the idolatry
of our hearts
because we were created
to worship
God alone.
and idolatry
takes all
types
of forms.
God says to his people,
good command,
a command we need
to keep,
Exodus 23,
you shall have
no other gods
before me.
Charles Spurgeon said,
and this is on your bulletin
if you want to look at it,
if you love anything
better than God,
you are idolaters.
I'll repeat that part of it.
If you love anything
better than God,
you are idolaters.
If there is anything
you would not give up
for God,
it is your idol.
If there is anything
that you seek
with greater fervor
than you seek
the glory of God,
that is your idol.
And conversion
means a turning
from every idol.
It means that we take
all things
and count them
as loss
for their surpassing
worth
of knowing
Jesus Christ,
our Lord.
And beloved,
our hearts
are so inclined
to idolatry.
And I believe
that Satan
loves nothing more
than to get
in the mix
and have us
be acceptable
of our idolatry.
To think,
yeah, yeah,
Jesus,
and,
I can still have,
I can still enjoy,
I can still do,
and in that
we so regularly
put those things
in places
of prominence
in our lives.
Most of us,
again,
I would dare say
all of us,
don't have a closet
in our home
with a shrine set up,
a thing that we bow to.
It's not so on the surface
for us,
but it's rather
more about
the attitudes
and the intentions
of our heart.
What are your
affections
set on?
What do you seek,
as Spurgeon said,
with fervor?
What do you talk about?
What do you spend
your money on?
Where is your time
aimed at?
If it's not
the glory of God,
then it's an idol.
An idol is anything
that we place
as the primary focus
of our lives.
And we regularly
take good things,
good things,
meant to be good,
meant to be given
as gifts from the creator
for our enjoyment.
And we make them idols
by loving them
above God himself.
And this comes out of us
in all kinds
of ugly ways.
Let me give you
just some examples
of some things
that can be good,
but can be idols
in your life.
security.
Feeling safe
can be an idol
in your life.
Material possessions
of all kinds.
Aren't we Americans?
Revving up
into Christmas season.
Really watch our hearts,
beloved.
What is it
that we worship?
Knowledge.
Knowledge can be
an idol in your life.
You can worship
how much you know
or how much you don't know
but want to know.
your political ideology
can be an idol
in your life.
Having control
of the situation
can be an idol
in your life.
Comfort
and leisure
can be idols.
Good health
can be an idol.
Hear me,
those of you,
our family included,
who strive
to be healthy
and to eat healthy,
this can become
idolatry for us.
pleasure,
success,
our physical appearance.
Guys,
I know some of you
really want to be swole.
That could be idolatry.
Your ambition
and dare I even say
your family
seems to be
the last
acceptable idol
often
in the church.
Anything
that's placed above
the prominence
of God
in our lives
can be an idol.
And beloved,
it comes at us
from all directions
all the time.
The Christian life
is meant to be a life
of repentance
and faith
turning from
our sinful idolatry
into God.
We will not be done
with this
in this lifetime.
But,
I can tell you,
by faith,
by the grace of God,
we can get better.
We can improve
upon
true worship
of the one
living God.
We can
put away
our idolatry.
And I want to show you
just a little bit,
just a brief glimpse
of how it is
that we
identify idolatry
in our lives
and how it is
that God works
to strip idolatry
out of our lives
by looking at
James chapter 4.
So mark somehow
Psalm 115,
your finger,
bookmark it,
and turn to
James chapter 4.
In verse 1,
James asks
an astounding question.
What causes
quarrels
and what causes
fights
among you?
What causes
our relational
disagreements?
And this isn't
necessarily
just what's happening
inside of a church
fellowship.
This is with
our spouses.
This is with
our co-workers.
This is with
the guy that pulls
out in front of you
on the road.
What's causing
the quarrels
and causing
the fights
among you?
And he says this,
is it not this
that your passions
are at war
within you?
Your passions.
Things that you
desire to have
and it's not
being had the way
you want it to be
had.
And so
things happen
as a result
of that.
anxiety
or anger
which we
mask with
terms like
frustration
and stress.
These are not
things that
God's people
are meant to be
living in.
These are not
emotions that are
meant to be felt
by God's
people.
Your passions
are at war
within you.
Verse 2,
you desire
and do not
have
so you
murder
your anger
in your heart.
You covet
and cannot
obtain
so you
fight
and you
quarrel.
You do not
have
because you
don't ask.
You ask
and do not
receive
because you
ask wrongly
to spend
it on
your passions.
You don't
aim these
things at
the glory
of God.
