1 00:00:00,001 --> 00:00:02,000 - Welcome to Harbor West. 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,160 Great to see you guys and worship with you this morning. 3 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:05,000 My name is Justin. 4 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:07,280 I'm one of the pastors here of our church. 5 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:09,120 And if you have a Bible, you can grab it now. 6 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:12,720 We are gonna continue worshiping God by opening his word 7 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:14,920 and we're gonna read it together, study it together, 8 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,000 seek to believe it together, and then live it out together. 9 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:20,960 And so if you have a Bible, you can turn it to Exodus 20. 10 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:22,280 If you're looking to use a Bible, 11 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:23,960 the one under the chairs in front of you, 12 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:27,280 Exodus 20 is on page 64 in those Bibles. 13 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:28,440 And we're gonna continue our study 14 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:30,240 through the 10 commandments. 15 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:33,480 And so let me just lead us in a quick prayer 16 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:35,480 as we dig into God's word. 17 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:37,920 So Father, we pray the words of Psalm 119 18 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,120 that you would open our eyes, 19 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:43,920 that we may behold wondrous things out of your law. 20 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:46,320 We pray it in Jesus' name, amen. 21 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:49,960 Today we're gonna be studying the second commandment 22 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,320 and we're gonna read our whole text up front. 23 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:53,800 We're gonna read our whole text right away 24 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:55,840 and then we'll go back and talk about it a little bit. 25 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,500 So look down, Exodus 20, look at verse four. 26 00:00:59,500 --> 00:01:03,700 Do not make an idol for yourself, 27 00:01:03,700 --> 00:01:06,080 whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above 28 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:08,740 or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 29 00:01:08,740 --> 00:01:12,080 Do not bow in worship to them and do not serve them. 30 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,060 For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, 31 00:01:15,060 --> 00:01:17,400 bringing the consequences of the father's iniquity 32 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:19,640 on the children to the third and fourth generations 33 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:21,680 of those who hate me. 34 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,040 But showing faithful love to a thousand generations 35 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:27,840 of those who love me and keep my commandments. 36 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,920 Do not make an idol. 37 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:36,920 Do not bow and worship idols. 38 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:40,580 Do not serve idols. 39 00:01:40,580 --> 00:01:45,580 The second commandment is this, get rid of our idols. 40 00:01:45,580 --> 00:01:49,160 And remember the context from last week, right? 41 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,800 God saw his people in slavery, he heard their cries, 42 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:54,680 and he miraculously rescued them. 43 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,280 He brought them out into freedom. 44 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,920 He brought them freedom, he freed them, rescued them, 45 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:05,400 and then, then he speaks these commands to them. 46 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,120 The commands are given to make sure his people 47 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,440 keep living in the freedom that he's provided for them. 48 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,400 He doesn't want them to end up back in slavery. 49 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:17,760 He wants them to live in freedom. 50 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,360 God really wants you to live in freedom. 51 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:25,760 That's God's desire for you, you right now. 52 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:28,040 God wants you and your life, he wants you to live 53 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:30,580 in a freedom that you can only experience 54 00:02:30,580 --> 00:02:32,560 through his provision. 55 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,780 He wants your life to be one of freedom. 56 00:02:35,780 --> 00:02:37,840 That's his desire. 57 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:42,020 And so one of the ways that we remain in the freedom 58 00:02:42,020 --> 00:02:47,020 that God has for us is to not serve idols, 59 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:51,280 which means this, this command, get rid of your idols. 60 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:57,240 If we don't do it, if we do make, bow down and worship to, 61 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:01,180 and serve idols, it's a way to head back to slavery. 62 00:03:01,180 --> 00:03:04,000 So here's what I'd like to do. 63 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,940 I'd like to ask us four questions about this text, 64 00:03:06,940 --> 00:03:07,780 and then we'll answer them. 65 00:03:07,780 --> 00:03:10,140 First, what is an idol? 66 00:03:10,140 --> 00:03:13,000 Second, why would we want one? 67 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,880 Third, what do idols do to us? 68 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,440 And then fourth, how do we destroy them? 69 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,280 So first, what is an idol? 70 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,040 Well, the first command in verse three, 71 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,800 the first commandment, have no other gods before me, 72 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,880 that's telling us who we should worship. 73 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:31,720 Who should we worship? 