Gods at War - Gods of Pleasure, Part 2

Are you sick and tired of trying hard and then trying hard and trying hard again to overcome the sin problem. I have it in your life no matter how hard you try never works.

Let me suggest there's another way.

Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram Living on the Edges and international discipleship ministry focused on helping Christians really live a Christian as many of you know trips are regular Bible teacher program, but for the series is passed the mic to his friend Kyle, senior pastor at Southeast Christian Church of Kentucky sought after speaker and a best-selling author, were in the middle of his series God's at war just a minute Kyle will pick up where he left off last time explaining the dangers of forcing God to share our hearts with something else. But before we begin. If you been challenged by the series. Could you take a minute after this message insured with a friend can do that through the Chip Ingram up by sending them free MP3s LivingontheEdge.org. If you have a Bible turn to first Kings chapter 18 for part two of Kyle's talk because of pleasure, God sent Elijah says to the king, listen, there's gonna be this drought in the land and 1/2 years pass there's no rain gods made his point and he sends Elijah back to Ahab, and basically Elijah sets up what you could call a cage match between God and all the gods of bail and of Asherah first Kings 18 verse 19, Elijah goes to Ahab and he says now some of the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount caramel and bring the 450 prophets of bail and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table so Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the profits on Mount caramel Mount caramel was kind of an ancient location of where God had been worshiped in the brought sacrifices to the Lord from years ago so they they decide to meet on Mount caramel verse 21 says a lighter note went before the people. So he stands in front of this crowd, probably thousands, and he says how excessive people.

How long will you waiver between two opinions to this sound familiar from Joshua 24 to go back and forth that the Lord is God, follow him. But if bail is God, follow him and says this but the people said what people said nothing may have to ask yourself why. Why were they silent. I see myself in this they were silent because they didn't have to choose. They wanted both so they thought it best to just say nothing at all if they wanted bail instead of God, they would've said we choose bail if they wanted God instead of bail they would sit we choose God they wanted both so they said nothing. We don't like to be forced to choose. This is why many people don't come to church understand me name they would say if you asked them will I love God, I really do battle go to church will will why get down to it on delegate. This is they don't want to have to choose, they don't want to put a throne on their hearts were God sits. Instead, they and I can do it too well. We much prefer instead of the throne. We prefer a loveseat unless we fight God to sit on the loveseat of our hearts. God, you're welcome.

We want you on the loveseat of her hearts. Just understand you're expected to share that space with something or someone else, so this is what some of us do we say God here, ER can have my loveseat and you have to share that space with television, so if you've done you since God and its television like the stuff you watch and and so we put out on the loveseat of our heart of our hearts. And if you said got him to share you with sports or worse yet, maybe we would try to share him with something that is completely contrary to who he is. You want have to choose between God and pornography you want have to choose between God and alcohol. You don't have to choose between God and fixing up your car decorating your house you want to choose between God and golf. Many of these things that we share our heart with their not evil and wrong, but remember what we said when good things become God things than its idolatry. And God won't habits. If you think your sharing God with something else in your heart.

God is he's not sitting there. He wants you to choose. She is a jealous God. And so this, the stage is set. The people are all watching to see who's gonna win this great battle this great war between the gods. It's one prophet Elijah with the Lord God there's 850 false prophets with on the gods of bail and Asherah, and yards.

There's a lot of excitement. Somebody starts the wave. It's exciting on Mount caramel first Kings 18 verse 25 says Elijah says choose one of the bowls and prepare it first, he's giving them home-court advantage.

You get the ball first. Since there are so many of you call on the name of your God, but do not like the fire so they're looking for their God to supernaturally like this fire. Verse 26, so they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of bail from morning till noon. Oh bail answer us. They shouted that there was no response. No one answered. And they danced around the altar that they had made.

At noon Elijah began to taunt them so he's trash talking like this got.

He starts trash talking and he says shout louder. Surely he is a God. Perhaps he is deep in thought or he is busy is a very kind translation what Elijah says is maybe your God is relieving himself that's the way it should be translated really should. I'm not making that obligation wandering and then then then he says maybe he's traveling. Maybe he is sleeping. Maybe he needs to be awakened and so they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom until their blood flowed in the picture here. They dance shout. Eventually they cut themselves until the blood flows trying to get the attention of their God, hoping for some kind of response. Now our instinct is to say how primitive is that that I think we bleed for our gods to some of you have bled for the gods of pleasure you have sacrificed her family to a God of pleasure you have sacrificed your career you sacrificed your finances, you have sacrificed your future, your sacrifice to reputation you sacrificed your relationship with God for a God of pleasure. We have bled for these gods and I understand and I struggled with this to talk about to decide what God's of pleasure to talk about because there are many we could choose from but I study through the New Testament and and here's what I discovered is that every single time the word idolatry is used in the New Testament. Every single time in the same sentence you frying you find the phrase sexual pleasure every time.

