Freedom from False Worship

The scripture reading comes from Deuteronomy chapter 5.

Deuteronomy 5 · chapter mention

Please follow along on the screen.

And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them,

Hear, O Israels, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today,

and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Herob,

not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant,

but with us, who are all of us here alive today.

The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain,

out of the midst of the fire,

while I stood between the Lord and you at that time

to declare to you the word of the Lord.

For you were afraid because of the fire,

and you did not go up into the mountain.

He said, I'm the Lord your God,

who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image

or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above

or that is in the earth beneath

or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not bow down to them or serve them,

for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,

visiting the equities of the fathers on the children

to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

but showing steadfast love to the thousands of those

who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,

for the Lord will not behold him guiltless

who takes his name in vain.

Observe the Sabbath to keep it holy

as the Lord your God commanded you.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

but the seventh is the Sabbath to the Lord your God.

On it you shall not do any work,

you or your son or your daughter

or your male servant or your female servant

or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock

or the sojourner who is within your gates,

that your male servant and your female servant

may rest as well as you.

You shall remember that you were a slave

in the land of Egypt,

and the Lord your God brought you out from there

with mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

Therefore the Lord your God commanded you

to keep the Sabbath day.

Honor your father and your mother

as the Lord of your God commanded you,

that your days may be long

and that it may go well with you in the land

that the Lord your God has given you.

You shall not murder,

and you shall not commit adultery,

and you shall not steal,

and you shall not bear false witness

against your neighbor,

and you shall not covet your neighbor's wife,

and you shall not desire your neighbor's house,

his field,

or his male servant,

or his female servant,

his ox,

or his donkey,

or anything that is your neighbor's.

This is the word of God.

Great.

Thank you, Sylvie.

And good morning, Watermark Church.

It is great to be back with you,

I guess in a technological sense.

It's wonderful to be able to gather as a family

and around God's Word

and to praise Him

and to pray together as a church family.

We were so hoping to be back together this week,

but as Oscar said,

alas, not yet,

but hopefully soon,

we'll be back at Ebenezer together.

Just one last thing up front.

I hope that you were as encouraged

and edified as I was last week

by the One Church Hong Kong service.

It was so wonderful gathering

as a church across the city together

to celebrate what God is doing in our city,

and I hope you were encouraged.

It was a wonderful service for our city.

Will you join me as we pray?

Let's pray together,

commit our time before God,

and ask Him to speak to us from His Word,

and then we're going to dive into

the second of the Ten Commandments.

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Sovereign Father,

Holy Spirit,

we come before you this morning,

this 10th of May,

to worship you and to praise you,

to give you the worship that you are due,

but also, Father,

to align our own hearts towards you.

God, as we look at your Word this morning,

we right up front need to acknowledge

that we are so often tempted

to stray and to put our hope and trust

in all sorts of false gods and idols

that really cannot satisfy.

But you, Christ, have the words of life.

You, Christ, are life.

You, Christ, are the life-giving,

life-breathing, sovereign God.

And as we come and align our hearts with you,

our own hearts and souls are filled with life.

God, we pray this morning, do that to us.

God, as we come back to you

and listen to your Word,

won't you breathe your life into us?

Won't you give us fresh life this morning?

God, give us fresh hope.

Give us fresh confidence.

Give us fresh security and peace in you.

God, open our eyes to see your majesty

and your glory.

Help us, God, to trust you.

We acknowledge, Father,

that we have so many doubts and questions at times.

God, open our eyes to see your glory.

Just as we sang that song a little while ago

about you deserve the greater glory,

I was just reminded,

God, I need to see your glory.

I want to see your glory.

God, do that for us this morning, we pray.

Not just this morning, this week.

Tomorrow, the rest of this week,

as we prepare for kids to go back to school

and offices to resume.

God, show us your glory.

Help us to see your majesty

and therefore to worship you.

We pray these things in your wonderful and powerful name.

Amen.

Amen.

As a church, we are looking at this extremely well-known passage of Scripture

in the Old Testament,

this set of instructions that has come to be known as the Ten Commandments.

