Cameron: 00:05

Good morning, Conduit. How are you? Doing my name is Cameron. My I'm one of the pastors here at Conduit, and, welcome. We've been praying for you, especially this week, and, we trust and pray that the Lord would speak to your hearts this morning through his word, and would move you from the place that you were at when you came in to the place that he needs you to be at to receive all he has for you.

Cameron: 00:35

We are in well, we're in a couple different chapters or verses of scripture this morning, but where where we wanna where I wanna start is just with a reminder of our theme verse for the year. And at the very at the very most, maybe it's not theme verse for the year as much as it is the theme verse kind of like for this month and the coming months. It starts in Psalm chapter 24 in the middle three verses, verses 3, 4, 5, and 6. And the psalmist asks these 2 rhetorical questions in the middle of that psalm. He says, who can ascend the hill of the Lord?

Cameron: 01:22

Who may stand in his holy place? He kind of leaves these as somewhat rhetorical here at the beginning. Right? Of course, in a way of speaking, he uses these kind of analogies of a mountain or a hill to to really just describe hey. Or to ask the question to make the statement, who is the person?

Cameron: 01:48

What does it take to stand in and with the presence of the Lord? Who does it take to experience the, manifestation of his holiness in your life, in your presence. What does it take to get, to get away from, purely knowing a lot about God? Right, our relationship with God as merely, it is partly, but as merely an intellectual pursuit where you're building a bunch of facts and knowledge about God. But in comparison to that, what does it take to actually not just know about God, but to live in intimacy with him?

Cameron: 02:39

To experience his actual manifested presence in your life so much so that his presence transforms the the nature and character of your heart like we talked about last week. Your words, your relationships, the things that you think, the things that you feel, the things that you say, the things that you do. Right? When we stand in the presence of God, when we are present with God, his holiness transforms us. So it goes beyond just the question of the psalmist saying, like, hey.

Cameron: 03:19

Who gets to know a a lot about God? And it and it tran it transforms into who who gets to create intimacy with God. Who does God's who does God's presence transform? How do we get into that place of transformative presence with God? And so we're 2 kind of rhetorical questions.

Cameron: 03:42

Who gets to ascend the hill of the Lord? Who gets to stand in his holy place? And then he does this a solid by answering the question in the next couple of verses. He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift his soul to an idol, and does not speak what is false. Alright.

Cameron: 04:06

They will be blessed by the Lord and vindicated by God, their savior, such as the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, oh, god of Jacob. And that's what we're asking the lord to do. That's what we're asking the lord of us as a community here this this year is, lord, that you would show us your face. Show us your face. Let us let us know your presence.

Cameron: 04:34

Let us experience your presence here with us, Lord. Yes, Lord. Fill us with knowledge about you that should move us to be more loving to you and to others. But not just knowledge, Lord. Fill us with we wanna see we wanna know your presence.

Cameron: 04:47

We want your presence here in this place. Lord, you are welcome here in this place. That's our prayer. So last week, we talked about we're we're taking these kind of, like, these four characteristics of the one who is in the holy place or stands in the holy place. Pure hands or clean hands, pure heart.

Cameron: 05:10

No idols speak only what is true. Right? Those four things, preaching on each one of those. Last week, we talked about the purity of heart. Right?

Cameron: 05:19

What does the word say about a heart our hearts? Of course, it talks about our hearts over a 1000 times, and it has both really positive things to say about our hearts, like like the Lord who's giving us a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone out of Ezekiel. Right? It says that out of the wellspring of our hearts, our mouths speak. Right?

Cameron: 05:40

So that we can love the Lord, our God, with all of our hearts and our minds and our souls and our strength. But it also says that in, like, in the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 17 verse 9, I think it is that the heart is deceptively wicked who can understand it. Alright? At the heart is the wellspring of life. It is the command center for all that we do.

Cameron: 06:02

All that we say comes from our hearts. All of our motivations comes from our hearts. All of our thoughts comes from our hearts. The nature of our relationships, all of our affections, the things that we love and pursue and hunger and thirst after, it's all a reflection of what is in our hearts. And if we can recognize that there are parts of our life that are bathed in ungodliness and unholiness, that that that that comes from the orientation of our hearts and that and that god and that God will renew our hearts through his son, Jesus.

Cameron: 06:44

Today, as promised, we're gonna talk about idols. There's lots of ways to define what an idol is. Right? I don't there's not I don't think one definition. I'm gonna give you a few, and you'd see if there's one that kinda sticks with you.

Cameron: 07:05

Popular pastor Tony Evans says that an idol is any person, place, or thing thing or thought that you look to as the source to meet your needs. You have a need. It'd be a physical need, a spiritual need, an emotional need. Right? You're lonely.

Cameron: 07:25

You're sad. You're confused. You're hungry. You have desire. Right?

Cameron: 07:30

You you you you recognize a need bubbling up. Alright. Where do I go to get that need met? Where do I go to get the need that I have met? He's like, that is what you're essentially that is what you're worshiping.

