2024 NHPBC Women's Conference - Session 3 - Saturday PM

As I brought this statement up to a few people back home, it was met with, I don't really think I'm aware of any idol, any idols.

And you may be thinking the same thing, but I assure you, if you are here and you are breathing, you have idols.

So before we dig into this very heavy topic, I am going to pray for us.

Father God, we just commit to this time to you, God.

This is um it's it's a simple topic, but a heavy one.

As you reveal sin in our heart, Lord, it is it is not always easy to hear, but it is um so necessary for our freedom in Christ and to be able to live out the purpose that you have for us.

So I pray that you would just be with my words, Lord, that you would just come my heart and that my words would come from you and they would fall on hearts that are just ready to receive, Lord, so that we might leave here today, just ready to worship you in the way that we were designed to.

So we just give this time to you, Lord, and we just ask for your spirit to go before us, Lord, in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So, in tackling this topic this afternoon, I want to make two thesis statements.

Number one, God has clearly stated our purpose here on earth when he gave the creation mandate.

Number two, idolatry is a reversal of that purpose that is explained in the creation mandate.

My hope for this session is that we would be equipped to tear down every stronghold or idol that sets itself up against our created purpose.

This lesson today comes out of my own heart and my own journey in understanding my purpose and recognizing the idols of my heart that hindered me from living it out.

As a pastor's wife and a biblical counselor, the need to deal with idols of the heart is ever before me and not just others' idols, but my own.

So we're gonna do some review because if you're anything like me, and we talked about this before, you are a slow learner.

I need to hear things over and over.

Repetition is good, and many of you have said you've never heard about this topic before, and it's a lot.

We covered a lot, so I think repetition will be good for us.

So if I were to ask you what the creation mandate is, I hope you're starting to go right to the imperative, the command.

And the mandate is to be fruitful, to multiply, to fill the earth, subdue it, and take dominion over it.

If I were to ask you what is the indicative or the truth or the motivator behind the command, I hope your mind would be going to, because we have been created in the image and likeness of God.

That is why we are to fulfill this mandate.

Genesis 1.26 tells us that God made man in his image to represent him.

This verse encapsulates our purpose to image God.

Scripture shows us in several places what our purpose is, but it's rooted in this truth that we are made in his image.

We are image bearers, and bearing God's image rightly is the only way to truly glorify him.

2 Corinthians 5 9 tells us, so whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

1 Corinthians 10 31 says, So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

We glorify God by imaging him, by being like him.

This is the very purpose for which we were designed.

So we're going to go over the mandate again.

Genesis 1 26.

Then God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

We talked about what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God.

There is a reason that God is sharing his communicable attributes with man.

There is a purpose.

Our entire existence is banking on us, understanding this truth.

We learned that in the ancient Near East, a king would arise and he would want to conquer and control the known world at that time.

As the king conquered lands, he would leave behind the nine-foot statue.

We talked about that in every land he conquered.

So remember, when Moses wrote these terms, image and likeness, the readers understood that implication and what it meant.

They would be thinking that image and likeness represented the great king.

So when people looked at those statues, they were to represent the reign and rule of the great king.

Those statues would show them ultimately who owns that land.

The people were to represent the value system of the great king.

So statues were visible reminders of the great king, a reminder of who the people represented and whose value system they represented.

When God made Adam and Eve, he said, Let us make man in our image.

There is one great king, the God who is the owner of all this land he created.

And he said, Let us make man in our image and likeness.

So what was Adam and Eve's purpose?

Their purpose, just like those statues, and just like our purpose, is to represent God, the great king and his value system and his reign.

Only they were not stone statues, they were living, breathing, visible representations of the invisible God.

God owns the land and he made it, and he has co-rulers, us, to harness its potential and represent him in the midst of it.

We are the visible representation of the invisible God.

So when people look at us, they are supposed to see God and his value system.

I know this is a lot of repetition, but I hope it helps to make the right connections.