But they're not commandments in any kind of arbitrary sense of the word,

like ten rules or ten pieces of legislation.

These are God's words that are given to us for our abundance,

for our flourishing,

and really intended for God's people to prosper.

Now, one of the great privileges that we have

is we get to see these ten words for abundant life

in the context, the historical context in which they're given.

And that's really important.

In fact, these ten words are given twice in the Old Testament.

The first time, they are given in Exodus chapter 20,

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

which happens right after Israel leaves Egypt.

They are saved by the blood of the Lamb.

They leave over Passover.

They pass through the waters,

and they enter into the wilderness.

And there they are constituted as the nation of Israel,

as God's people.

And God gives His people these words of instruction

for their flourishing and for abundant life.

And that's really important,

because what that tells us is that

these words aren't given in order that Israel might become God's people.

They're given because they are God's people.

These words aren't given in order that Israel might earn

or merit God's favor or His acceptance.

They're given because they already have His favor.

They already have His acceptance.

They already are His chosen people.

These words are intended for God's people

to become everything that He wished and wanted for them to become.

But then they're given a second time in Deuteronomy chapter 5,

Deuteronomy 5 · chapter mention

and that's the passage that we're looking at in this series.

And what happens is that the book of Deuteronomy

serves as a kind of pivot or a hinge

between two sections in Israel's history.

The first section we've just spoken about,

they leave Egypt, they go into the wilderness.

And after the book of Deuteronomy,

Israel enters the second portion of their history,

which is when they go into the promised land,

they settle there, they establish the kingdom

under Saul and David,

and they really become the nation of Israel

in the promised land.

And in between these two sections of the history

lies the book of Deuteronomy.

And in the book of Deuteronomy,

Moses gives the sermon to the people of God,

reminding them of God's faithfulness,

His goodness, and His good words to them,

and encouraging them and urging them

that as they go into the promised land

to remember God's words,

to obey them, that they will prosper.

And the book of Deuteronomy is Moses' sermon,

his parting words before he dies,

to God's people saying,

as you go into the promised land,

remember your God and remember His words to you.

The question is,

how's Israel gonna respond?

Are they gonna obey God's word

and experience prosper and abundance and flourishing?

Or are they gonna reject it and experience demise?

And the rest of the Old Testament,

from Deuteronomy onwards,

really catalogues Israel's decisions

of how they respond to God and His word.

And that same question applies for us today.

For those of us that are part of God's people,

how are we gonna respond to God's word

and His track record of faithfulness?

Are we gonna trust Him and obey Him,

experience His flourishing and His abundance?

Or are we gonna reject it and experience demise?

Now today we get to the second of these 10 commandments.

And there's three things I want us to see in this passage.

What is the second commandment, firstly?

Secondly, how do we break it or why do we break it?

And thirdly, where do we find our hope?

Where do we find the solution?

So what is the commandment?

Why do we break it?

Where are we gonna find our hope?

So what is the second commandment?

Well, Sylvie read it to us, but this is what it says.

Do not make an idol for yourself in the shape of anything,

in the heavens above, the earth below,

or underneath the earth and the waters beneath the sea.

Do not bow down and worship them.

Do not serve them.

Because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,

punishing the children for the father's iniquity

to the third and fourth generation for those who hate me,

but showing faithful, steadfast love

to a thousand generations of those who love me

and keep my commands.

Now, straight away, you should see

this very clear connection

between the first and the second commandment.

The first commandment we looked at two weeks ago,

you shall have no other gods before me.

And Moses is saying here that it's impossible

to break the second commandment

without breaking the first one.

You can't have other gods or idols in your life

without also, not, without breaking the first commandment

of having no other gods beside me.

In many ways, the first and second commandment

are two sides of the same coin.

They are intrinsically linked together.

When we worship or revere idols or false gods in our lives,

the one true God is no longer first in our heart.

He no longer has exclusive rights

to our affections and our devotions.

Now, in the second commandment,

there are actually two things that God is forbidding.

On the one hand, the second commandment

is regulating what we worship,

that we worship the one true God alone.