Cameron: 07:48

Tim Keller, another popular author, I don't have this one up on the screen, said that idolatry is when you give anything other than god your functional trust in life. Another really, popular pastor in this room who's on stage thinks that an idol is just thought I'd try to sneak that in there. Is that an idol is really anything that you hunger and thirst for more than God. Is anything that you hunger for more than God? Now when we think of idols, we think typically of the, we think of, like, statues.

Cameron: 08:36

Right? The obvious idols. We think of a little Buddha statue, or we think of a totem pole, or we think of other, other, religions in the world that use idols as a part of their religious practice. And for the most part, for the most part, especially those who follow Jesus, we know to stay clear of those. Right?

Cameron: 09:04

Like, it's not really a it's not really a well accepted practice in Christendom to come to church on a Sunday and then to go home and sit next to Buddha while you're watching the football game afterwards. Right? We generally know to stay away from those types of idols. But there, listen, are modern idols that are not so obvious that, we need to ensure that we are staying away from it. The end of, John's epistle, I think it's first John chapter 5 verse 11, he says, my dear children, be sure to stay away from idols.

Cameron: 09:50

It's the way that he ends first John. It's like, oh, and all these things about the love of God and obedience to the Lord and light overcoming darkness and Jesus is the way and obedience is the key to loving God. Oh, by the way, keep yourself from idols. Period. End of letter.

Cameron: 10:13

If I were to ask you who you or what you think is the most famous idol in scripture, what would you say? The most famous idol that we see in scripture. I think I heard it back there. Say it again, Vinny. Was that you that said it?

Cameron: 10:29

No? Come on. The golden calf. K. Yes.

Cameron: 10:34

The golden calf. Right? The most one of the most famous idols in scripture, the golden calf of the Exodus. Now we're we're gonna read a little bit of the golden about the golden calf, experience for the Israelite people because I think it's instructive about, how idolatry happens, what idolatry is, and then what the response to idolatry is by the Lord. K?

Cameron: 11:05

Have a bible. Open it up to Exodus chapter 32. We're gonna start off in the first four verses. Now as a little kind of, like, background to where we find ourselves in this particular, stage of the game in Exodus, Moses, the spiritual leader of the Israelite people, was the man who spoke to God on behalf of the Israelites and the man that God spoke to in order to speak to the Israelites. Right?

Cameron: 11:39

So he was the he was kind of the go between, between God and the Israelites, the spiritual leader. He was the one leading the people out of Egypt, through the wilderness, hopefully, right into the promised land. And they came to this point where Moses was like, alright. I'm gonna go up onto the mountain of the Lord. I'm gonna spend some time in the presence of the Lord.

Cameron: 12:01

He has some things to say to me. Of course, we know from reading the story that he was up there getting the tablets. Right? The commandments, that he that the that the word says that God himself engraved, Exodus 3216, the tablets were the work of God. The writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.

Cameron: 12:25

It was like like God himself carving into stone his law for Moses to take down to the people. What we don't hear about in the beginning of Exodus 32 is how long Moses was gone up on the mountain with the Lord. We just know that he was there and that it we assume or it appears he was there for a extended period of time. How do we know that? We know that from the first four verses because the people were like, well, this Moses fella, he be gone.

Cameron: 13:05

Like, he's gone. We don't know where he he he's not coming back. He has been gone for a while. Listen to what it says. Exodus 32.

Cameron: 13:12

When the people saw that Moses was long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, come make god make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him. Aaron answered them, take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons, your daughters were wearing, and bring them to me. So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they had handed him and made it into an idol, cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool.

Cameron: 13:53

Then they said, these are your gods, oh Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt. So what were the circumstances under which the idol was created? Well, they were without any form of they were at least they thought they were without any like like their spiritual father or their spiritual leader. He's gone. Right?

Cameron: 14:15

And that was eliciting some very obvious emotions in them. They were afraid. They were scared. They were maybe confused. They were without any direction.

Cameron: 14:27

They were without a sense of, like, yeah. We we're we're we got God, like, locked in with God, devoted, consecrated. We know where we're going. We know what we're doing. But, no, they were kind of, like, sitting at the bottom of the mountain being like, well, we thought we had a purpose, and we thought we had a direction, and we thought we had a leader, but he's gone.

Cameron: 14:45

Now we need a god. We need our god to go before us, actually, is what they told Aaron. To lead us, to go first, it seems. And so when the pressure came down on them a little bit and when they got a little scared and when they got a little confused and life got a little bit hard there for a moment, there wasn't a ton of clarity, they turned, it seems, at least, immediately to their own devices, to products of their own hand to give them a sense of comfort and control in an environment that they probably felt was spinning out of control. Now Moses comes down off of the mountain and sees what's going on.

Cameron: 15:38

He says that they're the people are, Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. He said to Moses, there's sounds of war in the camp. And Moses is like, I don't think that sounds like war to me down in the camp. That sounds like sounds of victory, sounds of defeat. It's the sound of singing that I hear.