74 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:33,680 Well, God says there's no other gods. 75 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:35,520 There's no other gods that you should worship, 76 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:37,200 we should worship me alone. 77 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,200 There's no other gods who exist and have any power, 78 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:41,260 worship me. 79 00:03:41,260 --> 00:03:43,960 The first commandment tells us who to enthrone and worship, 80 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,440 God, Yahweh, the creator, the maker of heavens and earth, 81 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:49,500 the God of the Bible, that's who. 82 00:03:49,500 --> 00:03:52,040 The God we worship is the God who gives us freedom. 83 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:55,580 The second commandment tells us how to worship him, 84 00:03:55,580 --> 00:03:58,520 not through idols. 85 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:03,120 Our God does not wanna be worshipped through idols. 86 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:04,920 And so what is an idol? 87 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,280 Well, in the times that this was written, 88 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:09,700 an idol was typically represented as a physical thing, 89 00:04:09,700 --> 00:04:12,560 like a statue or something you can make. 90 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:13,800 And maybe hearing that, you're like, 91 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:14,880 oh, whew, okay, good. 92 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:16,560 I don't have any of those in my house, 93 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:18,600 I don't have any little statues, little idols 94 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:20,280 that I bow down to and worship to, 95 00:04:20,280 --> 00:04:21,560 so I'm good on this one. 96 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:23,160 Maybe that's what you're thinking. 97 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,760 But the thing is, it's not simply the image, 98 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:28,560 the thing that's dangerous. 99 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:32,020 I mean, a statue by itself has no power, 100 00:04:32,020 --> 00:04:34,960 but it's what that thing represents. 101 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:39,320 Like, look what happens after God rescues his people, 102 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,360 he brings them into freedom, rescues them from slavery. 103 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:45,240 Look what happens just a few chapters from here 104 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,680 in Exodus 32, we've got it on the screen. 105 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,560 It says, "When the people saw that Moses delayed 106 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:51,920 "in coming down from the mountain, 107 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:53,960 "they gathered around Aaron and said to him, 108 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:57,280 "Come, make gods for us who will go before us 109 00:04:57,280 --> 00:04:59,520 "because this Moses, this man who brought us up 110 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:00,460 "from the land of Egypt, 111 00:05:00,460 --> 00:05:02,420 "we don't know what's happened to him." 112 00:05:02,420 --> 00:05:06,360 Do you hear their motivation? 113 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:11,200 It's fear, right? 114 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,280 We don't know what happened to our leader. 115 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:19,280 It felt like life was in chaos and they were afraid. 116 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:21,920 And so Aaron tells them, "Well, give me all your gold." 117 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:23,760 And so they do, and then in verse four, 118 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:24,800 he took the gold from them, 119 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:26,160 fashioned it with an engraving tool, 120 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:29,220 and made it into the image of a calf. 121 00:05:29,220 --> 00:05:32,320 Then they said, "Israel, these are your gods 122 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,000 "who brought you up from the land of Egypt." 123 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,960 In these days, a bull was a symbol of strength. 124 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:40,960 And so these people, they were scared, 125 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:43,520 they wanted to experience God's strength again, 126 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:44,600 and so they make something 127 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:46,320 where they can focus on God's strength, 128 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:48,800 on his power, and on his stability. 129 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:50,640 And so the next day, they wake up, they get up, 130 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,680 and they offer burnt offerings to this bull, this calf, 131 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,800 and they worship it the same way they worship God. 132 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:02,080 They're still worshiping, even worshiping correctly, 133 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,120 but they're only worshiping the characteristic of God 134 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:06,960 that they want to worship. 135 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:11,520 They've remade God in their own image. 136 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,020 All they care about is God's power. 137 00:06:15,020 --> 00:06:20,240 And so this shows us what an idol really is. 138 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:25,240 An idol is anything less than the fullness of God 139 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:27,120 that we give our hearts to. 140 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:32,080 Anything less than the fullness of God himself 141 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:34,760 that we give our hearts to. 142 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:36,960 Here are some things talked about as idols 143 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:37,920 in the New Testament. 144 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:42,920 Money, nature, ourselves, sex, possessions. 