When I understood these implications, it radically changed the way that I think.

And I know many of you did not hear the term creation mandate, but I'm sure most of you have heard that we were made in the image of God.

I'm sure most of you understand that what it means to be made in the image of God is to be like him and to look like him.

So we probably knew that before we came, but I think it's a truth that we just pass over and don't really think about what that looks like in everyday life.

So when people look at you, are you reflecting who you worship?

Am I reflecting who I worship?

Am I representing King Jesus and living out and showing others his values?

When we function the way that God designed us to function, as image bearers, he created us to be, what would you think would be the result of that?

If we truly represented God and his value system to the world, what would the outcome be?

Well, we would be fruitful and we would multiply and we would subdue the earth and we would take dominion in righteousness and holiness, obeying the statutes that God gave us, and then the whole world would see the greatness of our great king and the righteous and holy value system he has, and others will worship him too, until, let's say it together, the whole earth is filled with his glory, right?

That's the goal.

That is our purpose.

As we know, Adam and the entire human race after him failed at their image-bearing task.

But we know that God sent the one man, Jesus, who was able to accomplish this task perfectly.

Jesus was the perfect image-bearer, the perfect visible representation of the invisible God.

Because of what God has done, all who have placed their faith and trust in Christ are now able to once again carry out his purpose for us with the power he supplies.

We are to be like him, to image him wherever we go, to be fruitful, to multiply.

We are to subdue the earth, subdue the spaces we live in, and take dominion over them.

We talked about what this would look like if we live by God's righteous standards and bring order to the spaces we live in.

Why?

For what purpose?

So others will know him until the whole earth is filled with his glory.

I want you to get that.

If you go home and just think this is the so that the whole earth would be filled with his glory.

To restore every human being back to his or her original design and purpose.

That is why we are here.

My hope this afternoon is to help us transition from the knowledge to the application a bit more.

Being reminded of our purpose can bring clarity to so many situations that we deal with every day.

Now you may be here thinking, yes, I get it.

I know I'm designed to be an image bearer of God, to please him in all things, and to give him glory.

I know this truth, and I try every day to live it out.

Isn't that what Christians are supposed to do?

We make meals for people, we are kind, we serve, we share the gospel, we give good advice, we hold back harsh words.

But do you sometimes feel that you're just going through the motions?

Do you find that oftentimes your good service does not come with an overwhelming attitude of overflowing joy that springs from your heart?

Do you sometimes feel that your righteous acts do not come as a result of your gratitude for what Christ has done for you?

Do you feel that your righteous deeds lack an awareness of God's grace toward you?

Or do you often feel like, well, I know it's the right thing to do?

My desire for myself and for all of us is to grasp the truths we learn to the point where it changes us from the inside out.

If our knowledge is not applied, it just puffs us up, or it will frustrate us and it will not be useful or effective.

If our heart does not obey out of faith in the person of Christ, we are not truly pleasing God.

And I don't know about you, but I want to please God by living out his purpose in every aspect of my life.

And yet I know I don't.

And I'm guessing you don't either.

And the good news is no matter where we are on our journeys, the principles that we will work through today will apply wherever we are in whatever situation we are in.

I heard one of our elders say, it is not so much about where you are, but where you are going.

And I found that statement to be extremely encouraging.

So I've covered my first thesis point that our purpose here on earth is rooted in the creation mandate.

And now I want to move on to the second thesis point, which is idolatry is a reversal of that purpose explained in the creation mandate.

So now we're gonna dig a little bit more into the heart, and we're gonna explain what it means to deal with these idols of our heart.

Hold on, I lost my spot.

I'm so sorry.

Okay, how many of you would agree with this statement by a show of hands?

Everything we do comes from the heart?

Okay, most of you.

Everything that we think comes from the heart.

Yes?

Okay.

How about everything we feel, not physically, but emotionally?

Do you think everything we feel comes from the heart?

Okay.

Maybe some of you just don't want to raise your hand, but we've got a few people.

