Scott continues the summer series, this time focusing on Worship, discussing a recurring theme: idolatry and its impact on faith and life. Scott starts by recounting his own transformative journey from viewing God as irrelevant to embracing a deep faith. Through readings from the Old Testament, he talks about the commandment to have no other gods and the futility of idol worship.

The discussion continues to examine the role of idolatry in modern life, highlighting how materialism and personal security often lead people away from God. Scott discusses the powerful story of a man who kneels before Jesus but values his possessions more than following Him. He references others like Corky, who turn to faith in times of crisis, and explores how idols—whether money, sex, or power—fail to provide true security. The episode incorporates practical steps for self-assessment, reflection, and prayer, aiming to identify and guard against the idols in our lives.

Insight Sheet Blank: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10EvqPJzy-UE7mqZ8avmyiRwiI1utNCGl/view?usp=sharing

Insight Sheet With Answers: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JD672NRxWv1junFGkMoFEP51PsKmBkor/view?usp=sharing

Key Topics Discussed:

• Old Testament teachings on idolatry
• Story of the rich man and Jesus
• Howard Hughes and the impact of idolatry
• Practical steps for self-assessment and repentance
• Tim Kelly's perspective on idolatry among believers
• Spiritual battle and guarding against idols

Hi. If you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the bible to discover rock solid truth for life and living from the God of the bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi, and welcome to today's episode. As always, for a deeper experience, you can go to the show notes and download the blank insight sheet. Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening to this, there will be a link to the episode website at beholdingbibletruth.com, and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode.

Well, we are walking our ways through the truth in, the truth in true crime series. I'm enjoying it. Enjoying it. Really interesting. She goes through real life cases and brings to light real life issues and concerns for us. So on Wednesday, I think, Thursday, Keith, one of, our coaching members, first coaching member ever, had in 2010, I think. So he's been with us this long. He's from Toronto, Canada, and I, he and his team came in for a coaching session, and I handed him our book, Jack.

And I said, here, I was thinking about you, and he looked at it. He said, you know I'm secular. I said, Keith, just because you, ignore the divine, doesn't mean it's not real.

Oh, same.

Yeah. Yeah. So you can pray for Keith and Serena Keith and Serena as they, hopefully read the book. And we all have friends, family members, neighbors, and we remember ourselves, there was a time when God was irrelevant. In fact, prior in age 28, God was a joke to me. Either he didn't exist or I thought Christians were goofy or foolish or, you know, crazy for thinking about God. And then all of a sudden, God enters into your world, and he brings about the the process of faith, which is just it's stunning. It's just stunning to me.

Stunning to me. So we're looking at this idea of a workshop, today. So if you would stand with me, we're gonna read from the Old Testament, 1st from Exodus and then Isaiah. So I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You You shall not make yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above, from here, beneath, or any water under the earth. You shall not them or hurt them. Those attacks and idle are all futile, and their treasured things are no benefit.

Half of it, he burns his fire over this path that he eats meat. He roost the roost and then satisfied. He also warns himself and says, I'm mortal. I've seen the fire. Yet the rest of it, he makes into our god his car image. He vows down before and worshiped him. He always leads to him saying, save me for you are my god. No.

But remember us, we're going to acknowledge your understanding to say, I have heard a cat live in fire and off of a bread with cold, I roast meat and eat it, and I make the rest of it into an abomination. I've got down before block and wood. It is on the edges to see if you can place that in, and they cannot see it themselves or say, is there not a lie in my right hand? The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Be to God. So write down something you see in there. What do you see in there? In Psalm 100, it says, it is he who has made us and not we ourselves, which is how we open. It's he who has made us and not we ourselves.

It's a reminder. Right? I don't I didn't make myself. You know? I'd like to think. Right? I did. So it's very interesting. Right? Founding one of the early church fathers origin said, what each one honors what each one honors above all self. What before all things he admires and loves, you're talking about adoration, Jack. Right? This for him is god.

