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00:00:02 Morning church. So today's scripture reading will be taken from the book of Galatians chapter 4. We'll be going through verses 8 until 22. Formerly when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you that somehow I have wasted
00:00:44 my efforts on you. I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong. As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. And even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. Where then is your blessing of me now? I can testify that if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes
00:01:20 and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us so that you may have zeal for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you. My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone because I am perplexed about you.
00:02:00 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave women and the other by the free woman. This is the word of the Lord. Good morning. Testing. Can you hear me? Can right. Good morning, brothers and sisters. Okay. Okay. So, um the screen in front is not working. So, I have to look this way. All right. Next week, uh brother Arnold will be preaching on grace to the baron. Then, uh the week after Dr. Peter with freedom
00:02:41 of grace and then our brother Brendan on freedom of love. So some of you might be a bit afraid you know we had a really long reading this morning. It's a huge passage but uh we are going to focus only on four verses and really just laser like focus ourselves on this particular portion. All right before we start let us start with a word of prayer. Let's bow our heads two together. Our God and our father, we acknowledge that we are a people that are prone to wander. Our father, we are considering
00:03:18 this small portion regarding how we can make things idols and even what we do into idols. We pray father that you help us to see what the idols are within our own hearts and that you help us to weed it out because we are free in the person of our lord Jesus Christ. We ask that you open the eyes of our understanding through your spirit. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. All right. Long passage, not really, but short consideration. We have a lot to cover and uh we'll just get started
00:03:54 straight away. So, first this is the four verses. Now, these are the four verses. But when you did not know God, you serve that which by nature are not gods. I'm just rereading just for emphasis. Now, after you have known God, or rather are known by him, how is it that you turn again? How is it that you return to the weak and beggely elements to which you desire again to be in bondage? You are enslaved to these things. You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.
00:04:32 So, three things we're going to consider today. Very simple thoughts but very profound and pregnant with meaning. What are our gods? How are we enslaved? How can we be free? What are our gods? How are we enslaved? How can we be free? So the first one, what are our gods? Now in the passage that we read just now, it says that you serve, you were enslaved by that which by nature are not gods. They're not gods in the sense that they are not the god almighty in heaven. They don't have his power. But they are the
00:05:10 elements that are surrounding the people and they have just given it a name. All right. Now these are the Greek gods at that time that the book of Galatians was written to. Remember the Galatians they were worshiping these gods. They were enslaved to those not gods. He was referring to the Greco Roman gods like Zeus, Artameis, Amaze. They were spiritual forces that the people worshiped and sacrificed to. It was quite simple. So this is a very nice caricature of what they looked like and their name. So you have the god of the
00:05:45 gods like Zeus. Then the god of the sea like Poseidon. So if you are a sailor, you would want to worship Poseidon so that you have a safe journey. And then if you wanted love, then you worship Aphroditi and then she'll give you something there. and so on and so forth. If you want wisdom, you find Athena. So every single thing, every single element in this life, if you want it, you know, then they put a name to that god behind it. So they are not by nature, they're not gods, but they have made a god out
00:06:14 of it. Um, we do that to ourselves as well. Say the Greeks have had a god for everything. We do too. We just call them by different names. And I'm not talking about us Chinese who come from that background, you know. They are very efficient. Chinese is very efficient. You know, they don't put one god for everything. You know, they just put all lumpsum together. Call him choice. That's it. I want prosperity and that's it. I don't care whether it's money, health, wealth, I don't care. Just one one thing pala everything together.
00:06:42 Okay. But here the deeper the meaning goes deeper. All right. We also have a god for everything as it were. We just call them by different names. Right? The old gods promise, you know, protection, fertility, uh, success, approval, so on and so forth. We don't bow down to these names, but we do bow down to our careers, image, romance, control, reputation, you name it. There are so many things that we can bow down to. And we have traded a lot of what is pagan idolatry for what is modern idolatry.
00:07:14 So, we have traded statues for screens. We have traded temples for our offices. We have traded incense for likes. We have traded animal sacrifices for family sacrifices. It goes a lot deeper. The idols that we were talking about are not just statues, you know, they are much deeper than that. Now, the the the obvious question that you're going to ask is are we supposed to avoid these things? you know, so they were telling us we're supposed to be um people who never use, you know, smartphones. We just avoid
00:07:53 work altogether and you know, avoid social media. That's not the point. Okay? That's not the point. And then so please don't go home today thinking, "Oh, the preacher tell me, right, I cannot work." Then you don't go to work the next day. I'm in big trouble. All right? This is not the point. Okay? What is an idol? All right? Is anything that is not necessarily bad or sinful. It can be something good and likely it is something good and basic that is elevated to the status of ultimate the most important thing. Anything can
00:08:27 become that even a good thing. So whatever we saw earlier anything can be made the thing if I can put it that way. When we see the word idol, we usually think of either American idol with Simon Cowell over there or we start to think of, you know, physical statues. But the fact of the matter is it is not that. Most of us think that idols are the literal statues and it's not. In Ezekiel 14:3, God says this, "Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts." How do you put a physical idol in your heart?