And so what we have here was sexual pleasure is a gift given to us by God, and it is beautiful as a gift, but it is horrific as a God and some of you know what a cruel God. It can be because as your God. It has taken power over you. It now controls you to think about when you wake up and when you go to bed, setting what you want to do but that's what you find yourself thinking about when when you're at work and it has power and control over your life spent money on a you risk your career for you. It put your marriage on the altar of this God in the everyday got the Lord God over here and you got the God of sexual pleasure over here and you're going back and forth sexual pleasure. When listen to what CS Lewis writes on this issue. He says you can get a large audience together first striptease act that is to watch a girl undress on stage now. Suppose you went to a country where you could fill a cedar fillet theater simply by bringing a covered dinner plate on the stage and then slowly lifting the cover so that everyone could see just before the lights went out to the contained a lamb chop or a bit of bacon would you not think that something had gone wrong in that country and their appetite for food.

Something's gone wrong. Something has gone wrong what God gave us is a beautiful gifts for marriage.

We have taken we turn it into a God that is a horrific God and instead of accepting his gifts. We clutch our imitation pearls and we miss out on the real thing.

In some ways, sex has become the religion of our culture. It struck me when I was driving across the country and I noticed along the side of the road.

You see, if you think you see three things you see churches you see adult bookstores is the church as an adult bookstores and in Cracker Barrel that is only apply for what were talking about here. Why will because these and become our temples. These are where we go to worship and maybe would never go into a ball adult bookstore bedbugs. Maybe you enter into a website and it is this pagan temple where you go to worship and for many people the God of sex has become a functional Savior is become a God substitute.

This is where you go for comfort and this is where you go for peace and this is where you go for joy and this is where you go when when you're down. This is where you go when you're lonely.

This is where you go when you rejected. This is where you go when you get angry. This is where you go when you're bored and it is become for you and God and it is become one of the most popular gods in our culture, we spend incredible amounts of money on pornography. Last year it grossed more than country music, classical music was probably some say much but still, country music, classical music, rock music, all combined and pornography grossed more than professional baseball professional football professional basketball put together. It made more money than ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox all put together, and according to research I did is the number one search word on the Internet, and 70% of pornographic Internet traffic takes place between 9 o'clock in the morning at 5 PM which is where were supposed to be working. You tell me you're telling me we haven't bled for our gods of pleasure.

We bled were hoping for some kind of response but it always demands a little bit more and some of you have you have bled you bled for the pleasure of alcohol you sacrificed your marriage to that God.

Some of you have bled for the pleasure of food and you sacrifice your health that God you bled for the entertainment of cable TV and you sacrificed a relationship with your children for that God and so we believe we still bleed for our gods.

Verse 29 midday past and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice came but there was no response. No one answered. No one paid attention so they try and the altar is not light on fire and so now it's Elijah Stern. Elijah doesn't open new altar. He rebuilds an altar, in other words he uses these stones that had once been used, build altars to the Lord God from years past. He rebuilds an altar dig the trench around it and then he puts the wood on if he puts the bull on it than he has. People come and bring gallons and gallons and gallons and gallons of water.

He floods this altar. He floods until the trench fills up with water� This is Elijah's way of saying my God can beat your God with both hands tied behind your back, his back. That's what's that's what he's doing and after there had been this dancing all morning and there had been chanting and pleading and cutting, like the steps forward. He doesn't dance around. He doesn't flail around on the ground. Instead, he prays simple and humble prayer in verse 36 he says, oh Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob proved today that you are the God in Israel and that I am your servant prove that I have done all this at your command.

Oh Lord, answer me answer me so these people will know that you will Lord our God, and that you have. You have brought them back to yourself and so his motivation is God's glory and that the people would be brought back to him.

Verse 38 says immediately. The fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull the wood stones in the dust and even licked up the water in the trench and when all the people sought they fell face down on the ground and they cried out the Lord he is God, the Lord he is God. And so God, the Lord God wins the war really wasn't much of a challenge.

To be honest, but the people see the power that the Lord God has they destroy their false idols. In fact, they slaughtered these false prophets, and they turned to God himself, and they put him back in his place of glory, and their nation and this is the challenge for us. How do we defeat these God's pleasure. Because let's just be real honest, some of you have a God of pleasure that now sits on the throne of your heart and you have tried again and you have tried again to defeat it and dethrone it. NHS cross backup on their so where is victory found. I want to introduce an idea to you. I believe this idea has the truth that will set some of you free for the very first time I came across that I was reading an old sermon by then by man named Thomas Chalmers and I mean an old sermon. I mean like 150 years old right and this guy died in 1847 so settled sermon. If the truth that I think and set us free, is found even just in the title of his message the title of the message was the explosive power of the new affection the explosive power of the new affection. In other words, the only way the most effective way to expel a false god that has a grip on your heart is to replace it with the new God, a God of greater affection when we try and gain control of a false God in our life by rejecting it. Focusing on that. God, it just gives that God more power when when is a preacher. I get up and I say will hear the consequences.