What do we honor? What do we put value on? What do we determine? What's our what's our value system? Right? Each of us gets to carve his own image, if you will, and determine what's valuable, what's valuable. Well, those people, I'll tell you, they were so fooled. I mean, who would take a piece of wood and bow down before? I mean, come on. We have grown up. We have progressed. We are way beyond that that sort of dark time when they were fooled by that. We don't worship like that anymore. As he was sitting down on a journey, a man ran up to Jesus, knelt before him and said, good teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

You know the commandments. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not give false testimony. Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother. He said to him, teacher, I kept all these things from my youth.

Looking at him, Jesus showed love to him. Interesting. Oh, and I would say,

should you

kept all those commandments? Like, hey. Come on. Jesus showed love to him and said to him, one thing you lack. Go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. But he was deeply dismayed by these words, and he went away grieving. Why did he grieve? He owned much property. He owned much property. He was grieved Mhmm.

Because he owned much property. So we don't bow down today anymore, do we? So he bowed down. What who'd he bow down before? Yeah. But, initially, he bows down for his words. Right?

Jesus. He

he kneels before Jesus. Before Jesus. But he bowed down before his possessions. So he kneels, right, he kneels, right, on the surface, but inside, he's bowing down to his possession.

Well, I think also his heart is displayed, like, because he calls him good teacher Mhmm. God. He doesn't call him Lord or anything else. He calls him the teacher. So I think his knee laying down was

Surface. It was Right. Yeah. It was surface, but Jesus dealt with that. Right? Who do you call who do you call good? There isn't a good except God, which was the issue, who is God? To get the core of that, eat behind it. See, the idol is not the issue. Jesus said, who do who do you call God? Who's God? And the the issue is who's god? Who is god? Idol is just a an outward manifestation of who we believe god is. Right? Either ourselves, right, ourselves or who god is.

But put on there, idols can keep people from a saving faith in god, for sure. Idols can keep people from a saving faith in God. So we know others. Good. Good. Met met again on Thursday with with Corky. And Corky, is a friend of Carol, a friend of you know, Carol, who's a friend of ours and had been for, what, 40 years or something kind of forever, and they talked to him nothing until he got Parkinson's. And in the middle of the night, he began to freak out.

Like, what what what's up with the, you know, I've got Parkinson's. My body's breaking down. All of this is, and so he began to search. Until oftentimes, it's when something that we have booked our wagon to, hung our hat upon, starts to be revealed. Right? That at the core of idols is a god who in love knows that thing can't save you. We think it's God waving his finger like gold made carved images. He's no. He's warning not saving, and they'll keep people from a saving faith.

And in fact, the the big challenge he says, immorality, impurity, passion, evil, desiring greed, which amounts to idolatry for it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience. The wrath of God comes upon those who trust or unwilling to bow their knee to Christ. And when we say wrath, remember, wrath equals justice. Wrath equals justice. It is the justice of God that comes against those who who do not, follow their need to him. Those who do not bow their knee to him. And So we're gonna take a look at Jay Warner Wallace and his video. But, essentially, he said, iOS can be boiled down to 3 three things, which I have there.

Money, sex, and power. They can be boiled down to 3 core things, money, sex, and power. And he's gonna talk about this in light of the case. And if the Lord is merciful, this will actually work. Bible is a book that man wouldn't write if he could and couldn't write if he would. You know? And that's it is indeed a great reminder. I was always a, Sherlock Holmes fan. Love, solving mysteries based upon details and clues.

Father Brown. How many have read father Brown? Chesterton. Brilliant. Brilliant. Apologist. Whereas Sherlock Holmes used clues to solve crimes, Chesterton used motives banned motives to to solve crimes, to use a priest, father Brown. And because of confession, he understood that it was motives that drive. And it was interesting for me how Jane Warner Wallace said, I know all these three motives drive every crime.

You know, behind every crime is interesting. And he looked particularly when I think about unbelievers. Right? So we know unbelievers who can't see. But I thought for us as believers, right, we have we have been rescued from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved son, but we bring our idols with us. We bring our idols with us. So scripture explains why idols keep believer you know, keep unbelievers out of the kingdom, but we pulled them in. So my very first Roger, you'll be happy. My very first scripture on the other side was exactly what you said, which is do not love the world nor the things the world is a system.

