Grace for the Race

On Friday we looked at the “Instruction” contained within Exodus 14:13—“Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today.”  Today we will complete our two-part message by looking at the “Inspiration” contained within this wonderful verse. 

THE INSPIRATION

God is in the business of delivering His people out of seemingly hopeless situations.  He has been doing this since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and He will continue until the return of Jesus.  Whatever Red Sea you might be facing today, remember the commandment of God: “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today.”

The world will whisper, “It cannot be done,” but pay no attention!  It may well be impossible for man, but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).  God takes obstacles and turns them into opportunities; He takes problems and turns them into possibilities; He takes what is broken and makes it whole.  When God led you on your exodus from death to life, He was simply underscoring the glorious truth sung by the chorus of heaven: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:10).  And He expects you to look to Him for your deliverance today. 

The world will whisper, “Retreat and go back where you came from,” but pay no attention!  When the going got tough, the Israelites wanted to go back to Egypt where their taskmasters provided food for them.  Just days before, they had been groaning under the yoke of slavery; now they were willing to forfeit their freedom for food.  But this is not for you.

Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).  The freedom we have in Christ is far greater than anything this world has to offer.  The provision we receive from our heavenly Father far surpasses the worldly baubles dangled before us, for “The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22).  As my friend and pastor Tullian likes to say, “Jesus plus nothing equals everything . . . and everything minus Jesus equals nothing!”     

One final thought: when God says, “Stand still,” He is telling you to prepare to walk into your deliverance.  The instruction to “stand” implies a posture of readiness.  If God had said “sit” or “kneel” or “lie down,” it would not have the same force.  But when God says “stand,” He is telling us to be ready and alert to receive our marching orders.  When they come, we are to march with confidence and joy into our promised land.  Make no mistake, God is in the business of bringing His people to such a place where the only way out is up.  When you find yourself in that seemingly impassible place, remember His Word: “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.”  That way, God gets 100% of the glory . . . and you get 100% of the blessing!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Part 1

This article and the one following will unpack what I believe to be one of the most instructive and inspiring verses in all of sacred Scripture: “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today” (Exodus 14:13 NKJV).  Having been freed from more than four hundred years of bondage in Egypt, the Israelites found themselves seemingly trapped between the Red Sea and the pursuing Egyptian army.  Their fear was great, their cry was loud and their hope was lost . . . until God showed up!

When was the last time you found yourself in a similar situation? 

The Israelites did NOT find themselves trapped between Pharaoh’s approaching chariots and the Red Sea because Moses made a wrong turn!  The Lord was with them every step of the way.  God was leading His people as they began their Exodus from Egypt:

The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.  The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.  (Exodus 13:21-22)

It was God who led the Israelites to this seemingly hopeless situation in order to demonstrate one simple fact: that the God of the Israelites is God—the one and only true and living God, Who alone can save.

Today we will focus on the “Instruction” in this verse and Monday we will focus on the “Inspiration.” 

THE INSTRUCTION

The saving power of Almighty God was miraculously displayed so as to leave no doubt Who was responsible for the deliverance of the Israelites.  Who could send an east wind to part the waters of the Red Sea?  Who could enable the Israelites to walk across on dry ground as the waters were held in place like gigantic, foaming walls on their right hand and on their left?  Who could release the water with such cataclysmic force as to utterly annihilate the pursuing Egyptians?  Only God!

Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.  Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.  (Exodus 14:30)

The physical deliverance and salvation of the Israelites was all of God.  God sovereignly orchestrated these events so that there could be no doubt.  And this serves as a picture of an even greater deliverance, the spiritual salvation of man that was won on Golgotha’s Hill by the Lord Jesus Christ.  This too was all of God.  Man was trapped between the murderous desire of Satan and the inexorable condemnation of the Law of God.  Man’s situation was utterly hopeless . . . until God showed up, “humble, and mounted on a donkey” (Matthew 21:5).

The Israelites gave all the glory to God for their deliverance from certain death at the hands of the pursuing Egyptians.  We, too, are to give all the glory to God for our deliverance from certain death and eternal separation from the love of God.  We are to live out the assertion of Scripture: “[R]ejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:11).

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

I remember the first time I was given the privilege of preaching from the pulpit of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, serving under founding pastor Dr. D. James Kennedy.  I was in the process of completing my Master of Divinity at Knox Theological Seminary and was licensed to preach.  However, many in the congregation could only see me as a gym owner, personal trainer, teacher, and coach because of my previous occupations.  Some could not get past my past to see me as a minister of the Gospel; their sentiments were essentially expressed as, “I knew you when . . . so what gives you the right to . . .?!”  Some still feel that way years later. 

