Worship - Sunday at 10:30AM
Bible Study - Wednesday at 6:30PM
2007-05-13 Communion Dedication - Baldwin Christian Church
OTHER GODS (PART 4)
Exodus 20:3-5
When we partake of this Supper, we identify ourselves with the life and death
of Jesus. This is a time to confess our guilt to our Savior, and pledge our lives
to serve our Redeemer. Anything more or less than this can get us in trouble.
Cf. 1 Corinthians 11:26-32
To His children, God the Father says...
3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God...
As we go through this series, it may seem like I'm playing a little fast and
loose with definitions of idolatry and false gods; that's why "Pride" was the
subject of the first two messages.
Whenever something doesn't sound quite right to us, we're immediately tempted
to disregard it. If we do, and then we find out later that we were wrong, we know
it wasn't God telling us to ignore the truth. The greatest of all false gods did it,
that instantaneous know-it-all, "Pride". He blinds us to the truth more than anything
else, and separates us from God like nothing else.
For our relationship with God to be healthy, we must practice and exercise this
casting down of our understanding and pride.
There will be things in these messages that immediately sound wrong, so I
challenge you to do some exploration and consider them instead of ignoring them.
When something doesn't sound quite right, find out why. God tempts us to learn
more about Him, and the devil tempts us to think we already know enough.
Deuteronomy 8:19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
When you hear that verse, you might immediately think "Well, I don't walk
after other gods, and serve them, and worship them." That's the first thing
running through my mind; "Hey, I don't do those things, so I'm ok." The
verse says "If you do at all forget the LORD", so even ignoring God can
get us in trouble. This is a state of mind thing, a certain forgetfulness that
He is watching, a lack of appreciation for His mercy, and an attitude that
we know best.
We don't have to literally make idols of wood, stone, or metal, and prostate
ourselves before them. God testifies that we shall surely perish if we forget Him
and lean on our own understanding of things. Are you satisfied with what you already
know about your Redeemer? If Deuteronomy 8:19 doesn't put a scare into you, your
answer was probably "Yes".
As the disciples sat around the Lord's Table, they asked Him questions. They
wanted to know more. Each one of them battled against the pride in their hearts.
In their minds they struggled against what they thought they knew. The battle
begins inside us. Do we know enough about our Redeemer, Christ Jesus?
I'm hopeful, if the LORD wills, to resume this series someday.