By forbidding idol worship,

God is forbidding His people

from coming to church on Sundays,

declaring their allegiance and their worship to God,

and yet on Monday to Friday,

going and finding our hope and our trust in other gods.

God is calling us to live all of our lives devoted to Him.

You see, we may functionally call ourselves Christians,

but actually, if our hope and our confidence

isn't something else, your children or your career,

that is functionally your God.

We could call ourselves atheists, agnostics,

worshipers of no God,

but actually, if our hope and trust is in our career,

our work, our money, our social approval,

what people think of us,

functionally, that is our God.

That is what we worship.

Now, I'm sure we realize that

whatever thing takes on a God-like status in our life,

whatever thing becomes our God

has its own version of the Ten Commandments.

For instance, picture your children

being the most important thing in your life,

the thing for which you live and exist,

the thing that gives you hope and security and peace.

Maybe some of your Ten Commandments might sound like this.

You shall have no other interests besides your children.

You shall make sure your child

has all the opportunities they can.

Maybe social approval,

society's approval of you,

is the most important thing.

Then the Ten Commandments might look like this.

You shall always look your confident best.

You shall never make sure anybody sees any faults in you.

But hoping and trusting in anything

other than the sovereign God

always leads to our demise and our ruin.

But there's actually something else going on

in the Second Commandments here.

God is not only regulating what we worship,

Him, the one true God,

He's also regulating how we worship.

In other words, in the Second Commandment,

God is not only forbidding His people

from worshiping false gods,

He's also forbidding us from worshiping Him,

the one true God,

in a false or illegitimate way.

How so?

By creating objects or images

that we think represent God,

infusing them with special powers

or ascribing to them spiritual properties

and using them in our worship

through which we worship God.

It's not just that God is forbidding us

from worshiping false gods

like money or sex or career or power.

He's also instructing us not to worship Him

by taking some object, some image,

infusing it with power

and using it in our worship of Him.

In Exodus 32, there's this famous example of this.

And it actually happens while Moses is on the mountain

busy getting the Ten Commandments.

He's up there for about six weeks, 40 days.

The Israelites are below

and they feel like,

where's this Moses guy?

We haven't seen him for a long time.

Maybe he's died up there.

Maybe he's forgotten about us.

And so they come to Moses' brother, Aaron,

the high priest,

and they say,

Aaron, make a God for us

that will go before us.

And so Aaron makes this golden calf

and Moses comes down the mountain,

sees this golden calf

and completely freaks out.

But what's interesting is that

when Aaron makes this golden calf,

he's not suggesting that Israel

stop worshiping Yahweh

and now worship something else.

In fact, he says to them,

as he makes this calf,

he says,

Israel, here is your God.

Here are the gods

that have delivered you from Egypt.

And then he says this.

He says,

Tomorrow there will be a festival,

a celebration to Yahweh.

You see what he's doing there?

He's taking this golden calf

and he's saying,

here is Yahweh.

He's not urging them

to worship Baal or Melech

or some other god

of the nations around them.

But he's taken some physical thing

and he says this represents God.

Now why did the people of Israel want that?

Because as they go into the promised land,

they want some physical,

tangible thing

that they can look to,

hold on to,

something that will assure them

that God is with them,

that God's presence is with them.

As they journey on their way,

they want to know

that God is with them,

something they can look to

or hold on to

for that security

and that assurance

that everything is going to be fine

in the future.

Friends,

we actually find

that we do this all the time.

This thing of

finding some object

and ascribing deity to it

is more common

than we realize.

Maybe,

for some of us,

we have some

special object,

maybe a special ornament,

a pendant

that your mother

or your grandmother gave you

and when you hold it,

you feel closer to God.

You feel His presence.

For some people,

maybe a silver cross

that gives them comfort

while they pray.

They feel God is closer to them

as they hold this cross.

For some people,

maybe it's a certain person.

They spend time

with a priest

or a pastor.

They feel closer to God

like that person

has a direct connection to God

and can help them.

But friends,

all of that is infusing

in some created thing

divine and sacred properties

and treating them reverentially.

