That's my joy. That's my comfort. That's what enables me to live my life as I've been called to live in. There's a transfer of ownership. The Bible never tires of reminding us of that. When the Apostle Paul, for example, wants to instruct Christians about how they're to live. He doesn't appeal to the Israelites and say, well, now God has delivered them from Pharaoh. from slavery, bondage in Egypt, from genocide in Egypt, so that they could simply do their own thing now. God doesn't set them free in the wilderness and say, now go do as you please. He says, no, you belong to me. You are mine. Don't you know that you are now joined to me through faith, by grace. You're mine. Romans 6 is full of this sort of language. Do not offer yourselves as instruments of unrighteousness. Offer yourselves now. Live, in other words, as people who have been purchased by the Lord Jesus Christ. We've been bought, says Peter, not with gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. So the first commandment is a call to gratitude, first of all. Israel does not earn her salvation. Isn't it interesting that God gives the law to Israel after he has rescued them? He doesn't say to Israel, now, if you do this, and you do that, and you follow these things carefully without faltering, then I will rescue you. He says, no, I've taken you out of slavery. I've taken you out of certain death. Now live. Live. The catechism places the exposition of the Ten Commandments where? In the section dealing with gratitude. Gratitude. Joyful gratitude to God. And then also, consecration. In chapter 19 of Exodus, the Lord says to Moses and to the people, I'm going to make out of you a kingdom of priests. People set apart to my service. You are to me my chosen ones. Holy Nation. And the greatest challenge, the greatest struggle in living that out, is idolatry. Idolatry is the most frequently discussed problem in the Bible. Did you know that? that gives us a sense of the weightiness of the issue. We're not talking here, boys and girls, about building wooden statues or carving out stone images, bowing down to a golden image. We're talking about what lies deepest in the heart. What will challenge that obedience, that full commitment to God, that love that He requires of us? Love me with your whole heart to challenge. is idolatry. That's why John Calvin, the great reformer, said that the mind of man is an idol-making factory. And we had better come to terms with that fact. That in the struggles of the Christian life, we will struggle against the idols of our own making. And over against that, the Lord says, you shall love me. You shall love me, and you shall love me completely. It's covenant redemption. And then secondly, the first commandment requires of us covenant loyalty. I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods in my presence. Boys and girls, what is the Lord asking of us there? What is he requiring of us there? What is he demanding of your life? Next position is given beautifully here in the catechism that I not wanting to endanger my very salvation. In other words, listen carefully, boys and girls, this is serious. We're not talking about trivial things. We're not talking about things you can easily dismiss. Ignore this at your own peril. In other words, that's what he's saying. that not I'm not wanting to endanger my very salvation, avoid and shun. So negatively, I avoid and shun idolatry, magic, superstitious rites, and prayer to sayings of other creatures. Now, positively, that I sincerely acknowledge the only true God, trust him alone, look to him for every good thing, humbly and patiently love him, fear him, honor him with all my heart. Notice the verbs. Notice the verbs. Give me your loyalty. Give me your hearts. The Lord when he condemned the idolatry of his people, for example, in Ezekiel chapter 14, he spoke not just of those carved images or wooden poles. He said we have to deal decisively with the idols of your hearts. Idols of your hearts. Anything less than complete, and heartfelt loyalty to God. His idolatry. But let me be a little more specific this morning. Let me make you feel a little uncomfortable this morning. Let me step on some toes this morning, shall I? What are the idols against which we have to struggle on a daily basis? The Bible tells us that man is inescapably religious. It is his nature. It's wired into his DNA. We have to worship someone or something. For some of you, you may struggle with idols of money. That what will make you happiest, what will make you most content you believe, what will make everything go alright, is money. And more money. Maybe your idol is the idol of self. That what comes first for you is not what does the Lord tell me, what does the Lord require of you. No, what do I want? It's something we see very clearly as parents and little children already. I want, I want, I want. And that mindset, that attitude, that idolatry of heart continues well into adulthood. Whatever pleases me, Whatever puts me first and foremost, everything is geared towards that. What will make me most happy, contented, is if I meet my selfish