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At Sandals Church, our vision is to be real with ourselves, God and others. This channel features sermons and teaching from Pastor Matt Brown and other members of the Sandals Church preaching team. You can find sermon notes, videos and more content at http://sandalschurch.com/watch
Thanks for tuning in to the Sandals Church podcast. Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, God, and others. We're glad you're here, and we hope you enjoy this message.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Hi, guys, and welcome to this series, Old Rules for New Life. I just wanna talk to you about something that I hear people say all the time. I hear people say all the time that the world is becoming less and less religious. How many of you guys have heard people say that? K.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I want you to know it's not true. Everyone worships something. What's happening is people are stepping away from traditional organized religions, but they're organizing themselves around their new religion. I was talking with, my gym owner, and we were talking about God and faith, and this is what he said to me. He said, I'm not religious, but he goes to the gym every day, stares at his body in the mirror every day.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Amen? You get what I'm saying? Takes protein shakes, you know, is meticulous about everything that he he's completely devoted to how he looks. He is religious. He's just the object of his religion.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Everyone is religious. So when somebody tells you that, well, I'm not just religious. No. No. No.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They've created their own religion. Everyone worship something, and I want you to remember that. They either worship God. K? And we can, you know, talk about which God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know, Muslims have Allah. Jews have the God of Abraham. As Christians, we worship the triune God who reveals Jesus. Hindus worship all kinds of amounts of God. Buddhist worship, you know, Buddha, and he's not really a god.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He's kind of a philosopher teacher. So people worship a god or people worship themselves. This is what pharaoh this is what some of you are failing to see. Who is this god that I should worship him? Pharaoh is worshiped as God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I don't know if you know this, but I am pharaoh. He wears a symbol upon his head of a snake. It means divinity. Anybody wonder why Moses threw a snake on the ground? Because God is about ready to throw down with pharaoh and say, you are not God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You are nothing. So some people worship God. Some people worship themselves. Some people worship something else. Amen, Cowboy fans?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:All I did for a day after that game was watch Cowboy fan after Cowboy fan punch their TV, throw their TV out the window, scream at their kids, blame everybody in the world. You know what the problem is, cowboy fans? You got the wrong God. Amen. You got the wrong God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And it's just amazing, man. We build our lives around sports. We build our lives around entertainment. We build our lives around our desires, and we wonder why our life is not what we want it to be. You got the wrong God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And that's why the second commandment is to make sure that you have the right God. And what's interesting and what I want you to pay attention today, even if you call yourself a Christian, I want you to ask yourself, why would this be the second commandment? He gave us the first commandment, which is you shall have no other gods but me because I'm the God that delivers you. Right? Settled.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Why do we need the second command? Because even people who think they have the right God wander to the wrong God. And so I just want you to be very, very careful. Some of you, you have the right name. You have the wrong person.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You may call upon the name of Jesus, but he's not the Jesus of the Bible. He's the Jesus of the Bible you're writing. He's the Jesus of the Bible you're creating, and you're in love with that Jesus. And let me tell you something. That Jesus can't save, that Jesus can't deliver, that Jesus has no power because it's your little idol and it's worthless.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So in Exodus chapter 20 verses 4 through 6, this is the second command. Why does God give us this? Because everyone is a worshiper of something, God themselves or something else. He says you must not make for yourself. You see, this is a you problem.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or image. Of anything. Right? Of anything. God knows you're creative.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Of anything in the heavens, on the earth, or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them. For I, the Lord your God, listen to this, am a jealous God. I'm a jealous God. And I will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Listen to this, especially if you're a parent. I lay the sins of the parents upon the children. The entire family is affected. Even the children in the 3rd 4th generations of those who reject me. Listen to me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Your life isn't just about you. Some of you today, right now today, you're making decisions about children who aren't even born yet. But God says, but I lavish unfailing love for a 1000 generations on those who love me and obey my commands. You see, all of us today, we are either worshiping the right God or the wrong thing. So let's just back up.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Some of you have a problem with God being jealous. Why is that jealousy is a sin? Yeah, for you, not for God. Jealousy is not a sin when it's right, and sometimes it is right. This week, my daughter, they're having a problem with molding her house.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They had to move back to her house, and they have a dog, a new little skinny cute puppy. Right? She's so cute, so sweet. My old fat dog does not like that skinny little you know what right in our house. And so we have to have separate times.