We're breaking

the second commandment.

Now,

we may think,

but hang on,

I don't do that.

I don't have any special pendants,

special ornaments.

I don't pray

with the silver cross

or beads.

I don't worship God

like this.

But what about

mental images of God?

How many of us

have created

an image of God

in our mind,

an image of who God is

and we worship

and adore

and revere that God

rather than

the one true God?

How often do we find

people saying,

well,

the God that I believe

in would never say

something like that

or the God that I believe

in would never allow

that to happen

or I don't believe

in a God

who does this

or who judges people.

My God

accepts everybody

unconditionally

just as they are.

What have we done?

We've created

a God in our minds

and we're worshiping

and bowing down

a created God,

a God that is no God

at all.

Maybe the God

that you've created

in your mind

is a God

who is just

always loving,

always accepting

and will never judge

anybody

or hold anybody

accountable.

Well, look at what

our passage says here.

It actually says

very interesting.

God says,

I am the Lord your God,

I'm a jealous God,

visiting the iniquity

of the fathers

on the children

to the third

and fourth generation

of those who hate me.

Now, what's God

saying here?

Well, what he's not saying

is that there's such a thing

called generational curses.

He's not saying

that we need to repent

for the sins

of our ancestors,

the third

and fourth generation.

He's not saying

that if one generation sins,

well, sorry for the next generation,

you're just going to have to

bear the consequences

of your parents' sins.

In the book of Ezekiel,

Ezekiel 18 · chapter mention

chapter 18,

God is very clear

that he doesn't punish children

for the sins

of their parents.

But what he's saying

is that as one generation

rejects God

and worships idols

and false gods,

as the next generation

follow in the footsteps

of their parents,

they're going to bear

the same consequences.

You can't just say,

well, I'm sorry,

that's my upbringing.

That's the way

my parents taught me

how to behave.

You can't excuse

your disobedience

by pointing to your childhood

or your personal history.

What this means

is that as each generation

participates

or perpetuates

the sins of their parents,

they face the same consequences.

But the point is this.

How many people say,

well, God, I believe

and would never judge anybody.

I don't believe

in a God like that.

What have we done?

We've created

an image of God.

We've created

a God in our mind,

a God that we worship,

a God that is no God

at all.

Now, why do we do this?

Because,

like idols,

it's so much safer,

so much easier

to control

a God that is manageable,

a God that we imagine,

a God that suits our needs,

a God that never

disagrees with us

or contradicts us

or challenges us.

And so just like people

in the ancient world

would create

a physical,

material God

that they could

bring out and worship,

a God that would serve them,

a God that they could serve

in their own

comfortable,

convenient way,

so we do the same

with mental images of God.

We create a God

in our mind,

a God that is no God

at all.

And yet,

as Tony Reinke

reminds us,

there is nothing

more dangerous

than religious confidence

in a fake God

of our imagineering.

This is a problem.

Now,

as we said,

we may be tempted to think,

but I don't do this.

500 years ago,

a French pastor

by the name of John Kelvin,

very famous

and brilliant man,

very perceptively

said this,

this human heart

is an idol factory,

a perpetual creator

of God's.

And what he's saying here

is that every human being

from the time

the world was made

cannot help

but find things

to hold on to,

to look to,

to put our hope

and our confidence in,

things to trust,

things that we look to

to guarantee us

a secure

and prosperous future,

things that we worship.

John Kelvin shows us

that we actually

all look to things

to serve

with the hope

that it will serve us

in return.

Why do we do this?

Well,

here's a couple of reasons.

First reason is

because we're made

in the image of God.

As human beings,

we are made to worship.

It's part of our DNA.

We cannot help

but worship

because we're made

to worship

the one true God.

Now, of course,

the fall has distorted that

and so we worship

created things

rather than

the creator himself.

But part of our DNA,

our heart's wiring

is to worship.

El Mola said it like this,

the human soul

will find

an object of worship

whether on the shelf

in the store,

whether in our bank statements,

whether in the mirror

in front of us,

whether in the temple

or in the heavens,

we were created

to worship.