needs. Maybe the idol you wrestle with is the idol of status. Status. To be recognized as having achieved a certain status among your peers, or at your place of work. And that you cannot find contentment. You cannot be at peace. You will toss and you will turn in bed at night until you arrive at that status. And everything else becomes subservient to that one goal. My status. Or maybe for some of you it's pleasure, ease, recreation. You notice, by the way, some of these things are very good things. They're gifts that God gives to us. Recreation is a good thing, a necessary thing. But they can easily become a god. And so everything in the week is geared towards the weekend. Everything in life is geared towards my vacation, my cottage, my recreational vehicles, and other things fall by the wayside. Or there are people who simply want an easy life. And whatever impedes that ease, whatever stands in the way of that, has to be avoided. Don't put me in difficult positions of responsibility. Don't call me to do the difficult thing in my family, or at my place of work, or in my neighborhood, because I live for the path of least resistance. There are gods of success. and career. I don't care who I have to step on. I don't care who falls in my wake. I don't care who suffers as a result. I am going to achieve my success. I'm going to have the kind of career that I've always dreamed of. I don't care what it does to me. I don't care what it does to those whom I love most dearly. I don't care what it does to my soul. And yet, Jesus said, what good does it do a man if he gains the whole world? What good does it do him if he loses his soul? For others of you, it may be the idol of power. To have power over others. To be able to manipulate. To be able to control. To be able to chart out your own course in life. For others, it will be that God is sex. and your own sexual pleasure. Whatever suits that, becomes primary. What about family? What about children? Dear friends, do you think that those things can become idols in our hearts? Your family? Your children? I will do anything for my children's sake. Family first. Family above all else. I'm telling you, that's dangerous talk. That's very dangerous talk. Especially when we listen carefully to what Jesus himself said. You remember? He said, he who loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of thee. Remember that, would you? Remember that. He who loves father and mother more than me. Meaning, I know the Lord has called me to do this, to act a certain way, to avoid this or to shun that. But I can't do that because family comes first. It's idolatry, my friends. Plain and simple, it's idolatry. And perhaps the most obvious one on this Lord's Day. The God of sports. The God of professional sports. Sports can be a good thing, an enjoyable thing, a wonderful thing. But what does it say about the Christian community when churches not only reschedule services, but even cancel services? Or our pews, our chairs are empty tonight for no other reason I'd rather watch a football game than worship a living God. What does that say about us? What does that say about our culture? Have we turned it into a God? I don't want to belabor the point, but I think it's pertinent in light of what we've seen. A huge money-making enterprise Takes on a life of its own. Becomes a religion of its own. Does it not? Can you not see that? Listen carefully to what John the Apostle says, My dear children, flee from idols. Idols, by their very nature, demand our loyalty. They make great promises. You bow to the money God, and the money God will treat you well. You bow to the God of success, you'll go far and you'll go high. You bow to the money, to the God of acceptance and popularity. I think of so many of our teenagers who are driven by the God of acceptance by their peers. Why do you think young girls develop eating disorders? and do these wretched things to their bodies. They do it because they think they have to be accepted in a certain way. They make great promises, these idols, but in the end, they make far greater demands of us, do they not? Great sacrifices must be made to serve these idols in terms of time, in terms of money, in terms of energy and effort, We cringe, don't we, when we hear stories of the pagan worship, where children are sacrificed, giving children, infant children, to the god Moloch. But let me ask you, how different is it really when a person who has made his career or his business or money his god, sacrifices a wife or children to achieve that goal? Is it any different, really? How many of you husbands, fathers have sacrificed your children or sacrificed your marriages to serve the idols of your hearts? Have you sacrificed your integrity? Have you trampled upon your conscience? Jesus reminds us that God will not tolerate a divided heart. It's impossible, he says, to serve both God and money. You can't divide your loyalties that way. If you do not give your whole heart to God, you've fallen for idolatry. And the Bible uses three basic metaphors to describe how people relate to their idols. They love idols. They