I think we get confused when I think the world. I think people in the world. No. People in the world are are held captive. They are held captive. There is a system. So I I put there, do not love the world's systems' idols. Anyone loves the world, the love that the father is not in them for all that is in the world.

So all that is in the world system, he says, are 3 things. What are they? Yeah. So if you look at it, right, so he breaks them down. All is is in the world system. Lust of the flesh, which is what feels good. Right? What feels good. The lust of the eyes, which is what Okay. Looks good, and the boastful pride of life, which is what makes me look good.

But they're summed up in that. He ends with that because everything for all of us is what raises my status. You could sum all all items up. People make makes me look better? Everyone is constantly running through internally. If I do this or don't do this, will this raise my status with myself, or is my raise my status with my friends or people that, you know, I know? That is the most propride of life. Right? Feels good, looks good, but at the end, it's wrapped up. It does this make me make me look better. Right? So he says in first, Sean, what are we to do? Little children, so he reminds, I'm speaking as a spiritual father to you, and that is you should guard yourself.

That's a strong word. Set a century. Set a fence. Set a wall and a moat. Guard yourself. Yes.

So I put in some of the

things because the the one thing to say, what are the world systems' idols? But to me, as I walk through here and I think about Werner Waltz, who talked about this before is, really, what are mine? What are the idols that I pulled in from, right, when I was an unbeliever? What have I pulled in retained and which ones keep a hold of me? Which idols keep hold of me. So Tim Kelly has done a lot on that. He said there are 5 core areas. Anything that absorbs your heart, anything that absorbs your heart and your imagination more than God. So some questions that can help. What do you think, about most often? Hey. Where do you spend the majority of your time and money? Same thing. Right? What is my what is my checkbook? What is what is the where do walls talk about the evidence? Your calendar is evidential.

Right? Our our money is evidential. How do we invest our money and our time usually from your heart? So this is discouraging and startling for believers, I think. That the that the the landscape of your soul is littered with idols. That's why Calvin said we're a factory of items. And it's not as if they go away. It's if we they bought to different places. And David said in Psalm 51, he said, thou does desire truth in the inward parts. So if you think about the landscape of your soul, who can do anything about their soul? So the this process is is, one about revealing the fact that it is and the fact that we are in utter, we have utter inability to to free ourselves from our own items.

But the worst place to be in is to say I'm good. I think for for believers to say, I don't have an issue.

What do

you thought of an issue? Right? Related to Bible study said, sin, I

I don't think

I sin that much. Maybe a little. You don't know the holy God. Right? So we recognize. Right? The other thing that, second thing that Keller said is a good thing. A good thing can be made into an ultimate thing. A good thing can be made into an ultimate thing. So things that are not necessary, we tend to think that sin is just bad things, but there are good things that we make into ultimate things.

The next he says, what do we build our lives around? In other words, hoping that it will give us identity identity. Questions like, what makes me feel secure or happy? What do I use to measure myself or and my identity? Okay. He being Christian sometimes. You know, there's a thing about God is he sees our soul. All things, it says, before him who are it before whom all things are laid bare. He's not surprised by these things. Everybody get it? It's not as if he is when he says search me, it's not as if God is actually needing to search you. He's searching you for your benefit to show you these are idols.

You put your trust in them. You've hooked your wagon to them, and they will disappoint. They will disappoint you. They will lead you away from me, and they will disappoint. You are in danger, he's saying. Right? So David Wallace, who he quotes in there I don't know is that I don't know if that's he's related to him. I I I couldn't find who it is, but read let's read this together. I thought this is a great cycle.

He said if you worship money and things, if they are wary to tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough and never feel you have enough. Worshipping your body, beauty, and sex will go lower, and you will always feel badly. And when time and age start jumping, you will die before they finally grieve you. We're worshiping power. You find that feeling weak and afraid, and you will never get ever more power over others to your fear. So what we they're false hopes. I I essentially, fall idols are false hope. Hey.

By the way, you can trust in this. And I will say to you, hey. Come on. Put your confidence in me, and I will be there for you. I will be there for you. Josh would say we were talking about this, and I think it was 10 or 11. He said, well, how can you say food, Satan? Like, food is idle for people. Well, how can you say that they bow down before food? And nobody actually bows down before, But it becomes where we go for comfort.