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We have times where my dog's in the garage. We have times where she's allowed to play. And my dog just wails in the garage. Woo hoo hoo. Woo hoo.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And my wife said, why can't Reese just get over it? And I said, how would you like it if I put you in the garage and I brought in some hot young thing that I was playing with in this house? Amen, ladies? My wife was like, got it. Got it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:She gonna go out there and cry in the garage with Reese. I understand. I understand. You see, Reese knows I'm her master, and it's not fair. Even her little dog heart, she understands this is not right.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So if she understands as a dog, that's why God understands it as God. He he's the only God. There is no other. And you're running around inventing things, and that's not supposed to bother him? Can you imagine, parents, if your kids just decided one day that the next door neighbors were mom and dad?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They just decided. Yeah. I don't think you're the real mom and dad. I'm gonna call them mom and dad. After you provide for them, care for them, brought them life, feed them, clothe them, that would make you a little angry.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Anybody gonna be like God, amen? I'm gonna bring some judgment down 2, 3, 4 generations. Amen? So God is jealous for you, Jealous for you. That's why Satan wants to destroy you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's you are the only weapon Satan has against God. That's it. Parents, listen to me. What you worship will affect your family for generations. Singles who you date will affect your family for generations.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I hear this all the time. I prayed with a young 25 year old at Hunter Park a couple of weeks ago. And her mom says she's dating a non Christian. She said, well he's nice. I'm sure the devil is nice, ladies.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And here's what I told her. I said, do you know how many women are sitting in this church today, and they believe the same thing that you did? And they sit alone week after week, and their husband has another God that he worships, and he won't come and sit with them and worship the one true god. And listen to me, ladies. In statistic after statistic after statistic, if you want your children to love god, they must see their father worship.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If the dad worships, children are 10 times more likely to worship. Moms, it doesn't mean you don't matter. It just means kids look to dad. And if they look to him looking at his father, guess who they look to? They look at their father who is in heaven.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It is so important. And so we say, well, we don't really have idols anymore. That's the Old Testament. Right? You know, it's just old rules.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:No. No. No. This these are old rules for your new life. John in first John says this, little children.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He's writing to the church. He's an old man now. We think he was the oldest living apostle. He may have lived to a 100 years old. And he writes, and he says, little children, this is the church.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Keep yourselves from idols. You see, everyone worships something. Even those of us as Christians. Why would John write to Christians and say, keep yourself from the love of idols? Because many of us, we think we're in love with God, but we're really in love with an idol of God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see, everyone worship something. So what is an idol? First John 521. This is out of the New Living Translation. Your translations are either word for word or thought for thought.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Sometimes word for word is good. Sometimes thought for thought is better so that you understand what the words mean. So here's a translation of the verse I just gave you. Keep yourself from the low vitals, and here it is thought for thought. Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Does that help? That's what an idol is. Anything that might take God's place in your heart. So you know what that means, parents? Children are a good thing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They're a blessing. But a good thing becomes a bad thing when your children become your god thing. Oh, we're all about God until little Johnny needs piano lessons or little Susie's got soccer, and all of a sudden what happened? God is in the distance. You see, you're making the choices.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You're making decisions. What is the thing in your life that takes place of God? What is the thing that you build your lives around? Listen to me, guys, sports fans. You will not miss a game.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:How many Sundays did you miss? Like, you're not gonna disappoint the Cowboys even though they disappoint you. Amen? But you're gonna disappoint God because he understands Go back. God is jealous.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:God is jealous. So why is it that we fall in love with idols? You ever wonder that? What what is what is it about the idols? Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What is the allure? Idols do some amazing things. Idols do 3 things. They give me position, they give me preference, and they give me pleasure. So let's talk about position.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We worship idols that give us position. They make us feel better about ourselves. So in Exodus chapter 20, we received the 10 Commandments. In Exodus chapter 32, the Jews, the Israelites are worshiping an idol. 12 chapters later, after we get this, they're worshiping a golden calf.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:How did that happen? Moses went up to the mountain to be with God and he left Aaron 2nd in charge, amen, 2nd in charge with the people. And they said, we don't know where this Moses guy has been. He's been gone too long. Aaron, why don't you lead us?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Boom. Position. Position. Oh, wait a minute. I don't have to be number 2 anymore?