145 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:50,680 All good, beautiful things that God has blessed us with 146 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:52,720 and wants us to enjoy in the freedom 147 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:53,760 that he's brought us into, 148 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:57,720 but we end up turning to them and giving our hearts to them 149 00:06:57,720 --> 00:06:59,840 in ways that we never should. 150 00:06:59,840 --> 00:07:03,800 Now, does this mean that we always make little images 151 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,280 that represent them and worship those little statues? 152 00:07:06,280 --> 00:07:08,160 No, not at all. 153 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:11,600 We remake God simply when we focus on just the things 154 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:13,960 we like about God and we want God to be 155 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:15,640 and ignore the rest of him. 156 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:20,200 So this might happen when you hear things like, 157 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:21,520 maybe you would say or someone would say, 158 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:22,760 maybe you hear something like, 159 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:25,680 "Well, man, I don't want a God 160 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:28,040 "who would allow people to go to hell. 161 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:28,980 "I don't want that kind of God. 162 00:07:28,980 --> 00:07:30,420 "I like a lot of things about this God, 163 00:07:30,420 --> 00:07:32,120 "but I don't want a God like that, 164 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:33,960 "so I'm just gonna get rid of that." 165 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:40,240 Or, "I think God is a God who's okay 166 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:41,860 "with everyone's lifestyle choices. 167 00:07:41,860 --> 00:07:43,120 "I think if there's a God out there, 168 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:45,420 "that he would just be okay with everything." 169 00:07:45,420 --> 00:07:48,880 Or, "I could never worship a God 170 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:51,000 "who would offer forgiveness to that person 171 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:53,860 "and ask me to love them as family." 172 00:07:53,860 --> 00:08:00,160 You see, what we're saying when we say things like that is, 173 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:01,800 I'm only gonna worship a God that does everything 174 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:03,200 the way I want him to do it. 175 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,120 I'm only gonna worship a God 176 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,020 if he does things the way I think he should. 177 00:08:09,020 --> 00:08:15,240 And by doing that, we are remaking God into our own image. 178 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:19,480 The Israelites wanted God's strength. 179 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:21,160 That was the only thing they were focused on, 180 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:23,320 and so it meant that they were no longer worshiping 181 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:25,500 the fullness of who God is. 182 00:08:25,500 --> 00:08:26,840 They were giving to their hearts 183 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:29,500 to something infinitely less beautiful 184 00:08:29,500 --> 00:08:33,960 than the fullness of how God has revealed himself to be. 185 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:35,640 Sometimes this happens in our marriages. 186 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:39,520 We want our spouse to act the way we want them to act, right? 187 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:40,640 And so we may even say to them, 188 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,200 "Man, this is who I need you to be to me," 189 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:46,760 even though that's not who they are. 190 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:51,340 We love a person we've made in our own image, 191 00:08:51,340 --> 00:08:53,240 not a person who really exists. 192 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:56,140 And when we do that to God, that's idolatry. 193 00:08:57,800 --> 00:08:59,940 When we give our hearts to the love of God 194 00:08:59,940 --> 00:09:02,540 but ignore the wrath of God, his anger at sin, 195 00:09:02,540 --> 00:09:05,260 we aren't worshiping God in his fullness anymore. 196 00:09:05,260 --> 00:09:07,900 When we only love the grace of God for sinners 197 00:09:07,900 --> 00:09:10,240 but never focus on his holiness and his purity, 198 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:12,720 we aren't worshiping God anymore. 199 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,100 When we only see God as the judge of mankind 200 00:09:15,100 --> 00:09:17,620 but ignore his compassion and kindness and nearness, 201 00:09:17,620 --> 00:09:19,980 that is a totally different God. 202 00:09:19,980 --> 00:09:23,740 Idolatry is anything less than the fullness of God 203 00:09:23,740 --> 00:09:24,780 that we give our hearts to. 204 00:09:24,780 --> 00:09:27,340 And so the question is, why would we wanna do that? 205 00:09:28,180 --> 00:09:29,540 Why would we wanna do that? 206 00:09:29,540 --> 00:09:34,940 Well, back in Exodus 32, it says Israel was scared, right? 207 00:09:34,940 --> 00:09:37,780 Israel was scared because they had a need. 208 00:09:37,780 --> 00:09:39,240 They wanted their need to be met. 209 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:43,240 They wanted God's power because they wanted protection. 210 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:44,080 That was their need. 211 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:45,720 And we all have needs, right? 212 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:49,480 We all have needs that we'd love to have met by God. 213 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:50,920 We want protection as well. 214 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:52,480 We want protection in life. 215 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:54,760 But instead, sometimes of going to the fullness 216 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:57,800 of who God is and trusting that he will protect us, 217 00:09:57,800 --> 00:09:59,000 sometimes we're like, ah, yeah, 218 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:01,760 but I think money will do a better job. 219 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:03,880 And so I'm gonna discredit God and say 220 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:05,440 that he's not a God of full protection. 221 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:06,880 And I'm gonna say, yeah, God, you're there, 222 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:10,040 but I think money will give me more protection than you. 223 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:14,480 And so we don't worship God in his fullness anymore. 