When we go, right, when we feel bad, which is the next thing he says, What do you turn to for consolation and escape? What do you turn to for consolation and escape? But we can we can drink alcohol for celebration. It can also flip into return to it for consolation and escape. Right? So things that are that are good can become bad. And, also, this this is interesting for me because I think about when push comes to shove in life, where do I run? Push comes to shove. So in, in the Psalms, he said, why should the nation say, where now is their god? Our guys in the heavens, he doesn't, which means God is supposed to have shown up for you, but he didn't. So those around you say, hey. Where's your god? I thought he was gonna heal your cancer. I thought he was gonna free you up.

I thought he was gonna fix your marriage. I thought he was gonna, you know, come come up, in response to you financially. Where is he? So in those times, we do what unbelievers do, which we ask the question, where now is God? Like, where is God? And he's saying, here's what you need to tell your soul as well as tell the evil one, our God is in the heavens, and he does as he pleases. A wizard a wizard is neither early nor late, and he arrives just when he means to. Right? Align from from the, Lord of the Rings, same with god. He says, their idols in other words, the answer for the world system is silver, gold stuff that's made. And he says they have mouths, so they don't speak. They have eyes they don't see.

They have hands they don't help. Right? They're dead. He's saying they're dead idols. They can never help you. So then he says, those who make them will become like them. He's saying it's not just that they disappoint. It's that they they they take over you. They take over you.

Those who make them will become like them. Everyone who trusts in them. You fear the Lord, trust. So idolatry is about, okay, what am I trusting again? So we're called to save money. We're called to build up oil in our house. How how blessed is the house that's filled with oil and then pretty soon trust in the. Right? We're we're it it would be it would be smart to stay physically in shape, and it's it's natural capabilities. Right? So and then the next thing he said, which hits a little close to home.

Right? Source of control or power. Things that give you control over life. Control over life. So, Josh, I would say when he was mowing the lawn, I'd say, I want those lines straight.

Look at that. Put my eyes on you.

Dad, why are you so, like, anal about that? I think because when I drive out in the morning, I wanna see straight lines in my yard. I love my landscaping because from that point forward, I don't control anything. So I want a little piece of life where I'm in control where the lines are straight Because I want you wanna control life, don't you? I want something that gives me the sense of I'm in control. Right? In the tapping of your own destiny. Who loves that? And he says in Colossians that, the last thing he says and greed, which amounts to idolatry. The Greek word there is can be translated greed. It can also be translated covetousness covetousness, desire for something. Well, Plato wrote, this is really interesting because he he has a he has a tale of of a tyrant.

And he said the competitive aspect of, right, the competitive aspect. So underline that. So there in greed, there is a competitive aspect. Everybody get that? It's desire for advantage. Right? Where is my advantage? A desire for advantage over others, desire for advantage in life, desire for advantage. Everybody wants the advantage. Right? I I want I want the advantage. So here's what he said.

Interesting. It says that it's drive toward preeminence. So greed has a sense, I wanna be preeminent. How many wanna be preeminent? That's part of our old nature. I wanna be preeminent. It says plays a critical part in the emergence of the tyrant while his pursuit of appetite of pleasure, things right, plus the flesh, plus the eyes, drives the budding tyrant to burn to his parents well. And while the need for money makes him break the law. But he doesn't want money.

What's he want? What he gives him. Right? He wants yeah. Right? He says, the tyrant's insatiable desire for more power and control wants to do. It pushes them to ever greater extremes. This relentless ambition relentless ambition cannot be satisfied, Kenneth? And disregard for traditional moral constraints eventually lead him to seize power by any means necessary, establishing his rule through here at manipulation. So in the Bible speaks about greed, that at the core of idolatry, it's this sense of driving toward preeminence. The thing in which I, get control over life and stuff and raise my own status. And then then the bible tells us, first of all, you control it, then it controls you.

First of all, you control it, then it controls you. Those who make it will become like that. So in the drug world, I would say, first of all, you get the buzz, then the buzz gets you. And when when it comes to anything like that, that's always the case. 1st, you because you think you're in control of it. First of all, you get the buzz, then the buzz gets you, and now you are controlled by the buzz. But that's that's true with all items. You feel like you're controlling it, then it controls you.