It's part of our DNA.

But here's another reason

why we do this.

Because idols,

the false gods

that we create,

whether material

in front of us,

whether existential

or whether mental

images of God,

the idols that we

think represent God

and that we worship

and serve,

that we hope

and trust in,

always lie to us

about the ability

to give us life.

You see,

false gods and idols

always promise us

an abundant life,

a life full of joy

and prosperity

and peace.

Don Frame,

who's a brilliant theologian,

said it like this.

He said,

idols lie to us,

not because God

is invisible

and cannot be pictured,

but because idols

fail to picture

what is most important

about God,

His personality,

His ability

to see,

to hear,

to speak,

to interact

with His creatures.

Without personality,

God cannot judge,

which may seem

like good news

to hedonists,

but it's bad news

for the rest of the universe

or anyone

that's suffered injustice.

But without personality,

God also cannot love,

which is bad news

for all of us.

You see, friends,

lifeless idols

cannot impart life to us.

They promise us the world,

but they never deliver.

One of the distinctive things

about the God of the Bible

is that He's personable.

He's relatable

and He infuses us

with life

and fullness of life.

The one who knows us the best

and loves us the most,

as we worship Him

and come and serve Him,

we find that we become

more fully human.

We become like Him.

We become the people

that God's called us

and created us to be.

We experience fullness of life.

And on the contrary,

the false gods

that we are so tempted

to hope and trust in

are lifeless beings.

They promise us the world,

but actually,

they suck life out of us.

They suck joy out of us.

They suck hope out of us.

Just think about the person

that lives for the next promotion at work.

Someone who lives for advancing

in their career.

Are they more gracious?

More understanding?

More gentle?

More sympathetic?

More compassionate

with those around them?

Of course not.

Think about the person

that lives for their children's success.

That their very meaning

is found in their children

being successful and doing well.

Are they more gracious

and understanding

when their children make mistakes?

Are they more compassionate

when things don't go well?

Are they more forgiving

when things go wrong?

Of course not.

Idols promise us life

and joy and freedom,

but they do anything but that.

They suck life out of our lives.

Here's another reason.

Why do we find this so tempting?

Because idols promise us

the illusion of being in control.

The great temptation, of course,

of worshipping a false god

is that it promises us

that we can be in control.

Think about in the ancient days.

You carved this idol

out of a piece of wood

or silver or stone.

You can bring it in when you want,

but you can also put it away.

You can hide it

when it's inconvenient,

but you can also bring it out

when you want to show off to others.

You can worship it how you want,

when you want,

when it's convenient for you to worship

in a way that suits you.

Friends, the false gods

that we hope and trust in

are no different.

They promise us control,

but actually they take control from us.

Think of the person

for whom appearance and beauty

is the most important thing in life.

We might think,

it's not such a big deal.

I just want to take care of my body.

Nothing wrong with wanting to look good.

But scarcely can they walk past the mirror

without stopping and looking.

Almost all day,

you're thinking,

what do people think of me?

How do I look?

How am I perceived by those around me?

A few years ago,

I read a magazine article

in a British magazine

about a young lady

that grappled with this.

And listen to what she says.

She says,

sitting on my bed last December,

I stared at the stacks of makeup

scattered around my bedroom.

I'd counted 213 lipsticks,

130 eyeshadow palettes,

102 blushes,

65 eyeliners,

17 mascaras.

And that wasn't even all of it.

After doing some initial calculations,

I worked out I'd spent 15,000 pounds,

150,000 Hong Kong dollars,

in the last year alone.

I was buying makeup as a way

to improve my mood

when I was struggling with depression.

Buying makeup gave me a high,

a feeling of being happy and hopeful,

of being in control.

That made me feel better

after feeling low about my job

and my low self-worth.

The shocking numbers confirmed

what I'd been worried about.

My spending habit

had got seriously out of control.

You see that?

Idols promise us control,

but they take control from us.

Well, think about the person

for whom wealth and financial freedom

is the most important thing in our life.

We tell ourselves,

I'm just being a good steward.