If you have ever encountered someone who could not get past your past after you became a professing Christian, I have some good news for you.  I trust that what you are about to read will be as much a source of comfort to you as it has been to me.

Although I am less than the least of all God’s People, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.  (Ephesians 3:8)

When someone questions the “right” I have to step into a pulpit and preach the Word of God, they are actually quite correct to be concerned!  I have no “right” to do such a high and holy thing.  I do not deserve to deliver God’s Word to anyone, except for the grace that God has given to me to do it.  Dr. Kennedy would have been the first to admit the very same thing about himself, as would my current pastor, Tullian Tchividjian.  And the same is true for you, regardless of where this finds you today. 

Many may question your profession of faith in Christ because they “knew you when . . .”  That does not change the fact that God’s grace has sought you and bought you with the precious blood of His Son, and He calls you to do His work in a fallen, broken, and sin-filled world.  Some may never get past your past.  That’s OK.  God got over your past, no matter how wicked and wretched it truly was.  God did not wait for you to prove yourself to Him before raising you from death to life.  He knew you could never do that anyway!  While you were still a self-centered, self-absorbed sinner, Jesus died for your sins . . . all of your sins. 

Because God knew us when and still loved us then, that should be enough to keep us going in the face of those who will never be able to get past our past.  I can only imagine just how many people who knew Paul when could not get past his past.  He was a Pharisee of Pharisees and Public Enemy Number One in the eyes of the early Christian church.  He even stood and held the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death.  When Paul, now a radically converted believer in Christ, first came to Jerusalem, “He attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple” (Acts 9:26).  Yet God’s grace was enough for Paul to get on with the ministry he had been called to.  Is it enough for you?

None of us deserve anything we have, especially our faith and promised future.  So when others say, “I knew you when,” receive it with a heart of thanksgiving for a God who would rescue a sinner like you and give you such an incredible calling to serve Him for His glory and the good of others.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

What kind of student were you in high school?  What about college?  What was your Grade Point Average—what students and educators alike refer to as the GPA?  Regardless of how low the GPA recorded on your official transcripts, in God’s grade book, if you have placed your trust in Jesus Christ, you are a straight “A” student with a perfect 4.0 GPA!  Because of Christ’s atoning work on your behalf, everyone who is in Christ has received an A+ . . . when only a grade of “Zero” was deserved.  “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10 NIV).  But thanks to Christ’s perfect life, sacrificial death, and miraculous resurrection, all our bad grades have been erased forever, as if they never existed, and only Christ’s perfect score remains.

Now, this does not change the fact that we are called to do our very best in the school of life.  It doesn’t mean we may forsake the spiritual disciplines and the continuous effort required to grow up into Christ.  But it does mean that, regardless of our performance (good or bad) and attention to spiritual discipline (consistent or inconsistent), Jesus has already secured for us God’s eternal approval, acceptance, and affection.  No matter what we do, God will never change our grade; an A+ was reserved for us in God’s grade book from the beginning of time (see Ephesians 1:4) and that perfect grade can never be lowered or erased (see Romans 8:38-39).

I understand that many will misunderstand, misuse, and abuse this incredible gift of Gospel grace.  The Scriptures make this clear in a number of passages.

[W]atch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naïve.  (Romans 16:17-18)

For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.  (Jude 4) 

Yet our weaknesses, failures, and outright rebellion don’t change the truth about grace.  Frankly, if you have never wrestled with the concept of grace so amazing—grace that is unwarranted, unmerited, unconditional, and unending—then you have not yet been fully seized by its truth.

John Newton, the sinful slave trader turned clergyman by the grace of God, poured out the latter half of his life proclaiming the “Amazing Grace” of God.  As he neared the end of his time on earth, his health having deteriorated to the point where it affected his thinking and his speech, Newton acknowledged, “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.”

John Newton truly got it right in his magnificent hymn; Christian, drink in these timeless words!

Amazing grace!  How sweet the sound

that saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found;

was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

and grace my fears relieved;

how precious did that grace appear

the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,

I have already come;

‘tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

and grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,

his word my hope secures;

he will my shield and portion be,

as long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

and mortal life shall cease,

I shall possess, within the veil,

a life of joy and peace.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,

bright shining as the sun,

we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

than when we first begun.

Only when we begin to see the “wretch” within will we catch a glimpse of just how amazing God’s grace really is.  We were hopelessly lost in sin and blind to it . . . until Jesus showed up.  God pursued us, rescued us, and is in the process of renewing us in Christ . . . and He won’t stop until grace has completed its work and leads us safely home.