So the Bible says very interesting, not only guard, but then there's a second verb that's used, Escape. What does that mean? Run away, but it also means if I have to escape, it means I've been captured. But again, don't you understand? Right? Pay attention to the verbs. First of all, it says guard. So guard. Okay. Be on the guard. Then it says escape, which means I've been captured.

So our soul is riddled with idols. And as we wander through our soul and wander through life, we tend to gravitate toward different items depending on the stuff of life. And sanctification is the process of defusing our idolatry. Right? Re removing the the the power, and the draw. So he says, therefore, beloved, flee from idolatry or escape as the word would say. So I thought about right? If you're a believer and you ignore the fact that idolatry is part of sanctification, you're in danger. If you believe you have no idols, you're in danger. If you're not attuned to the back, you better guard, and then there are gonna be times in your life you will need to flee, escape from, right, then we will deceive ourselves just like an unbeliever.

Remember, he had both of them. Doesn't make any sense, did it, Jimmy? Right? You should be able to look at the 2 that doesn't make any sense. But see that same deception comes into our world because we pull that in with us. We can be deceived in the same way. You pay attention. So the first thing I put on there is ask your heavenly father and Christ frail. Ask for your heavenly father in Christ frail. When he looked at the unbeliever, how do you look great at him? I know.

How does he look at you as his own with with mercy and grace and love and favor? Lord, help me. Right? Help. That's that's the best prayer. Help. Because he says search me and know me. See if there is any evil or hurtful way in me. Lead me in the way everlasting. Who's gonna do that? For thou does desire truth and name inward parts.

Anybody have a an inward part cleanser? Beth loves to take the high pressured hose on our concrete in the back, on our patio. That's her favorite. So I bought her a high pressure hose. We cleaned that thing. Right? She just loves that. Clean all the concrete once a year. You know? Don't you wish there was a high pressure hose for your soul? Well, there is. It's the spirit of God and only God can clean your soul in the inward parts.

So we have to call out help help. So Toyota, who worked for toy Toyota, came up with this process in manufacturing to figure out what's the problem. So if they had a manufacturing defect, they would ask this question 5 times. They would ask why. This is broken on the assembly line. Why is it broken? Because this doesn't work. Why doesn't that work? And then the 5 whys became a process to bring to clarity to what is the core issue. So self assessment, when I've asked god why, also self assessment, be clear, to be honest with ourself about what are about what really where am I? Because your idols are the same in a sense as mine, but they're custom, like you said.

Uh-huh. They're custom. We all carve our own images. Right? So we we have you we all we are, we lean towards certain items certain items. So the way that works, it would be, to take an issue and then ask why 5 times. So let's. What do you fear losing the most? What's one thing you fear losing the most? Well, that's not a big enough space, Scott. It's true.

We just pick something that you fear losing. Something you fear losing in life. Once you get the issue, ask the first, why do I fear losing? Why do I fear losing it? Then the second why is why my first answer. Well, I might say, I fear losing my health. I fear losing my beauty. I fear losing my spouse. I fear losing my reputation. I fear losing right? Why? Well, because how I'll feel, how I'll look, how I'll think about myself.

Well, why, whatever to your second question. So the idea is to then ask why to that second answer to walk through this by text, trying to get to the core, why I fear not losing that. And that's why again? Why your second answer? Why your third answer? They said to me, Kepper, that's why more people don't wanna come to your class. He wants to do this. Art stuff, isn't it? Art stuff. But it's for your own good. This is for your own good. Be be aware of guarding and and escaping, guarding and fleeing.

So what do you see as you ask those questions? Hard to ask, aren't they? Hard to ask. I think they're easy to ask. Hard to answer. Yeah. But it's a it takes courage to ask questions. It takes courage to self assess. She said an unexamined life is not worth living. For me, as I go through there, one of the fears is not being able to produce because my core is my identity is is wrapped around my ability to produce, which is something, teach something, write something, do something, produce something.

Right? My identity is in the wrong place, which also makes the eventual journey to old age a very scary thought. Because you think as you get older, what what's the thing you're most fearful of losing? Well, it it it will it will be indicative of where I've placed my identity, what I've locked it into. Because the lord lord knows. I mean, he may call me on sooner, but he knows whatever we put our trust in other than him, we'll disappoint. And the second piece, he said, it will also take charge of you, and it will it will form you rather than you forming it. Does everybody get it? It will form you. Those who make them will be like them. Those who make them will be like them.

So what'd you get as you went through there? Anything stand out for you? Yes.

When you think about what Jesus said to his disciples, come and follow me. And that that meant they had to leave everything that was made on their lives. And I think that's especially if you're watching The Chosen and then you're watching that, that is, very evident when you see the kind of lifestyle those disciples now have just following along, learning from them. So that brings to to my mind the tension of that we live in such a opulent lifestyle. And then what what's that line that where we should be leaving behind with all of him? What is okay for us to indulge in, indulge ourselves in, and what what what should we be denying even if everybody else isn't denying ourselves? What should we be denying?

Mhmm.

I think that's the tension we live with, and it's a very hard question. If you've ever read, Crazy Love by Francis Chan, he really he really brings that to to the forefront about how spoiled we are

Mhmm.

And how we rationalize. Oh, it's okay for me to have 4 cars. It's okay for me to spend all this money on the home. I mean, he brings that right to the reality of that too.

Yeah. Good questions to ask. Right? Good questions to ask. Yes. Right? So the point is just some of the under, you know, where we build our lives. Right? Here's another question. What makes me secure or happy? How do I measure my self worth? Right? So I've got some questions in there. So self assessment, it's good to bring the car in and hook it up to the computer and let it run through some tests, right, from time to time.

So deciding from time to time. Prayer, confession, and repentance. Prayer, confession, and repentance. Certainly key in, you know, scripture. The word of the Lord is living and active and sharper than a 2 edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow, enabled to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Oh, dang. And the next verse says, he before him, all things are laid bare. Right? So he's revealing to us through his word, not stuff he's surprised by, stuff that we are surprised by.

What what the thoughts and intentions of the heart. We need heart work. Right? So scripture memory, meditation, prayer, confession, repentance are all kinda wrapped in there. Self assessment is one of the practical ways that we can reveal the presence of idols in our life, idols in our life. Alright. Write down on the inside of your application, and then we'll hear some. Did you hear something? Yeah. Yep.

I put down we are losing the health. And when I started, I thought, that can't be high. It just it just can't be. And then as you go to the question, you kind of know. Okay. And how about Howard Hughes in the seventies? He was the only billionaire in the world. He was amazingly successful. He had this amazing life.

Became a germaphobe and became pretty fixed about his health. And the ice one, and this

floor in in a a

casino in Vegas and had terrible last

4 or 5 years of

his life. Totally isolated from people, couldn't eat anything, couldn't drink water because his health became and destroyed his life. So, anyway.

Anything. Yeah. And see, the thing is, it's not whether you have money or not because idolatry is the same for those without money in those. It's just if you have more money, you can you can just you can spend toward you can invest towards your idol. You may have no money to invest towards your idol. You still have an idol. Poor people still have idols. It's not the fact that you have stuff, which is you you can now he can do all sorts of crazy things because he could afford whatever.

Right? And he did weird and weird things when he had the money to. So all it allows us to do is to fuel our idolatry. Mhmm. If we have more money, we can fuel our I idolatry. Alright. The other insight. Right? An insight, we'll share a few. Dang Bible so right on.

Those are some insights. Who got any insights for today? You have never gone out of dang class.

But it

was good shape for them. Corn.

So you you we've talked

so many times in here about Proverbs for others. Yeah. That's really impressive. Boy, I know someone really ought to be listening to this.

Kurt made it. I I

I have no trouble thinking of other people who would think

the problem is made. I'm the one about the hearing is, and ask

me some why. Why would they say it?

Oh, that's a good question. Why would others say I need to hear this? Why would others say I need to hear this? That is a good that is a good question. Those closest to you can see it. Those closest to you can see it. Yes. You know?