I'm taking care of my family.

I'm looking after my family's wealth.

But have we ever stopped to think

how much is enough?

And when we get there,

what happens?

We suddenly find it's not enough.

We have a figure in our mind

that if I get there,

I'll feel safe,

I'll feel secure,

only to get there

and not feel safe and secure

and need a whole lot more.

John Kelvin reminds us

that all of us,

our hearts are idle factories,

perpetually creating gods

that we hope and trust in.

Now you may say,

Kevin, speak for yourself.

I've grew up in a Christian family.

All I've ever done is worship God.

I've never worshiped false gods around me.

All my days,

since the day I can remember,

I've longed to live and worship God.

Maybe you're not religious at all

and you say,

I don't worship any God.

I'm a free thinker.

I'm free from all religious devotion

and delusion.

Well, in the New Testament,

in the book of Colossians,

the apostle Paul writes a fascinating thing.

In chapter three,

he writes this.

He says,

put to death what is earthly in you,

sexual immorality,

affairs, pornography, lust,

impurity, passions,

evil desires,

and covetousness,

all of which is idolatry.

And then he goes on

to speak about the way

that we use our mouths.

He says,

do not lie to one another,

speaking untruthfully.

Don't get angry.

Stop slandering

and speaking about people

behind their backs.

What's Paul saying here?

He's saying,

the things in our lives

that we're most ashamed about,

the vices that we try and hide

and don't really want anyone to see,

is actually located

in a deeper issue.

Those aren't just habits.

They're not just personality.

It's not just our upbringing.

There's something going on

in our hearts there.

There's something that we hope

and trust in

that is driving

and forming our behavior.

Why do we lie?

Maybe it's because

our image is threatened.

What people think of us

is under threat.

I wonder how many of us

can relate to this.

Your boss says to you,

have you got that report

I asked you to do

and you haven't quite finished it?

And so what do we say?

Yeah, I've done it.

As soon as I get back

to my computer,

I'll send it to you

straight away.

And then we run to our computer

and frantically type away.

What's going on there?

Our image,

our sense of having it all together,

being a good employee

is suddenly under threat.

And so what comes out of our mouth

is not quite the truth

because we need to protect our idol.

Friends,

why do we get angry

with our kids,

with our spouse,

with our boss,

with our colleagues,

with the government?

Is it not because

some idol is under threat?

Something that we hope

and trust in,

something that promises us

security and peace

is challenged.

We cannot help

but the anger

in our hearts

comes out.

Why do people steal money

and defraud others?

Very seldom is it

because they literally

have no food

to put on the table.

Often it's because

that sense of being in control,

the freedom

that money promises,

that millions promises,

is too alluring

and so people steal

and defraud others.

Friends,

the bad news is

we're all idol worshippers.

The heart is an idol factory,

a perpetual creator

of God's.

What I want to do now

is I want to ask us

just to take two minutes

and I've got a couple of questions

on the screen

and I would love us to,

if you're with somebody else,

to process these questions together.

Otherwise,

if you're on your own,

maybe take a journal

and just write some thoughts

as you process these questions.

Three questions for us.

What makes you feel secure

when you have it

and insecure when you don't?

What causes you extreme emotion,

extreme joy,

extreme despondency,

extreme anxiety?

What do you think

could possibly be an idol,

a false god,

in your life?

Let's take a couple of minutes

and think about that now.

Okay.

We've looked at the second command

and we've looked at the way

that all of us

break it.

So where do we find hope?

Where do we find hope

for idolaters

like myself

and like you?

In the person of Jesus Christ,

we have the hope

that we're looking for

because in the gospel,

we have the good news

that we don't need

to create a God.

We don't need to find a God.

We don't need to serve a God

in the hope

that maybe He will serve us.

In the gospel,

in Jesus Christ,

we have the one true God

who came to us

to show us

what God is really like,

that we may come to Him

and find the life

and the freedom

that we desperately long for

and we desperately need.

In Jesus Christ,

we have the hope

that our hearts long for.