00:09:06 Think about it. So you will ask or they would I have asked idols? What idols? I don't see any idols, you know. I don't know what you're talking about. And it's clear that good things like a successful career, love, you know, material possessions, your wealth, even your family, and turns them into ultimate things, the ultimate reality to find these things to give them significance, meaning, safety, security, and also fulfillment in their lives. Someone has put it this way. I think it's John Piper
00:09:37 is that that our heart their hearts are actually idol factories. You can manufacture any idol you want out of your heart. Imagine that you you can manufacture anything you know as an idol. All right? You can day find it's not a good thing. So in Exodus chapter 20 we have two commandments right? The first two actually we have 10 but these are the first two. You shall have no other gods before me. That's number one. Number two is really an extension of number one. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or an idol.
00:10:13 You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. Anything can be an idol. Now Tim Keller puts it this way. We'll quote him twice here. Sin isn't only doing bad things. We always think that that is the point. It's more fundamentally making good things into ultimate things. anything that can be taken from you know wherever they are and elevated to the status of God. So sin is building your life and meaning on anything even a very good thing more than on God. Now that is idolatry. An idol is anything more important to you
00:10:49 than God. If I can put it in very simple terms an idol is anything more important to you than God. So what can be an idol? We have listed. It can be anything. family, children, career achievement, saving face, your social standing, your romantic relationships, peer approval, competence or skills, security, comfort, beauty, intelligence, political, social cause, morality, or virtue of success even in Christian ministry. All these things, these are all good things. None of the things listed here are bad, but
00:11:18 they can be turned into your God. So, what are our gods? Right? What are our gods? So, are you saying we should avoid these? Again I'm saying please there's nothing inherently wrong with these things. It's only wrong to make those good things the ultimate. We try to find our significance and security in these things. We try to find meaning in them. So if you look at that thing and in your heart of hearts you say if I have that then my life will have meaning. Then I have a I have value then I will have
00:11:51 significance and security. I will be someone if I can have that. So there are many ways to describe that kind of relationship with something or someone and and the best one is actually worship. Now we usually think that worship is you know on a Sunday morning you come you know and then you sing to be honest that is an expression of worship but it is not directly worship because it can be just going through the motions. Now the what we know as worship really is something more than that because God
00:12:26 created us as worshippers. The essence of our being as God's image bearsers really is ceaseless worship. We are made to worship God. But because of sin we are blinded to God and we start looking around for something to be our God. All our life's pursuits at the end of the day is actually seeking for God. But are we seeking for him in the right way in the right area? God tells us that he reveals himself to us. But we choose not to seek him as he given us the way. So we are continually giving ourselves away to something or someone,
00:13:07 a person, a cause, experience, an achievement, status, anything. we are continually giving ourselves. Whatever most dominates our affections is what we worship. Remember remember we have a heart of idolatry. All right? We look to something or someone to provide what only God can give. You can say that your heart and my heart is already hijacked by sin and it's held hostage and God has been replaced as what the main focus should be. So idolatry isn't loving just loving bad things. It's loving good things more
00:13:48 than God. I hope that drives home the point. We've talked about the first part. What are our gods? Now let's move on to the second. How are we enslaved? Now, this is going to be a long portion and the majority of where we're going to spend our time. All right? How are we enslaved to these gods? You're going to tell me, you know, most of us would say, "No, you know, actually, yeah, I I still come to church. I still worship God. Those things are really not my gods." How would we know, right? So, let's dive
00:14:16 deeper. Now, this one goes um not to the superficial level. We'll talk about it in more detail. You served your you are now going to be again in bondage. So the word served is enslaved. So idolatry is often not about what we worship but why. All right, this is a very interesting phrase. It's not about what, it's about why. Now this is how you're going to identify what we are being enslaved to. All right, so remember even good things like family, morality, ministry, justice or influence, we think that these things
00:14:52 are the why. No, actually they are the what. All right. They are just a conduit. It's a means to the why. The why is so that we can obtain an identity, worth, selfworth, or our own salvation. We're looking to these things, family, ministry, justice, whatever. There's good to give us meaning. It's not the what, but the why. Now, let's give an example. All right. Every one of you us here I believe has a smartphone. So if you don't, you're either very very very old or you're somehow disabled or something. All
00:15:32 right. I'm sorry. Uh I'm sure everyone here has a phone. All right. Now there very very cheap phones out there. So I don't think it's a matter of I don't have enough to buy a phone. Even people who are in very very poor countries also have smartphones nowadays. So we we are not exempt. All right. Idolatry is not about what it's why. Now let's see how this works. Phones are not the root idol. Most of us will use our phones nonstop. All right? And we just can't seem to let go and say, "Oh no, Satan is
00:15:59 holding me bondage because you know I the phone is my idol." You know, most of us would think that, right? But actually it's not. It's a conduit. You need to ask the question, what are you really seeking when you constantly check your phone? All right. Each of us actually use it for different reasons. Think about it very carefully. Ask yourself this question. Just think for yourself. What is it that you're seeking for when you're scrolling? Anyone would like to give this a try. I hear someone's phone vibrating
00:16:32 already. Beep. What's beep is what? Memes. Okay. Memes. So, you're finding for entertainment, right? Okay. What else? Anything else? Don't be shy. It's okay. I I can't see your face from here. Sorry to buy things online. Okay. So there shopping. Okay. Uh what I don't say these things are wrong. None of these are wrong. I remember. Okay. So we have some of these. Okay. There are a lot of things we have considered memes, shopping, you know, all that. Now think deeper. Why are we seeking for memes?