You aim
them at
your self.
You
adulterous
people.
So here's
a people
turning back
from their
God
to their
idols.
Right?
This is
in our
Bible reading.
We've been
in the
book of
Judges.
We've just
gotten through
the book
of Judges.
And you
see a
people
devoting
themselves
in worship
to God.
Things get
restored.
A judge
comes along
and sorts
things out.
And then
how quickly
do they
go back
to the
idols
of the
land?
They go
back to
the
Canaanite
Baals
to worship
them once
again.
That's
what's
happening
here.
You
adulterous
People!
Do you
not know
that friendship
with the
world
is enmity
with God?
Therefore
whoever wishes
to be a
friend of
the world
makes himself
an enemy
of God.
As people
who have been
delivered by
God,
who are
his people,
we are so
very apt
to do
this.
Let me
to make
the point.
I had
another
example
in mind
at this
point in
the sermon,
but I
thought because
it was
yesterday,
it was a
better
example.
This was a
really tiring
week for me.
It was an
exhausting
week.
A great
week,
but it was
a go,
go,
go week.
We had
across two
days,
three different
Thanksgiving
events.
On Friday,
I've got
family from
in town.
Chris is
going to
come share
with us
in just a
moment at
the end
of the
service.
We decided
to do some
work out
of my
parents'
property.
They had
a huge
oak tree
come down.
It was
like four
oak trees
it seemed
like from
that wind
storm.
We used
chainsaw
all day.
I was
really sore,
really tired
at the end
of all that.
Saturday,
I worked
up here
trying to
get ready
for this
morning.
All I
wanted to
do was
sleep or
soak in
a hot
tub.
I was
tired.
Saturday
evening,
the plan
was to
go home
and put
our
Christmas
tree
up.
Put our
tree up
at the
house and
spend some
time
decorating
it,
watching
elf and
drinking
cider while
we put
together the
tree.
A good
plan,
an enjoyable
time to
spend with
the family.
I was
frustrated
because I
really wanted
to be
comfortable.
I just
really wanted
comfort.
I wanted
to be done
with the
project of
it all.
Our
Christmas
tree stand
has been
a frustration
to me.
It's not
a stand
I have
particularly
enjoyed
across the
years.
I go
through all
the work
though,
get the
tree trimmed
up,
get it put
together,
get it in
the house,
water in
the tree,
get the
lights on
the tree,
and I
look down
and there's
a puddle
on the
floor,
and the
stand was
cracked.
Apparently,
I hit it
with a hammer
a little too
hard,
and I cracked
the bottom
of it,
and it was
leaking
everywhere.
So,
we had to
take the
tree with
the stand
now with
water in it
standoff,
discover what's
wrong with
it,
go to
Walmart on
a Saturday
night in
Gainesville,
which is
super fun,
buy a new
tree stand,
come back,
put the whole
thing back up
again,
go through the
process.
So,
you're picturing
what's going
on.
We have
little ones
running around
who are
bouncing,
jumping off
things,
really excited
that the
tree's back
in the
house now,
and Sam,
with a great
deal of
foresight and
thoughtfulness,
had already
gotten a cup
of water.
She's concerned
about now
water being back
in the stands,
so the tree
doesn't die.
So,
she brought
this big
cup of
water,
and she
set it
down next
to the
edge of
the couch,
and then
she stepped
back to
make sure I
was getting
the tree
right,
and our
one-and-a-half
year old
walked along
and kicked
the cup
of water
over.
So,
in the
place that
we had
already
cleaned up
water,
now there
was a
whole
other
cup
of water
on the
floor,
and I
went,
really,
in the
middle of
the floor,
water,
like that.
And Sam
said,
you go
sit down,
I'll
clean it
up.