In his book,

Counterfeit Gods,

Tim Keller has this amazing line

where he says,

in ancient times,

the gods were bloodthirsty

and hard to appease.

They demanded your all.

The gods of today

still are.

Friends,

in the gospel,

we are given the great news

that we don't need

to sacrifice our lives

because in the gospel,

we have a God who came

and He sacrificed Himself

for us

that we may find

His favor

and His blessing.

The gods that we look to

to save and rescue us,

to give us peace

and meaning

and security in life,

are bloodthirsty

and hard to appease.

But in the gospel,

we discover

the eternal God,

the uncreated one,

the one who doesn't demand

of us

our blood,

our sweat,

and our tears,

but the one who gave

of His own.

Friends,

don't you see

that we don't need

to create a God

because God has come to us.

He's come to show us

what He's really like.

He's come to free us

from the delusions

that false gods bring,

the half-truths

that we tempted to trust in.

He's come to bring us

the reality

of who God is.

But He's also come

to give us

the peace that we long for.

He's come to give us joy.

He's come to set us free

from shame.

He's come to give us

a hope,

a living hope

that can never perish

or spoil or fade.

He's come to give us

a rock-solid identity

as He says,

my sons,

my daughters,

I love you.

You are chosen in me.

In John's gospel,

John introduces Jesus

and he says that

He's the eternal,

uncreated God.

He's the one

through whom

everything exists.

Everything in this world

comes into existence

because of Jesus.

And then John introduces Jesus

and says,

in Him is life.

And the life that was in Him

is the light of the world,

the light of all mankind.

The false gods

that we so easily

tempted to hope

and trust in

promise us life,

but they deliver

anything but life.

They promise fullness

of life,

but actually they suck us

of life.

But in Jesus Christ,

friends,

we have true life.

Jesus came and He said,

I am the resurrection

and life.

John writes His gospel,

He says,

I write these things

that you may believe

in Him

and experience life.

Jesus says,

I am the bread of life.

Jesus came

and in John 17,

He's praying

to His Father

and He says,

Father,

this is eternal life

that they may know You

and the Christ

that You've sent.

Friends,

Jesus,

the author of life,

came to die,

to lay down His life

that we who deserve death

may find fullness of life.

But not only that,

John not only says

that in Jesus

do we find life,

fascinatingly,

he says,

in Jesus,

we also find grace

and truth.

In John chapter 1,

John 1 · chapter mention

he says,

the law came through Moses,

but grace and truth

came through Jesus.

You see,

these false idols

and the gods

that we tempted

to trust in,

the images of God

that we make up,

they lie to us.

They promise us life,

but they take life.

They promise us control

and they end up

controlling us.

In Jesus Christ,

we have the truth.

Jesus came to show us

what God is truly like.

He came to reveal

the Father to us.

In John,

he says,

anyone that has seen me

has seen the Father.

We don't need to be deluded

by a false version

of who God is,

even a version

that is 70% true.

When we've seen Jesus,

we've seen the true reality

of who God is.

But Jesus doesn't only show us

the truth about who God is,

he also tells us

the truth about ourselves.

He tells us

that we are lost.

He tells us

that we're not really

in control of our lives.

Jesus tells us

that the more we think

we're in control of our lives,

the more lost we actually are.

Jesus comes

and he tells us the truth

that our sin is a problem.

A problem that is

going to cost us our lives.

Jesus tells us the truth

that our independence from him

is actually

an act of rebellion.

An act for which

we'll be held accountable.

An act for one day

which we're going to face judgment.

But Jesus doesn't only come

and bring us the truth.

He also brings us grace.

You see,

the problem with the false gods

that we attempted

to trust and hope in,

is that while they promise us

so much,

the moment we fail them,

they'll accuse you

and tell you

that you're a failure

and that you're miserable.

Just think about the person

that loves and serves

beyond all else,

that hopes and trusts

in their children's success.

That for them,

the success of their children

is their meaning

and purpose in life.

What happens

when your children rebel?

What happens

when your children

don't do what you want?

What happens

when your children

don't follow

your intended plan

and path for their lives?