trust idols. They obey idols. What is it that you trust? What is it that you love most dearly? What do you look for to make you happy in life? Is it your eyes? God demands your loyalty. Thirdly, let me draw your attention in the final place to God's covenant promise. the promise given by Jesus here for where your treasure is. There your heart will be also. What gives rise to the idols of our hearts? Why do people, why do we struggle with this idolatry of our hearts? Is it not because of fear? Fear of poverty? Fear of being rejected by other kids at school? Fear of failure? Fear of difficulty? Fear of hardship? Maybe it's jealousy. Maybe it's insecurity. And we have a lot of insecure people who are just craving to be accepted by others and will do anything to be accepted. Maybe it's anger. It's amazing to me how many professional athletes, by the way, really good athletes, are driven by anger. Read about someone like Michael Jordan. perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time. What drove him to greatness? If you read what those closest to him have observed, it was anger. Anger! Burning anger. Covetousness, selfishness, and lust. But positively, how do we wage war against the idols of our hearts? It begins by recognizing the idols for what they are. That they're idols. That they're ultimately destructive. That they will annihilate you if you continue to worship them. Begins there. We have to learn to hate and flee from them. What does the Catechism say? That I, not wanting to endanger my very salvation, avoid and shun. Words that we rarely use anymore. Avoid and shun. We're not playing games here. That's why I want to make this so plain and so convincing to you that you don't simply dismiss it. That you wake up this morning, some of you, and listen. Avoid and shun. Learn how to do that. But also, also, we don't just remove idols. we have to replace idols. That's, I think, a very key point in the Bible. Avoid, shun. But if you only do that, you leave a void. The Bible says we are inescapably religious. No, the Lord wants us to replace idolatry with what? Making God our treasure. Making God our treasure. Learn how to esteem God more than the idolatries of our hearts. Learn to love God so much so that you're willing to suffer, if need be, for His sake. If it means I lose all that I have, so be it. If it means I don't achieve the kind of success I envisioned for myself, so be it. If it means I'm not like the world and don't have the world's acceptance, so what? If it means the kids won't like me at school, too bad. Remove them ruthlessly, says the Bible. Pluck out an eye, cut off a hand, said Jesus. The psalmist says in Psalm 37, delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. If you truly delight in the Lord, If worship becomes the attitude of your life, the disposition of your life, the Lord will bless you by giving the desires of your heart. The hymn writer put it this way. The dearest idol I have known, he prays. Whatever that idol be, help me to tear it from my throne and worship only thee. Understand that idols can only make empty promises. You and I were made for something much more, much greater than idols. You see, this is the good news of the gospel. The world thinks that idols are really the end-all be-all of our existence, and we say no. If you live your life for money, you will be sorely disappointed. If you live your life only for success and achievement, you will be sorely disappointed. Ecclesiastes 3 verse 11 says God has placed eternity in man's heart, which means, among other things, there's only one being who will ultimately give satisfaction to the human heart. And that's God. Loyalty to God, love for God, trusting God, making God the central focus of our lives. Again, listen to what The catechism says, by way of conclusion, what is idolatry? Idolatry is having or inventing something which one trusts in place of or alongside of the one true God. Let's put it positively. As the catechism does in the previous question, that you acknowledge the one true God, that you trust him, look to him, love him, fear him. honor his promises are the only things worth giving your heart to. And the challenge before you this morning is this. Do you really believe that? Do you honestly believe that? That giving your heart to God completely will be the most satisfying, pleasurable thing that you will ever experience on the face of this earth. I tell you, if you don't believe that in your heart of hearts, then you are still dealing with idolatries in your heart. Listen carefully to what the Scripture says. Because of the love of the Lord. The love of the Lord is more precious as the psalmist than life itself. That's Psalm 63. And to our ears today, the 21st century years that we have, that seems so bizarre. The Bible says, if you give your heart to God completely, it will be the most precious thing you will ever know. It will make all the other gods pale in comparison. My dear children, guard yourselves, keep yourselves from idols, For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Brothers and sisters, where is your treasure?