Maybe you're just confused and you think I'm asking trick questions.

I'm trying to stump you.

I'm not really trying to stump you.

We're gonna go to scripture to answer that for us in case you're worried that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Proverbs 423 says, Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Luke 6.45 says, the good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil.

For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.

So I think the answer to all of those questions is yes.

Everything comes, everything we do, everything we think, everything, all of our emotion, all of it comes from our heart.

So I want us to slow down and really think about how we have lived the Christian life.

So often we focus on the imperatives, the things that we are to do, how we are supposed to obey.

And we often get frustrated because we think obedience is hard.

We may find ourselves doing the right thing, but not always with the right attitude.

Or we do the right thing and wonder why we didn't have a good outcome.

Has that ever been you?

Do you ever find yourself doing the right thing while grumbling in your heart?

As I go through some examples, I want us to reflect on our actions, our thinking, and our emotions in light of our purpose as image-bearers of God representing Him.

So think of yourself as a visible representation of the invisible God.

I want you to think of how Jesus may act or think or emote differently in the same situation.

And I want to preface this by saying at one point or another, I have been guilty of every single one of these.

So I'm not, I didn't pick examples that I thought you may be struggling with.

I picked examples that I struggle with or have or still am currently struggling with.

So here are some examples.

So again, I want you to think about how you would act or think or remote versus how an image bearer of God would in the way Jesus would.

So you are washing dishes while grumbling because someone left the dishes for you to wash.

You I feel the identity there.

We are women and we feel that, right?

You sign up to serve in an area of ministry and you feel frustrated because someone else isn't doing their part.

Or you're frustrated because someone is in a position of ministry that you want to be in.

Your friend tells you she is going on vacation with a mutual friend and you are not invited.

You tell your friend you're happy for her, but in your heart, you are jealous and upset that you weren't included.

You serve because you love Jesus, only to feel hurt when no one notices what you do, or someone else gets credit for something you did.

You serve your family and you are frustrated because none of them are grateful.

You are having a conversation with someone, and before you know it, you find yourself or the other person being defensive and you feel annoyed.

You pick up dirty laundry off the floor and you are upset because it isn't yours.

You felt that one too.

I felt that.

I was like, I've these this is real deal, right?

Someone sins against you, you respond the right way, but you are hurt and aggravated with them.

Your boss gives you an instruction.

You do it, but inside you are grumbling either because you don't want to do it or because you think it is unfair.

You complain over other sin or gossip to others about it, but you are unwilling to love your sister or brother in Christ and go directly to them.

So I've tried to spend a lot of time speaking on the indicatives, the truth, or the why, the motivator behind the command.

I do this because if we don't understand our purpose, if we don't understand why God created us, if we don't understand what Christ has done, we will never be able to obey this command without frustration.

If we are not aware of our utterly sinful state before a holy God, if we are not completely enveloped in the love and grace of Christ, if we are not in awe of his forgiveness for us and how he rescued us from sin, we will never love God and love others in the way he designed us to.

We may be theologically accurate in our churches, we may say the right things and do the right things, but are they are we truly caught up in the goodness and grace of God that our actions, thoughts, and feelings intuitively come from a heart of thanksgiving that is expressed in righteousness that brings glory to God?

Why is that not our response?

I'm gonna give you an opportunity to respond.

The answer is what?

Yes, sin, idolatry, right?

Sin, and it comes from our hearts.

Brent Oakwin, who was a pastor and biblical counselor, asked this question.

Why do we do what we do?

Or you can say, why do we think what we think, or why do we feel what we feel?

James chapter 4, verses 1 and 2 gives us a little clue.

James 4:1

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?

Is it not this that your passions are at war within you?

You desire and do not have, so you murder.

You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.

You do not have because you do not ask.

Brent Oaken says, We do what we do because we want what we want.

It's that simple.

And why do we want what we want?

Our behavior comes from the passions and desires of our heart.