Cameron: 15:58

And he comes down out of the camp, and he has, like, a grade 10 meltdown over what he sees with good reason. So look at it in verse, Exodus 32 verses 1920. When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. And he took the calf that it that they had made and burned it in the fire. Then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.

Cameron: 16:49

Not really in the sermon here, but I can't imagine that tasted very good. Like, let like, just from a literal and practical perspective, I can't imagine that it tasted very good. Probably made some people sick. Probably made them kinda second guess what in the world are we doing, were we doing here. But that is, like, in a very real way, the nature of idolatry.

Cameron: 17:28

Is once it gets in us, it creates all kinds of, like, sickness. This is, like, just the basics of kind of, like, the most famous idol story in all of scripture. Moses disappeared. They clamored for a god. Aaron made 1.

Cameron: 17:46

Moses comes down, sees the idol that they made, destroys it. Right? And they kind of they kind of move on. But like we already said, that's not really kind of a thing these days. Right?

Cameron: 18:02

It's like I'm gonna I'm gonna be out of town at the end of the month. Right? I'm not gonna be here. Pastor Luke's gonna be here preaching. Right?

Cameron: 18:10

He always does faithfully. I don't expect to come back from my trip and to find some kind of false god here. Right? It's not it's not what happens in our kind of culture. Right?

Cameron: 18:24

But does that mean that we are a culture or a society that has evolved spiritually beyond the worship of idols or not? My contention is that it is not. That there are still plenty of things that we hunger for, that we thirst for more than God. That there are plenty of things that we turn to, plenty of people, plenty of places, plenty of things, plenty of thoughts that you and I turn to when pressure comes down upon our life. And we need a place of escape, and we need a place of rescue, and we need a place of saving, and we need a place of comfort.

Cameron: 19:10

We we turn to those things with such speed and sometimes with so little intentionality that it has become a normal reflex of our lives to put our faith, our hope, our saving, our comfort in things made by human hands. And we think somehow we're different because we don't have a golden calf sitting up. We're not. One of the questions that always kind of bothered me, was why does it seem like the Israelite people, especially in the Exodus and the generations beyond, were so inclined to turn to idols? I mean, I don't know, but if I was like an Israelite in that day and age and I just saw the Lord bring about the 10 plagues in Egypt and then we marched out of Egypt, then we came to the Red Sea, and he parted the Red Sea, and we walked through it, and then he swallowed up the Egyptians, and then he provided for us in the desert with manna and quail, and we saw the pillar of fire guiding us by night.

Cameron: 20:26

Like, I would be like, yeah. Pretty convinced that there is a god in heaven. Pretty convinced. Don't don't think I need the the, don't think I'm gonna I'm gonna pass on the golden calves. Right?

Cameron: 20:39

Pretty convinced that there's a god in heaven. So the question is, like, why would they so easily turn, to idols? Listen. They had lived in Egypt for over 400 years. Now ancient Egypt, and in some days and in some cases, modern Egypt, was like the textbook example of a polytheistic culture.

Cameron: 21:09

Not not one god or 2 gods or 3 gods. 100, thousands of gods existed in the Egyptian culture. There was a god for this and a god for this and a god for this and a god for this and a god for this. You needed your fields to do well. You prayed to this god.

Cameron: 21:29

You needed, fertility in your, family. You prayed to this god. You need a provision over, for money. You prayed for this god. If someone was sick, you prayed to this god.

Cameron: 21:38

The sun was shining. You wanted to get to get cloudy, prayed for this god. But now you need rain, pray to this god. You pray to this god and this god and this god and this god and this god. And the the list goes on and on and on and on and on.

Cameron: 21:51

So much so, it was so a part of their cultural identity, of who they were as a people, that it was it was inseparable from their culture. It was just as normal as anything in any culture had ever been for any people. They were a god filled culture, an idol filled culture. And so idol worship for people in Egypt was completely and fully normal to them. It was a part of their everyday life.

Cameron: 22:29

It was not strange at all. And the Israelites had lived in this culture, been discipled in this culture, grown in this culture for over 400 years. Idol worship was not strange to them like it would be to you and I to see a golden statue. And like us, when when things become a part of our everyday life, when we are saturated in them all day long, all the time, throughout generations, we no longer really question the hold or power they have over us. Because it's just no.

Cameron: 23:19

That's just normal. That's just life. That's just part of life. And when things become just part of life, it can be difficult to hear the spirit of God speak conviction into our hearts about them. And so it requires those of us who are pursuing holiness in the presence of God to pause for a moment to say, Lord, reveal the idols of my heart that I have so long entertained that they have become normal to me.

Cameron: 24:01

Just normal life. See, part of the issue is is that when we do not consider our lives as followers of Jesus to be consecrated and set apart for God's presence, for God's work, for God's will, for God's obedience, then we naturally are going to absorb the influences of the world and begin to adopt beliefs and idols that match the values of the world, not the value of the kingdom. When we do not say, no. No. No.

Cameron: 24:39

Hold on a second. I am not my own. My life does not belong to me. My thoughts do not belong to me. My words do not belong to me.

