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REVIEW SERIES THEME:
We’re focusing on 10 principles for preventing unnecessary pain in your life.
If you remember, I said there is some pain you can’t avoid. . . hurricanes and tornadoes. Some pain is caused by others doing wrong. . . often, that can’t be avoided. Some pain is necessary to make us more like Jesus. . . that’s not something you can change.
But unnecessary pain is caused by sin – and THAT’s something that can be avoided.
I asked the question last week: How many of you have ever heard someone ask “Why did this have to happen to me?” And you are just sitting there thinking. . . “I COULD TELL YOU!!!!”
I believe that everyone here wants to avoid unnecessary pain in your life. So this series is teaching you how to do that, by following God’s commands instead of ignoring them.
There are at least two uses for God’s commands.
1. It teaches us that we need a Savior.
“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Galatians 3:24
If you’re not a believer, this one’s for you. You need to understand that you’ve sinned in the past, and you’re never going to be able to make up for that sin on your own, no matter how much good you do. What you need is someone to pay the price for you! And it just so happens that Jesus Christ has done that.
So, God’s commands as we try to keep them, show us that we cannot please God on our own – we need to put our faith in Jesus Christ to be our Forgiver. Keeping God’s law cannot and will not save you from sin and hell – only Jesus can do that.
But there’s a second use of God’s law.
2. It teaches us how to live according to God’s good plan.
“...obey the Lord’s commands and laws that I am giving you today for your own good.” Deuteronomy 10:13
If you’re already a believer in Jesus, this one is for you. You see, after you’ve become a Christian, God has plans for you. He wants you to keep his commands because it pleases him and it’s good for you. So, when God gives you a command, it’s a chance to make him happy and help yourself in your own life at the SAME TIME!
Last week, we talked about the first principle for living a life that pleases God and stays free of pain: “PUT GOD FIRST.” Nothing is to take the #1 spot in your life but Him!
With that in mind, let’s talk about the second principle.
_____________________________
Today, we’re talking about the second commandment: “Do not make idols of any kind.”
Now, a lot of people would say that this doesn’t mean much of anything for us any more. “That was just for the days when people actually worshiped idols.” Well, consider this:
• In a museum in Egypt there is a monument to the scarob beetle.
• Hindus pray to cows. They also won’t swat a fly lest it be an ancestor of their paying for wrongs.
• There are 330 million gods of the hindus, 8 gods for every person. • In a buddist temple in Thailand, there is a 2 inch tooth supposedly saved from Budda’s funeral.
• In China a buddist statue actual fell on a man and the family sued the budhas in the temple and it was found guilty and it and 14 other statues were actually beheaded.
• The Roman Catholic Church has relics: Mary’s hair, Mary’s wedding ring, Mary’s holy girdle, the last supper basin, the burial cloth of Jesus, the lance which stuck in His side, actually footprints of Jesus, and John the Baptist: 3 shoulder blades, 4 legs, 5 arms, and 50 index fingers that supposed pointed and said ‘Thou are the lamb of God’.
Even in America, we almost have a culture of idols. No, they’re not wood & stone and gold. . . instead, they may be rap singers, movie stars, etc.
In fact, fill in the blank: One of the most popular TV shows in America
is American _________. . .
Now, I know we don’t pray to Carrie Underwood, or Reuben Studdard, or Clay Aiken. . . but sometimes, I think we come pretty close to putting them up in a place that God reserves for himself.
“An idol is anything you love more, fear more, value more or serve more than you do Almighty God. Fill in the blank.” - Adrian Rogers
Let’s read the exact wording of the command together:
“Do not make idols of any kind, whether in the shape of birds or animals or fish. You must never worship or bow down to them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god! I do not leave unpunished the sins of those who hate me, but I visit the sins of the parents upon the children to the third and fourth generations. But I lavish my love on those who love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.”
Exodus 20:4-6, NLT
The immediate application: Don’t make visual aids for your worship. God said, I’m invisible. Now, you’re going to have to live with that. It’s a lot easier to have a God you can see, that you can point to. “Where’s God?” “Oh, He’s over there in the corner. . . let’s go pray to him...”