We want what we want because we are deceived into thinking that God is withholding good from us.

We're gonna talk about how some of those things are not actually sinful things, but they oftentimes lead to sinful behaviors or responses.

So if our desire determines our behavior and our behavior is sinful, then what needs to change?

Our desire.

It is the desire of the heart that needs to change, not just our actions.

Sounds simple, right?

We can go home now, we got it.

If only it was that easy, right?

In order for this to happen, our desire has to be supplanted and overcome by another desire that is greater.

So let's just think of some examples in everyday life.

Have you ever seen a parent bribe a child into obeying by offering them something they really want?

I remember many years ago sitting around our table playing a game as a family.

In a household of boys, there was a lot of sarcasm.

You know, the kind of sarcasm that tears each other down.

In every attempt I had to get one particular child to speak kindly, he just did not know how to offer words of encouragement.

If sarcasm was a spiritual gift, this child had it.

This actually became a source of contention because this child did not see the sin in it.

And we were well into the teen years.

If you don't see something as sin, you will never convince someone to change their behavior.

I so desperately wanted this child to stop that I offered him $50 if he could go 30 minutes straight without a sarcastic word, but only using words that were uplifting and encouraging.

It was actually quite comical how he turned this scene around.

For a solid 15 minutes, we were all in hysterics as this child spewed out encouraging words.

It was so out of character for him that he's a bit of a ham, so he had us cracking up.

What was interesting though was how many times he was about to say something sarcastic.

And then, as it was very evident to us, he caught himself and then continued with his humorous encouragement.

He really wanted that 50 bucks.

For a short time, that desire for money was greater than his desire for sarcasm.

However, after 15 minutes, his true heart came out: sarcasm.

What is interesting about it is that once I challenged him on it, he didn't agree that it was sarcasm.

See, I couldn't convince him that it was sin.

Ultimately, it was not the desire of his heart to be an encourager.

That was the bottom line.

At that point in his life, this child was a complainer.

His heart would eventually come out.

When we have a ruling desire in our heart, it will always find its way out.

So if we want good behavior, we need new desires, and we can't force ourselves to just put off old behaviors and put on new ones, thinking that will offer us lasting change.

The heart needs to change.

The desire needs to change.

And when it does, we will act out of those new desires.

Do you sometimes find yourself saying, I did the right thing, but it didn't work?

Like I ate right and I exercised, and now I have a life-threatening disease.

Or I spoke kindly to my husband and I served him, and I was a good wife, but none of that worked.

He still won't change.

Or I raised my kids right, and now they have walked away from God.

All of these examples show frustration in our hearts after what we would have considered obedience to God.

But isn't obedience supposed to bring us peace and joy?

In those scenarios, I thought I obeyed God, but I don't feel peace and joy.

I feel frustration.

Can you relate?

Doesn't God's word tell me if I obey, I will have joy.

Let's look at John 15, 10.

It says, If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love.

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

So what do you hear in those verses that implies an inward joy or peace that comes from obedience?

Our joy is complete when we abide in Christ and obey his commands.

Psalm 119, one through three says, Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.

Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong but walk in his ways.

Another word for blessed is happy.

So you can say, happy are those whose way is blameless.

So what do you hear in those verses that imply an inward joy or peace that comes from obedience?

We see those blessed, right?

Happy.

Happy are those whose way is blameless, happy are those who keep his testimonies.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 11, 28 through 30, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

So what do you hear in those verses that imply an inward joy or peace that comes from obedience?

We see things like rest for your soul, my yoke is easy, my burden is light.

So this is what obedience should bring about in us, right?

It should be joy in that.

So what do we hear in these verses?

We hear his commands are not a burden, but don't you often feel that obeying God is a burden?

I know I do, and we're gonna talk about why.

So we can see from scripture that obedience leads to happiness, rest, and joy.

Do you feel happiness, rest, and joy in some of the scenarios I read earlier?

Do you feel joy when you're picking up someone's dirty laundry or when someone treats you poorly?