Here's what happens when you worship this false God and might lead to repentance and conviction but it rarely leads to long-term change.

Why because there must be an explosive power of a new affection. It's not enough just to resist with you on, you must replace. You must replace little experiment. I read about what's right here right now in your minds, whatever you do do not think about snakes, no one do not seriously how they view right now honestly are thinking about snakes region and for those of you aren't. That's impressive.

You're ruining it for me but good job anyway very proud of yourself. Okay, now here's only the new switch gears. I want to think about your grandma's apple pie okay or apple crisp.

It comes out of the oven and need to get a piece of it and he put a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on it just so melts and melts just enough to cover the apple crisp and when you take your first bite. It's just the right combination of hot and then picture in your mind. Hot chocolate chip cookie coming out of the oven and you break apart and the chocolate is melted so that it so that it keeps the two pieces glued together with chocolatey goodness right now are thinking about snakes right saying it's not enough just to resist, and sometimes focusing on what we should do gives it more power. Instead, we must replace it with the explosive power of the new affection and this is what is required in order to break free from these false gods. Thomas Chalmers puts it this way. He says it is seldom that any of our tastes are made to disappear by a mere process of natural extinction.

If you have a false God on your heart.

Don't buy into this idea that it's just going to naturally go away. Given enough time, it almost is never done by mental determination. You.

You are not strong enough mentally to just make it go away. But what cannot this is here it's it's right here.

But what cannot be thus destroyed may be dispossessed. One taste may be made to give way to another, and to lose its power entirely as the reigning affection of the mind. So 1 Taste Gives Way to another, and so here it is, God must be our greatest pleasure when God is your greatest pleasure all the lesser gods of pleasure just fade away. The Bible says in Psalm 37 verse four. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. So we find our pleasure in God. There's a lot of ways we can find pleasure in him. I believe that to know him is to love him and the more we know him the more we find pleasure in him. One of the best things we can do is to worship him as we respond to God for who he is and what he's done for us. We experience the pleasure of being his children. He becomes our greatest pleasure. And so when we worship God.

I don't mean we just sing songs I don't mean we sit and worry about what other people around us are thinking. I don't mean when we look at our watches and wonder how soon till were done as I what I mean when I say worship, but when we give our attention and focus and glory and honor to God, we find pleasure in him.

If you're here and you're not a Christian, and what you need in your life is the explosive power of a new affection.

This is what you need, you cannot do it without it, you need to make God your greatest affection by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior and maybe like the people on Mount caramel there something within you that says don't do anything just sit and be quiet just remain silent, but Joshua says choose this day whom you will serve. And Elijah says how long are you to go back and forth there, and Jesus says just come to me as we wrap up this mess right now.

I want to go what Kyle just said if you're feeling like right now you need to respond. Let me encourage you to do it the God of pleasure doesn't really want you to be happy.

What I want you to know there's a new affection there someone that when you're lonely is always available there. Someone that always has your best in mind there's someone that is already forgiven your sin there someone that understands your struggles and will listen in and give you wisdom and counsel and never leave you never forsake you and never let you down, and that someone is Jesus, and Jesus died upon the cross to pay for your sin to free you from its power and from its penalty and one day even from its presence.

What I want you know today is that we all need to be held up inside. That doesn't make you a bad person that makes you human. And for me early my life sports held me up inside because there were big struggles in my family. And as my father went through challenges in his life and alcohol took over for a large season. I was just looking for something to hold me up something that would say I was okay and for me that was sports in school for other people they started drinking for other people. It was trying to be popular and further people time to make lots of money and show everyone that I'm a someone, and for still others, it's I'm going to be beautiful and I'm just gonna work on my body and on and on it goes.

Those are cheap substitutes. Those are just idols, but instead of statues there their idols of our imagination but they drive your behavior that drives your desires and they disappoint in today I want to invite you to put away any and every idle and receive the one true God, the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to save us sinners and all that means is people that fall short of being perfect. I'm not perfect you're not perfect and Jesus wants you to know that when he died on the cross he paid for your sin and when he rose from the dead.

He proved that his payment was enough, and here's his offer.

He's knocking at the door of your heart and nieces if you will open the door, I will come into your life, and a live with you and I'll take up my position on the throne of your heart and I will lead you and guide you and protect you. So can I encourage you at this moment right now as you sense God deeply speaking to you that you just say in the most simple words, Lord Jesus, I need you. I'm sorry for things that have done wrong. I could never work my way to you and right now in this moment, I ask you to forgive me for all of my sins that come into my life and be my Savior. I believe you died in my place. I believe you rose from the dead, and I ask you to make me your son make me your daughter. And Lord, thank you for forgiving me and making me a part of your family if you prayed that with me right now there's two or three things I want you to do number one go quickly to our website and there's a very clear place where you can tell us you put your faith in Christ, and we have something we want to send you absolutely free number to tell the greatest Christian you know today was the day I prayed to receive Christ and then this weekend finding good Bible teaching church and you know what it won't all make sense to you but like a bran new baby.

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