Cameron: 24:52

My heart does not belong to me. My actions do not belong to me. I am not my own. I am surrendered to the lord. I am consecrated.

Cameron: 25:01

My life has been set apart for a higher purpose. Every relationship that I have, every thought that I have, every every word that I speak, every affection of my heart, every action that I take, it is at the service and for the glory of the lord god almighty. That is who I am. And when we forget or refuse the consecration of the lord over our lives and instead still play in Egypt while trying to be in Israelite, it's no wonder why we assume idols into our life thinking that there's nothing wrong with them and they're completely normal. Why would I stop doing that?

Cameron: 25:43

There's no it's normal. Why would I stop doing this? It's normal. Why would I stop saying that, thinking that, feeling that, being with that person, having that thought, saying those words, doing those things? It's just normal.

Cameron: 25:55

Everyone does it. Here's a reality, is that idols almost always start as good things given to us by the Lord but misused by humanity. Idols almost always start as good things given to us by the Lord, but then misused by humanity. You might recognize that in your own life. You might recognize that your job has become your idol, something that the lord has provided for you and given to you to provide for your needs and to give you a purpose in life and to give you something to do, but now you are completely consumed with it and you're a workaholic.

Cameron: 26:39

For some of us, your children are your idol. Every single thought, every single word, every single every single action, every single thing that you do say things like my kids are my world. Listen. I get it. I love my kids like any father loves their kids.

Cameron: 26:56

My kids are not my world. Your kids cannot be your world. Your kids are not the world. Idols almost always start as good things given to us by the Lord but misused by humanity. Some of us have idolized our marriages or our spouses.

Cameron: 27:14

Some of us have idolized our sexuality and our sexual desires. Other of us others of us have idolized the provision that we get from the Lord. Other of others of us idolize things like food or social media. But all idols almost always start as something that the Lord gives to us for our good and that we twist and misuse in our world. Here's an example.

Cameron: 27:41

Where going back to the Exodus story. Where did Aaron get the gold to make the golden calf from? From the people. Okay. Where did the people get the gold?

Cameron: 27:57

From the Egyptians. Right? Who told who made the Egyptians give the gold to the Israelites? God did. Right?

Cameron: 28:05

Look at Exodus chapter 12. Right? We see as they're leaving Exodus or as they're leaving Egypt. Right? Verse 33 in Exodus 12.

Cameron: 28:17

The Egyptians this is after the plagues. Right? The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country, for otherwise, they said, we will all die. Like, we've had enough. Get out.

Cameron: 28:29

K? So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, carried it on the shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people and gave them what they asked for, so they plundered the Egyptians. Alright?

Cameron: 28:58

The gold the gold that they made the idol from was a gift of blessing and provision from the lord from their enemies, from their captives, the Egyptians. The lord had given it to the Israelite people for their blessing as they go into a new nation, as they go into a promised land, and instead of using it for the glory of god, I don't know, maybe someday to build a temple, They instead sacrificed it in a moment of, I'm feeling a little bit dis I'm feeling a little bit dysregulated. We better build a idol really quick. And turned not to the god that delivered them, but to a structure of their own hands. See, idolatry is, at least in part, when our hearts exalt the gifts over the giver.

Cameron: 29:59

The things that god gives to us for our good and for our blessing and for our provision become for us gods in themselves. Rather than recognizing that the gifts come from the one that is to be worshiped. This is the difference, brothers and sisters, that we've been talking about between seeking the face of the lord. Lord, we seek your face. We seek your presence.

Cameron: 30:31

We want you, Lord. We want your presence here. Give us nothing but you, Lord. We we we hunger and we thirst for your presence, Lord. We want you.

Cameron: 30:40

We want you. We want you. Seeking his face or seeking his hand. Lord, we need you to give us this, and we need you to provide this, and we need you to give us this, and we need you to provide this, and, Lord, we need this, And, lord, we have this need. And, lord, we have this need.

Cameron: 31:00

And then when he gives us those things, those things for us become the thing that we worship, and we bow down at the provision and blessing of what God has given us rather than recognizing and giving thanks and praise to the one who gave it to us. These things are made and given to us as a way to bring glory to God, but not as a replacement for God. Your job provided to you by the Lord is meant to bring glory to God, not for you to worship as a God. Your marriage is meant as a way for you to bring glory to God. Your children, oh, meant as a way for you to bring glory to God.

Cameron: 31:51

Your sexuality, his provision, food, fellowship, relationships, all ways in which you are meant to bring glory to God, but not as replacements for God. So the question is, okay, well, if we're not a culture that really sets up our golden calves, what exactly are our idols? Now I can't answer that for you specifically. I'm gonna share with you a story here in a moment about an example. But what are our idols?

Cameron: 32:41

Here's some things. Here's a here's a way in which it's been helpful for me to approach this question as I've been praying for the Lord to destroy the idols in my life or at least reveal the idols in my life so that I can destroy them, alright, is to ask a question like this or similar to this. What do you turn to when you need comfort? What do you turn to when you're under pressure? When you are stressed, when you are scared, when you are confused, when you are lonely, when you need saving from something.