What He began in grace He will complete in grace.  “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). The more we understand this overwhelming truth, the better we will walk in it with the freedom, joy, and faithfulness the Gospel has secured for us.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.  Why?  The foundation upon which it was built was not strong or solid enough to support the weight of the tower, causing it to tilt more than 17 feet off center over the centuries.

The same phenomenon can be true in the life of believers.  When the foundation is not strong or solid enough to support the weight of living the Christian life, it will be reflected in an off-kilter life that veers markedly away from biblical teaching.

So how do we know when we are leaning?  The answer is found in God’s plumb line—His inspired, inerrant, infallible Word.  In biblical times, when a builder wanted to determine whether or not something was perfectly vertical (upright), he used a plumb line (a weight of some sort attached to the bottom of a string or line).  When you want to determine whether or not someone is perfectly upright you use The Lord’s plumb line—the Bible—the unfailing standard of total Truth.

This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.  And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”  And I said, “A plumb line.”  Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”  (Amos 7:7-9)

Israel was judged against the perfect Word of God, and they were found wanting.  In the very same way, we were being judged against the perfect Word of God and found wanting . . . until Jesus showed up.

From womb to tomb, Jesus fulfilled the Law perfectly. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets,” He said; “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17).  The only One who could measure up to God’s Plumb Line was God Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ.  He went to Golgotha’s Hill as the perfect sacrifice to make full payment for all our sins. 

Here is an astounding truth: all those who, by faith, are in Christ are now like a straight wall—true to plumb.  When God looks at us, He sees only the perfection of His Son, in spite of all of our myriad imperfections!  Our lives can be so far out of whack that we make the Leaning Tower of Pisa look straight, but God only sees us upright in Christ.  “See, I have taken away your sin,” the Lord said to Joshua the high priest, “and I will put rich garments on you.” (Zechariah 3:4 NIV).

Herein lies the power of the Gospel to propel us into living the life God has called us to live.  Jesus came and lived the sinless life, perfectly fulfilling the law of God.  He turned aside the wrath of God by taking our sins upon Himself and nailing them to the cross.  “Therefore,” because of what Jesus has done for sinners, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).  The Law was designed to drive us to Jesus, and in Him we are forever secured in our relationship with the Father regardless of how well or how poorly we are observing the precepts of the Law. 

We will always have two choices when it comes to building into the Kingdom of God.  We can build in our strength or we can build in His strength.  We can build by good works or we can build by His grace.  We can build on merit or we can build on His mercy.  To be sure, Jesus is the better builder, because He has never built anything crooked! 

Jesus is making straight everything that is crooked . . . and that includes you and me.  We know that a yawning chasm lies between us and God’s perfect plumb line because we are sinners—by birth, by nature, and by habit (Romans 3:10-12).  Yet Jesus was measured against God’s exacting standard, and He was not found wanting.  And because of Him you are will never again be found wanting.  You are forever plumb because of His perfection. 

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Today’s message is not about the popular Mission Impossible movies or the television series of the same name.  Instead, I’d like to focus your attention on the glorious truth of Luke 18:27—

“What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

If you are anything like me, you experience those dark nights of the soul when you feel like your mission in life is simply impossible to live out.  We are called by God to bring Him glory by preaching the Gospel with both our lips and our lives; I simply cannot tell you how many times I have missed that mark by a country mile!  I sometimes secretly imagine myself like Ethan Hunt—the star of the movie played by Tom Cruise, who is always given the option to accept or refuse his mission—and telling God that I am going to sit this one out:

• Loving my wife Kim as Christ loved the church . . . all the time!
• Training my children in the way they should go . . . even when they are rebellious
• Serving the members of our congregation . . . when ministry is too demanding 

In these moments of self-absorption and self-protection, God always reminds me—often through my wife, children, and fellow church members—that “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”  Where God calls, He also equips.  He equips me in my calling as a husband.  He equips me in my calling as a parent.  He equips me in my calling as a minister of the Gospel.  I need only take possession of His grace made available to me through my union with Jesus. 

What I mean by “take possession” is that we are to appropriate the grace of God through the means of grace He has given to us—spiritual disciplines like Bible study, prayer, fasting, Sabbath observance, etc.  Jerry Bridges writes in Transforming Grace, “God has provided four principal means of [appropriating His grace]: prayer, His Word, submission to His providential workings in our lives, and the ministry of others.”

To be sure, the Holy Spirit is always at work in our lives and operates sovereignly apart from anything we do.  Jesus promised His disciples that they would be “clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49). Yet we are called to appropriate the grace of God by disciplining ourselves spiritually.  We are commanded to “put off [our] old self . . . and to put on the new self (Ephesians 4:22, 24), to “clothe [ourselves] with the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14), and to “put on the full armor of God” (Ephesians 6:12). Yes, “it is God who works in [us] to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13), but we are to cooperate with the work of the Spirit and operate within His power, which we appropriate by faith.   