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I don't have to do what Moses says? I can be in charge? Oh my gosh. We worship position. And so all of a sudden, Aaron says, give me all your jewelry, and I will build for you a golden calf.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It gives me position. And so that's what we want. You know? See, here's why we don't wanna worship the one true God. Because if you follow the commandments, God's number 1, it can't be about position, can it be?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It can't be about power because he has the position. He has all the power. Idols give you the sense you're in charge. And this is why we fall in love with things. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is why some of you are chasing wealth, because then if I drive a nice nice car, right, I'm 1st class. I'm 1st class. And this is so sad. Some of you, you're settling for 1st class on earth when God wants to put you in 1st class up in the sky. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We fall in love with things that give us position, so our clothes. Ladies, our shoes. Come on, guys. We got, like, 2 pairs. Amen?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The ones we can wear and the one we should throw away. Right? Ladies, you got all those shoes, but you don't know which step you need to go. You got all these clothes, but you still feel shame inside. You're having all this sex, but you've never experienced intimacy.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You got a big home, but you're missing out on God's house. You see, so many of the things we chase, we think they'll satisfy us. Man, I was talking to a young man, and he just he just, you know, he's looking for the 10 ladies. You know, he's got a 10. He's probably like a 6a half, but he wants he wants to date a 10.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And guys, you know, what is what is what is with with supermodels? I don't understand. You know, supermodels, this is what I told them. It's like they're like surfboards. They look great at the beach.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Everywhere else, they just get in the way. Amen? It's just as a problem. It's a problem. You know?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Sorry. I worked on that one. So things that give me position. So right, guys, my trophy wife? Well, look at me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:My house, my car, my clothes, where I live, those are your idols. And you know why that is? Because you're trying to let an idol fulfill something that you know that is deeply wrong inside of you, but only God can fix that. Things can't cover shame. Only Jesus can.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:How about this? Things that give me preference. This is what's happening all across America. Churches are changing their theology. Do you know why it is?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They don't want to be uncomfortable. Things that give me preference. Well, Moses has gone away. We don't know where he went. So let's just worship God with what we have.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Let's just give all these all this gold, and and and Aaron, you just make up something for us. We'll trust you. So I want you to think of this today. Many of you guys, you're like, well, I don't have an idol. Well, what if we change the spelling from idol to idle?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Your God is a God of comfort. Some of you, you haven't come back to church since COVID because you're worshiping an idol god. You're worshiping God on your couch. You have an IDLE, but it's still an idol. And that's the gospel today.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Right? God would never want me to be uncomfortable. God would never want me to have difficulty. God would never want me to struggle. And so what happens is we create a false god.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Next, idols are things that give me pleasure. Right? God would never give me a desire he didn't want me to act on. You've never read the Bible. Let me summarize the Bible.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Genesis to Revelation. Are you ready? Desires that you should not act on. I mean, that's what the Bible is all about. You're gonna have feelings, desires, and emotions that will lead you straight to hell, and God is trying to save you ultimately from yourself.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So what happens? Moses goes up to the mountain to speak with God. The people get restless. We gotta worship. We gotta worship something.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We gotta do something right. They're idle, I d l e. They're bored. They're all alone. They don't know what to do.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Aaron make us Aaron make us a golden calf. He creates it. They throw a party. People get naked. They start having sex.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And it goes crazy. They pursued pleasure. You ever wondered when Moses says everyone who's on God's side, come to me, and everyone who's not, stay over there. And then he sends the Levites to kill him. How did they know who to kill?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The naked people. That's it's pretty obvious. Yeah. Oh, you don't have your pants? Right there.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's what that's what idols do. You see, I want position because I don't listen to the first rule. There's only one God who delivers me from bondage. What bondage? The bondage I place myself in.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I want my preference. I want my style of music at church. I want the the pastor to preach out of my translation. I want him to preach for the appropriate amount of time. I want the services when I'm ready.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know? I mean, we create all of this stuff. We create all of these parameters, and we create an idol of preference. And then, right, in the name of love, we create an idol of pleasure. It's all about love.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Love wins. Love all. And we throw out the law. God says he's he's looking for worshipers who obey his commands, not create the commands they wanna obey. So here's the question though.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What what are the dangers of idols? Here's the biggest danger of an idol. They can work for a while. Why do we fall in love with idols? They work for a while.