Cameron: 33:31

When the cards are down and the pressure's on and things are difficult, where do you turn? Where do you go? Is a purse is it a person? Is it a place? Is it a thing or a thought that you turn to for comfort?

Cameron: 33:54

That is your idol. When you are stressed, when you are sad, when you are lonely, when you are confused, when you're scared, Where do you immediately run to? Maybe not physically. Where do you immediately run to emotionally? Where do you immediately run to mentally?

Cameron: 34:15

Where do you go to to make the pain go away? What is the thing that you pick up? Where is the place that you go? What is the thing that you do? What are the thoughts that you think?

Cameron: 34:27

Where is it that I go when the pressure is on? To the Israelites, in a moment of pressure and fear and confusion turned immediately to something that they could control. Aaron, make us an idol. Some of us idolize things like social media. We use it to escape, to disassociate, to present a false self, to build a reputation that protects us from vulnerability because we because we are pursuing not the heart of God, we are pursuing above all else the approval of man.

Cameron: 35:10

Now how many times you're in an awkward situation? You're in a lonely sit you're feeling lonely even. You're in a situation where you're uncomfortable. You're afraid maybe. And, like, almost as a reflex, the phone comes out, gets swiped up, and then you're just like, comfort, comfort, comfort, comfort, comfort, comfort, comfort, comfort, comfort.

Cameron: 35:40

Saving me, saving me, saving me, saving me, saving me, saving me. Enslaving me, enslaving me, enslaving me. Where do you run to? Where do you go to? What are you grasping at?

Cameron: 35:59

Some of us idolize food. We use it to soothe our emotions, to provide comfort for us. Again, all of these things listen. All of these things, good, given to us by God, twisted, held up as idols, the gift becomes the god. K?

Cameron: 36:19

None of these are bad in and of themselves. Some of us idolize money. All of our decisions are based off of how to get more, how to save more, what our money situation is. They're like, wow. Jeez.

Cameron: 36:32

I'm poor. I'm glad I don't idolize money. Listen. People living in poverty are sometimes the worst idolizers of money. You can idolize money in the scarcity of it.

Cameron: 36:43

I don't have much at all, and that reality runs our lives, consumes our thoughts, and our desires. And instead of fixing our eyes fully on Jesus, we fix our eyes on our scarcity. We fix our eyes on our need. We fix our eyes on our on our, on our health situation, our sickness, our disease. Fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Cameron: 37:07

Some of us idolize sex. Some of us idolize sexual fulfillment and sexual autonomy. I can do whatever it is that I want to do. It is my body, and I'm living in it. And we live in a culture of absolute sexual permissiveness, and we worship at the altar of the idol of sexual do whatever feels good to you.

Cameron: 37:35

Some of us idolize politics, and our whole identity is wrapped around a political party, a specific candidate, a movement, a policy, an idea so much so that we can we can't barely comment on a person's profile picture or news story without making sure the world knows our political belief on it or whose fault it is in the political world. It, like, somehow brings us extraordinary comfort to attach ourselves to a party, to a man, to a woman, to an idea, to a platform. So much so that we can't we can't even enter into normal conversation with actual people without a, guess what, overflowing from the well of our heart. Some of us idolize comfort. We idolize comfort so much that we won't even consider listening to someone put into practice a sermon on idolatry.

Cameron: 39:00

Because to do so would upset the delicate balance of me believing that Jesus calls me to nothing that is difficult, like destroying the idols of my life. I prefer to follow a Jesus that makes me warm and happy, not that calls me to a cross to die. Comfort has become our idol. We are ripe with idol worship. And just because it doesn't look like a golden calf or a totem pole does not mean it's any less insidious or any less powerful in stealing away your affection and devotion to the lord.

Cameron: 39:54

God wants you to be free of the idols that enslave you, and idol worship is slavery. What does it take? What does it take? It takes full devotion and consecration if you want to make room in your life for the presence of god to dwell. Who can ascend the hill of the lord?

Cameron: 40:24

Who can stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart and does not lift his soul up to another and does not speak what is false. Do you wanna stand in the holy place of the Lord? Do you wanna ascend the hill of the Lord? Do you want the presence of the Lord?

Cameron: 40:42

You wanna make space in your life so that the Lord knows that, Lord, your your presence is welcome, Lord. Watch like, Lord, I'm I'm about the work of smashing idols, Lord. I am making room for you, lord. I am making room for your glory. I am making room for your holiness, lord.

Cameron: 40:59

Give me clean hands, lord. Purify my heart. The idols are coming down, father. I want nothing more than you. It takes full devotion.

Cameron: 41:09

It takes full consecration. Consecration is the act of dedicating something to a higher purpose. You were not created to serve lesser gods, but the one true God, your creator, your sustainer, savior, and Lord. And so the question this morning is this, will you consecrate your life to God so that he may have all of you so that you can have all of him? Will you consecrate your life to God?