00:17:15 Why are we seeking for shopping? It's really that there is something more that we are looking for. Now this is going beyond the surface superficial level. All right. Sometimes I look at my phone for approval. I see my likes. I see my messages that people are messaging me wishing me happy birthday. Then I feel approved. I'll be looking for an escape. That's why we have memes, right? I like memes too. It helps me to alleviate my boredom or anxiety. You don't you realize if you're waiting for someone, if you're
00:17:44 waiting for a doctor, you just can't sit still. You must take your phone out. You're craving something, right? Or sometimes you just say, "I need information. If I don't know, you know, who's going at war with who, whether it's India and Pakistan or with Ukraine and with Russia, you know, I'm going to die because I don't know what is going on. So, I need a sense of control or it could be a sense of identity. I'm creating an image online. I want to make sure that, you know, people approve of me. You know, if I go on a holiday, I
00:18:12 want to post it up so that everyone say, "Wow." you know all that kind of stuff. So these are symptoms of deeper idols. Still you're seeking for comfortable for power. Think about it this way. Your phone is not an idol. Your phone is just an altar. The sacrifice is your attention. And the god is whatever you believe you and I believe that will make you whole. The phone is not an idol. The idol is somewhere deep within the recesses of your heart. All right? Only you and God will know what your idol is. Okay? It's
00:18:50 very hard. I mean, sometimes it does manifest itself that other people can see. But remember, introspectively look and see where our idols are. You see, I I don't say that is your idols alone. I have my idols too. All of us have our idols. The key is what are our gods? We will talk about how we're going to be free. Now there's a very important word that actually helps us in our understanding of these idols and these are found in these verses. I'm not going to go through them. It's not found in our text today but it's the word
00:19:19 epitome. All right? In the Greek epithea means over desire. All right? It's usually translated as the word lust. And I think you know uh there is a better translation as it were over desire. I think you have heard this multiple times on this pulpit. Um maybe not even for myself but this is a very very interesting concept. All right. Last in the Bible is not a normal size desire for something evil. It is an overdire for something good. And that's how idols are created. We have already talked about that now
00:19:48 the ten commandments. I think every one of us knows what the ten commandments are. Right? Now just to show you how deeply rooted idolatry is, let's do a thought exercise. right now. Tim Kellis demises and he puts it this way and he he quotes Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones and um I think it's somewhat true. All the other eight commandments this the last eight commandments are really a summary of the first two commandments. All right. All the other eight commandments are the summary of the first two. You shall have no other gods
00:20:28 before me. You shall not not make yourself an idol of anything. So let's do a thought process, a thought experiment together. All right. The first one, our modern day choice. All right. Joel Austin. All right. People like Joe Austin, Kenneth Copeland, Beni Hinn, they are the proponents of what we call the prosperity gospel. All right. Don't you realize that they have taken God's name in vain? preach God's word but not as how he actually presented it. He take they take things out of context. Use God's name and say you must sew a
00:21:03 seed today. You must give. If you give then God will give you more. But they're using God's name in vain because this was isn't isn't what the Bible is teaching. They are taking things out of context. Using God's name in vain to actually feed themselves their own greed. So their idol is fame and money. Remember the Sabbath day. So if I work so hard and I'm not willing to, you know, rest, the Sabbath was made for men and not meant for the Sabbath, right? If Sabbath was made for men, it's for us to
00:21:32 rest. And I don't want to rest because I tell God, "No, it's okay. I don't need rest. I'll just continue working seven days a week." Then whatever that work gives me has become an idol. Honoring your father and your mother. Imagine if they have grown old and you say, "Yeah, never mind. I prefer not to take care of them anymore. I'll keep the money for myself." So my comfort has become my idol. I rather care for myself and not take care of them. You shall not murder. This is a picture of King Jong and Kim
00:22:04 Jong- Nam. Kim Jong- Nam is quite famous because he was murdered in Malaysia in the airport. Um there was an assassin that was sent after him. Think about it. Why would you murder your half brother? So that you can remain in power. So he has made an idol out of power. Back to the first two commandments. You shall not commit adultery. We see this in Hollywood all the time. Self-explanatory. I will want my neighbor's wife more such that I will actually just abandon my own. You shall not steal. What would make me want so much? To take
00:22:39 2.6 billion ringit for what? It's more money than I can ever eat if I eat every day. So, I don't know how to eat 2.6 billion ringit. The interest alone is going to feed me. You know, not the 2.6 don't need to feed. Think about it. What is it that I crave so much for? It's the status. It is the recognition, the fame. I've idolized that so much. You shall not bear false witness. Why does a kid lie? Because a kid has actually say, okay, you you accuse a kid, you know, you broke this glass because, you know,
00:23:13 you're playing your football. No, no, no, I didn't. Why? Why would they do that? Because they don't want rejection. They don't want to be seen as someone who did the wrong. I want to be approved. So deep inside the kid, the child in his heart, the idol is approval. Even from young, we are already making our own idols. Imagine that you shall not cover it. You shall not want something else more than you know to the point that you're going to take it for your own. You have made an idol of someone else's success. I need to
00:23:42 have that in order for me to be happy. So it is really just a summary of the first two. Anything can be turned into an idol. Now let's talk about progression. How does it progress through life because it changes form and we're going to look at a very close example. Not very close actually it's quite far. Elon Musk. All right. Close only in the news. All right. You read about him all the time. Now Elon Musk has different um phases of his life. In the first part he was actually you know creating software like PayPal you know
00:24:14 and it was wildly successful. You can say he was idolizing his financial security. It comes a point where he has so much money he doesn't know what to do with the money anymore. Then he decides, okay, I'm going to make something that will make me recognizable. I'm going to make something that gives me status and give me recognition. So he starts up SpaceX and Tesla. And SpaceX is really that company that, you know, launches rockets into space. And Tesla, you know, is actually penetrating our market now,
00:24:41 you know, with all their EVs and all that. So he's starting to get recognized everywhere. You know his name is blastered all over especially in the US. Here not so much. You hear his name here but in the US it's everywhere. It comes to a point that's not enough. He says now I need control right? He buys over certain companies Twitter and then he go and change it from the inside out. He's trying to prove a point that he can control the company. I changed the name from Twitter to X or now it was actually um that he was in this thing
00:25:16 called the the the department of government efficiency doge right um he was working with Trump was all right past tense not not anymore but you see you know he's trying to control now not just a company he's trying to control a whole country right it evolves it grows through time it's one thing or another and we'll see why and and until today he's still talking about colonizing Mars Right? Why? He wants to leave a lasting legacy and impact that will last way beyond his lifetime. You know, that's
00:25:44 what he's looking for. How did he progress? It was just if it was just about money, he would have just stopped there. No, it moved on. Money wasn't enough because at some point it's just a means to be noticed. What else did he want? Status and recognition. And status and recognition also not enough because it's unstable. Then he wanted control. But he realized that control can't be controlled. It's not perfect, right? So he wants a legacy. He wants an impact. It changes. Idols can change through your life. So it manifests
00:26:20 itself in different forms even in positive forms. We'll talk about a story very very soon about this. Why do I our idols evolve? How do they change? How do they morph into something else? They often shift or evolve because our desires and fears change through life. You will see that these changes our culture where we live influences what we prioritize. If you live in a neighborhood with a lot of Porsches, you soon enough you'll find yourself getting one. All right? It's a matter of time. It's not a matter of if it's just a
00:26:48 when. All right? Same with the people who use iPhones. All my friends use iPhones. I must use iPhone also. You know, or I'm not saying that okay inherently nothing bad with these things. Hh. Okay. I hope those of you with Porsches don't alienate me after this. Okay. Now I'm saying that your culture influences you. All right? So that will determine what your idols are as well. Now Tim Keller has a very interesting story and we are going to go through this. All right? It's about a man named James. All right? It's just um
00:27:17 in chapter five of counterfeit gods. It's a book that Tim Keller has written. He writes about James. All right. James is a very handsome fellow. Apparently during my college years I knew a man who before pro professing faith in Christ was a notorious womanizer. James Patton was to seduce a woman and once he had sex with her lose interest and move on. When he embraced Christianity he quickly renounced his sexual excapates. He became active in Christian ministry. So he say now I'm going to make sure I'm um
00:27:50 chase person and I'm going to be active in Christian ministry. Sounds all well and good but there's something about him. However, in every class of study, James was argumentative and was dominating. In every meeting, he had to be the leader even if he was not designated to be so. He was also very harsh towards his critics. You know, people who were skeptics, right? He didn't show grace towards them. He just humb them as it were. Eventually, it became clear that his meaning and value had not shifted to
00:28:19 Christ, but was still based in having power over others. Something seemingly good in Bible study. You can use it as a way for you to project his power idol. The reason James wanted to have sex with those women was not because he was attracted to them. He was seeking the power of knowing that he could sleep with them if he wanted to. It's just I know I can and I want to prove that I can. It's just that is his idol. The reason he wanted to be a Christian to be in Christian ministry was not because he
00:28:52 was attracted to serving God and others but to the power of knowing that he was right. I just need to prove myself. His power idol took a sexual form and then a religious one. It hid itself well. You see how it morphs and changes. It morphs and changes in what we look to for idols. And it also morphs and changes in what shape and form it takes. This is the second point. Now what about ourselves modern idols right modern day for us you know we have been students sometimes we are high achieving students
00:29:28 right so before becoming Christian you know our identity maybe based on our grades or know people praising us our achievements our academic perfection and then later when we become a Christian they say okay never mind I have to be the perfect Christian student I want to you know attend every Bible study I make sure I finish all you know the comprehension questions and also the case study questions to gain God's approval. But don't you realize that the old idol and the new idol are somewhat similar. Old idol was success, new idol
00:29:58 is just religious performance. Don't you realize that she or he is still enslaved to earning approval just in a new form not from people but from God? Now what about people who use social media so much? If you want to be an influencer, you know, if I am someone who really, you know, likes to share my friends. So our self worth is tied to our likes, the number of followers that we have or the number of friends that we have, you know, all sorts of things. But after becoming a Christian, say, okay,
00:30:28 I'm now going to change how I'm going to be seen. I am now a Christian. I need to post verses every day. You know, I'm not saying these are wrong. I remember. But what happens if now I'm obsessing over their image and I'm just curating that spiritual content for people to see but the audience now I'm still bound to their approval not God right so the old idol is attention new idol is our spiritual image different language same slavery now this very very pertinent this one especially for those who are of us who
00:31:03 are serving actively in church all right very very pertinent Especially so for preachers. All right. The idol can be you know yes our career success before after becoming Christian we throw ourselves into ministry when we are criticized or we go unnoticed you know we feel devastated. Imagine if just someone I I started a ministry and if it's not successful then I will feel devastated. I feel sad. If I preach and then uh you know there is no good feedback then I feel devastated. It's very possible that you can make
00:31:38 ministry serving God an idol. Very possible in any shape or form. It is very hard to actually diagnose. We'll talk about the diagnosis later. All right. So the old idol is ambition. The new one is ministry success. Outward activity changed but the inward the heart remains enslaved. Do we find our self worth in what we do? So if just say you know you can't be a ministry leader anymore, you can't be a preacher anymore, you can't be a church elder or you can't be a deacon or you can't be a pastor anymore. Will that
00:32:12 suddenly rob you away of your self worth and say that I'm a nobody now? The moral parent. So before they became a Christian, they took pride in being a good person and raising good kids. And after becoming a Christian, now I'm going to homeschool my children. You know, I'm going to make sure they are raised in a Christian home. I'm going to make sure that you know they are not going to be exposed to the sins of this world. I'm just going to make sure they are well protected. They obsess over behavior, image and control. So if the
00:32:39 kids rebel and suddenly you know they don't turn out like how the parents expected them to. You know their parenting becomes their savior. They feel sad. They feel devastated. So again control and spiritual reputation. The cross says that the righteousness is not in their kids. What if there was someone who was the CEO right? He built his life on building achievement, his company, his growth, status, control and money. Same thing. But after becoming a Christian, you know, I start going to church now. You
00:33:07 know, I want to seek purpose in church now. But instead, I join all the committees. I donate my money, you know, generously. I attend every single service and event that they have. Do you realize it's the same thing? Same striving just different arena. Is the same recognition that you're looking for just in the different space. So modern idols remember 1 John chapter 5:21 says this little children keep yourselves from idols. Very interesting verse because it's the only time idols are mentioned in the book of first John
00:33:37 one time and the whole book is all about you know life with God fellowship with him light and love and suddenly you know John you know you might be thinking he's a now old man he stops and ends the book with oh yeah I just remember keep yourself from idols no not quite right I don't think so it's actually a summary statement of everything that is in the book of first John if You cannot seem to love your neighbor as yourself. If God is not the light in your life and you do not have fellowship with him, don't you realize that there
00:34:09 is an idol that is actually blocking you from having that? Keep yourself from idols. For where your heart is there or for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Where your treasure is, what you treasure, there is where your heart is going to be. And remember this, we have a God-sized, God-shaped hole in our hearts that only God can fill. And if we are looking to anything else to fill it, you realize that it will never be filled. Augustine puts it this way. You have made us for yourself, oh Lord, and our
00:34:42 hearts are restless until they find rest in you. There is no rest from these until we find it in God. Now we are talking about one specific type of idol which is related to our passage today. All right. Now I'm jumping back to the passage now. I've strayed quite far but it is for good reason. Legalism can also be an idol. Now what does that mean? You have served and now you're going to bondage. Say you serve false gods. And it says you Galatians now you are wanting to be circumcised. You want to observe days,
00:35:14 months, years and seasons. And you want to do the rituals of the Old Testament. Don't you realize that you're returning? Then you say what you're saying? You're calling those rituals false gods. They're not they're not the equivalent of Greek god's word, right? But he's saying that you're returning. You're turning again. See the word turn again to the weak and beggely elements is the same thing. He's saying that you know the those false gods and if you are returning to your works, it's the same thing. You're going to be in
00:35:45 slavery. The Galatians were turning back to rules and rituals. That's verse 10. So in our day it could look like this in the modern day equivalent checking spiritual boxes. I just want to check the boxes. Make sure you know I feel safe with God. If I do this then God is going to be happy with me. I'm going to be approved by him. I come to church. Okay. If I go for, you know, alpha, beta, gamma, chyros, you know, um carries every ministry I can go to. I tick my boxes and I'll be fine. I read my Bible every day. T all then I'll be
00:36:11 fine. We're using spiritual disciplines as a way to control God's favor. Right? It's not based on grace. is based on what I do. Right? This is slavery and not freedom. It's legalism. Now, a very good example of this is in the Old Testament, the Pharisees, right? The Pharisees trusted in their own performance and not God to save them. They didn't really have a relationship with God as it were. It was based on what they could have done. So, it's like if I follow the ten commandments to save me, I will be, you know, in God's
00:36:43 approval. But the Lord Jesus calls them whited sepus or also beautiful graves with dead men's bones inside. Outside they look very good. Inside they were dead. Right on the outside outward it looked like the perfect Jewish people. Inside they were really really dead. They didn't have any relationship with God whatsoever. Now in our day today there are millions of people guilty of religious idolatry. Let's take an example of this. It's called the holy doors of mercy in St. Peter's Basilica. The Pope in 2016
00:37:20 declared it a year of mercy. And what does it mean? The holy doors in Rome during this time will be open for only a limited time period, a limited time offer only. H not, you know, going to be forever. And anyone who pass through the doors would have their sins absolved. Okay? So they don't need to pay for those. It will be just absolved. But don't you realize that is religious idolatry? You you it's very classic. Why? You are looking or trusting in something, a ritual or a thing to provide you forgiveness which only God
00:37:54 can provide. Classic religious idolatry. Now what about us? Religious idolatry seems like worship on the outside, but it's not. It looks like it, but it's not. And our churches everywhere. I'm not saying only certain churches or even you know ABC or every church has it. All right. It's a symptom that has to be addressed only not by works. All right. There are always people who go through the motions but never really knowing God. We talked about this last week but again it drives home the point. Last
00:38:33 week we talked about counterfeit Christians. This today we talk about counterfeit gods. Why is this idolatry? So imagine a person who goes to church faithfully every week. You know I sing the songs. I politely listen to the sermons. You know I put money into the offering bag or you know I participate in the Lord's supper. I'm baptized. You know I do all these things but I do it to earn God's favor, his approval as opposed to because I have already earned his favor. This person may assume that they are in
00:39:04 God's grace because they are doing these things. Remember they are doing it so that they can gain this is this these practices are a false god to them because the practices should be pointing them to God but they are not looking at God as the ultimate. They're looking to the things which point to him as the ultimate. So it's not to say that it's a bad thing to do these things. Look at your motivation behind them. It is not idolatry if someone does this because he or she knows the Lord personally and has a
00:39:38 desire to obey him. In fact, we should obey the Lord if we know him. But it is idolatry if I do this so that God will approve of me. It's the other way around. And it's good to drive from home from this point. Now, legalism is a return to slavery. They were slave to false gods. Remember the Galatians? And saying now you're returning to those. It's just a different packaging, religious packaging only. Now, you're relying on biblical performance, your rituals or effort rather than Christ alone. It's not
00:40:06 Christianity. It's just idolatry dressed in church clothes. So remember, legalism shifts your focus and my focus away from grace to works, away from relationship to rules. The parable of the prodigal son, if you remember, there were two sons. One was a son who took the father's wealth went away spent it all and said that you know if I can spend my life doing these things I will find meaning the other son was always ste about trying to do something to gain the father's approval. Do you realize both
00:40:40 of them were trying to control their father one way or another? One is trying to just take away by force and the other one is just going to try to do something but both of them never warned the father's heart. At the end of the day, it was the son who was like the idoltor who actually returned because he realized how bad it was. But the older legalistic brother couldn't see his flaws. Now that's the danger of legalism. It's blinding to us. So how do we identify our idols? Now um this is can rather be piercing but remember
00:41:14 look at it through the lens of God's word upon ourselves. Right? Look our at our imagination. All right. How do you identify what your idol is? No. What do you spend your time daydreaming about? The true god of our heart is what we effortlessly effort effort effortlessly think of. Sorry. Problem when you don't have enough sleep. Okay. What occupies your mind when you have nothing to think about. You just sit down daydreaming and you're just like, "Oh yeah, I wish I was I wish this I ah" Then you start to
00:41:45 realize those are where your idols are. If they recur repeatedly can it can be career investment you know it can be a dream home it can be a person where do we spend our money where your treasuries will heartbeat also right so you will spend your money very generously very effortlessly in these areas it can be on children on you know status symbols like cars and houses it can be traveling so our spending pattern reveals where our idols are and the other one which is the most telling all right this one can't lie
00:42:17 Where are your most uncontrollable emotions? If someone, you know, if I'm driving, uh, you know, along the road and someone hits my car and I get really really angry, it's not that the other person is the problem. If I get really really mad, yes, that person in a sense maybe has wrong me or maybe I was the one who bumped into that person. You maybe was my wrong. But if I get really really angry, my car has actually become my idol. or actually underlying that car is really status and recognition as your idol. Right? So ask
00:42:51 this question. What is that something that is so important to me that I need and must have at all cost? This question is very very important. What is that something that is so important to me that I need and must have at all cost? Whenever you're angry, you're upset, you are desparing, you are devastated, ask this question. What is it that I must have? So you have to pull your emotions up by the roots. You know you ask this question what is there something so important to me that I need and must
00:43:18 have at all cost. Then you realize you will see at the roots where your idol is. Ask yourself that question and you realize that most of your idols are actually about you and me. It's about ourselves. You realize sometimes you care so much for your spouse. It's not really for your spouse actually for yourself. That's an example. I'm not going to dig deep into we don't have time. Right? So diagnosing legalism, we have talked about idolatry is like in X-ray, right? Let's talk about legalism. Legalism is
00:43:51 little little bit more difficult. A very very subtle way to look at it. There's a book called dynamics of spiritual life. It says that if you are relying on these things, you're subconsciously a radically insecure person. You will have pride. You have assertion of your own righteousness and you will defend yourself all the time. It's a performance-based acceptance belief that God accepts me for what I'm doing. Do it then I feel less saved. But if I do these things then I feel more saved. So is it really based on your performance?
00:44:25 Do you feel that? Do you see it on a scale? You know if I do more then I feel better. If I do less I feel worse. This is a very big telltale sign of legalism. Try to check it within yourself. If I'm serving in church very actively, right, am I more superior to someone else who doesn't serve? I'm more disciplined. I'm more mature. I will subtly look down on other people who aren't doing the things that I'm doing. You know, that person, you know, not serving actively in church. I'm better than them. Okay?
00:44:55 You're quick to notice the sins of others but not your own. You will start to judge others harshly. You will say that, you know, that person ought to do this better or that better. You judge them sometimes by your own standards and not God's. You have a fear-driven obedience. If I don't do this, ah, God is going to punish me. You know, it's like the rotan going to come to you at any time. You know, your motivation is to avoid making God angry or upset rather than actually to enjoy fellowship with him because you
00:45:24 love him. Sometimes we make rules beyond the scriptures. You'll hear this quite often. You know, you Christians don't go and watch movies. You know, we do our devotions at 6:00 a.m. in the morning. you're actually adding rules to the Bible that doesn't exist. That's also a sign of self-righteous legalism. So, we have talked about what are our gods. We have talked about how we are enslaved. We need to talk about how can we be free. How can we be free from these idols and legalism? The Christian life is a little bit like
00:45:58 drowning. It's a lifelong struggle with idolatry. All right? No matter where we are in our Christian life, no matter how mature we are, we are always struggling with idols. So you can release yourself. It's like taking a breath out of the water and then suddenly you find yourself drowning back again. It's a lifelong struggle. You know, there's no way you say I can just cast this idol out of my life. Something else will take its place. Something else will always take its place. Thomas Carl put it this way. The only
00:46:22 way to dispossess our heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one. It's like saying you know I'm so obsessed with a girl who you know never you know who never um responded to me you know it was unrequited love oh you know I'm so so heartbroken but if suddenly a much better girl comes along and she shows interest in me wow suddenly I'm okay already you know right it's the expulsive power of a new one that is what it means so you must not just look and be so affectionate about
00:46:55 the idols that we have in our hearts we need something else to take its place. It needs to be replaced. It cannot be removed. So the futility of idolatry and eag remember idolatry and legalism are both attempts to control God in our life. We want that control. We lost that control in Eden and we are seeking so much. We seeking so much to have that control, right? In fact, we never could control it even in Eden. So idolatry says if I have this then I'm secure. Legalism says if I obey enough, God will accept me. They are both about
00:47:33 self-s salvation. You realize that they're heavy. They're enslaving and they're never enough. What's the key? That's in verse 9. The last consideration. But now after you have known God or rather are known by God, how do you replace that idol? The gospel isn't about climbing up to God. Remember it says that you know God, but rather actually you're known by him. You think that is knowing him that is an active thing. Actually, first of all, God must know you first. God must know you. It is not about us climbing up to
00:48:06 God. It's about God coming down to us. It is be about being known, loved, accepted, and adopted by him because of what the Lord Jesus has done. Before we sing our final song, I want you to consider the truth that this truth of the Lord Jesus coming down for us. It shatters both idolatry and also legalism. You don't need a lesser God. He is God. You don't need to do things to be accepted because you have already been accepted. Think very carefully. If you're known by him, is he the real reality in your life?
00:48:49 Because that will actually subdue all other idols that are in your life. When we chase idols, success, control, comfort, or even religion, we will always end up empty. When we try to earn God's love by our performance, remember this. We only find fear. You will never find freedom. But the gospel says something stunning. Says something very important. You don't have to climb up to God because he came down to you. Why are we trying to earn our favor? Why are we trying to earn our way up to heaven? Why are we trying to earn our
00:49:29 way up to God? Because God is saying, "I you don't have to do that. I came down for you." While we were still trying to prove ourselves, Christ gave himself for you. He didn't come to give you a to-do list. He came to give you himself. You're not supposed to need to do these things. You just need to trust him. And now because of him, because of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are not just a servant trying to measure up to do and do and do. You are a son. You are a daughter. You are fully known. He knows you inside
00:50:03 and out. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. You are fully loved. There is nothing in you that can ever change that. You are adopted and you are secure. He gave himself for you. Remember that. Why go back to the chains of slavery when you've been brought into God's family? That's from slaves to sons. Why settle for the shadows, the idols, when you have the real thing? You have God. You have Jesus himself. Why do you settle for something less? So today, if your heart is weary, you're tired, you're exhausted from your striving,
00:50:45 from your proving of your worth, if you're tired of chasing approval, whether it's from people or whether it's from God, come back to grace. Remember who you are in Jesus Christ. Idol, idolatry says that Jesus isn't enough. Legalism says that Jesus didn't do enough. The gospel says Jesus is more than enough. He's more than enough. It's a matter of whether you want to believe it or not. Are you trusting him? Are you trusting your idols? Are you trusting your works? Lay down your idols. Let go of that
00:51:22 checklist. Look again to the cross where Jesus cried out, "It is finished." The work is done. You just have to rest in it. That's not just the end of your striving. It's the beginning of your freedom. We have freedom in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Galatians 5:1. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. He has made you free. He has made me free. Why are we going back to slavery? It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. So be free.
00:52:04 Free from the sin that so easily besets us. Trust him that he has made you whole. Believe it with all your heart. Let us bow with a quick word of prayer. Our father, we thank you so much for helping us to see that there are idols in our lives and that our hearts are just idol factories. We pray father you will help us to really be able to fulfill the commandments that you have given to us especially the first two that we will have no other gods before you that we will make no idols before you that we will not put anything more
00:52:44 important than you. Father, we just pray and ask that you will help us to see the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ and what he has done. And so that our hearts will be enraptured and just captured by the beauty of what he has done for us and who he is to us. And the more we see Christ, the more our idols will fade away. So, Father, we pray and we ask this is our sincere petition that the Lord Jesus Christ alone is whom we trust in Christ alone. We pray that we will truly rely on him and we ask this in his worthy and precious name.
00:53:27 Amen. Let us rise to sing in Christ alone. May that be our only plea in Christ alone. We'll consider that verse one last time. Galatians chapter 5 verse 1. Standfast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. And all of God's people say amen. May we stand in that freedom that God has give us given to us in Jesus Christ. You may be seated. The service is concluded. Thank you all for coming and have a blessed