224 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:17,000 We give that worship to something else. 225 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:19,000 We want love and we think that we'll get it best 226 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:19,840 through other people. 227 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:22,020 We want pleasure and so we give our hearts to sex. 228 00:10:22,020 --> 00:10:23,860 We want beauty and we think we'll find enough of it 229 00:10:23,860 --> 00:10:24,700 in nature. 230 00:10:24,700 --> 00:10:27,880 Our idols spring up as a result of our hearts 231 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:30,760 not being satisfied in God. 232 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:32,520 Not believing that God himself, 233 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:34,880 as he has fully revealed himself, 234 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,160 can and will meet all of our needs. 235 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:40,240 And what's crazy in this, man, is that the Israelites, 236 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:43,920 they experienced God's power in ways we can barely fathom. 237 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:46,500 Like they experienced the plagues, right? 238 00:10:46,500 --> 00:10:50,060 The parting of the sea, the pillar of cloud and fire, 239 00:10:50,060 --> 00:10:51,640 the raining of bread from heaven. 240 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:54,600 They had these crazy miracles showing God's power, 241 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,560 but now they're in the doldrums of everyday life. 242 00:10:57,560 --> 00:11:02,200 They were satisfied with God and praising him 243 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:05,240 on the mountaintop when the miracles were happening, 244 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:07,140 but now they aren't satisfied anymore. 245 00:11:07,140 --> 00:11:11,900 This typically happens in our lives 246 00:11:11,900 --> 00:11:16,660 when we want something that we don't think God will give us. 247 00:11:16,660 --> 00:11:23,320 When we want something that we don't think God will give us. 248 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:27,860 Maybe you want sex your own way, 249 00:11:27,860 --> 00:11:31,880 and so you have to reimagine God as a God 250 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:34,480 who's okay with you having sex before marriage. 251 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:37,920 He's a God of grace, right? 252 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:39,480 Let's just focus on his grace. 253 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:44,860 Maybe you wanna cheat on your spouse, 254 00:11:44,860 --> 00:11:47,780 and so you have to reimagine God in order to do that. 255 00:11:47,780 --> 00:11:49,680 Well, he's a God who would want me to be happy, right? 256 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:51,200 And I'm not happy where I'm at, 257 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:54,720 and he wants me to be happy, so he'd be okay with this. 258 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:56,680 He wouldn't mind if I'm not faithful. 259 00:11:56,680 --> 00:12:00,360 Maybe you wanna hoard your money, 260 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:02,060 and so you have to reimagine God. 261 00:12:02,060 --> 00:12:04,400 Well, God's a God who wants me to be wise and save. 262 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:07,000 He wants me to be a good steward, right? 263 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:09,560 He won't mind if I'm not generous. 264 00:12:09,560 --> 00:12:13,600 Maybe you wanna feel supreme in your views, 265 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:16,400 your tightly held views that you've come to in life, 266 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:18,760 the views that you're willing to die on that hill 267 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:21,440 or at least go down to that corner and hold a sign for. 268 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:23,880 You wanna feel like those views are validated and right, 269 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:26,480 and so you've gotta reimagine God to be a God 270 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:29,480 who elevates your culture, your nation, your politics, 271 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:31,300 and he looks down on those 272 00:12:31,300 --> 00:12:33,300 who view things differently than you do. 273 00:12:33,300 --> 00:12:38,440 You see that bull? 274 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:42,440 It focused on one good thing about God. 275 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:47,440 He is all-powerful, but it didn't fully show who God is. 276 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:50,800 And when our hearts aren't satisfied with God's fullness, 277 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:55,000 we will reduce God to only the things we like about him. 278 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:59,120 We remake him so that we can live how we want, 279 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,660 and that gets to the heart of why we want idols right there. 280 00:13:02,660 --> 00:13:06,300 We want idols so that we can live how we want. 281 00:13:06,300 --> 00:13:09,200 That's our default starting spot. 282 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:10,880 I wanna live how I want in this world, 283 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:13,600 and so when my views conflict with who God is 284 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:14,880 and how he's revealed himself, 285 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,320 you know who it's easier to change? 286 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:18,800 God. 287 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:21,240 It's easier to change God than it is myself. 288 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:24,800 And so we reimagine God, we remake God in our own image 289 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:29,280 to be a God who's completely okay with me and fits me, 290 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:31,640 rather than saying he is God, I am not, 291 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:33,740 and I'm ready to change any way I need to. 292 00:13:33,740 --> 00:13:39,720 We wanna live our own way in this world. 293 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:41,760 Proverbs 14 says it this way on the screen. 294 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:43,360 There's a way that seems right to a person, 295 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:45,720 but its end is the way of death. 