Cameron: 41:48

Will you set it apart? Will you say, no. My life is not my own. This is not mine. I set myself apart from you, Lord, for your will, for your purpose, for your calling, for your obedience, for your life, Lord.

Cameron: 42:02

Everything that I have is yours. I destroy everything that sets itself up as a lesser god, like, competing for my affection for you. Destroy it all in this moment. As I said last week, this becomes a dangerous endeavor. Because once you begin with a purity of heart to ask the Lord to reveal the idols in your life so that you can begin destroy the destroying them, if you ask with a purity of heart, he responds very quickly in his faithfulness.

Cameron: 42:39

And that's why I say one of the biggest idols that we have is the idol of comfort because we are so unwilling to be undone by the Lord in our idolatry that we won't even ask the question. Ask the lord to search your heart and expose any idols that are living there. Lord, reveal the idols of my heart. And listen. Once they are revealed, once he reveals them to you, you must act swiftly and violently to do spiritual you must do spiritual violence to the idols of your life.

Cameron: 43:22

Similar to the way that Josiah that King Josiah did that we preached a sermon a couple sermons on him a couple months ago in the summer, destroying all the idols and taking them down, what we see Moses doing in Exodus chapter 32, took a hammer to the ashes of the idol? Tossing it in the water and then forcing those that worshiped it to drink? That is like boss move, man. I think it you and I I know. Listen.

Cameron: 43:58

Because I've been there. I've been in the place of being thinking like, well, jeez. What are my big idols? Like, what are the things that I'm just, like, worshiping at the altar? Gotta be, like, something super big, something, like, massive.

Cameron: 44:08

I don't know. I don't see any, like, massive things in my life. Let me tell you what. Right? There's a lot of little idols that have big control of your heart that are so normal in your life that when you receive conviction over them, you're like, but what?

Cameron: 44:28

Really? Really, Lord? You that's I'm that can't be right. That just I this must be my own head. Then you prayed again, Lord, reveal the idols in my heart.

Cameron: 44:41

He's like, nope. That thing right there. I'm like, but come on. It's like this big, Lord. I'm gonna tell you a story.

Cameron: 44:50

I I hesitated to tell this this I hesitated to tell this for a couple reasons. One is because I want you to hear from a from a place of humility and repentance, right, that, this is a story from my own life in the last month. K? That in humility and repentance, I am not holding myself up as a great example in this instance. K?

Cameron: 45:21

But but, like, Paul Paul wrote in one of his letters via reference escapes me at this right now. He said, follow me as I follow Christ. Alright? And if there's anything about this that you hear, it's like follow Christ. Alright?

Cameron: 45:33

Follow me as I follow Christ. It was January 5th this year. I was down at Praise Fellowship for the First Fruits Worship Night. Our team worship team was leading. And I walked in, and I was like, you know, I was there to support our worship team and, like, you know, like, be a pastor in the community and show my support and worship for a little while.

Cameron: 45:56

It was a Friday night, I think. Anyway, I was talking to another pastor up front. This was before everything started, and, we were just kinda, like, you know, small talk. And I look over to the left of me, and there was a woman standing in the front row. And I don't know I don't remember what she was wearing.

Cameron: 46:13

I don't know who she is. Just doesn't matter. It's not but she was holding a cup of coffee. Remember that? She had a cup of coffee in her hand.

Cameron: 46:21

And I remember turning back. I I glanced for some reason. I remember turning back to the pastor that I was talking to, and I like, all of a sudden, like, my I couldn't hear what he was saying anymore because I was like, oh, I wonder where she got that coffee. I wish I had a cup of coffee right now. Like, it would just be so good if I was like, we're here, but gets ready to worship.

Cameron: 46:50

Like, I my hands are cold. I my hands warm and, like, I just drink it and it makes my stomach warm. And then you and then and then you think something like, oh, coffee just feels you say something like coffee just fills my soul. Ever said that? Ever thought that?

Cameron: 47:07

Y'all lying if you haven't. Right? Right? Yeah. And so, like and now I'm just thinking like, oh, I just wish I could have a cup of coffee.

Cameron: 47:18

Where'd she get that coffee? I want that coffee. I'm like, I gotta find the coffee. Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee. Right?

Cameron: 47:24

And then it was like I stepped away from that conversation, and I stepped into my row, and it was like the Lord brought, like, a £1,000 of conviction down upon me in that moment. He was like, coffee is an idol in your life. You, like, you came into a place that has been that has been designated and consecrated as a place of worship and devotion to me, a night that is solely consecrated to worship, and all you can think about is getting filled up with coffee. Not my spirit, not my presence. Coffee is an idol, Cameron.

Cameron: 48:12

And I'm being honest with you. Like, Lord and I had it out for about 24 hours. We did because I was going through, like, Lord, you have got to be kidding me. Gotta be kidding me. Like and a part of it was, like, I need my coffee, please.

Cameron: 48:33

No. You have got to be kidding me, Lord. This is it's coffee. It's a drink. It's not a big deal.

Cameron: 48:42

It's and so we were like and I'm like, you know, tug tug of war. And it it sometimes I like, when I hear the Lord, I hear the Lord, and I know I hear the Lord. I I know the Lord's voice. I know the Lord's voice. And when I hear the Lord, I know it's the Lord.

Cameron: 48:57

And I knew it was the Lord, but we were gonna fight about it a little bit more because I was just like, I don't understand this. I don't get it. It seems so small. It seems so simple. What about all the big sins?

Cameron: 49:08

What about the big idols, Lord? Like, aren't there any of those that we can take down? Can't we just leave this one? Like right? And then the next morning, the next morning was like the next wave of conviction.

Cameron: 49:25

And because, like, in the mornings, I will will set a coffee pot at night. Right? Make the coffee up. Set the timer for early in the morning because I wanna get up and I wanna, like, wanna spend time in the word. Right?

Cameron: 49:40

Spend time in prayer. And so sometimes you'll set the coffee pot, and then, like, you'll go to bed, and then you, like, you you know, get under the covers, and you're like, oh, I cannot wait to get up in the morning and what? Drink coffee. Right? And the Lord was like, you set your coffee pot on a timer to get up to spend time with me, and you go to sleep in anticipation of the coffee, not my presence.

Cameron: 50:18

And then sometimes Laura gets a little sarcastic, and it speaks to me. Right? He knows my he knows the language that gets to my heart. And it was gentle and it was kind, but it was clear. Coffee's an idol.

Cameron: 50:37

You can't carry it to the top of the hill that I'm standing at. You can choose. You choose. Some beautiful things about idols is that god does not regularly stomp them out of our lives. You know who you know who has to destroy the idols in our lives?

Cameron: 51:00

It's your job. God's not gonna tug a war with you over your idol. You wanna hold on to that thing? Go ahead. It's heavy.

Cameron: 51:12

You'll never carry it to the top of the mountain where he is. You'll never get there. He will not share his glory in your heart with something that you are worshiping that is not him. You'll never get there. The reality is is that my idolatry was truly revealed when I tried to let go of coffee, and it was extraordinarily difficult.

Cameron: 51:49

Remains extraordinarily difficult. And there's still a little bit of it. It's like, lord, this feels a little bit ridiculous to me. You know, in some ways, in some ways, there has been, like, a we we we we must take shifts of attitude in understanding the, like, I don't know, the dynamic of the things that the Lord calls us to. Because here's here's 2 things that we can do.

Cameron: 52:26

Right? We can I I could very easily, so easily, I can still feel it in my flesh, and the Lord is purifying it out of my flesh? I I could so easily stand over here and be like, oh, poor me. No coffee. No joy.

Cameron: 52:51

Okay. What am I gonna do with all of these what am I gonna do with all these coffee meetings I have scheduled? What am I gonna do with my coffee subscription that literally delivers 2 bags of freshly roasted coffee to my doorstep every 2 weeks? Right? What am I gonna what am I gonna oh, poor me.

Cameron: 53:12

Look, everyone over here. Yeah. You enjoy your coffee, but I'm over here suffering for the Lord. You know? Like this Eeyore attitude about what the Lord has called me to.

Cameron: 53:25

Alright? Right? About the what the lord has convicted me to. Well, honestly, somehow, feeling all depressed and mopey that the lord is calling me into freedom from something I did not even know that I was enslaved to. Oh, poor me.

Cameron: 53:47

Right? That the Holy Spirit answered the prayer to reveal the idols of my heart and is now giving me freedom from slavery to something that was dividing my affection to the lord. And so I want you to all know, like, listen, I I am asking the Lord, and he's giving it to me every day more and more, a joyful obedience in letting go of the things that take away from my love from him for him. No matter how ridiculous or normal they may seem to the world. I don't care what it is.

Cameron: 54:33

Take it away. If it does not move me up the hill of the Lord, if it does not bring me to a place of making room to stand in his holy place, I want nothing of it. Nothing about it. When you go about to ask the Lord to reveal the idols of your heart and then take on the work of destroying them and smashing them, do not expect it to be easy. Do not expect it to be easy.

Cameron: 55:14

Oh, this was this was easy to give up. It wasn't an idol. You're distracted. Dig deeper. Ask the Lord.

Cameron: 55:21

Be honest with yourself. Be honest with him. Idols are demonic. Our idols are demonic strongholds that convince us to place our trust in something other than the god that has created and sustained us, and they will not go quietly or easily. Expect it to be difficult.

Cameron: 55:46

Number 2, tell someone about your idol slaying and your heart consecrating. Tell someone that you're slaying some idols. I had to tell some people in my life this this past month since January 5th. Yeah. You know, it's kind of embarrassing to share, but coffee is an idol.

Cameron: 56:04

I gotta give it up. I'm I'm or I'm giving it up for a season. I don't know if it's a season or for it's forever. I don't know. I really don't.

Cameron: 56:11

I don't know if this is like a Abraham and Isaac type of thing or if it's like a know you're done with this forever. There are things that the Lord has said, no, you're done with this forever. Cameron Lanhart will never have a drink of alcohol again in this life. Right? Whether or not it's a drink of coffee again or not, I don't have any idea.

Cameron: 56:28

Right? But that's besides the point. You need to tell people, right, that you're slaying some idols because you wanna pursue holiness and full consecration to the Lord because bringing things out into the light takes the power away from them. If you if you live in the darkness with your little idol telling no one, right, it still has power in secret. It loses its power in the light.

Cameron: 56:58

For instance, like, I'm I'm I'm gonna tell you right now. I'm going to the Bills game today. K? I'm going with Brad Swanson, who's a member here at Conduit. Right?

Cameron: 57:09

And, and I'm glad he was in service this morning so that he got to hear that whole story. Because I know that at about 7 o'clock tonight, when I'm standing in the middle of that stadium, freezing my knickers off, I'm gonna want a hot cup of coffee. Right? And if I didn't say anything to him or I didn't bring that out into the light, right, and it lives in the darkness, not me like, oh, well, he doesn't know. No one else will know.

Cameron: 57:34

Lord, you and I will deal with it later. I'll just go and get it and keep it and keep it, like, between us. But now, because I have a brother in Christ, right, who can hold me accountable to that idle slaying in my life, if I come down the steps with a cup of Tim Hortons, he's gonna look at me sideways and slap it out of my hands, and I expect him to. Right? Because that is one of the gifts of Christian community.

Cameron: 58:01

Right? Is that we we together are like, I don't care if I spill your $5 cup of coffee. I care about your holiness. So if you're having a hard time, throw it on the ground, link arms with me. We'll go to the top of the hill together.

Cameron: 58:15

Let's go. Here's the last thing that I'll say this morning is this. It's important this is a practical matter. Reserve judgment about other people's idols. K?

Cameron: 58:33

Reserve judgment about other people's idols. My idol may not be yours. Your idol may not be mine. And what I want you to hear really, really clearly today, because this is a danger and I understand it, I don't want you to walk away thinking that you somehow I know I'm not I don't mean this to be funny at all. I'm serious.

Cameron: 58:55

Alright? I don't want you to walk away this morning thinking somehow you need to be feel guilty about drinking a cup of coffee. Yeah. You're welcome. Because it's not you remember remember, the idols in our life almost always start as gifts that God gives us, and then we misuse them and twist them and turn them into idols ourselves.

Cameron: 59:18

You might not have turned coffee into an idol. I did at some point, and it became a place for me to get comfort and to not feel so lonely or sad or I don't even know. The Lord's still kinda revealing that to me. Like, what what happened there? But the reality is is that what the Lord is convicting me of is not necessarily the same thing.

Cameron: 59:40

It's not it's not a universal conviction. Alright? If you feel conviction in your heart over coffee, then by all means, smash that idol. But it's not, well, my pastor said he quit coffee because the Lord told him to, so I guess that means that I have to as well. That's not the case.

Cameron: 59:59

Right? So we're reserving our judgment over other people's idols and dealing only with our own. My idol is not yours. Your idol is not mine. We might share some of the same.

Cameron: 01:00:15

And in that in those instances, we can partner together to smash them. But listen. I want this to be a place where we make room for the presence of the Lord to show up in the fullness of his holiness and the fullness of his glory. And if we are going to make that room and if we are going to make that space and if we are going to say, lord, we want you here, then we need clean hands and a pure heart to not lift our soul to an idol or to speak what is false, but to be a generation that seeks his face. Let us be a generation that seeks his face and destroys the idols of our lives.

Cameron: 01:01:19

Let's pray. Heavenly father, would you reveal to us, lord, the idols of our hearts, the idols of our lives? Lord, would you give us hearts that are fully consecrated unto you? Lord, set us apart for a higher purpose. Set us a heart set us apart for a higher calling, Lord.

Cameron: 01:01:55

Set us apart for higher work. Lord, for those who are willing in the room, Lord, We pray the prayer, Lord, reveal the idol in my heart, reveal the place that I run to when I need saving, when I need comfort, when I need to feel something, Lord. Father, take our idol and put it underneath our feet where we may stop it to bits. That we may instead, lord, pursue you, that you might give us, lord, all that it is we are looking for, lord. We know that our souls will be restless until they find their rest in you.

Cameron: 01:02:59

In Jesus' name, amen. Heavenly father, as we go to work destroying the idols of our lives, consecrating ourselves to you and you alone. Lord, I pray that you would make this a season of new wine for us, Lord. New wine for our hearts, for our homes, for our families, and for your church here. Lord, we give ourselves to you in holy dedication and consecration, father.

Cameron: 01:03:37

Give us clean hands and a pure heart. Let us not lift our souls to an island. Let us not speak what is false. We seek your face, oh god of Jacob. Amen.

Cameron: 01:03:49

Conduit, you are loved. Have a great week, and we'll see you next time.