Prayerfully consider: what mission or missions you are facing today that seem impossible?  Are you trying to complete your mission in your strength or in His strength?  The answer, to an altogether unsuspecting extent, can be found in how consistently you are actively engaged in applying the “means” He has ordained to assist you in going from mission impossible to mission possible. 

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

What comes to mind when you read the words “Sustained Supernaturally”?  Here are several examples from Scripture of those who were sustained supernaturally.

• Israelites walking through the Red Sea on dry ground . . . sustained supernaturally

(Exodus 14)

• Moses with the Lord forty days without food or drink on Mount Sinai . . . sustained supernaturally (Exodus 34)
• Israelites wandering in the desert 40 years . . . sustained supernaturally
• The woman of Zarephath with just enough food for a last meal for her and her son . . . sustained supernaturally (1 Kings 17)
• Ezekiel lying on his side for 40 days . . . sustained supernaturally (Ezekiel 4)
• Jonah three days in the belly of a great fish . . . sustained supernaturally (Jonah 1)
• Jesus without food for 40 days in His wilderness experience . . . sustained supernaturally  (Matthew 4)
• Jesus and Peter walking on the water . . . sustained supernaturally (Matthew 14)
• Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane sweating droplets of blood . . . sustained supernaturally  (Luke 22)
• Saul at his conversion without sight, food, or drink for three days . . . sustained supernaturally (Acts 9)

I am sure you can think of many other examples, but I don’t want to focus your attention on the more remarkable examples in the Scriptures, but rather the ordinary examples in all of life.  Every one of us is being sustained supernaturally right now.  Your next breath is a gift of God.  Your next heartbeat is a gift of God.  Your next moment in time is a gift of God.  You are being sustained supernaturally at this very moment, and that truth should land afresh on your heart today and change your perspective in life.   

If God is the reason behind all of life—and He is (see Acts 17:25)—then all of life should be living for God.  What is stunning about the human race is that we are the only life form that refuses to live for the glory of God.  It started with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and it continues today.  We live for our glory and the expansion of our own kingdom, rather than the glory of God and the expansion of His kingdom.

But this is not for you!  The Lord cried out to His people through the prophet Isaiah:

You whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

                                                                                                (Isaiah 46:3-4 NIV) 

From conception to completion, and all points in between, God has, is, and will continue to sustain you.  God will sustain you in your self-centeredness.  God will sustain you in your self-righteousness.  God will sustain you in your self-focus.  God will sustain you in your self-absorption.  God will even sustain you in the area where you might think you don’t need it—in your success.  The sovereign love of the Great Sustainer will never fail, falter, or fall short in carrying you every step of the way until you get home.  Remember, His grace is sufficient to sustain you, no matter what you are facing today! 

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

We are living in an age of “instant” insanity.  Everyone knows about instant coffee, instant oatmeal, instant replay, and instant messaging.  Have you heard about instant buttons?  If you lose a button all you have to do is take an instant button, peel off the backing, stick on the item of clothing and you have a quick and easy solution.  Of course, all of these “instant” products are designed to satisfy our insatiable need for instant gratification.

The age of “instant” insanity says, “I want it all and I want it now!”  Our grandparents and parents lived a lifetime of patient, faithful labor; what took them a lifetime to acquire, our children want right now.  And many of them believe they are entitled to it!  At 16 they expect to have a car of their own, or at the very least, at their disposal.  When they get their first job, they expect far more than minimum wage and starting at the bottom rung of the ladder.  For far too many young people, the benefits of hard work and waiting upon the Lord is as far from their thinking as the east is from the west.  Sadly, many of us never grow out of this adolescent stage of “instant” insanity. 

As a coach and personal trainer for nearly three decades, I helped people who wanted to change their bodies or increase their performance; they did it the old fashioned way—they watched your diet and exercised regularly—they worked for it!  Today we look for the latest “magic” bullet (pills, performance enhancement products, fat removal surgeries) that will do it for us, or at least greatly reduce the time period to get what we are looking for.

So what is the cure for “instant” insanity? 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  (James 1:2-3)

James tells us that God has a purpose in perseverance; it must finish its work in us.  And what work is that?  To become more and more like Jesus.  Christlikeness and growing in grace was never designed to happen in a day . . . but daily.  It happens through difficulties.  It happens through trials.  It happens through suffering.  And it is designed to take a lifetime.  We will not be perfected until we pass into glory.  Along the way, we are to persevere and trust God even when we cannot trace Him. 

