God's Boundaries for Abundant Living - No Worship But True Worship, Part 1

We all want to be in control of something don't mean our kids are schedule our eating habits are relationships we want life on our terms, but there's a time and place were demanding to be in control, brings pain, frustration, and even dissatisfaction today I want to share with you how to avoid going strong to place state.

Welcome to this monthly addition of living all the truth Living on the Edge features the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram of his daily discipleship program today. Chip continues our current series God's boundaries for abundant living fresh look at the 10 Commandments trips for our great recommendation after the teaching how to really get this message in the practice should stay with us for now, let's get going, and joint your pores message.

No worship but true worship.

Exodus chapter 20 want to start with a unsure apocryphal story that has no theological bearing and I'm sure someone made it up. It makes a tremendous point. There's a little boy who wanted a bike and he was a ornery, ornery, ornery, almost downright mean little boy and he said mama want a bike.

Mom, I want to bike mom I want to bike and he tried and tried and tried, she said you are a mean ornery little boy and I'm not to give you a bike you need to learn some major lessons in life and so he just kept asking and he wanted a bike and so finally she said well why don't you talk to Jesus and maybe Jesus will give you a bike and so he decided he would sit down, have a little talk with Jesus and was not at child would really actually go to church much and he was ornery and mean and so he sat down.

He thought he wasn't good at praying he would write it out and so he started his letter. Dear Jesus, I've been perfect for you.

Please give me a bike. He was also a liar. See crumpled that up and threw it away and then he wrote another note, he said dear Jesus, I've really not been perfect but I've been very good. Would you please give me a bike and he crumpled that up through around then finally said dear Jesus, I want to be good but I'm not any kind ~said no that's not really true that he crumpled up through it and remembered a friend then came from little bit different background and went to his friend's house and he found a statue of Mary. He took the statue of Mary when they were looking raptor in a tile put duct tape around the tile stuck Mary the tile on the duct tape under his bed and then wrote the last note dear Jesus, if you ever want to see your mother again, you better give me a bike now somebody made that up. But it definitely tells a story itself indicting because it reflects not one of most common attempts of all people of all time.

It's our desire to get God in small manageable terms that we can control to get him to do for us on our terms.

What we want done and often the way to do that is with some sort of object that can take God from the invisible, eternal, awesome, all-powerful creator to a something we can see control came in, manage in the second command is going to talk about God's prohibition, his boundary against that you notice by wave review the focus of the first command is the object of our worship.

You might just write the word object down. It's about the who know God's but God. God demands exclusive worship of Yahweh. That's his point that the focus of the second command is not the object but the manner or the method of our worship.

This is the how he's gonna say that even if you worship the right, God, you can worship the right, God in the wrong way and I said to bring a pen because we need to do little Bible study. If you got it, pull it out and were gonna read the next passage on Exodus 20, but the structure is very simple. There are two commands in two reasons.

Follow along and if a senior can you can underline a couple keywords. First, the command, you shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on earth beneath, or on the water underneath the earth. Verse five you shall not worship them or serve them underline if you will shall not make for yourself an idol.

It's the first command just don't make any idol by the way, the word for idol here. There's 14 different Hebrew words for idol. This particular word means a statue of figurine a wooden or mold object. Then the next word. Not only is it an idol, but he expands it to any likeness, any visual or pictorial representation. He says don't make pictures in your worship and tried to reduce God down to a snapshot and so the first command is don't make an idol don't make a likeness of anything you see that your member there living in a world where the sun, the moon, the stars, and every animal under the sun has been worship God says command number one, don't do it. Notice command number two you shall not worship them or serve them. Not only are you not to make an idle or likeness, but you shall not worship them literally word means to bow down to physically bow down to worship or serve these idols or likenesses you can make. This is a radical. Some of you are thinking is one guy told me you know what this morning was one of most convicting messages I've heard in a long time and I bet some of you this point are thinking. You know, I'm glad I came tonight because you know I checked the garage before I came and got my cell phone and as far as I know no statues laying around the house, not not idol worship is been something you know I've been a 12 step program of overcome idol worship. No problem with that where you know what is can be interesting see some of the modern-day applications, but the first command don't make him the second command is don't bow down or serve the notice. The two reasons he says for I the Lord's covenant name Yahweh your God may jealous God underline that way you that's the first reason I'm a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children. On the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. Interesting all throughout the Old Testament when God's people would turn away from him and worship an idol or wish or another God, he would call it spiritual adultery, and he says that when we turn away from the true God or when you develop a pattern word God out of his zealous, loyal, caring love. He says it. When we worship an idol.

We actually are demonstrating that we hate notice. The second reason but he goes on to say, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. So, reason number one. He says don't make him and don't serve them is on a jealous God and reason number two is because there are some good things will happen to your children and there's some bad things will happen to your children based on whether you bow down and worship idols are not at this point in time we read this out of our 21st century years and it's like, what would you do with this one. Does anyone really struggle with idol worship and asked, trying to make a little fun with that 12 step program. I could tell a few heads are one what to talk about a 12 step program for idols. I was kidding Just kidding, joking, and I what I wanted to make the point was is that you know I didn't read this passage and say Lord speak to my heart where my struggling with unit creating little wooden objects and put them on the mantle and and lighting candles, but you do understand it all around the world millions and millions and hundreds of millions of people are bowing down statues that in not just jungles. But in whole nations there worship revolves around making making statues and images and likenesses that they bow down to and pray to and touch and kiss and not just in other world religions, but among Christendom and this is being violated every single day and what I want want to share with you is is why this is so important and what I want to get by the end of our time is God's heart on this member, it's about boundaries. God is saying this because he has sunk so much better for us now.

Understanding the second command at Israel turn the page you need little historical background. This is written to a group of people to spent the last 400 years looking at every turn to about 1500 different different gods that all have a little statue that represent the this is written to a people that are now in the land of the Canaanites, where they had multiple graven images and statues, and I mean there were vile. I mean, oh what one of the gods of the bail gods in the chemist gods as they would take their children in Israel later would participate in them, take their newborn children and it was a big statue and it would build a big fire and to appease the God they would take the little baby infants and they would throw it up into the fire, and it would be consumed alive and this would be worship to a false God.

God understands the vile pagan worship and he's telling them from day one. I will not tolerate any of its members is only 10 commands in number one is have no other gods besides me, and number two is must be pretty high on the priority list number two is don't make any idols.

Don't make anything that looks like you need to creation of the creatures and don't bow about bow down to them and so out of the context you need understand this is radical. This is like someone saying to you what I want you to do is I want you to drive to the store, but you can't drive a car. In other words with women don't awaken drives a car or truck know if there's a whole new different way of transportation.

He's speaking to a group of people that all they have ever known is idol worship of some form and is gonna spend the next 11 months at the foot of this great mountain Mount Sinai and teach them how to now worship in spirit and truth. How to worship, not a false God with with images in which almost always led to gross immorality, but a God who is invisible. A God who is eternal God, it was holy God. It was pure in the second aspect of how to do this is going to be no idols, no graven images and don't bow down to him as you turn the page. Now what I want to do is dig in a little bit on this and let's look at this sub what I call the command restated what I mean by that is I want to do a little analysis but of all of the put verses four and the first half of five in my own words, the command would be no man-made idols are to be used as a means of worshiping the living God, Yahweh member. It's not about who you worship.

Now it's how you worship the true God, little statues, figurines completely under no circumstances are to be used now open your Bible. Let's see how quick our group is at learning to Exodus chapter 32 Moses has gone up on the mountain as the historical setting, Moses gone up. God has come right we had the thunder with the smoke we had the lightning with had the rumblings the people are afraid God has spoken the 10 Commandments now Moses has gone up under the mountain to receive them in written form and bring them back. And as we pick up the story. Exodus 32 verse one when the people saw that Moses was long in coming down from the mountain. They gathered around Aaron and said come make us gods who will go before us.

It's almost like they were in no hard of hearing or had come a spiritual wax in their ears. What a second lesson 40 days ago.

I mean, God spoke and you were terrified and and now you're coming to Aaron and saying make gods for us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up from Egypt, we don't know what happened to him in times of uncertainty in times when a touch and feel God when times when we we we fear the future and we want to take control of our world. The temptation is to build an idol of one kind or another, and so we pick up the story. Aaron answered them take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing and bring them to me. Maybe thought round one, as if it really cost something make an idol to back away because Aaron knows better. Well that doesn't work, so all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. They took what they handed them and he made them into a idol cast in the shape of a calf fashioned it with the tool.

Then they said these are your gods, who, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt nice is mind-boggling. I mean the up on Mount Sinai. God is in the process of giving the commandments to Moses and these people now have made a molten image they have set called it there God and they've given this image credit for bringing them out of Egypt, and the historical background here. There was a bull God in Egypt and it was very potent was very powerful and so Aaron probably not notice carefully. They are not worshiping the bull notice what the text says it says here.

Then they said these are your God. So Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt. When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord same word. Yahweh, they're going to worship Yahweh to worship the one true God, but they decided since they can't seem and they don't know where Moses is we're going to use some visual aids or images to help us.

So the next day the people rose early and noticed nothing in a sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings and afterward they sat down to eat and drink and they got up to indulge in revelry very interesting word all the worship they've known is what they've watched happen in Egypt or what they've heard about in Canaan and what they did when they couldn't see when they couldn't control when they couldn't tame God they made an image and after they made the image than they could sacrificed animals.

They shed blood. They offered it to this thing. They could see and had the sense of or in control again and then the pagan revelry that is just one of those words a talk about immorality because every worship of idols always leads to immorality.

Jot down if you were first printings 1020. The apostle Paul when he talks about idols and things offered to idols he says literally, there was real power and there were demonic spirits behind it putting your margin.

Also, Ephesians 5, five and six where he talks about is us as we walk in fellowship and truth with Christ. He says no immoral or greedy impure person and then the little phrase which our idolaters will inherit the kingdom of God in Christ. And so what we see happening here is people are following base worship and it starts with this molten image and God says don't do it.

That's the application for Israel, a member about 20 years plant to 20 years ago playing on the basketball team and we played different Olympic teams all throughout South America and we one of those international teams and at halftime. We shared Christ in tremendous. That's how God got my attention in terms of full-time ministry and we went to Laplace Bolivia and there's a statue in the pause called the Christ of Andy's and I don't how many maybe six stories high. I mean is huge, life-size, I mean just huge thing, and I would watching courses up about 12 15,000 feet and we went to visit a mean this is big tourist deal and I watched the poorest of poor people. Some people walk for miles and then the last mile or two on their hands and their knees. They would go to the Christ of the Andes in certain portions of that statue were robbed completely raw as people crawled and they would have blood on their knees and their elbows and they would kiss the statue, believing that in some way kissing that statue, they made some deep connection with God and their worship of God was built around that response.

Do you understand my God says I don't want this. I don't want this no matter how sincere people are in in the images of the statues. The pictures he says I don't want this it reduces me came across something that was almost mind-boggling but a little bit more modern. It's is today idolatry is alive and well. In fact, Jesus can be years by calling the toll-free number. Callers can purchase a Jesus doll who bends at the waist and is machine washable.

He looks friendly as nearly 2 feet tall. He wears a white tunic under a red robe which sets off a red heart emblazoned on the front of his tunic's creator sees a doll. The special help the children because it's hard to hug here.

Speaking of the invisible God, but also provide soulless to the elderly and the infirm and those under emotional duress.

Jesus is only the first in a line of dolls called firstfruits.

He can be years for 2995 and will make a fine companion for the soon to be introduced doll and you just thought it was some natives down in the heart of the Amazon that were using idols and worshiping idols. Music is pretty big in this mayor enough tradition is not a cut to get the idea from a lot of different backgrounds and seems like if you get up here and speaking.

Play the piano must be a gift about about a fortnight to get on the piano. You have four guys do it a guy out of the audience a guy shares his testimony on it just must come with a place and so probably everyone here would say they can appreciate deeply handles Messiah unbelievable piece of music but was someone had never ever heard handles Messiah and what if we took as talented as these musicians are this conference if I would say you know these people you know who've never heard handles Messiah. They have got to at least get a taste of and I got them appear behind all the six or seven microphones and and then I pull out a very special instrument, and I pulled out a little good to learn okay and then I'm given all of his new and then there was people who've never heard the beauty of handles Messiah. I was it okay ready gang 12123 thought proper.

What would be the problem with that. I did about you.

I think I'd rather have them never hear handles Messiah through a kazoo then here it that way and see that's what God is saying he see when you try and take something that is majestic and powerful and invisible, and you reduce it down to something tangible. Seeable foldable and controllable.

You reduce God for who he is and that's what's behind the second commandment, it reduces him. It makes him smaller and so anymore you could net you can no more catch the glory and the beauty of handles Messiah on kazoo's menu can trying to get your arms around who God really is by making an image of this or picture of that in the in the Santa Cruz area. One of the great things we always did the tallest trees in the world are there anybody here, by the way, you can do this.

Anybody ever seen the redwoods anybody been up to the redwoods for more people than I thought. I still remember my first time some of them are 200-8300 plus feet, but others are so big around and there is been burned were the inside of the trees been burned where you can get my whole family and five or six friends in your inside the tree as I'll never forget the first time looking.

I mean straight up image majesty of these trees you talk about create your demonstrating the invisible attributes of God and meet it is just it's breathtaking.