296 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:46,840 There's a way that seems right 297 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:47,840 for us to live in this world. 298 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:49,700 There's a way that it seems right for us 299 00:13:49,700 --> 00:13:51,040 that God should be like this, 300 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:54,560 but the end of that path, man, it's slavery, it's death. 301 00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:57,320 But God has spoken, he's revealed who he truly is 302 00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:59,120 so that we can have life and freedom. 303 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:03,100 We've gotta stop refereeing God and let God be God. 304 00:14:03,100 --> 00:14:08,000 Let him be who he's told us he is. 305 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,880 Because, number three, man, what will idols do to us? 306 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:15,660 Well, look at the progression in the command. 307 00:14:15,660 --> 00:14:17,900 First, God says don't make an idol. 308 00:14:17,900 --> 00:14:19,280 That's just the decision to make it, 309 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,440 to give the opportunity to give our hearts to it. 310 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:23,600 But then he says don't bow down and worship it, 311 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,720 which is a terrible sin to worship anything other than God. 312 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:29,360 But you might still be worshiping God alongside your idol. 313 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,440 A lot of us try to do that all the time. 314 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:33,000 We say we love God, we worship him, 315 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:36,360 but we've got our idol on the side, you know? 316 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:38,820 I love God, yeah, yeah, yeah, but money, ooh. 317 00:14:38,820 --> 00:14:41,680 I'll dip into this sometimes. 318 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:43,000 Worship it and love it. 319 00:14:43,820 --> 00:14:46,240 But then look at the last one in the progression. 320 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:47,760 Don't serve them. 321 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:52,180 When you serve an idol, you've given it your entire life. 322 00:14:52,180 --> 00:14:56,600 Make, worship, serve. 323 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:58,000 There's a progression there. 324 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,600 It's almost never the story that someone wakes up one day 325 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:03,440 and just serves a new God out of nowhere. 326 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,600 It's almost always the case that it's a slow path 327 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:08,200 filled with many decisions, 328 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,560 giving your heart and your life to an idol. 329 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:15,020 But once you do, it will completely enslave you. 330 00:15:15,020 --> 00:15:19,860 In Exodus 32, the Israelites worshiped that bull 331 00:15:19,860 --> 00:15:22,060 for not even a full day. 332 00:15:22,060 --> 00:15:24,900 Not even a full day. 333 00:15:24,900 --> 00:15:27,620 And they were already involved in what our Bible translates, 334 00:15:27,620 --> 00:15:30,060 our translation translates as they got up the next day 335 00:15:30,060 --> 00:15:32,700 and they worshiped and it says then they partied. 336 00:15:32,700 --> 00:15:35,980 Some other translations say they engaged in pagan revelry. 337 00:15:35,980 --> 00:15:38,740 The Hebrew there kind of makes it clear they had an orgy. 338 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:44,400 Less than a day of serving an idol 339 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:47,940 and they're back in slavery. 340 00:15:47,940 --> 00:15:51,120 They are slaves to their appetites. 341 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,080 Idols enslave us. 342 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:55,800 And they enslave others around us. 343 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:58,480 In verse five, it says that a father's sins of idolatry, 344 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:00,200 the consequences may be felt in his kids, 345 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:01,580 his kids' kids down the line. 346 00:16:01,580 --> 00:16:03,800 Generations of a family may be enslaved 347 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:05,820 to money or power or sex or politics 348 00:16:05,820 --> 00:16:08,280 because one person gives those things their heart. 349 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:11,200 And at the end of it all, it produces a hatred of God. 350 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:12,600 That's the end of verse five, right? 351 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:15,720 God equates serving idols with hating him. 352 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:19,820 God says to change him and not embrace the fullness 353 00:16:19,820 --> 00:16:22,820 of who he is, but only worship parts of him 354 00:16:22,820 --> 00:16:24,520 is like hating him. 355 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:27,240 And so that tells us what idols will do to us, man. 356 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:30,960 Idols will enslave us, they'll enslave those around us, 357 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,220 and they'll lead to us hating God. 358 00:16:36,540 --> 00:16:39,220 But God wants us to live in freedom. 359 00:16:39,220 --> 00:16:41,540 God wants us to live in freedom from the idols 360 00:16:41,540 --> 00:16:43,740 that would consume us and enslave us. 361 00:16:43,740 --> 00:16:45,260 And so the key question here is this, 362 00:16:45,260 --> 00:16:47,260 how in the world do we destroy them? 363 00:16:47,260 --> 00:16:52,580 How do we destroy them and stay and remain in freedom? 364 00:16:52,580 --> 00:16:54,780 Well, we tend to think, as I thought for many, 365 00:16:54,780 --> 00:16:56,500 many years of my life, we tend to think 366 00:16:56,500 --> 00:16:59,580 that the way to destroy idols is to hate them. 367 00:16:59,580 --> 00:17:00,980 I've just gotta hate my idols. 368 00:17:00,980 --> 00:17:02,460 I've gotta hate my sin enough. 369 00:17:02,460 --> 00:17:05,340 And so if I could just like hate my hoarding enough, 370 00:17:06,340 --> 00:17:09,220 then it'll lead to me being generous. 371 00:17:09,220 --> 00:17:11,380 Maybe I go to war on hoarding in my life. 372 00:17:11,380 --> 00:17:14,180 I set up plans, I set up accountability system, 373 00:17:14,180 --> 00:17:16,620 and so I break the habit of hoarding, 374 00:17:16,620 --> 00:17:19,580 and I become generous, and maybe my heart 375 00:17:19,580 --> 00:17:22,100 even comes along eventually, and I start to love 376 00:17:22,100 --> 00:17:23,700 being a generous person. 