What is the disconnect in our hearts?

Because Jesus tells us that obedience gives us joy, and I'm not feeling that sometimes.

I want to propose that what we may think are acts of obedience may not be obedience completely due to the idols in our hearts.

And that is the disconnect.

I hope we will all leave here this weekend understanding this theology of idolatry.

John Calvin says, Man's nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols.

He continues to say, Man's mind, full as it is of pride and boldness, dares to imagine God according to his own capacity, as it sluggishly plods, indeed is overwhelmed with the crassest ignorance.

It conceives an unreality and an empty appearance of God.

Nothing is more dangerous than religious confidence in a fake God of our own imaging.

As we can see, and John Calvin's statement sums up our second thesis point, which is idolatry is a reversal of the created order explained in the creation mandate.

So if our purpose is to image God, then what is idolatry?

In idolatry, man makes gods into our own image rather than us being made in his.

The gods we make exist to serve or represent us.

We were designed to serve and represent God.

In idolatry, man lives to represent himself, not God.

If we are designed to delight in God, idolatry reverses that delight and causes us to worship futility rather than an incomparable holy God who is our greatest delight.

Idolatry hinders our ability to live out our purpose.

When we are serving our idols, we are not representing, pleasing, or glorifying God.

In fact, we are doing the exact opposite.

We're wreaking havoc rather than creating order.

You may say, wow, this sounds so serious, but I don't worship idols.

And what does it even mean to have idols at the heart?

When you think of idols, you might think of the Old Testament and how the Israelites worshiped idols and think, I don't worship idols.

We may be familiar with scriptures such as Psalm 115, one through seven.

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 nation 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, feet but do not walk, and they do not make a sound in their throat.

What is this scripture saying?

What are these idols referring to?

The direct context would be statues made by human hands that their gods inhabit.

They believe that the spirit of their gods lived in these statues and that they created with their own hands.

But what does it mean that they have mouths that do not speak and ears that do not hear?

Their gods were works of their hands, they were just wooden statues.

But Israel's God was alive, he sees, he hears, he moves, he speaks, he is alive.

Psalm 115, 8 says, Those who make them, meaning the idols, become like them.

So do all who trust in them.

So what is this verse saying?

What happens to those who make or trust idols?

It says they become like them.

In what way?

They become blind and deaf.

Ezekiel 14, 3 says, Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts and set the stumbling block of iniquity before their faces.

Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?

So what do you think it means to set a stumbling block of iniquity before their eyes?

Besides physical outward idols, there are invisible inward idols of the heart.

Though we may not worship a foreign god or bow down to an idol statue, there are many things that still serve as idols in our heart, and we need to recognize them.

Tim Keller says, An idol is anything more important to you than God?

Anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, and anything that you seek to give you what only God can give.

So, what is the solution to this problem of idols in the heart?

How do we even identify them?

And once we identify them, what do we do with them?

I'd like to propose a few things and spend the rest of our time being super practical about identifying and dealing with our idols.

But first, we have to believe there is a better way.

We will not give up our idols until we are offered something better, something better that is sustaining, not temporary, like 50 bucks.

John Piper said the root power of sin is severed by the power of a superior pleasure, a more compelling joy.

This goes back to desire that we read about in James 4.

Our desires are Are wrong.

We need right desires.

Remember the example I gave of my son with sarcasm.

True change from sarcasm to encouragement couldn't really happen until his heart had a new affection.

The only thing that could motivate him is if his desire to encourage was greater than his desire to be sarcastic.

Even if the transition is not easy, and it's not easy.

The want to want to must be present, and the want to want to will not be present if we don't see the problem.

And if you don't know what I mean by the want to want to, it is a recognition state.

It's understanding I really, I really want that cookie and I want to eat it, but I want to want to not eat the cookie, if that may be.

It's a recognition of I shouldn't want that.

That's a first step.

But if you don't even know that it's wrong, you're not even in the recognition state.