Okay,
so what
came out
of me,
right,
this anger
that came
out of
me,
which she
certainly
did not
deserve,
was my
frustration,
my inner
brewing,
with my
desire to
be comfortable,
right,
I wanted
to be done,
I wanted
to sit
and do
nothing,
and confounded,
all of these
little things
were getting
in the way
of that
happening,
and it
made me
mad,
because I
wanted my,
you see how
I'm worshipping
myself,
and this
comfort that
I have,
right,
so these
little events,
I have this
little effigy
of me built,
and these
little events
are coming
along and
hacking the
leg off my
idol,
and it's
starting to
fall over,
and it
made me
mad,
right,
clearly,
sin,
and the
temptation
in me is
to immediately
justify it,
right,
and we all
do this,
well,
of course,
of course I'm
upset,
this is taking
forever,
I'm so tired,
I've had so
much work to
do this
week,
I can't
believe,
the water,
right,
and the
proper response,
which I'm
thankful by the
grace of God,
I got to in
the span of
time,
because I've
practiced this a
ton,
was to
apologize to
Sam,
I'm really
sorry,
I'm really
sorry,
I'm so
tired,
but that's
not my
excuse,
it was sin,
right,
you forgive me,
she said,
yes,
of course,
I forgive you,
because I know
you're beat
down,
I know you're
exhausted,
all the same,
right,
what is going
on in my
heart when I
get upset,
like that,
it's idolatry,
right,
so how is it
that God
exposes our
idolatry,
right,
how is it that
we come to
realize,
how is it that
I've learned,
like when I
fail in that
way,
to go,
wait a second,
this is not
justifiable,
I can't just
go around saying,
well of course I'm
getting upset,
right,
I want to give you
four quick ways
that he does it,
and I know we're
getting short on time,
so I'm going to move
pretty quick here,
how is it that
God exposes our
idolatry,
number one,
by his word
and his spirit,
by his word
and his spirit,
beloved,
if you want to be
a true worshiper
of the one,
true,
only God,
you must read
his word,
right,
he's not a
dumb God,
he's spoken to us,
he's given us a
text,
he's handed it to us,
and we have it in
plenty,
right,
know this word,
it will begin
to sift you
like sand,
it will begin
to help expose
your idolatry,
Hebrews 4.12,
for the word of God
is living and active,
sharper than any
two-edged sword,
piercing the division
of soul and of spirit,
of joints and of marrow,
and discerning the thoughts
and intentions
of the heart,
so as I'm dealing
with this emotional
response,
what's running
through my mind
is James 1.8,
that I'm meant
to be quick
to hear
and slow
to speak
and slow
to anger,
for the anger
of man does not
produce the righteousness
of God,
this is what pops
into my head,
right,
the spirit of God
goes,
I got one on file
for you,
right,
you've read
and studied it,
you've memorized it,
and it's right there,
and he throws it up,
and I go,
ah,
idolater,
right,
I need to repent,
I need to turn
from my sin
and back to God,
the word of God
does this,
so God exposed
our idolatry
by his word
and his spirit,
secondly,
he may expose
our idolatry
by frustrating
our idols,
by withholding
them,
the things
that you want,
things that you
think you need
to make you
happy,
for you to be
fulfilled,
he may not
give you,
or,
giving them
to us
and allowing
us to experience
their futility,
letting you
have the thing
you asked for
and run it
out to its
very end
and to say
there's no
value in
this thing
that I
thought
was a thing
worth
worshipping.
In Psalm
106,
verse 13
through 15,
this is
in referencing
to Korah's
rebellion
from number
16,
the psalm
says,
but they
soon forget
his works,
they did
not wait
for his
counsel,
but they
had a
wanton
craving
in the
wilderness
and put
God
to the
test
in the
desert.
He
gave
them
what
they
asked,
but sent
a wasting
disease
among them.
Let them
see the
very futility
of the
thing
that they
worshipped.
God
exposed
their
idolatry
by
frustrating
our
idols,
by withholding
them,
or allowing
us to
experience
their
futility.
Third,
God
exposed
their
idolatry
possibly
by giving
us
an example
of true
worship.
So this
is where
the church
is extremely
helpful.
We come
around people
who deal
with the
same things
that we
deal with,
who are
willing to
share with
you their
very
experienced.
Let me
tell you
about my
idols,
that you
might not
be an
idolater,
that you
might learn
to purge
idols from
your living.
This is a
wonderful place
in which to
read biography,
to see men
and women
who have
gone before
us,
who have
been faithful
worshippers,
of God.
We also
get wonderful
examples from
the scripture.
1 Kings
18,
36.
This is back
to Elijah,
as I mentioned
earlier.
At the time
of the
offering,
Elijah the
prophet came
near and
said,
O Lord,
God of
Abraham,
Isaac,
and Israel,
let it be
known this
day that
you are
God in
Israel,
and that
I am
your servant,
and that
I have
done all
these things
at your
word.
And we
know that
he called
down fire
of God
that lapped
up the
water and
lit the
sacrifice
on fire.
We see
that he
had devoted
himself to
the one
true living
God and
had obeyed
his word.
So God
can expose
our idolatry
by giving
us examples
to look
around at
people who
were godly
and serving
God well.
God also
exposed our
idolatry,
number four,
and this is the
last one,
by administering
loving
discipline.
If you
belong to
God,
you will
experience
the
discipline
of God.
The writer
of Hebrews
says in
chapter 12,
verses 5
and 6,
verse 6,
and have
you forgotten
the exhortation
that addresses
you as
sons?
My son,
do not
regard lightly
the discipline
of the
Lord,
nor be
weary
when reproved
by him.
For the
Lord disciplines
the one
he loves
and chastises
every son
whom he
receives.
So God
in his
great,
steadfast,
loving kindness
toward us
disciplines
us to
expose
those things
that we
pick up
and worship
that are
lesser things
and therefore
damaging things.
God is our
greatest and
highest good
and so God
helps to
strip away
idols
in our
lives.
So,
the four ways
that he
works at that.
Go back to
Psalm 115.
So what
then is the
remedy
of this
idolatry?
How is it
that we're
not idolaters
when we
worship
God?
We aim
our worship
as people
will worship
something,
so we aim
our worship
where our
worship belongs,
the one
true
and living
God.
So this is
the second
overall point,
the glory
of the one
true
and living
God.
The psalmist
tells us
that the
remedy of
this idolatry
is to
trust,
to place
our faith
in this
God.
Our God
who is in
the heavens
who does
all that
he pleases.
And we
get these
wonderful
repetitions.
O Israel,
O house
of Aaron,
you who
fear the
Lord,
so the
people and
the people
set aside
for the
specific task
and then
all of us
who fear
the Lord,
trust in
the Lord.
Place your
faith in
the Lord.
Believe in
his promises
to you.
He is
their help
and he
is their
shield.
He is both
actively
pursuing our
good and
he's also
shielding us
from harm.
He's passively
pursuing our
good as well.
He's stopping
things that
would be to
our detriment.
And we are
so quick to
define our
good or our
bad in
human terms.
We must get
it clear in
our minds
that as we
worship God,
as we set
our aim on
him,
as he works
our good,
that it's
his good
he intends
to work in
us.
It's for our
good,
it's his
good.
Romans 8,
28,
29.
I hope this
doesn't get
old to you.
And we know
that for those
who love
God,
all things,
this is our
God who's in
the heaven,
who does
all that he
pleases,
all things
work together
for good.
For those who
are called
according to
his purpose.
A lot of
people love
28,
right?
And then they
walk around
trying to figure
out what
the good
is,
right?
Oh,
someday I'll
figure out
the good.
In hindsight,
I'll understand
the good.
But Paul tells
us in verse 29
what the good
is.
We don't have
to wonder
about it,
just like we
don't have to
wonder about
our purpose.
Our purpose
is to glorify
God.
What is the
good that
he's seeking
in our
living,
right?
Verse 29,
for those whom
he foreknew,
he also predestined
to be conformed
to the image
of his son.
That's the
answer.
What's the
good that God
is seeking
in all of
our
circumstances,
all of this
working in
us,
seeking our
praise,
Christlikeness.
This is what
he's working
in us,
trying to
work out
of us,
is Christlikeness.
So this is
the way that
God works
as both
our help
and our
shield.
And certainly,
God has
not forgotten
us.
The Lord
has remembered
us.
He has
blessed us,
both now
and forever
more in
Christ.
I hope
that you've
experienced
this morning
that you
can say
with me,
yes and
amen,
God has
blessed me
in Christ.
I have
joy and
satisfaction
and identity.
I can say,
yes,
the things of
this world
grow strangely
dim in the
light of his
glorious grace.
I can see
and have seen
in my life
that I want
to turn away
from idols.
They are,
in fact,
lesser things
and I want
to turn
to the living
God.
I want to
leverage all
that I have
and all
that I am
for his
glory.
He has
blessed us.
May you
be blessed
by the Lord
who made
heaven and
earth and
may we
bless his
name
forever
more.
Just as God
promised Joshua
in Joshua 1.
This is from
our recent
Bible reading.
I will never
leave you
or forsake
you.
He has
promised the
same to us
who believe
in Christ.
Hebrews 13
5 says
the very
same.
I will never
leave you
nor forsake
you.
And in
closing,
let me put
that phrase
from Joshua
1.
5 in
its context
in Hebrews
13.
5.
Let's
know what
the writer
of Hebrews
says.
Keep your
life free
from love
of money.
He's talking
about a
particular form
of idolatry.
So read
that.
Keep your
life free
from idolatry
in this
particular
form and
be content
with what
you have,
who you
have.
I think
the writer
of Hebrews
could have
said with
who you
have.
For he
has said,
I will
never leave
you.
nor forsake
you.
Let's
pray together.