377 00:17:23,700 --> 00:17:27,220 Here's the problem with that. 378 00:17:27,220 --> 00:17:29,500 Even if I could figure out how to hate 379 00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:31,220 one of my idols enough, 380 00:17:34,460 --> 00:17:36,620 I've got like 12 or 13 more right in here, 381 00:17:36,620 --> 00:17:40,760 baking, ready to go, ready to be worshipped. 382 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:48,340 John Calvin wrote, "Our hearts are idol factories." 383 00:17:48,340 --> 00:17:49,700 They're idol factories. 384 00:17:49,700 --> 00:17:50,740 There's something about our hearts. 385 00:17:50,740 --> 00:17:53,060 It's like it's a factory that's just producing idol 386 00:17:53,060 --> 00:17:55,460 after idol, things that we would love to worship 387 00:17:55,460 --> 00:17:58,660 instead of God, and so even if we could figure out one 388 00:17:58,660 --> 00:18:00,860 and kill it, man, there's another one right there, 389 00:18:00,860 --> 00:18:01,940 ready to go. 390 00:18:03,220 --> 00:18:04,860 Anybody ever worked in a factory? 391 00:18:04,860 --> 00:18:07,100 Anybody ever worked in a factory? 392 00:18:07,100 --> 00:18:08,660 Few of you, yeah, okay. 393 00:18:08,660 --> 00:18:11,100 I spent some good time in a factory. 394 00:18:11,100 --> 00:18:13,680 My dad, his whole career, he worked in a factory 395 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:15,700 that makes the cans for Coke and Pepsi, 396 00:18:15,700 --> 00:18:18,340 and so there's two lines in this factory 397 00:18:18,340 --> 00:18:19,380 that I used to work at. 398 00:18:19,380 --> 00:18:21,820 There's the end line, the ends, like the top that you pop 399 00:18:21,820 --> 00:18:23,340 and the bottom it sits on, those are the ends, 400 00:18:23,340 --> 00:18:26,060 and then there's the cylinder that is the can you hold onto. 401 00:18:26,060 --> 00:18:27,580 I don't know anything about that cylinder 402 00:18:27,580 --> 00:18:28,860 'cause I didn't work on that side, 403 00:18:28,860 --> 00:18:30,940 but I worked on the end line is what it was called. 404 00:18:30,940 --> 00:18:32,540 I worked with those ends, all right, 405 00:18:32,540 --> 00:18:35,100 so I was in this factory doing 12-hour shifts, 406 00:18:35,100 --> 00:18:37,220 12 on, 12 off, four days in a row, 407 00:18:37,220 --> 00:18:41,140 and it was about 102, 104 degrees in this factory, 408 00:18:41,140 --> 00:18:43,700 just blazing hot, and there was this machine 409 00:18:43,700 --> 00:18:45,580 about the size of our room right here 410 00:18:45,580 --> 00:18:49,220 that was making those ends, and every 22 seconds, 411 00:18:49,220 --> 00:18:51,300 it would send them down to me. 412 00:18:51,300 --> 00:18:52,420 They would come out of this machine, 413 00:18:52,420 --> 00:18:54,060 they would come down these little troughs, 414 00:18:54,060 --> 00:18:56,020 these three troughs right in front of me, 415 00:18:56,020 --> 00:18:59,540 and it would push them down, and there would be 450 416 00:18:59,540 --> 00:19:01,580 in front of me in three troughs, 417 00:19:01,580 --> 00:19:03,340 and so I'd have to squeeze them together, 418 00:19:03,340 --> 00:19:05,380 and I'd have to look to see if there's any grease 419 00:19:05,380 --> 00:19:08,020 like gunked up on those so that you don't get grease 420 00:19:08,020 --> 00:19:10,540 in your Coke Zero 'cause, I mean, Coke Zero's 421 00:19:10,540 --> 00:19:12,100 basically that anyway, but you don't want 422 00:19:12,100 --> 00:19:15,060 any added grease in there, and so I'm squeezing it, 423 00:19:15,060 --> 00:19:17,100 looking for the grease, throwing out if anything's bad, 424 00:19:17,100 --> 00:19:18,620 and then I shove them into these bags. 425 00:19:18,620 --> 00:19:20,940 So I do it three times, put them into these bags, 426 00:19:20,940 --> 00:19:23,260 take the bag off, fold it, and I put it on this pallet. 427 00:19:23,260 --> 00:19:28,020 A pallet held 986 of those bags, okay? 428 00:19:28,020 --> 00:19:30,700 And so it would take, once they came down 429 00:19:30,700 --> 00:19:31,940 and they released in front of me, 430 00:19:31,940 --> 00:19:35,180 I would have 24, I think 24 seconds 431 00:19:35,180 --> 00:19:37,620 before some more would come, and so I'd do it real quick, 432 00:19:37,620 --> 00:19:41,060 I'd put 'em on, and then there was this one little AC vent 433 00:19:41,060 --> 00:19:44,140 that if I got in front of it, I could feel some cold air, 434 00:19:44,140 --> 00:19:45,700 and I learned, I got to the point where I could do it 435 00:19:45,700 --> 00:19:47,900 quick enough that I could stay here for about two, 436 00:19:47,900 --> 00:19:49,580 two and a half seconds, something like that, 437 00:19:49,580 --> 00:19:52,120 and just feel it, and then I'd have to be back, 438 00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:54,480 and man, it just, like, these motions just got into me 439 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:56,980 so much that I would wake up in the middle of the night, 440 00:19:56,980 --> 00:19:58,980 and my arms would be doing this, and I'd be like, 441 00:19:58,980 --> 00:20:01,460 oh my gosh, what's happening to me? 442 00:20:01,460 --> 00:20:05,300 But what was even more wild was the sound of the machine. 443 00:20:05,300 --> 00:20:08,300 You had to wear earplugs because this machine was so loud, 444 00:20:08,300 --> 00:20:10,420 but it had a certain cadence and beat. 445 00:20:10,420 --> 00:20:13,460 It would go, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da 446 00:20:13,460 --> 00:20:16,300 for 12 hours, all right? 447 00:20:16,300 --> 00:20:18,540 And it, like, got into my soul. 448 00:20:18,540 --> 00:20:22,500 You could feel it in your bones, and it was miserable. 449 00:20:22,500 --> 00:20:24,420 But there were some days where I'd be working 450 00:20:24,420 --> 00:20:27,940 and doing this same sequence for every 24 seconds 451 00:20:27,940 --> 00:20:32,940 for 12 hours and I'd hear (vocalizing) 452 00:20:32,940 --> 00:20:35,460 and the machine would break. 453 00:20:35,460 --> 00:20:38,540 And it was the greatest thing in the world. 454 00:20:38,540 --> 00:20:39,800 (audience laughs) 455 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:42,360 Terrible for the company, because now they're not producing. 456 00:20:42,360 --> 00:20:45,000 Now the mechanics descend and it's craziness, 457 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:47,120 but I was trained to do nothing else. 458 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:49,400 There wasn't even a broom for me to hold when that happened. 459 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,100 All I could do was sit in front of that A/C right here 460 00:20:52,100 --> 00:20:55,580 and just feel it for as long as it took to fix the machine. 461 00:20:55,580 --> 00:20:58,160 There was one day I came in, 12 hour shift, 462 00:20:58,160 --> 00:20:59,960 it was down the whole time. 463 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:03,020 And so I stood here in front of an A/C for 12 hours 464 00:21:03,020 --> 00:21:05,080 making $32 an hour. 465 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:05,920 It was great. 