That's where my son was.

He didn't even see sarcasm was wrong.

But once you see sarcasm is wrong, you can say, you know what?

I want to be sarcastic, that's why I do it, but I don't want to be sarcastic.

So that's the recognition state.

Now we have something to work with.

So here's another silly example of a change to desire that led to action.

Not so much a spiritual one, but hopefully we'll get the point.

When my son Jonathan lived at home, he did not have a clean room.

He did not care to have a clean room, and he saw it quite silly that I would even desire for him to have a clean room.

Now I go into his home and I can see he is very intentional about keeping a clean home.

He's a good leader, he takes responsibilities in ways that I never saw him do at home.

Why?

A new affection.

He now has a wife that he loves and desires to please.

His desire to please his wife is greater than his love for TV, video games, or any other thing that kept him from cleaning his room when he lived at home, even his mother.

Have you heard the saying, an expulsive power of a new affection?

Anyone heard that?

The desire of our heart is a great motivator, for good or for bad.

What is it that we want so badly that we will do anything to get it?

The answer to that question reveals what is in our heart.

We'll get back to that in a little bit.

Again, why do we do what we do?

Because we want what we want.

And what do we want?

We want happiness, pleasure, peace.

But we pursue these things with the wrong motive.

We'll get a little more into that.

The desiring and delighting of man has been woven into us by our Creator.

When God made man, he placed him in the garden of Eden.

Did you know that Eden means delight?

God made mankind to be with him in a life-giving relationship where there is fullness of joy, delight.

God actually wants to fulfill our desires and give us delight.

But there's only one way we can get it.

We are keeping ourselves from that delight because we cling to lesser delights.

Psalm 1611 says, You make known to me the path of life.

In your presence there is fullness of joy.

At your right hand are pleasures evermore.

Our idolatry keeps us from this reality.

When mankind chooses a path that is separate from a life-giving and joy-filled relationship with God, he will seek to fill his existence with temporary pleasures that cannot finally and fully satisfy.

Does fullness of joy sound like what we really want?

I know I do.

But what is it that can captivate our heart and get rid of its love for all the deceitful and slaving desires that rule it?

We need the expulsive power of a new affection.

We need a superior pleasure, a more compelling joy, and that can only be found in Christ and in his righteous statutes.

Jesus Christ is the only individual who only and ever delighted fully in God his Father.

All he knew from eternity past was the fullness of joy by his father's side.

Yet Jesus Christ on the cross was willing to forgo his greatest delight when his father's presence was taken away from him.

He did this out of obedience to his father's will and out of his love for you and me.

He forfeited the presence of his father on the cross so that we might have the eternal opportunity to be in the Father's presence in fullness of joy.

So when we think about Jesus on the cross, do we think that this act of obedience of Jesus dying on a criminal's cross bearing the wrath of God was joy to him?

Hebrews 12, 1 through 2 says, Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which cling so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus died so we may have life, that we would have abundant life, that our joy may be full, and that gave him joy.

He took joy in his death on the cross, knowing he would accomplish that for us.

How much do you think it grieves him to see his children not live in the purpose and reality of the fullness of joy that he died to give us?

It should be a comfort to us and a joy, not a burden or begrudgery when we are called to obey the commands of God.

It is only a burden because we have resisted his will in order to worship the idols of our hearts, thinking that they will give us pleasures every evermore.

So how do we recog rectify this problem?

I'd like to present two remedies for this.

Number one is beholding Christ's love, meditating on Christ's love, rehearsing the gospel to ourselves over and over, and then our desires will change, and ultimately so will our behavior.

The only way we will overcome this battle of sin is by seeing the beauty and excellence of Christ.

We overcome sin by seeing something more attractive than the world, Christ.

Beholding Christ and his love for us is the expulsive power to change the desires of our heart.

He is the new affection.

The blessings we have in Christ are incomparable to anything this world has to offer.