You feel like a failure.

What happens

when your God

that you hope and trust

in is your career development,

your path,

and you lose your job?

You don't just feel bad.

You feel worthless.

You feel like a failure.

Friends,

Jesus says that all of us

fail Him from time to time.

We all sin.

We've all fallen short

of His standards of glory.

But Jesus Christ

doesn't point the finger

showing us what a failure we are.

Jesus comes

and He lifts us up.

And Jesus is not only truth

but grace.

Jesus came to die on the cross,

to have His hands smashed with nails,

to have blood and water

poured out of the side.

Jesus came to hang on the cross

to take our failures upon Himself.

Jesus came to take our death

that we may find life.

Friends,

Jesus is not only

the one true God,

the one by whom

and through whom

all things were made.

He's not only

the exact representation of God,

not only does He come

and give us life and truth,

He comes to give grace

to sinners like you and me,

to idolaters like us.

Friends,

in Jesus Christ

we have the one true God,

the eternal God,

the uncreated God,

the one who is sovereign

and majestic.

And yet Jesus didn't hold on

to His godliness.

He didn't grasp

at equality with God.

But He came

and He humbled Himself,

taking on the form

of a servant.

And being a servant,

what would He do?

He would lay down His life,

taking on death,

the excruciating death

of a cross,

for you and I,

that we might know Him,

that we might know His life,

that we might experience

His peace,

His freedom,

His joy.

Friends,

this Jesus Christ alone

is worthy of our worship,

indeed worthy of our very lives.

Do not make an idol for yourself

in the shape of anything,

in the heavens above,

the earth below,

or in the waters below.

Turn to Jesus,

the one true God,

and find your hope

in Him.

Let's pray together.

Father,

oh Jesus,

we come before You

this morning

because You,

God,

have life

because we so need You.

Father,

just a few minutes ago,

we reflected

on the things

that we are tempted

to hope and trust in.

the things

that promise us

security,

the things

that promise us

joy and peace.

Father,

we want to bring

those things

before You

this morning.

We want to

acknowledge them,

but we also

want to repent of them.

We want to turn

from those things

and turn to You.

Father,

in my own life,

I am so aware

that people's approval

and what people

think of me

is often

the driving force

in my life.

God,

so often,

I love the glory

that comes from man

more than the glory

that comes from You.

I love the praise

and the affirmation

from people

more than the affirmation

that comes from You.

Father,

I acknowledge

that I feel

safe and secure

if I think people

are pleased with me

rather than knowing

my security

is in You.

Father,

in my life

and in all of our lives,

there are deep-seated

things that we hope

and trust in.

Christ,

won't You come

and deliver us

from those things?

won't You come

and save us?

Won't You come

and set us free?

Father,

this morning,

we want to turn

from those things

and turn to You.

We confess

that sometimes

we don't even know

how to do it

and so the first step,

God,

is to

confess

and repent.

Father,

forgive us.

Forgive us,

God.

Father,

we ask that You

don't just forgive us,

You also change us,

God.

You change us,

Lord.

God,

won't You make us

more like You?

Won't the life of God,

the life of heaven

infuse our souls

and our bodies

and our hearts,

God.

God,

won't You break

the power

of sin and darkness

as we sang earlier,

break the power

of these idols

in our life

and set us free,

God.

Set us free.

God,

I pray that for some of us,

even right now,

we'll experience

a freedom in our life.

that,

God,

this afternoon,

we'll be a different person

to who we were

this morning

because that which

has controlled our life

will be set free,

God.

I pray,

Father,

for freedom.

God,

as we turn from these things

to You,

God,

won't You change us?

God,

come and bring freedom now,

Lord.

As we repent

and turn from these things

and turn to You,

God,

we pray for Your freedom.

We pray for Your joy.

We pray,

God,

for anxiety

and despondency

to flee

and pray for joyness

and fullness of life

to come.

Christ,

come and have Your way.

Come and be our God.

God,

come and be our real God,

not just in word,

but reality in our hearts.

Come and be our only God.

We pray.

We pray these things

in Your name.

Amen.