466 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:10,000 My prayer to the Lord of Angel Armies every day 467 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,420 was break the machine. 468 00:21:12,420 --> 00:21:15,600 Please God, break this machine today. 469 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:24,480 The way that the idle factory in our hearts breaks down 470 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:26,620 is not through a hatred of idols. 471 00:21:26,620 --> 00:21:30,960 It's through a full on, all out love for God. 472 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:35,000 That's what breaks the machine. 473 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:39,200 Through a love for the God who rescued you 474 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:41,400 and brought you into freedom, 475 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,960 through a wholehearted love for and worship of that God, 476 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,960 the idle factory in our hearts will be destroyed. 477 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,640 Look what Romans 12 says. 478 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:54,560 It says, "Therefore, brothers and sisters, 479 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:56,160 "in view of the mercies of God, 480 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:59,120 "I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, 481 00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:00,920 "holy and pleasing to God. 482 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,000 "That is your true worship." 483 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,040 Now look at this, our true worship. 484 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,640 What that's saying is how do we truly worship God? 485 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:09,240 In other words, how do we worship 486 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,360 the fullness of who God really is? 487 00:22:12,360 --> 00:22:14,520 How do we give God our true worship? 488 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,180 How do we become a people who the idle factories 489 00:22:17,180 --> 00:22:18,880 of our hearts have broken down? 490 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:20,800 We're not worshiping idols in any way anymore. 491 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:22,480 We're truly worshiping God. 492 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,320 Giving him our entire lives as a living sacrifice. 493 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:26,640 How do we get there? 494 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:28,720 Look at the beginning of the verse. 495 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:32,580 In view of the mercies of God. 496 00:22:32,580 --> 00:22:38,600 With them, with God's mercies in mind, 497 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:41,760 as you are captivated by God's mercies, 498 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:46,000 when you love who he is and what he's done for you, 499 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,640 you will worship God with your whole life. 500 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,800 You will worship God for truly who he is. 501 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:56,600 See guys, we can worship God all day, every way, every day, 502 00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:57,880 and with the rest of our lives, 503 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:00,160 if we have his mercies in view. 504 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:01,880 If we know that even though we were dead 505 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:03,400 in our trespasses and sins, 506 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,120 enslaved captives to sin, death, and Satan, 507 00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:08,640 but God being rich in this mercy, 508 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:11,000 came and rescued us and brought us into freedom 509 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:15,960 and made us alive, and he did it at great cost to himself. 510 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:19,920 How do we destroy our idols? 511 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:23,680 We destroy them by being captivated by the gospel of Jesus. 512 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:25,800 That brings us freedom. 513 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:30,600 Jesus came to break the machine, 514 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,560 to destroy the idol factory in our hearts, 515 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:36,120 and to overwhelm it by his life for you, 516 00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:38,640 his death for you, and his love for you. 517 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,320 It's only through wholehearted worship of that God, 518 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:43,960 the God who invites you into the freedom 519 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:46,040 he purchased for you, 520 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:50,360 that we can have hope to destroy the idols that enslave us. 521 00:23:50,360 --> 00:23:53,640 Maybe you've been like Israel lately. 522 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:56,720 You had the mountaintop experience with Jesus, right? 523 00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:58,400 You put your faith in Jesus at one point, 524 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:00,160 you experienced his freedom, 525 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,100 but life has felt kind of like the doldrums lately, 526 00:24:03,100 --> 00:24:04,580 like it did for Israel. 527 00:24:04,580 --> 00:24:05,560 They had that with Moses. 528 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:06,640 Moses was their rescuer. 529 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,520 He came in, he rescued them, he brought them into freedom, 530 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:11,040 and then he went up the mountain, 531 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:14,240 and it felt like he got distant in their lives. 532 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,660 And instead of in that distance, leading into trust, 533 00:24:17,660 --> 00:24:19,920 they ran away. 534 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,300 Maybe Jesus has felt distant to you. 535 00:24:23,300 --> 00:24:28,160 And maybe instead of leaning in, you've actually run away, 536 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:30,120 and your life feels a lot more like slavery 537 00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:32,060 than it does freedom lately. 