The blessings we have in Christ are incomparable to any feeling of control we may have in any of the examples we talked about.

Beholding Christ and living in his righteous statutes is the only means by which we are promised fullness of joy.

The second remedy is this.

We see it when we look into the mirror of God's word.

The Bible is very clear that when we erect false gods in our hearts, not only will they never satisfy, but we will become like them.

When we serve our idols, we have the stumbling block of iniquity before our eyes.

We become deaf and blind to the truth because we want what we want so badly, and we are deceived into thinking God is withholding good from us.

And because of God's great love for us, he will help us to see what it is we are worshiping and give us every tool through Christ to lay them down.

I'll end with some very practical applications.

I want us to learn how we can use God's word as a mirror to help us discern our idols.

We'll take the remainder of our time working through a diagram that will help you to identify your idols.

I hope this helps you to see how the desires of our hearts will rule us.

I'll start with a simple way to identify an idol of the heart.

There is a question that you can ask yourself anytime a negative action, thought, feeling, or attitude arises in your heart.

Ladies, this was life-changing for me.

When you feel those things arise, ask yourself this question.

What do I want so badly that I am willing to sin in order to get it?

Or what do I want so badly that I'm willing to sin if I don't get it?

And the answer to that question will reveal an idol of your heart.

And these don't have to be sinful desires directly.

Paul Tripp says, a good thing can become a bad thing when it becomes a ruling thing.

I mentioned earlier that what we may think are think are acts of obedience may not be obedience at all due to idols of our heart.

So we're going to look at a diagram in a minute to help us work through this.

I'm going to share some very personal examples of how God has revealed my own idols, and hopefully it will help you work through yours.

I had a lot of desires in my life.

As a believer and a lover of Jesus, I believed that my desires were good.

They were right, they were biblical.

So here's some of mine through the years.

So I had a desire or a goal to have a godly husband, a father who spiritually led our home.

And out the outcome of that desire that I wanted was to feel loved and cherished.

That was my hope.

Another desire and goal that I had was to have obedient children who loved Jesus.

Another very good biblical desire.

And the desired outcome, and if I had obedient children who love Jesus, I would feel successful as a parent, and others would think I was doing a good job.

Another desire or goal I had was a clean house.

And the desired outcome would be that I would have order and contentment in my life.

I had a desire or a goal to be financially secure.

And my desired outcome is that I would have comfort and peace.

So these are all good, you agree?

These are all good biblical desires, right?

I had imagined that if I had these things, that it would bring me peace and joy and contentment and financial freedom and comfort and peace, all the things.

Where I went wrong was I made my desires my goal.

If we think back to the mandate given when God created man, what is my purpose?

What is my goal?

What should be my goal?

I was designed to be an image bearer, to reflect Christ and subdue the spaces I am in using his righteous standards.

That includes being a wife, a mom, a homemaker, whatever it is you do.

If my goal is to have those things, I will stop at nothing until I receive it.

So it's good to have goals, right?

And you should not stop until you have it.

But when your goals are wrong, that can be very dangerous.

So when I don't get it, I get angry, frustrated, bitter, anxious, depressed.

As I react to not receiving my godly desires, I'm no longer imaging God, but making an idol out of my desires.

And that is such an important thing that I have learned is I made an idol out of my good desires.

That's that a good thing becomes a bad thing when it becomes a ruling thing.

What do I want so badly that I am willing to sin in order to get it?

Do I want godly children so badly that I get angry and try to force them to meet my standards?

Do I want a godly husband so badly that I feel hurt when he doesn't value me the way I feel I deserve?

In these examples, my happiness and joy is dependent on my idols serving me.

Do you see the reversal of the mandate?

How idolatry reverses our focus to worship self rather than God.

But if I'm functioning in the way that God has designed me to function using his righteous statutes, then imaging God and pleasing him will be my ultimate goal.

I can accomplish that every time, even if I have an unloving husband and disobedient children.

So what does it practically look like if my goal was to image God and be pleasing to him?