As he neared the conclusion of his epistle, James exhorted:

 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.  (James 5:7-8)

Instead of trying to quickly get to the other side of our desires, perhaps God would prefer that we spend some time reflecting on what He is doing in the middle of our times of waiting.

One word of caution: Paul had a strong word of warning for believers in Thessalonica who misunderstood the purposes of God in their waiting and decided to stop working while they waited (see 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13).  We are to work for the Lord while waiting on the Lord, and in so doing, we are being conformed into the image and likeness of Jesus. 

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Mahatma Gandhi once observed, “There’s more to life than increasing its speed.”  That one statement has done a lot to help keep my priorities straight.  There was a time when I found my identity in the pace of my performance.  I figured if a fast pace was good, ramming speed was better!  In reality, it was “better” for one thing, and that was driving me to continue doubting, denying, and dodging God’s love for me while I was doubling my efforts.   

When I am challenged, my default mode is to speed up.  And as I hurried along at my frenzied pace, my grumbling and complaining was no different than what I was hearing from those around me.  I’d groan that “My plate is so full I don’t have enough hours in the day to get it all done!”  My solution: step on the accelerator!  I was running in the rat race of life, never fully realizing that even if I crossed the finish line first . . . I was still a rat!

Does this resonate with you?  Let’s take a look at two sisters who paint a wonderful portrait of what to do and what not to do as it relates to increasing the speed of life.

As they went on their way, Jesus entered a village.  And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.  But Martha was distracted with much serving.  And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Tell her than to help me.”  But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.  Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”  (Luke 10:38-42)

In other words, as Jesus explained to Martha, “There’s more to life than increasing its speed.”  Both sisters were doing “good” work.  They were both focused on serving their Lord.  But Mary knew when to stop serving and start sitting at the feet of Jesus.  Do you?  Martha’s “ramming speed” only produced anxiety and a troubled heart.  Mary’s sitting resulted in the “good” portion. 

God gives all of us work to do to expand the cause of His kingdom.  He uses all of our gifts, talents, and abilities and gives us the perfect amount of time to get it done.  If we continually find our plate to be overloaded, we can be sure it was not God ladled on too many labors!  If God knows the number of hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30), we can be sure He knows the number of hours we need to do what He has called us to do each day . . . both to serve Him and to sit at His feet.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

When you hear talk about idolatry what do you think about?  For many, a picture of a golden calf comes to mind, like the one Aaron childishly maintained had jumped out of the fire at the foot of Mount Sinai.  For others, it is a picture of something considered “sacred” by those who bow to a tree, a cow, or some form of graven image.  Many world religions encourage adherents to bow before statues, icons, and images, a practice expressly forbidden in the Word of God (Exodus 20:3-5). 

When idolatry is kept in this context, we can be fooled into thinking that we are immune to it.  Does anyone reading this blog right now bow down to a golden calf, graven image, sacred cow or a tree? Probably not.  However, we can also be fooled into believing these objects are indeed “idle” idols—that they have no power to obstruct or obliterate our worship of the God of the Bible.  The fact is, however, that every one of us is greatly affected by the sin of idolatry, and our idols are by no means idle!

Idolatry defined: the worship of anything that takes the place of the one, true, living God and it is not limited to the worship of images.  It is misplaced trust in the created thing rather than the Creator and at its core is the god of self. 

Most of us are far too sophisticated to bow down to a graven image.  But we have replaced the golden calf with idols that are subtle and powerfully seductive—treacherous idols like materialism, pride, selfish ambition, obsession with career advancement, self-centeredness, greed, lust, and a hoard of others things.  Pulpits across the country propagate idolatry through the preaching of the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel, which is built upon the idol of the self.  These idols will ultimately rule our hearts and shape our lives.  And because idolatry is a matter of the heart, there are NO “idle” idols, because our heart is in a never-ending pursuit to worship something! 

The more we focus on satisfying self, the less we focus on serving God and others.  Self-indulgence—not self-sacrifice—defines the condition of many in the church today.   As John Calvin once rightly observed, “Man’s nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols.”  By nature we are all prone to substitute self for the Savior, having been enticed by the same five words Satan used in tempting Adam and Eve: “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:5).  This desire for self-rule has defined the desires of the heart of every man and woman ever since that dreadful day.

All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  (1 John 2:16)

John makes it clear that there are no idle idols.  The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life control our minds, seduce our hearts, and bend our wills.  Our only way to escape from our natural tendency to idolatry is the Gospel.  Only when God is at the center of our lives (Matthew 22:37) will idolatry be rooted out of our hearts and replaced with the only One who deserves to be there: Jesus.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!