538 00:24:32,060 --> 00:24:37,680 When we experience the freedom of leaning into Jesus 539 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,600 and being captivated by what he's done for us, 540 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:42,400 that freedom that we live in 541 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,980 will change everything about our lives. 542 00:24:45,980 --> 00:24:49,840 That's what happened to Wesley Barr. 543 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,800 Wesley Barr is a member of Harbor Church Honolulu, 544 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:56,340 and he, for most of his life, just pursued idols, 545 00:24:56,340 --> 00:24:57,960 just pursued dead things that he thought 546 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:00,120 would give him life, and then he met Jesus, 547 00:25:00,120 --> 00:25:02,060 and Jesus broke the machine, 548 00:25:02,060 --> 00:25:04,740 and it changed everything about Wesley's life. 549 00:25:04,740 --> 00:25:06,440 Specifically, it changed his view 550 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:09,000 on his work and his gifting. 551 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,100 Check out a little bit of Wesley's story. 552 00:25:11,100 --> 00:25:14,160 - My name's Wesley Barr. 553 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,160 Growing up, didn't really know God, 554 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:22,160 didn't read the Bible, even didn't go to Bible study, 555 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:26,240 didn't really know anyone that went to church regularly. 556 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:30,760 I finished law school in 2008 when I was 23. 557 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:33,760 After a few years of work, I did really well. 558 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:35,880 I worked my way up in my firm. 559 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:39,680 I was able to be professionally successful 560 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:44,680 and make enough money where I felt like 561 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:46,520 this is what I wanted to attain, 562 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:49,600 this was the goal that I was going for. 563 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:53,800 And then I looked around, and I still felt empty. 564 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:58,800 I still felt like I wasn't fulfilled, I wasn't happy. 565 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:04,000 It wasn't bringing me the joy or the purpose 566 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:07,080 that I thought that level of success, 567 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:11,240 that next job, that next trial, 568 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:13,960 that next paycheck was gonna bring. 569 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:18,960 And I think that my walk with God has been one 570 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:24,320 where he has revealed himself to me over a number of years. 571 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:29,480 My faith started in 2020 when my dad passed away. 572 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:31,680 I felt lost. 573 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,880 When I started coming to church, it was a total shift 574 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:40,880 in mindset, and it was like a weight 575 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:45,400 had been lifted off my shoulders of the pressure 576 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:49,640 to have all the answers, to have it all figured out, 577 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:51,120 to have a plan. 578 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:56,120 I think that those years that I spent pursuing those idols 579 00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:59,920 of external validation, money, 580 00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:02,140 what I thought career success looked like, 581 00:27:02,140 --> 00:27:06,440 I think sometimes getting there shows you 582 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,800 that that's not the thing that's gonna bring you 583 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:11,440 what you're missing. 584 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:16,440 When I look to God for guidance in all areas of my life, 585 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:21,640 that meant also my career path and how I can serve others 586 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:24,820 with the gifts that he's given me as an attorney, 587 00:27:24,820 --> 00:27:28,320 as an advocate, as somebody that can help those 588 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:32,200 maybe that are in difficult situations. 589 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:36,840 It's a total 180 from where I started my practice, 590 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:40,920 focused on the bottom line, the jury verdict, 591 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:42,320 the settlement amount. 592 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,100 It felt incredibly freeing. 593 00:27:45,100 --> 00:27:51,000 It felt like this thing I was chasing, 594 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:55,580 this finish line that I kept seeing in the distance, 595 00:27:58,180 --> 00:27:59,560 that I was already there. 596 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,640 And I think that that freedom opened up 597 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:09,120 so much room inside of me for God to then work 598 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:13,600 and serve him instead of serving myself 599 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:15,360 or serving these false idols. 600 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:21,520 - When Jesus comes in and breaks the machine, 601 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:23,640 he brings us into freedom. 602 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:27,000 He brings us to that finish line in life that we long for. 603 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:31,920 And so church, man, let's fix our eyes on Jesus. 604 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:36,800 Let's with his mercies in view, move forward 605 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,120 and watch how he destroys the things 606 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:42,960 that we'd love to run to and worship 607 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:45,160 that'll lead us to freedom. 608 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:46,160 Let's pray together.