So let's look at an example in marriage.

Let's say a wife is upset because her husband comes home from work every day and sits in front of the TV while she is getting dinner on the table and trying to corral the children.

She tries to kindly explain to him that he is being neglectful and doesn't care about her or their children.

He ignores her.

She then gets angry and starts yelling.

Now he is mad and it starts an all-out war.

He sleeps on the couch and leaves for work the next morning only to repeat the same scenario the next evening.

Now, putting aside the husband's sin for now, since we're all women in this room, how can we identify her idol?

What is she wanting so badly that she is willing to sin in order to get it?

She wants a husband who cares for her, loves her, and is attentive to her and their children.

These are all good things.

They are biblical desires.

But these good desires are becoming ruling desires.

Her desire to please and image God is being snuffed out because her idol is before her.

The stumbling block of iniquity is before her eyes.

All she can see is what her husband is not doing.

She cannot see her own sin.

And I want to state the obvious here.

The husband is sinning against his wife, and he is not treating her the way God designed him to.

So we realize that there are issues there too.

So I'm not justifying it, but we're just looking at how we are to respond in light of God's word.

I'm sure we all feel for her, and maybe you've been there, and this is not okay.

But God does give us a way to handle these situations in his word.

Did she respond using the righteous statutes he gave her?

This would be part of her subduing the spaces that God has placed her in.

We don't demand order in our world by using our standards.

We create order by using God's standards.

So what does God's word say that may help this woman know how to image and please God?

What are the standards that He lays out for her?

We see in Proverbs 21.

Proverbs 15:1 says, A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 15:1

Ephesians 4.29 says, Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

This woman has a legitimate complaint.

She would absolutely be justified in saying that her husband is being selfish, not leading her family, or being attentive to her needs.

But her faith is not in God.

Her faith is in her own methods of controlling the situation.

Does God rule your day?

Does he rule your daily steps?

Are you mindful regularly of being an image bearer in the spaces you live, even in the mundane things?

I mentioned this before.

Paul Tripp says, if God doesn't rule your mundane, he doesn't rule you because that is where you live.

I pray that we are starting to really grasp the great purpose that God designed for us.

God created us so we can live for him.

Man failed at this mandate, but Christ died to redeem us so we can live for him in the way he designed us to.

Idolatry reverses that purpose and turns our attention onto pleasing ourselves rather than God.

I pray that our time together this weekend has been fruitful for you.

I pray that over the days and weeks and months to come, the Lord will grow you in your walk with him as you seek to live out the great purpose he has designed you for to image him.

If we delight ourselves in him, he will give us the desires of our heart.

He is worthy.

Yes, he is.

Amen.

So let's stand together and we are going to read Psalm 37, 3 through 11 together.

I'm gonna ask for you to project and read it loud like you mean it.

Let's say it together.

Trust in the Lord and do good.

Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him, and he will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.

Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil designs.

Refrain from anger and forsake wrath.

Fret not yourself, it tends only to evil, for the evil doers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

In just a little while the wicked will be no more, though you look carefully at this place, he will not be there.

But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Let's pray.

Father God, we thank you so much for this time together.

God, you are a good God and you are worthy.

There is no one worthy other than you.

God, you should be the one desire that we seek, Lord.

You have promised us fullness of joy, and we know that you withhold no good thing from us.

So, God, I pray that as these ladies lead here today, that they would just allow these truths to just marinate in their heart, Lord, that you would grow them, that you would teach them as I know you are teaching me.

I I have, I know I've come so far, and I still have so far to go.

And there's so many idols of the heart that you are working out in me.

And so I just thank you, Lord, for teaching me and just having this opportunity to share these things with these ladies this weekend.

God, I pray that you would bless them.

They are such a beautiful group of women, and you are doing such a work in each one of them and their lives.

God bless them.

We are so thankful for your grace and your mercy and your love.

And we just give you all the honor and all the glory in Jesus' name.

Amen.