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Like right? I mean, you start working out. You start exercising. You start looking good. It works for a while, but then it doesn't.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This week, I was going to the doctor. I've been having back issues. I was going to the doctor, and and I was sitting in the doctor's room waiting, to meet with the doctor, and there was an old guy named Bob. He's I said, Bob, what's wrong with you? He said, I had way too much fun when I was your age.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And he said, now my body's just like, I'm done. I'm done. You see, at some point in time, our bodies give up. I mean, some of you guys, you know, you're gonna make money, and that's gonna satisfy you for a while. But then all of a sudden, you're gonna have all this money, all this stuff, and you have no meaning.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Man, you you're gonna travel the world and go all these places and miss out on heaven? You see, these idols, they they satisfy for a while. And here's one of the things I think a lot of you miss when you read through the book of Exodus. Moses is commanded to do these extraordinary miracles in the name of God. Here's what I want you to see.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The Egyptian magicians were able to do some of them. They were able to duplicate things. And so that's the lure. Right? I don't need God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I can worship on my own. I can be my own person. I'm spiritual. That works for a while until you really need God. Exodus chapter 7 verses 6 through 9.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So Moses and Aaron, they did just what the Lord had commanded them. Moses was 80 years old. Can you think about that? 80 years old. Collecting social security for like 15 years.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Aaron was 83 when they made their demands to pharaoh. See, some of you seniors, your god is idol, I d l e. God's not done with you yet. You know when he's done with you? When you're dead.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If you're still alive, you have a purpose. Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Pharaoh will demand, show me a miracle. Right? Show me a miracle. If God is real, show me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And that's what atheists say today. And that's what I want you to understand. God shows miracle after miracle after miracle, and God shows miracle after miracle after miracle, and pharaoh still doesn't believe. You see, the problem isn't a lack of God's presence. The problem is your heart.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You want the number one proof of God? The number one proof of God. Everyone's religious. Everyone's worshiping something. Every human being, every tribe, every tongue, every nation of every place, all time, across the globe, people who've never spoken to each other believe that there's something bigger than them.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's the biggest evidence for a Creator that I can give you. But, oh, I believe in science. How many have heard that? Oh, I believe in science. Here's what's hilarious.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know what scientists are starting to do? I think we got it wrong. They're they're coming back. Scientists who are studying the cosmos are saying now it seems like something's in control of all of this. And you know what they're calling it?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:A divine conscience. You coulda spelled that g o d. But they're looking at this, and they're saying, you know what? There's something at work here that is profoundly indicative of a creative force. So even science is now saying, I'm not so sure.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He says, show me a miracle. And when he does, say to Aaron, take your staff and throw it down in front of pharaoh, and it will become a serpent. Now if you grew up in church, it says snake. The way you say snake in Hebrew is nachash. This word is tannin.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We don't know what it means. The word's too old. It could be translated crocodile. That'd have been cool. You know?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You can translate it dragon. That'd have been scary. You know? Or a great snake. But here's the thing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Pharaoh wears a symbol of a snake on his head as a symbol of his divine authority and power. It's a symbol of ancient Egyptian royalty. And what is Moses doing? Throwing it down. It's a symbol of the high god Ra, and it is a divine symbol, listen to this, of pharaoh's protection.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And god is gonna strip that away one plague at a time. Some of you have never noticed that there are 10 commandments and 10 plagues. God is coming for pharaoh. So Moses and Aaron went Moses and Aaron went to pharaoh. Sorry.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Every time I see the word Aaron, I wanna say, aaron. Sorry. Too much Instagram. So Moses went to aaron. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And he went to Pharaoh and did what the Lord commanded them. See, I can't say it now. A Aaron, right, threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials. And it became a serpent. But here's what I want you to see.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Here's what I want you to notice. Then Pharaoh called his own sorcerers. And these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. God does not say don't do magic because it's fake. He says you better be careful because some of it's real.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Some of it's real. I was talking to one of our college students at church. He said, pastor, I just don't feel right when I watch demonic movies. I go, you think? You think?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's the Holy Spirit going, get out. They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up all of theirs. Wow. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You ready to believe? Let's give an invitation. Pharaoh's heart, however, remained hard. There are 10 plagues. Five times god hardens pharaoh's heart.