That’s what all the rest of the world did at the time. But God says to them, you are my children – my special holy people, separated to me. . . don’t you be like everyone else.
But we don’t really do that much struggling with that in America. When was the last time you or anyone you knew bowed down and prayed to an idol or an image of God? With the exception of Roman Catholics, most Americans don’t do that.
So what does this command mean for you and me?
Commandment #1 was about putting Him first.
Commandment #2 is about putting the right God first.
Three checks you need to perform on yourself to make sure you worship the right God.
1. Worship God as He is, not as you create him.
“Do not make idols of any kind, whether in the shape of birds or animals or fish. You must never worship or bow down to them...”
Exodus 20:4 (NLT)
To whom, then, can we compare God? What image might we find to resemble him?. . . “To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One. Isaiah 40:18, 25 (NLT)
“Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save.” Isaiah 45:20
“People tend to create gods like themselves.”
2. Worship God as a jealous God, not as a permissive God.
“...for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god! I do not leave unpunished the sins of those who hate me, but I visit the sins of the parents upon the children to the third and fourth generations.” Exodus 20:4-5 (NLT)
“[They] exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” Romans 1:25
God is holy: That means he will forgive sin, but he will not tolerate it.
God is just: That means he will always reward us according to our work.
Want to talk about causing unnecessary pain? Your choices today cause unnecessary pain even for your children, and your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren! This is why sin is such serious business – it doesn’t just hurt you, it hurts everyone you love as well!
3. Worship God as a loving God, not a hateful God.
But I lavish my love on those who love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.” Exodus 20:6 (NLT)
God is merciful. That means he will forgive and bless even when you are not proud of your past.
I told you at the beginning of the message, there are two groups here today:
There are some people here who have asked God to forgive you, but you haven’t been living like you’re serving a God who calls the shots. You need to make a commitment to get rid of that idol in your mind – the God who doesn’t really care how you live. . . you need to repent of those sins, and start fresh.
There are some people here today who haven’t ever made that choice. . . you’re still living in violation of God’s law, and today, God has talked to you. He says, “It’s time.” You need to make your choice to ask for forgiveness, repent of your sin, and truly change.
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HANDOUT
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Preventing Unnecessary Pain In Your Life
#2: Accept No SubstitutesWe’re focusing on the 10 Commandment: 10 principles for preventing unnecessary pain in your life. There are two uses for God’s commands:
1. It teaches us that we need a ________________.
“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Galatians 3:24
Keeping God’s law cannot and will not save you from sin and hell – only Jesus can do that.
2. It teaches us how to live according to God’s __________ _________.
“...obey the Lord’s commands and laws that I am giving you today for your own good.” Deuteronomy 10:13
*********
“Do not make idols of any kind, whether in the shape of birds or animals or fish. You must never worship or bow down to them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god! I do not leave unpunished the sins of those who hate me, but I visit the sins of the parents upon the children to the third and fourth generations. But I lavish my love on those who love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.”
Exodus 20:4-6, NLT
“An idol is anything you love more, fear more, value more or serve more than you do Almighty God. Fill in the blank.” - Adrian Rogers
Three checks you need to perform on yourself to make sure you worship the right God:
1. Worship God as He is, not as you ______________ him.
“Do not make idols of any kind, whether in the shape of birds or animals or fish. You must never worship or bow down to them...”
Exodus 20:4 (NLT)
To whom, then, can we compare God? What image might we find to resemble him?. . . “To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One. Isaiah 40:18, 25 (NLT)
“Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save.” Isaiah 45:20
People tend to create gods like ______________________.
2. Worship God as a jealous God, not as a ______________ God.
“...for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god! I do not leave unpunished the sins of those who hate me, but I visit the sins of the parents upon the children to the third and fourth generations.” Exodus 20:4-5 (NLT)
“[They] exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” Romans 1:25
God is holy: That means he will forgive sin, but he will not ___________________ it.
3. Worship God as a loving God, not a ____________ God.
But I lavish my love on those who love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.” Exodus 20:6 (NLT)
God is merciful. That means he will ______________ and _________ even when you are not proud of your past.