When you said when I pray this daily, search me. You know, my heart made me in the way of everlasting. When you've been tied back any through that first verse that we talked about was I mean, when Jesus looked at the young man and loved him, we need to remember that. Don't search me to look at me with condemnation, but he searches us with love. That's important to remember.

And mercy and grace. Right? And mercy. Right? It's a it's a throne of mercy mercy. Right? Mercy and grace. So when you pray that, yeah, you remember. That's why I put you're praying to your heavenly father who's who looks and responds in love and grace and mercy. Isn't that good to know? Well, you know, it's a help me. It's not, you know, it's not wag your your finger at me.

It's not a 5 chance thing. It's forever. The volume.

Yep. The you'd have they ask, don't run out. Right? You don't get 5 tickets, and then you're done. Ask you don't have to ask sparingly. Roger.

Several weeks ago, when Ron Moore was preaching through Nehemiah 8, I believe it's verse 10, says the joy of

the Lord

is my strength.

Excuse me. He spoke about happiness, and he quoted a study that said 7 of 10 Americans feel they need more money to be happy. 7 of 10. Now we don't need to do much math to to understand that. 7 included those of us in the Christian domain. So there's a lot of people in our circles who have put their trust in money in order to be happy. K. The second thing, this, I I had read ahead in the book earlier in the week, and then Tuesday evening when we had our community discussion meeting, and we were working through some of the teachings of Nehemiah 13 in the sermon, we were, dabbling with, you know, what drove some of the things here.

How did Tobiah end up with a chamber in the temple? And and and I pulled out the the the book and quoted these three things, greed, that is money, sex, and pursuit of power. And you can see those in what was happening in the temple back in Nehemiah 13. So there's a crossover. That's my point here is that these are universal principles that we saw at work in Nehemiah, and and then we we spilled over into the dangerous world. This is what happens in the world of politics, pursuit of power and money, and then sometimes there's a dose of sex thrown in. Right? So this kinda controls the political world. It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter what you're coming where you're coming from, where you're going.

It just kinda controls, and likewise, in the high places of business world. So okay. Well, there's there's much there's this. I thought this chapter in the book was supreme. I felt so strongly about it. I copied it and sent it to the guys that we talked about Tuesday night. Because I said, this is what we were talking about in the context of Nehemiah 13. Here it is, In which Jay Warner Wallace spells it out here as what were they worshiping.

Well, how did their object of worship get moved? Okay. Thank you.

Good stuff. Good stuff. So remember, it's in the heart of all men. It's in the heart of all men, and it is fueled by the world system. Right? It's fueled by the world system. The prince of the power of the air is who? See, he's been fueling it for a long time. He's an angel of light. He knows how to package up, all of this and appeal to the heart of men.

Right? He knows how to do that. So we are in a spiritual battle. So guard yourself against idols. Little children flee. Flee. Flee idolatry. Alright, Jack. You wanna close this out if you would, please?

Heavenly father, we thank you as always for this opportunity to gather in your name to study your word and be confronted with the truth, where it's, may not be comfortable for us for us. We thank you for, holding the mirror up again this week. Thank you for, Jay Warner Wallace and his creative ways of confronting us with biblical truth. Thank you for Scott Kemper and his diligence. We also, this morning, pray for the shooting people who were affected by the shooting yesterday. We thank you for the mercy, and the sparingly target of the shooter, and we thank you for, your your mercy on all of us. We pray for your comfort to be among the families of the people who were affected, and we pray that you, ultimately, your justice and your mercy will prevail. We pray that we'll be together again next week to pick up your word and

to

encourage and strengthen by it. We pray this all in Jesus' precious name.

Amen. And may the god of all. May he bless you. May he keep you. May he cause his face to shine upon you. May he grant you his shalom deep in his soul. He lives up his countenance. May he bless you and keep you.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the father, and fellowship with the Holy Spirit be with you now and each minute of every day between now and that day. Lord bless you and keep you. Amen.

Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and confidence in your life and a deeper trust

in the God

of the bible and his son, Jesus Christ. Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, and may the lord lift up his countenance on you and give you his peace, his shalom in your soul and in your life. Until next time, may God bless you and keep you.