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Five times, pharaoh hardens his own heart. He still refused to listen just as the Lord predicted. So the first plague is the plague of blood. The Egyptians worshiped the Nile River. It's the source of all their lifestyle, all their wealth.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's one of the longest continuous rivers of that time that was known. Just a beautiful, beautiful place, and it made Egypt as powerful as it what was. And Moses sent Aaron out, and he turned the entire river into blood. Pharaoh called his magicians, and they were able to do the same thing. Next plague, frogs.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He had frogs come out from everywhere, all over everywhere, disgusting, grotesque, in and out of people's homes. But guess what? The magicians could do the same thing. But I want you to know, the next plague, the magicians could not duplicate. And I want you to know that there's gonna come a time when you will need the one true god, And your false, fake God will not work.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Here's something that many of you have missed, even if you grew up in Sunday school. Even if you've been a Christian your whole life. You've missed it. It's right there in front of your face. Aaron made a golden calf.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He called the people to worship. And guess what he says? And now we can worship Yahweh. You see, they didn't believe they were worshiping a false god. What they were doing is they were worshiping the one true god in their way, and they violated his second command.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see, some of you in the name of Jesus, you got the name right, but you're worshiping your own idol. And you've never noticed that. Come now, let us worship Yahweh, the one true God. You see, all of us want to worship God in our own way. Old rules for new life teach you to worship God in the way he wants to be worshiped.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So the lord said to Moses, tell Aaron to raise your staff and strike the ground, and dust will turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of Egypt. And Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. And when Aaron raised his hand and he struck the ground with his staff, gnats infested the entire land, covering the Egyptians and their animals and the dust of the land and Egypt turned into gnats. Can you imagine? Not a sandstorm, a gnat storm.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Anybody ever swallowed a gnat? One time, we were having a a church party, a church picnic, and I was talking to somebody, and a gnat hit me right in the uvula. One little gnat. I thought I was gonna die. I don't know where that gnat has been.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Amen? And you don't know what to do. Vomit it, choke it out, or just swallow it and get a little protein. Amen? It was so embarrassing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I was talking to somebody. I'm like, and I don't think they saw it go in. It was so embarrassing. Like, I was like possessed or something. But can you imagine gnats are everywhere?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:In your ears, in your eyes, in your nose, and in your mouth, gnats are drawn to moisture. And hot air. That's why it went to me. Right? Straight in.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But can you imagine? You're just covered in an infestation of gnats. Listen to this. And pharaoh's magicians tried to do the same thing with their secret arts. You need to understand that there are things about Egyptian culture that has been lost and we do not know.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I've been to the tombs of Giza, the great pyramids of Giza. I I I look at it, and I it blows my mind. Those pyramids are built with laser like precision. The foundation of those pyramids are granite. They're built with over 2,300,000 stones.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Today, with the best equipment that we have, if we worked every single day, 12 hours a day, listen to me, it would take us as modern human beings 650 years to build 1. Egypt could do some things that we can't. You see, you've been taught in school that we're involving and getting smarter. We might be getting dumber. Amen?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Yeah. And I think chat chat GPTs just we're all just gonna be like but this time, they failed, and the gnats covered everyone, people and the animals alike. I want you to listen to this. And here's what pharaoh's magician said. This is the finger of God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is the finger of God. The magicians exclaimed to pharaoh. His own wise counsel, his own magicians, the smartest, brightest, most brilliant people on the planet for him told him, hey. Hey. You need to know.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We're messing with something that we cannot handle. But pharaoh's heart remained hard. I want you to listen to me very carefully. This might be your first time in church in a long time. And I know so many of you think, well, I'll get my life right with God someday.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You don't understand that as you speak, as you sit, your heart is calcifying. It is hardening. And the further you get from God, the quieter God's voice gets. That's why we said last week in the sermon, if you hear the Holy Spirit today, do not harden your heart. It's why Jesus, when he looked at his own disciples, he said, is your heart hard?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And some of you today, it doesn't matter what God does today in your life. It doesn't matter. If God brought down all 10 plagues, your heart is so hard you would not repent, even if everybody in your life that loves you and you trust and you believe said, that's God, because you've gotten so far, because you've built your own idol, your own little god. You've built a an idol to yourself. You've built an idol to something else.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He wouldn't listen to them just as the Lord predicted. You see, today, some of you are worshiping the wrong god. You're just worshiping the wrong god. You're wasting your life on something that doesn't matter. I remember when Tammy and I got married, we bought our we bought our first new car.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Anybody ever bought a new car? Okay. One day, you too will be in debt forever. We bought our first new car, and my wife was looking for me. This is before cell phones.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So so if you don't know this, husbands, your wife just yell in like a screeching voice. Matt. You know? And she couldn't find me. You know where I was?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I was in the garage. My car was in the garage. I put out a picnic chair, and I just was sitting in the garage. She said, are you just out here staring at your car? And I said, yes.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's what idols do. You know the difference between idols and God? Idols take your money. God receives it. You know when the Egyptians left Egypt?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The Egyptians paid them with gold to leave. As soon as they built their idol, guess what Aaron said? Rip the rings from your nose and throw them at my feet, and I will make you an altar. That's what idols do. They rob you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They put you in debt. They destroy you. They ruin you. What's the first command? Only God can deliver you from bondage.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Your idols will put you in bondage. You see, there's gonna come in a moment in your marriage where you need God, but you've been worshiping a false god. Right? You know your god where you know, you read his word when you have time. You know, your little idol where you serve him, we know when it's appropriate.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know, your little God, you know, you you give him money when when, you know, it was a good sermon. You know you know your little God, and then one day, your life's gonna fall apart. Your marriage is gonna fall apart. There's gonna be some phone call, some disaster. Something happened with your kids.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Something happened with your mom. And you go to that little idol and it's useless, and it can do nothing. I want you guys to know, you know, the the very fact that I'm standing here today preaching is is a miracle. I've been on my back for 7 days. For 7 days, I can't stand.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I can't sit. I can't sleep. I hurt my back. I forgot I was 50. You know?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:When people when people ask me how old I am, I'm just gonna tell people from now on, 5150. That's how old I am. Yeah. All the crazy people know what I'm saying. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's the police call for nuts. Right? 5150. And if you've been 5150, I love you. But that's my age.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Right? I was 50 now. I'm 51. But I just you know, you get in the gym, guys. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know, you see the young guys. You know, I still got it. And I was like, I don't got it. And it it just got worse and it got worse and it got worse. I've been to the doctors 5 times in the last week with tears in my eyes.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is a true story. I came to work one day this week, and I I I I bent down to stretch, and I couldn't get up. Remember the old videos? Help. I can't get up.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Well, I didn't have the call button. I needed the you know? And so one of our youth interns was I don't know what he was doing, but he found me in a room here at the church in the dark laying on the ground. He's like, Pastor Matt, what are you doing? I was like, but here's the thing, man.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I was hurting so bad, my doctor gave me all kinds of drugs, good drugs. You know, I I posted a little thing on Instagram saying my back was hurting. Some of you had some very interesting advice. Yeah. I'm gonna pray for your soul.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:One lady said, just feel good, pastor. You deserve it. I was like, okay. You know? But here's the thing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He he gave me 3 bottles of pills. 1 was a muscle relaxer, 1 was a steroid to reduce inflammation, and 1 was, an opioid. And on the opioid bottle, it's amazing. I don't know if you've seen this now. Now they put a red sticker on top, and it says danger.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Danger. May cause addiction and overdose. Could be lethal. And I was looking at that thing, and I was like, am I gonna take this? And I've had some good friends of mine have back injuries and get addicted to pills and ruin their lives.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I said, I don't think I should take that. Then there was another side. Listen. But I need it. Listen to me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What happens when you actually need it? You see, that's what idols do. Once you need them, they destroy you. And here's what I did. I just rallied the troops.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I was on all kinds of pain meds, and the truth is it wasn't fixing my back. It was just making me numb. And I just cried out to God. I just cried out to him. Listen to me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And not the idle God who has to heal me, but the true God who can heal me. You see, some of you have a little God, and he's a puppet God, and he has to listen to you. He is not a genie in the bottle where you scratch it and you command. That's the devil. That's not God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I got on my knees, and I and I prayed. I'm so grateful. My the 2 doctors that treated me are both Christians. And one of the doctors actually gave me a meditation, a prayer meditation. He handed it to me on the way out of the office, reminded me that the lord is my refuge and my strength.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Isn't that incredible? He he gave me scripture. And he said pray this every day for about 10 to 15 minutes. Go through a meditation, and I did it every day. Couldn't walk, couldn't stand, was unable, bawling my eyes out.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is absolute pain. My wife said, I've never seen you like this. The only way I could describe it is just like pain in your back and then a knife with lightning. That's the only way I could describe it. And I just started praying, and I said, God, I know you can heal me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But are you willing? Because I'm not God. I can't demand it. And I heard this voice. I'm willing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I just cried, and I hurt, and I just kept stretching. And and and, God, what am I gonna do? My wife standing over me, she's like, I'm worried. I was like, me too. Me too.