And every time anyone from out of town came. There was one place we had to go. We went to the redwoods and there was a long walk, we could see all these different redwoods and can you imagine someone has never seen the redwoods and special those of seen them.

If I said okay here's a box of toothpicks. And here's some Elmers glue. I want you to put together a model of the redwoods. For those people that never seen what's the problem. The problem is you could describe it with words and you could just drive which describe it with the images in people's minds.

It would help them so much more get a faint grasp of the redwoods than you ever could with toothpicks and putting them together that little model would so reduce the majesty and the power and the holiness in that sense of those redwoods.

It would be a terrible thing to try make a model and that is what this is what's behind the second commandment summary then God demands that we worship him in spirit. No material object. No matter how sincere, no icon, no statute does God just as it simply can't represent him for who he is, is transcendence in his glory will write back and if you're just joining us, you're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram chips message, no worship, but true worship is from a series God's boundaries for abundant living. Strip explained today rather than a harsh list of prohibitions. The commandments are actually life-giving instructions from a heavenly father who loves his children. God's boundaries for abundant living provides a high view of God that will give you a new appreciation of your relationship with creating a solid foundation for every aspect of your life. If that's something you'd like to learn more about. We want to help for limited time, the CDs for God's boundaries are discounted and the MP3s are absolutely free. You'll find God's boundaries resources on our website LivingontheEdge.org or if you prefer to talk with one of our customer care representatives give us a call at 1-888-333-6003 will trip as I listen to today's message I realized how easy it is to take the blessings of God and start worshiping them rather than the God who gave them to us.

How can we help people develop and maintain a thankful attitude toward God.

Dave, great question because you know when you first hear this. We have this picture of you know, maybe people bowing down before you know rocks or images and things and we think all we never struggle with that. But the fact the matter is is is that we do and maybe there on our computer screens. Or maybe that's that car someday were to happen we put on the refrigerator work. We even have a family picture in the very gifts from God become something that we worship and we say all that matters is my family and we reduce God, and we make him number two and those things number one and so we did a series on the genius of generosity. It's about holding things loosely. It's worshiping the creator instead of what's created and as you give as you hold things loosely.

There is this joy in this recognition that it really belongs to God and there were stewards and it helps us be free of worshiping God in a way that will ultimately bring destruction in our lives. And so the genius of generosity.

That's a resource that I think can really help with a serious trip just mentioned is called the genius of generosity and all of the genius of generosity. Resources are available now on our website LivingontheEdge.org that's the CDs, MP3s, the book and the small group with study guide the genius of generosity goes beyond the premise of being generous with our money to reveal a much broader concept of generosity.

Living a life of generosity will bring joy and freedom like never before.

Go to LivingontheEdge.org today for complete details on trip series. The genius of generosity or if you prefer. Just give us a call at 1-888-333-6003 will now hear strip with a final application as we close today's program. I want you to kinda lean back and let the RPMs of the day in your soul slow down a little bit and I just want to ask you an honest question and not to produce guilt not to push you in any direction but just, you know, we heard something very very heavy God demands to be God and to be God alone in your life and you are human and I'm human and we will all gravitate and drift toward reducing him and we want to put them in a box. We want to make them a part of our formula and if you're not careful. I mean I've done this I mean in and I pastored about 30 years now.

I watch the rest of us do. This is what we try and do you know it happened so subtly, as we say God how can you help me fulfill my will know it's like will you be my little Junior helper so that I can have a wonderful family and a great job and that I'll be happy and we forget that he's the infinite reference point that he is holy and we take wonderful beautiful gifts from a loving God, like our mates or our jobs or gifts and abilities in music or athletics, and pretty soon we make that the God is so let me ask you what could've slipped into first place. What could you be worshiping in and if an immediate reaction is all know know well what will he just ask you this. Where is your time and energy and thinking and money gravitating toward where does it go because that's where your God is. That's what hold you up if you don't have time to talk with God. You don't have time to read his word. If you don't have time to serve them and if you're not doing it with a conscious recognition of loving people and I would suggest that God in his grace had you listen to me at this moment to allow you to shift your focus back on him make whatever adjustments tell them you're sorry and get your heart realigned with where it needs to be for your good and his glory just before we close.

We want you to know that as a staff we ask the Lord to help this teaching, strengthen your faith. We ask him to help you confidently take whatever your next faith step is and we'd love to hear how it's going.

Would you take a minute to send a note or give us a call either one is easy. Just send a quick note to chip@livingontheedge.org or give us a call at 1-888-333-6003 by hope you make plans to join us again tomorrow when Chip continues his current series God's boundaries. Tell them this is Dave really saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge