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

We all want to be in control of something, don't we?

I mean our kids, our schedule, our eating habits, our relationships. We want life on our terms. But there's a time and place where demanding to be in control brings pain, frustration, and even dissatisfaction. Today I want to share with you how to avoid going to that destructive place.

Stay with me. The mission of these daily programs is to intentionally disciple Christians through the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram. And boy, he's tackling a challenging subject today as he continues our series, God's Boundaries for Abundant Living. That desire to have authority or be in charge is a flaw that runs deep in all of us, and we need to address it. So if you have a Bible, go to Exodus chapter 20, and be sure to keep listening after this teaching as Chip shares some practical advice you can apply to your everyday life.

Okay, here's Chip with his talk, No Worship But True Worship. I want to start with a, I'm sure, apocryphal story that has no theological bearing, and I'm sure someone made it up, but it makes a tremendous point. There's a little boy who wanted a bike, and he was a ornery, ornery, ornery, almost downright mean little boy. And he said, Mom, I want a bike. Mom, I want a bike. Mom, I want a bike. And he tried and tried and tried, and she said, you are a mean ornery little boy, and I'm not gonna give you a bike.

You need to learn some major lessons in life. And so he just kept asking, and he wanted a bike. And so finally, she said, well, why don't you talk to Jesus?

And maybe Jesus will give you a bike. And so he decided he would sit down and have a little talk with Jesus, and was not a child that would really actually go to church much, and he was ornery and mean. And so he sat down, and he thought he wasn't good at praying.

He would write it out. And so he started his letter. Dear Jesus, I've been perfect.

Will you please give me a bike? He was also a liar, so he crumpled that up and threw it away. And then he wrote another note, and he said, Dear Jesus, I've really not been perfect, but I've been very good.

Would you please give me a bike? And he crumpled that up, threw it around. Then finally he said, Dear Jesus, I want to be good, but I'm not. And then he kind of tilted his head, no, that's not really true either. He crumpled it up, threw it. And he remembered a friend, and came from a little bit different background, and he went to his friend's house, and he found a statue of Mary. He took the statue of Mary when they weren't looking, wrapped her in a towel, put duct tape around the towel, stuck Mary, the towel and the duct tape under his bed, and then wrote the last note. Dear Jesus, if you ever want to see your mother again, you better give me a bike. Now, somebody made that up, but it definitely tells a story.

It's self-indicting, because it reflects one of the most common attempts of all people of all time. It's our desire to get God in small, manageable terms that we can control to get him to do for us on our terms what we want done. And often the way to do that is with some sort of object that can take God from the invisible, eternal, awesome, all-powerful creator to a something we can see, control, tame, and manage. And the second command is going to talk about God's prohibition, his boundary against that. You'll notice by way of review, the focus of the first command is the object of our worship.

You might just write the word object down. It's about the who. No gods but God. God demands exclusive worship of Yahweh.

That's his point. The focus of the second command is not the object but the manner or the method of our worship. This is the how. He's going to say that even if you worship the right God, you can worship the right God in the wrong way. And I said to bring a pen because we need to do a little Bible study.

Have you got it? Pull it out. And we're going to read the next passage out of Exodus 20, but the structure is very simple. There are two commands and two reasons.

Follow along and if I see your pen, you can underline a couple key words. First, the command. You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on earth beneath or on the water underneath the earth. Verse 5, you shall not worship them or serve them. Underline, if you will, shall not make for yourself an idol.

That's the first command. It says don't make any idol. By the way, the word for idol here, there's 14 different Hebrew words for idol.

This particular word means a statue, a figurine, a wooden or a molden object. Then the next word, not only is it an idol, but he expands it to any likeness, any visual or pictorial representation. He says don't make pictures in your worship and try to reduce God down to a snapshot. And so the first command is don't make an idol, don't make a likeness of anything you see. Now you remember, they're living in a world where the sun, the moon, the stars and every animal under the sun has been worshiped. God says command number one, don't do it. Notice command number two, you shall not worship them or serve them. Not only are you not to make an idol or a likeness, but you shall not worship them.

Literally, the word means to bow down, to physically bow down, to worship or serve these idols or likenesses that you could make. Then notice the two reasons. He says for I the Lord, his covenant name Yahweh, your God, am a jealous God.

Underline that, will you? That's the first reason. I'm a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children on the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. Interesting, all throughout the Old Testament when God's people would turn away from him and worship an idol or worship another God, he would call it spiritual adultery. And he says that when we turn away from the true God or when you develop a pattern where God out of his zealous, loyal, caring love, he says that when we worship an idol, we actually are demonstrating that we hate him. Notice the second reason, but he goes on to say, but showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. So reason number one, he says, don't make them and don't serve them, is I'm a jealous God. And reason number two is because there are some good things that will happen to your children and there's some bad things that will happen to your children based on whether you bow down and worship idols or not.

Now at this point in time, we read this out of our 21st century years and it's like, I mean, what are we going to do with this one? I mean, does anyone really struggle with idol worship? You know, I didn't read this passage and say, Lord, speak to my heart.

Where am I struggling with creating little wooden objects and putting them on the mantel and lighting candles? But you do understand that all around the world, millions and millions and hundreds of millions of people are bowing down the statues. That then, not just jungles, but in whole nations, their worship revolves around making statues and images and likenesses that they bow down to and pray to and touch and kiss. And not just in other world religions, but among Christendom. And this is being violated every single day and what I want to share with you is why this is so important and what I want to get by the end of our time is God's heart on this.

Remember, it's about boundaries. God is saying this because he has so much better for us. Now, understanding the second command as you'll turn the page, you need a little historical background. This is written to a group of people that have spent the last 400 years looking at every turn to about 1500 different gods that all have a little statue that represent them. This is written to a people that are now in the land of the Canaanites where they had multiple graven images and statues.

And I mean, they were vile. I mean, one of the gods of the Baal gods and the Chemosh gods is they would take their children and Israel later would participate. And they would take their newborn children and it was a big statue and they would build a big fire and to appease the god, they would take their little baby infants and they would throw it up into the fire and they would be consumed alive. And this would be worship to a false god. God understands the vile pagan worship and he's telling them from day one, I will not tolerate any of it. In other words, there's only 10 commands and number one is have no other gods besides me and number two, I mean, this must be pretty high on the priority list. Number two is don't make any idols.

Don't make anything that looks like any of the creation of the creatures and don't bow down to them. And so out of the context, you need to understand this is radical. This is like someone saying to you, what I want you to do is I want you to drive to the store but you can't drive a car. In other words, wait a minute, the only way you can drive is a car or a truck.

No, there's a whole new different way of transportation. He's speaking to a group of people that all they have ever known is idol worship of some form and he's going to spend the next 11 months at the foot of this great mountain, Mount Sinai, and teach them how to now worship in spirit and in truth. How to worship not a false god with images and which almost always led to gross immorality but a god who is invisible, a god who is eternal, a god who is holy, a god who is pure. And the second aspect of how to do this is going to be no idols, no graven images, and don't bow down to them. What I want to do is dig in a little bit on this and let's look at this, what I call the command restated.

And what I mean by that is I want to do a little analysis. If I wanted to put verses four and the first half of five in my own words, the command would be no man-made idols are to be used as a means of worshiping the living God Yahweh. Remember, it's not about who you worship now, it's how you worship the true God.

The little statues, figurines, completely under no circumstances are to be used. Now open your Bible, let's see how quick our group is at learning to Exodus chapter 32. God has come, right, we've had the thunder, we've had the smoke, we've had the lightning, we've had the rumblings, the people are afraid. God has spoken the Ten Commandments, now Moses has gone up onto the mountain to receive them in written form and bring them back. And as we pick up the story, Exodus 32 verse 1. When the people saw that Moses was long and coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, come, make us gods who will go before us.

It's almost like they were, you know, hard of hearing or had kind of spiritual wax in their ears. Wait a second, less than 40 days ago, I mean, God spoke and you were terrified and now you're coming to Aaron and saying, make gods for us. And for this fellow Moses who brought us up from Egypt, we don't know what happened to him. In times of uncertainty, in times when we want to touch and feel God, when times when we fear the future and we want to take control of our world, the temptation is to build an idol of one kind or another. And so we pick up the story, Aaron answered them, take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons, and your daughters are wearing and bring them to me. Maybe he thought round one is if it really costs something to make an idol, they'll back away. Because Aaron knows better.

Well, that doesn't work. So all the people took off their earrings and they brought them to Aaron. And he took what they handed them and he made them into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioned it with a tool. Then they said, these are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.

Now, is this mind-boggling? I mean, up on Mount Sinai, God is in the process of giving the commandments to Moses. And these people now have made a molten image, they have called it their god, and they've given this image credit for bringing them out of Egypt. And the historical background here, there was a bull god in Egypt and it was very potent, it was very powerful. So Aaron probably, now notice carefully, they're not worshiping the bull.

Notice what the text says. It says here, then they said, these are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt. When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, tomorrow there'll be a festival to the Lord.

Same word, Yahweh. They're going to worship Yahweh. They're going to worship the one true God.

But they decided, since they can't seem, and they don't know where Moses is, we're going to use some visual aids or images to help us. So the next day, the people rose early and noticed, now they're going to sacrifice burnt offerings. And they presented fellowship offerings, and afterward they sat down to eat and drink, and they got up to indulge in revelry.

It's a very interesting word. All the worship they've known is what they've watched happen in Egypt or what they've heard about in Canaan. And what they did when they couldn't see, when they couldn't control, when they couldn't tame God, they made an image.

And after they made the image, then they sacrificed animals, they shed blood, they offered it to this thing they could see, and they had this sense of we're in control again. And then the pagan revelry, that is just one of those words that talk about immorality, because every worship of idols always leads to immorality. Jot down, if you were, 1 Corinthians 10, 20. The apostle Paul, when he talks about idols and things offered to idols, he says literally there was real power and there were demonic spirits behind it. Put in your margin also Ephesians 5, 5 and 6, where he talks about as us, as we walk in fellowship and truth with Christ, he says, no immoral or greedy or impure person. And then the little phrase, which are idolaters will inherit the kingdom of God and Christ. And so what we see happening here is people are following base worship, and it starts with this molten image, and God says, don't do it.

That's the application for Israel. I remember about 20 years ago playing on a basketball team, and we played different Olympic teams all throughout South America. And we were one of those international teams, and at halftime we shared Christ, and tremendous, that's how God got my attention in terms of full-time ministry. And we went to La Paz, Bolivia, and there's a statue in La Paz called the Christ of the Andes. And I don't know how many, maybe six stories high, I mean it's huge. And I would watch, and of course it's up about 12, 15,000 feet, and we went to visit.

I mean this is big tourist deal. And I watched the poorest of poor people. Some people walk for miles, and then the last mile or two on their hands and their knees, they would go to the Christ of the Andes. And certain portions of that statue were rubbed completely raw as people crawled, and they had blood on their knees and their elbows.

And they would kiss the statue believing that in some way kissing that statue, they made some deep connection with God, and their worship of God was built around that response. Do you understand why God says I don't want this? I don't want this. No matter how sincere people are in the images of the statues, the pictures, he says, I don't want this.

It reduces me. I came across something that was almost mind-boggling, but a little bit more modern. It says, today, idolatry is alive and well. In fact, Jesus can be yours by calling, gives a toll-free number. Callers can purchase a Jesus doll who bends at the waist and is machine washable.

He looks friendly and is nearly two feet tall. He wears a white tunic under a red robe which sets off a red heart emblazoned on the front of his tunic. His creator sees the doll as a special help to children because it's hard to hug air, speaking of the invisible God. But it also provides solace to the elderly and the infirmed and those under emotional duress. Jesus is only the first in a line of dolls called First Fruits.

He can be yours for $29.95 and would make a fine companion for the soon-to-be-introduced God doll. And you just thought it was some natives down in the heart of the Amazon that were using idols and worshiping idols. Probably everyone here would say they can appreciate deeply Handel's Messiah. Unbelievable piece of music. But what if someone had never, ever heard Handel's Messiah? And what if we took, as talented as these musicians are at this conference, if I would say, you know, these people, you know, who've never heard Handel's Messiah, they have got to at least get a taste of it. And I got them up here behind all those six or seven microphones and then I pulled out a very special instrument and I pulled out a little gazoo.

Okay. And then I would give them all a gazoo. And then there was people who've never heard the beauty of Handel's Messiah and I would say, okay, ready gang?

A one, a two, a one, two, three. What would be the problem with that? I don't know about you, I think I'd rather have them never hear Handel's Messiah through a gazoo than hear it that way. And see, that's what God is saying. You see, when you try and take something that is majestic and powerful and invisible and you reduce it down to something tangible, seeable, foldable, and controllable, you reduce God for who he is and that's what's behind the second commandment. It reduces him.

It makes him smaller. And so any more, you can no more catch the glory and the beauty of Handel's Messiah on gazoos than you can trying to get your arms around who God really is by making an image of this or a picture of that. In the Santa Cruz area, one of the great things we always did, the tallest trees in the world are there. And anybody here, by the way, you can do this. Anybody ever seen the Redwoods? Anybody been out to the Redwoods?

Boy, more people than I thought. I still remember my first time. Some of them are 280, 300 plus feet. Others are so big around and there has been burned where the inside of the tree has been burned where you can get my whole family and five or six friends and you're inside the tree. And I'll never forget the first time looking, I mean, straight up, the majesty of these trees demonstrating the invisible attributes of God. I mean, it is just, it's breathtaking.

And every time anyone from out of town came, there was one place we had to go. We went to the Redwoods and there was a long walk where you could see all these different Redwoods. And can you imagine if I said, okay, here's a box of toothpicks and here's some Elmer's glue. I want you to put together a model of the Redwoods for those people that have never seen them. What's the problem? The problem is you could describe it with words and you could describe it with the images in people's minds that would help them so much more get a faint grasp of the Redwoods.

Than you ever could with toothpicks and putting them together. That little model would so reduce the majesty and the power and the holiness in that sense of those Redwoods that it would be a terrible thing to try and make a model. And this is what's behind the second commandment. Summary then, God demands that we worship Him in spirit. No material object, no matter how sincere, no icon, no statue does God justice. It simply can't represent Him for who He is. His transcendence and His glory. This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. You've been listening to part one of his message, No Worship but True Worship from our series, God's Boundaries for Abundant Living.

Chip will be back shortly to share some helpful application for us to think about. Whether you're religious or not, we all know something about the Ten Commandments and may even be able to name a couple. But do you know that they're just as important now as when God gave them to Moses?

Through this study in Exodus chapter 20, we'll learn how respecting our parents, putting God first, and keeping our word aren't just good ideas but the moral foundation for our faith. Stay with us to get a fresh perspective on these boundaries and better grasp how they can lead to an abundant life. If you've missed any part of this series, catch up on the Chip Ingram app. Well Chip's back with me in studio and Chip, you know, I've been around Living on the Edge for a long, long time. And I can tell you over the past year or so, the ministry has just exploded.

Now I remember when we just had the radio program. Now we're developing resources and training pastors and ministering to the next generation. It's so exciting to see how we're growing and continuing to impact lives. Dave, I have to tell you, I am absolutely astonished by what God is doing through Living on the Edge.

And He doesn't seem to be slowing that momentum down at all. He continues to provide us with amazing opportunities for discipleship here in the United States and then all around the world. I just got back from the Philippines.

I was in Africa recently. And there is a spiritual hunger. There's a hunger for Bible teaching that's truthful, that's expositional, that's practical. I see Christians like never before with all that's happening in the world saying, I need an anchor. I need God's Word.

I need people who believe it and teach with moral authority that comes from God. And so what I want to say to the Living on the Edge family is we really need your help. Would you really pray and ask God what part He wants you to play financially? We need partners like you to meet the growing needs. Is He calling you to go on mission with us to help us disciple God's people, to train those pastors, and to reach the next generation? And by the way, every dollar that you give by July 7th will be matched dollar for dollar. So pray about it and then do what the Lord shows you today.

Thanks so much. Well, if you'd like to help us continue ministering to pastors, engaging today's young people, or creating new resources, now is the time to partner with us. Every gift we receive until midnight this Friday, July 7th, will be matched dollar for dollar. To support us financially, visit LivingOnTheEdge.org or call us at 888-333-6003. That's 888-333-6003 or go to LivingOnTheEdge.org.

App listeners, tap donate, and thanks in advance for your generosity. Well, with that, here again is Chip. As we close today's program, I want you to kind of lean back and let the RPMs of the day and your soul slow down a little bit. And I just want to ask you an honest question, not to produce guilt, not to push you in any direction, but just, you know, we heard something very, very heavy. God demands to be God and to be God alone in your life. And you're human and I'm human and we will all gravitate and drift toward reducing Him.

You know, we want to put Him in a box. We want to make Him a part of our formula. And if you're not careful, I mean, I've done this, I mean, and I've pastored for about 30 years now and I watch the rest of us do this, is what we try and do, you know, and it happens so subtly, is we say, God, how can you help me fulfill my will?

You know, it's like, will you be my little junior helper so that I can have a wonderful family and a great job and that I'll be happy? And we forget that He's the infinite reference point, that He is holy. And we take wonderful, beautiful gifts from a loving God like our mates or our jobs or gifts and abilities in music or athletics, and pretty soon we make that the God. And so let me ask you, what could have slipped into first place? What could you be worshipping?

And if an immediate reaction is, oh, no, no, well, let me just ask you this. Where is your time and energy and thinking and money gravitating toward? Where does it go? Because that's where your God is. That's what holds you up.

If you don't have time to talk with God, if you don't have time to read His word, if you don't have time to serve Him, and if you're not doing it with a conscious recognition of loving people, then I would suggest that God in His grace had you listen to me at this moment to allow you to shift your focus back on Him, make whatever adjustments, tell Him you're sorry, and get your heart realigned with where it needs to be for your good and His glory. Thanks for those challenging words, Chip. As we wrap up today's program, if you've been blessed by Chip's teaching and would like to bless others in the same way, let me encourage you to partner with us financially. And right now is a great time because every gift we receive until midnight this Friday, July 7th, will be matched dollar for dollar. To join the team, go to LivingOnTheEdge.org or call us at 888-333-6003. That's 888-333-6003 or visit LivingOnTheEdge.org. App listeners, tap donate. We'll listen next time as Chip continues our series, God's Boundaries for Abundant Living. Until then, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge.