about my humanity and the fact that I make mistakes. In fact, I preached a message not too long ago about things that I regret and just shared a little bit of my many mistakes. But every once in a while, I'll make a flub at the pulpit and not even realize it. And isn't it funny that I just talked to Gore about this today, and it was brought to my attention, and I really do need to clarify this. As I was hearing what I said, I was talking about people, you know, having a default setting of wanting to have revenge. And I talked about serial killers, how they, you know, I hear so many stories when people They just, you know, they've been hurt and they just want to lash out at the world. And I made the statement like, you know, that's normal, you know. And my wife was saying, you know, she was on the way home, she was like, who am I going home with today? And she was, God bless her, when I make those foibles, she tries to think of what I meant. And I did not mean that it is normal for people, you all understood that, did you not? Hopefully, as you were listening, the idea of getting revenge is natural, that can be something we battle, but not everybody is a serial killer, so just let's clear the air about that. All right, Jeremiah chapter 10. As I mentioned to you, there's no chronological order, especially in the beginning of Jeremiah. There's a lot of poems, and this chapter starts out with a satirical poetic attack on idols, and it is in poetry, and that's verses 1 through 16. And then verses 17 through 25, the end of the chapter, deals with the coming exile. And we're going to be hearing a lot about that down the road. In fact, Jeremiah is actually going to be preaching some during that. And then it ends in prayer. So there's a lot we could cover. And instead of getting overwhelmed, the key challenge here, the thing I want to focus on is those first 16 verses. Because God has a lot to say about idols. And it was something that Israel really struggled with. They really were enticed with the idols of the Canaanites when they went in. God had even prepared them not to do that in Deuteronomy, and yet they did that. So we're going to look at verses 1 through 16, and we're going to see three things tonight as we work our way through it. First of all, we're going to see the things that are worshipped. The first five verses is this satirical attack on idols. And it's done... Almost in a mocking way, when you think of Elijah on Mount Carmel with the prophets of Baal, there was some mocking going on there. I think the reason that there is this, in a sense, sarcastic attack on idols is because our God takes idolatry very serious. In fact, one of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, verse 4, and following, remember what God said, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them, for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. And he has laid that out so clearly that it is an offense to him because it is robbing him of the glory that is due to him. And Israel knows that. So, things that are worshipped, verses 1-5. Then verses 6-10, the one that should be worshipped. And then verses 11-16 is the contrast. So let's just jump right in and look at Jeremiah chapter 10 and verse 1. Verse 5 verses is this attack, beginning this attack on idols, really this whole text through verse 16. talks about idols. It says, Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen. Don't act like the heathen. And be not dismayed at the signs of heaven. Remember, this was one of the things that the Jews would do, this whole fortune-telling and the stars, and they would look at the signs of the heaven. Very much, it would be today like what fortune-telling is. Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven. In other words, people that worship the stars and look for the stars to align and look for their fortune, put a lot of weight on what the stars said. And when you look today at people that look at their fortunes, it's really not something that Christians should be involved in because it's not insight from God. And it's certainly not scientific, and it is idolatry. So thus said the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen. Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them. In other words, they're very impressed. Well, what's your horoscope today? And this was very true back then, and God says for them not to do that. Verse three, for the customs of the people are vain. Remember the word vain is worthless. their vein. For one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workmen with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. There's some sarcasm right there. When they would build their idols, of course, they were made of wood or stone. This one talks about going out and knocking a tree down with the axe and creating your God. But make sure you stabilize it because you wouldn't want your God to fall over. And that reminds me of the god Dagon, you may remember. One of the chief gods of the Philistines was Dagon. And according to ancient mythology, Dagon was the father of Baal. Remember, they're both idols. They're nothing. And Dagon was the fish god. D-A-G-U in the Hebrew means fish. He was represented as half man and half fish. And there's three places in the scriptures in the Old Testament where Dagon is mentioned. The first is Judges 16.23, and that's where we are told that Dagon was the god of the Philistines. They offered a great sacrifice to Dagon, believing there that their god Dagon had delivered Samson into their hands. 1 Chronicles chapter 10 and verse 10 mentions the temple of Dagon, where King Saul's head was fastened. And then, 1 Samuel chapter 5 is the one that most people think of when they think of Dagon. The Philistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant. And remember, the Ark of the Covenant was significant. It represented the presence of God. and it contained the promises it was very important and so when they captured it they brought it into the temple of Dagon and they put it next to Dagon so you've got this very sacred furniture, what it would be called, you know, the Ark of the Covenant, that would become an integral part of the tabernacle, integral part of the temple, and they put it in there with the god Dagon. And it says in 1 Samuel 5, verse 3, And when they of Ashdod, that's the city where the temple was, when they of Ashdod arose early in the morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the Ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon and set him in his place again. Remember that they talked about securing it with nails. I guess gods have a habit of falling over. I don't know if your god has a habit of falling over. I think it's time to change gods. But verse 4, And when they arose early in the morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold. Only the stump of Dagon was left to him. And then in verse 7 it says, And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us, for his hand is sore upon us and upon Dagon our God. Your God's not being very nice to our God. It's just so ironic to me. And that reminds me, I remember, I had to dig this story up because I remember a Japanese leader, I can't even pronounce his name, he was a warlord who ruled over Japan in the late 1500s and he commissioned a colossal statue of Buddha. for a shrine in Kyoto. It took 50,000 men, it took them five years, 50,000 men, to build this huge statue of Buddha. And then the earthquake of 1596 brought the roof of the shrine crashing down and it wrecked the statue. And when Hideyoshi, the leader, came in, he was so mad, he shot an arrow at the fallen pieces and he shouted out I put you here at great expense and you can't even look after your own temple. Now you know that is so ironic when you think here's this leader that's really upset he'd think of five years 50,000 men you just imagine the hours and the time and you know this great colossal shrine to Buddha and an earthquake comes and their God can't even stand up straight and it got him really mad. And that reminds me of the Philistines. You know, they got all upset because Dagon fell. And that reminds me, of course, of the showdown on Macarmel. We'll talk about that. Let's pick up in verse 5. He's now talking about their idols. And it's an interesting verse. I want to say a comment about it. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not. They must needs be born, because they cannot go. They have to be carried. They're gods and they can't even move themselves. Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither also it is in them to do good. Now that's what was happening. An idol is something that is respected, it is esteemed, and when Israel, when the Jews went into Canaan, they saw the gods, they saw the elevation that the Canaanites put on Baal and Ashtaroth and all these false gods. And they began to esteem their gods the same way. And here God is telling them, don't be afraid of them. You're giving them too much respect. Remember, the fear of the Lord, we're going to talk about that in a minute, is a very important thing. And they were giving fear to statues, graven images, Now, again, look at verse 5, look at the wording of it. Now, I want to read to you a couple of other translations. of this verse. I want to remind you what the King James translator said about certain difficult passages and I want to guide you through because so many that would they would read another one of these translations and wonder what's happening. Listen to some of these. Here's a couple other translations. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they and they cannot speak they must be carried because they cannot take a step Is that sound like they're upright as the palm tree? Interesting. Here's another another... Another translation, their gods are like helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field. They cannot speak. And we look at that and we might think, what is going on? But I want to read to you from a Hebrew scholar who makes this observation. And again, it goes back to what the King James translator said in their preface, that is so important that so many people are forgetting today. They're trashing the new versions and, you know, listen to what he said. He said, the Hebrew word translated upright. See that there in the English? They are upright. Has two very different, though not entirely unconnected meanings. First, twisted, meaning number one. Twisted, rounded, carved, and in this sense it is translated commonly as beaten work. He gives a couple of examples, four of them from Exodus. And is here applied? if we accept the meaning, to the twisted palm-like columns of a temple, to which the stiff, formal figure of the idol with arms pressed close to the side." Of course, that would be King James translation's interpretation. Then, here's the other meaning. Remember he said there's two very different, though not entirely unconnected meanings. The other meaning adopted by many commentators is that of a garden of gourds or cucumbers. And that word is rendered so in Isaiah 1.8. If you go to Isaiah 1.8 in the King James, here's what it says. The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. So to just slam these other versions, when the King James translators translate that same word elsewhere as Garden of Cucumbers, and I just want to remind you what the King James translators say, you know that there are some difficult things, that's why they put marginal notes, and we've got to give them the credit for that, but the point before we get way off is it's talking about these idols. Let's not make a big deal about these pieces of wood, because clearly they are not what they are exalted to be. And God is telling us in this very verse, don't be afraid of them. Don't respect them. They can't do evil. They can't even do good. Augustine made this statement multitudes of years ago. Interesting statement. I've been chewing on it for a while. He said, idolatry is worshipping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that ought to be worshipped. I'm going to read that again. And I think, he was probably thinking of, there's a whole bunch of verses. In fact, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Psalms use, in this Jeremiah passage, and then Isaiah, and then the Psalms, use some very similar wording to mock idols. I'll give you a few verses in Isaiah that maybe Augustine was thinking of. But it's an interesting point. Again, idolatry is worshipping anything that ought to be used or using anything that ought to be worshipped. And here's what I think he might have meant, Isaiah 44, listen to what Isaiah 44 says, in verse 13 and following. The carpenter stretcheth out his rule, he marketh it out with a line, he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with a compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house. He eweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest. He planteth an ash, the rain doth nourisheth it. Then shall it be for a man to burn, for he will make thereof and warm himself. Yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread. In other words, trees are to use for heat, to make fire so you can cook. And then it says, yea, he maketh a god, and worshipeth it. He maketh a graven image, and falleth down thereto. Isn't that interesting? So again, I think idolatry is worshipping something that ought to be used, in other words, God gives us wood, God gives us stone, and there's uses for it, and it's not made to be worshipped. Interesting. By the way, this whole idea, he maketh a god, he worshipeth it, he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. Every potential interpretation needs to be vetted. I remember as a young Christian, and I was zealous for the Word. It's so easy to get on tangents, isn't it? And you hear somebody present this presentation, and they give you scriptures that support it, and you want to follow the scriptures. And I remember years ago, reading someone that used some of these verses about decorating a tree, cutting the tree, And they said, you people that get Christmas trees, you're worshiping the tree. You're falling down. I remember thinking, oh no, I don't want to do that. And the more I studied it, and the more you keep it in context, is he talking about Christmas trees? I'd never, and I will confess, you might want to just change churches right now. We have Christmas trees. Now, I do confess to you, we no longer use live ones, we're so cheap. I grew up, my parents, we would always go out, it was a traditional thing with the neighbors, we'd go out to eat, and then we'd go Christmas tree hunting, we'd get fresh Christmas trees, and it was a special thing. But I have never bowed down or worshipped our tree, nor did I encourage my family to do it. That's not what it's talking about. But I remember getting enticed by that and thinking, oh, it looks like it's saying that. Every interpretation of Scripture needs to be vetted. Don't forget that. When you hear some guy coming way off the wall, don't throw your Christmas trees out. Well, it actually is the time to throw your Christmas trees out now, but you get the idea, right? Ask yourself, we've got to ask ourselves all the time, is this really what the text is saying? Is God really condemning this? And we've got to be like the Bereans. We need to be a little more skeptical. Because so many people go off in tangents, just in this way and that way. And they need to step back and say, what is God really saying? Now here is an application. I read an article. I'm going to show you part of this article. And we're going to make application But I think that this guy's, and I don't know how far he goes, I don't think this guy goes so far about what he's talking about as some of the people do with Christmas trees. But it is an interesting point, so let me just read part of it. Let's see, the article is called The Funny Thing About Idols by David Hedendorf, written 2017. He said, why do the biblical writers talk about idols the way they do? In the Psalms, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk, a number of similarly worded passages describe idols as helpless, immobile images that human beings foolishly worship. He gives an example of Psalm 135, 15 through 18. In fact, let me read that, because What we read here in Jeremiah, there's very similar statements in Isaiah and the Psalms. Some people think that these verses we're reading were inserted after the exile and they're kind of just used generically. But here's Psalm 135 verse 15 and following. The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not. Neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them, so is everyone that trusteth in them. And then he says, the most famous example of such mockery comes, of course, in 1 Kings 18, as I mentioned that, where Elijah taunts the prophets of Baal. Why won't their god answer by fire and consume the offering they've prepared? And this is what the prophet Elijah was taunting them with. Perhaps the man of God sarcastically suggests the deity they depict and serving is neglecting their sacrifices because he's asleep. Or maybe he's away on a journey, and that's what the prophet does, he taunts them, where's your God? Remember they got worked up, probably very upset with him, and then he goes on on this little tangent. Devices, we call them. The cunningly wrought objects we're never without. Cradled lovingly, reached for unconsciously, clung to with a deep and mostly unacknowledged need, they're at once our symbols of self-absorption and increasingly the focus of our public life. They disrupt our communion with God, family, friends. They steal our time. They lead us into temptation. Not long before our children text and drive, They succumb to cyber bullies, we leave them to their devices. Like any Canaanite offering sons and daughters to Moloch. Then there are the specific evils our devices bring. Bogus information that was once called, when everyone knew and agreed upon what the phrase meant, fake news. Instantly available, casually accepted pornography, character inflation, and character assassination. whether the targets are celebrities or sensitive teens and sheer corrosive numbing stupidity from incoherent use of language to videos of mindless behavior. To such we yield ourselves, drifting imperceptibly and sometimes willfully from whatever is honorable, whatever is lovely, whatever is worthy of praise. And Jane has an actual poem that I recorded and I have not transcribed, and it would have been a great thing to write here. Because Jane, this kind of sounds like what you were talking about. Jane's perspective is stupid computers, you know. And that's what he's talking about. He's talking about devices. Now again, like Christmas trees, a computer can be. Some of these things he points out, it can be an idol. Many things can be an idol. In fact, I'm reminded in Colossians 3 and verse 5, Paul says, "...mortify, that's put to death your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry." That really opens things up, doesn't it? When you and I covet something, That's idolatry. That means I want that. I don't have that. I'm not going to be satisfied with that. I share with you that quote. We put it on our checks. And I forget who said it, but it's so good. Gratitude turns what we have into enough. And if covetousness is idolatry, Then I want you to think about the fact that what we don't have and what we looked after and say, I want that, it becomes an idol. In our day, we don't struggle, most of us do not struggle with graven images. Some of us grew up in a church where that was a thing. I remember getting a bust, a head of Jesus, Jesus. And I remember as a young boy, I've shared this with you, I'd put my altar boy robe on and had a little kneeling thing, put the bust there and had the rosary and I remember I wanted to feel close to God. And, you know, a lot of religions are just all about that sensory. I want to feel close to God. And, in fact, I remember getting that at the mustard seed in Westchester, and I remember spending a lot of money on it. I thought it was a beautiful piece of artwork. You know, it depicted what could have been, you know, Jesus dying on the cross. And then I remember, after I got saved, and I was reading my devotions, and I came across one of these passages. about carved images and bowing down to them, even that they are not to be likened unto anything in heaven. And it just, it was so clear. That this was not of God. And I was doing a chapel for Westchester Christian School that next week. And I decided to do it on idols. And I wanted to be dramatic. And so I smashed it right in front of everyone. You know, just like the old prophets of old. Probably didn't have the effect that I was hoping it would have. Most of us today, we don't struggle with images. Maybe like the Hindus and the Buddhists do. But folks, that does not mean we do not have idols. And the Lord does not like being replaced. He doesn't want competition in your life for your affections. In fact, Charles Spurgeon once said this, he said, if you love anything better than God, you are idolaters. If there's anything you would not give up for God, it is your idol. If there's anything that you seek with greater fervor than you seek the glory of God, that is your idol. And conversion means a turning from every idol. What is the competition in your life? God's competition. What is trying to vie for your heart and your attention where you put it before God? The Lord tells you what He thinks of these things. Now we go down to verse 6 where we move into, first we saw the things that are worshipped, and then we see the one that should be worshipped. Look at verse 6. Remember, He's telling you, don't fear those idols, those idols are worthless, they can't do good, they can't do evil. Now He says, For as much as there is none like unto thee, O Lord, thou art great, and thy name is great in might. Who would not fear Thee, O King of Nations? For to Thee it doth appertain." That's an interesting phrase. For to Thee it doth appertain. It simply means that it is your due. Going back to the beginning of verse 7. Who would not fear Thee, O King of Nations? It's your rightful due. It is your title to be feared. It's appropriate and appertained to you for as much as among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms. There is none like unto thee. But they are altogether brutish." We don't use that word today. Silly, foolish, stupid. You know, that's the idea of this. And foolish. But they are altogether brutish. Again, stupid, senseless, and foolish. The stock. That's a piece of wood. That's the thing they make in idol. The stock is a doctrine of vanities. In other words, doctrine is teaching very sacred stuff and you're using a piece of wood and making it a theological issue. How ridiculous. Doctrine of Vanities, verse 9. Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workmen, and of the hands of the founder. Blue and purple is their clothing. They are all the work of cunning men. Sometimes we use the word cunning as, you know, really tricky, crafty, but this idea is simply people that are very gifted at their art. They're very, not cunning in the sense of, again, they're deceitful, but they're very talented in what they do. These men are craftsmen. These people are craftsmen, is the idea. They're all work of the cunning men, verse 10, but the Lord is the true God. He is the living God and an everlasting King. At His wrath the earth shall tremble and the nation shall not be able to abide His indignation. You see, they were worshipping false gods, small g, who were nothing and shouldn't have even caused them an ounce of thought. And yet, they were esteeming them and fearing them. They were attributing things in their life, whether things would go right or wrong, and they were attributing it to their God, their carven image. And God is saying, don't be afraid of them. And this is where the fear of God is so important. I want to spend a few minutes and just share some verses about the fear of God. Remember, the fear of God is a good thing. In Genesis chapter 20 verse 11, you might remember that scenario where Abraham got in a difficult situation where the king wanted to be with Abraham's wife and he says, and then he actually says she's my sister, remember that? Here's what he said, because when it finally came out and God revealed to the king, that's his wife, before he could do anything. It says, Abraham said, because I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place and they will slay me for my wife's sake. You see when you, I mentioned this recently, when people do not fear God, They become very dangerous people because there's no restraint on them. Our founding fathers knew that. It's so many of the constitutions and bylaws of states. It would articulate, if you want to hold public office, you have to profess at least that you believe in the God that will reward the just and punish evildoers. And it was because they knew that fear of God keeps men in check. And we need a big dose of that today. 2 Chronicles chapter 20 and verse 29. The Bible says the fear, this is now when Israel was coming in to the promised land and God was going to give them the promised land and this is the response of all the nations around them. And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. That was a good thing. Psalm 36, verse 1, "...the transgression of the wicked saith within my heart..." In other words, this is our heart is speaking concerning the wicked, "...that there is no fear of God in their eyes." Why is the fear of God so important? Proverbs 16, verse 6 says, "...by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil." how important that is. In fact, in Ezekiel chapter 9, God said to Ezekiel, He said, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah, this was before Israel fell, and Judah hadn't fallen either like we're at now. The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land full of blood, and the city full of perverseness. For they say, the Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not. That is an absence of the fear of God. So, what is our challenge? First of all, is there competition? in your life. Does God have something or someone or some idol in your life competing for His attention? I want to jump right into the next point, verses 11 through 16. By the way, verse 11 is the only verse in this text that is actually Aramaic. It's not Hebrew. All the rest of it's Hebrew. Some people that study manuscripts and all think that this could be a gloss. Have you ever heard of a gloss? A gloss is when you view Bible manuscripts and there are thousands of them. Scribes, when they would copy, this was long before the photocopier, long before digital copy, where they had to do everything by hand. And so they would have a lot of notes. And sometimes a note would be a commentary on a verse or a word and it would be inserted by the scribe. And every once in a while, some of the manuscripts, the gloss, would actually make it into the text. And there's very clear ways where they can tell this was a gloss. And there's some that think because this was a different language that maybe verse 11 is a gloss. Sometimes glosses are added by scribes, and the gloss is actually another verse. Like in the Gospels, there's some glosses where some believe that the scribe actually inserted a verse Because when Jesus taught something in one of the other Gospels, He said this, and they would add it in there. Some think this is a gloss, but it fits right in. So let's look at verse 11. Then shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens. He hath made the earth by His power. He hath established the world by His wisdom and has stretched out the heavens by His discretion. When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He maketh lightnings with rain and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. This reminds me of Job. Remember at the end of Job, You know, so much went on in Job's life, just wondering what's happening. And then you've got his friends coming and speculating. And they were, in a sense, putting God on trial. Like, God, how could you do this? And even Job needed to have a little right perspective. And so when God finally spoke, Job 40 about there, He started firing his questions at Job. Didn't answer one of Job's questions. And he said, let me ask you something, Job. Where were you when I created the earth? And he just starts with all these questions. And it reminds me of this. It's like God is saying to these foolish people who are worshiping created things made of wood and stone, that they're giving all this credit, and it's like God's saying, and He's even saying this, they have eyes they can't see, they can't walk, you gotta staple them down so they don't fall over, they have ears and they can't hear, they can't do evil, they can't do good, He's bringing out all these things that idols can't do. And then, like he's saying, how offended he is, he says, now, this is what I can do. And then verse 14, he says, every man is brutish, foolish, senseless, in his knowledge. Every founder, that's the foundry, the one that melts the metal to form the idol. Every founder is confounded by the graven image, for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are a vanity and the work of errors. In the time of their visitation they shall perish." In other words, there's coming a time. when it will be very well established that these idols are useless. Not only will they not be able to save anyone, they will need saving. And then we wrap up with verse 16. The portion of Jacob is not like them. In other words, God is saying, the portion of Jacob is referring to Him. He's saying, I am no idol. For he is the former of all things. Going back to creation again, like the book of Job, he is clearly saying that I am the creator of everything that exists, including Israel, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance. They're my own special possession. The Lord of hosts is his name. And this reminds me of Hebrews chapter 4. Remember what Hebrews 4.13 says, Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. I love that. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight. All things are naked and open unto." Here's what it calls God. In the eyes of him, the idols, they have eyes they can't see. God has eyes and it's the eyes of him with whom we have to do. We will stand before God. Many years ago I'll close with this many years ago. Some of you have heard of Donald Gray Barnhouse. In fact isn't that the. You guys knew the son of the sun. He was the pastor of 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. And a very powerful preacher apparently. And. He was counseling a young woman on the sidewalk right out in front of 10th Presbyterian in Philadelphia after an evening service. And she told him that, I'm a Christian and that I want to follow Christ, but first I want to become famous. She said, I want to pursue a career, a stage career in New York. And then she says, after I'm a smashing success, then I'm going to give my heart and follow Christ completely. And Barnhouse did something, I don't know where he got it, I would never do this. He got this ID, took a key out of his pocket, apparently they were standing next to a post office, one of those postal boxes, and he began to scratch a mark on it. Now that's probably illegal isn't it Dave? Yes it is. Well, he's already dead, so... And he scratched a mark on it. And he said, that is what God will let you do. So it's like an illustration, totally. He said, God will let you scratch the surface of success. He will let you get close enough to the top to know what it is. But he'll never let you have it, because he will never let one of his children have anything rather than himself. That's the point. He's not, you know, prophesying doom, but in a sense he's saying this, Years later, this young gal comes back and brings up that story. And she said, you know what? That is exactly what happened. I dabbled in stage. She said, I actually had my picture in a national magazine one time, but I never quite made it. And all those years, I kept thinking about you scratching on that postal box and saying, you know. And so she said to him, I can't tell you how many times in my discouragement I've closed my eyes and seen you scratching on that postal box with your keys. God let me scratch the edges, but he gave me nothing in place of himself. That's the key. The key, folks, again, it's not saying that one career is worse than the other or better than the other, but the key is whatever you're pursuing, pursue Christ first. And then do what God leads you to do to His glory. That's the challenge. And when you and I say, I'm going to pursue this, then I'm going to give my heart completely to Christ, it tells us that there's competition. He's got competition. He doesn't want competition. And so as we close, I ask you, what is God's competition in your life? Whatever it is, let's dethrone it and put God back on the throne. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. I pray that you would help us, that you would weed out the things that have captured our hearts in place of you. Father, we can sit and mock and laugh at the idols that the Jews struggled with so long ago. But Lord, there are idols in our lives. And I pray that You would root them out. And that there would be nothing in our life that competes with You. That You would have first place. That we would seek first the Kingdom of God and Your righteousness. And all those things will be added unto us. Lord, help us. to dethrone the idols and magnify you. We pray in Jesus' precious name. Amen.