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see, we can't demand anything of the one true god, but we can ask if he's willing. How am I standing here today? As Lamentation says, his mercies are new every morning, and he healed me. Not because he had to, but because for whatever reason, he chose to. The apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth, and he says again, this is the New Testament.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is the new life that you and I are called to live. He says, so, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. We see this over and over again in the New Testament, and some of you have never confessed your worship of idols in your entire life. Families are great unless they're above God. Marriage is great unless it's above God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Money's necessary unless it's above God. Health. Health is wonderful, but not if it comes above god. Some of you today need to throw down your idol, and you need to say, god, I need to quit worshiping this because it will not work and it will lead you to hell. So when in Exodus chapter 32, God says, I'm done.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Some of you have never read this. He tells Moses, we're gonna kill them all. We're gonna start over. Right? Remember God is a jealous God?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Moses says, no. No. No. Moses says, kill me. Save them for your name's sake.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And listen to me. God does. He saves them. Why? Because Moses mediated a peace covenant with God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Every single person in this room needs a peace covenant with God. And here's why. You have sinned your entire life, and you are indebted to the one true God. And you cannot pay back that debt. So here's the thing is, people say, well, I've asked for forgiveness.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Okay. So let me say I I rob you. I rob you. I break into your house and I rob you, and I steal from you. My whole life, I steal from you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:At the end of my life, I say, I'm sorry. Are we good? We're not good. I still owe you a debt. Someone has to pay the debt.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So God said, okay. I won't kill them all, but I am gonna kill some. And he sent the Levites in. Here's the good news. We're not under the old covenant.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We're under the new covenant. And we don't call upon the name of Moses. We call upon the name of Jesus, and here's why. First Timothy 2:5. For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, and that is the man Christ Jesus.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And some of you guys today, you are indebted to God. You've worshiped anything and everything but him your entire life. And God is jealous and God is angry and God is fed up and God is done. And it is not enough for you to be sorry. Somebody has to pay the debt.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Somebody has to die. Jesus said, I will. I will. And he died for you. Hebrews 1224.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And Jesus, the mediator, listen to this, of a new covenant. A new covenant. You wanna know why we're doing the Lord's supper at the end of every service? Because that's the only reason we're here. We're only here because his body was broken, because his blood was shed.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's the only reason we stand. It's because he stood for us and died for us on the cross. And I just wanna challenge you today. Do you need to throw down your idols and worship the one true God? Do you need to throw down your idols and finally surrender completely and wholeheartedly to Jesus?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Not the Jesus that you made up on your mind, not the Jesus that, you know, is symbolized on a cross around your neck. You see, even things like these can become idols. One of the cutest questions I got on The Debrief Show was a kid asked me, you know, are demons afraid of these? I said, no. Demons are not afraid of a cross around your neck.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They're afraid of Jesus in your heart. That's what they're afraid of. That's what makes them shudder. Do you have Jesus in your heart? The only way you do is if you've made a covenant with him.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Have you submitted to him? Have you confessed your sin, and have you invited him? Listen to me. First commandment, to be the lord of your life. Because it is Jesus and Jesus alone that can deliver you from bondage.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So I was gonna ask you to bow your head and close your eyes, and let's just pray right now. I'm gonna pray the Holy Spirit over all of us. What are the idols in our lives right now? Very crafty, very creative idols. What is the golden calf in your life that you have built in the name of God, but it is not God?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What is it that you need to get rid of today? And just hand that over to the Lord right now. Just give it to him. And then just ask for forgiveness in the name of Jesus, the mediator of our new covenant. Because here's what the bible says, whoever calls upon the name of Jesus shall be saved.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Call upon his name right here, right now. It's a better covenant. Jesus did what we cannot do. He lived the law perfectly. He who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Jesus took upon your sin and he is willing to give you his righteousness if you believe. Heavenly father, in the name of Jesus right now, I just ask, Lord, that you would lift these idols out of our lives, out of our minds, out of our hands, God, and you would, in turn, place your holy spirit upon us. God, give us a pure heart. Make us like the Levites, lord, wanting to serve you, wanting to be priests for you, wanting to be the true people of God. Lord, help us not to fall in love with idols, but help us to continually love you as the one true and only God who is jealous for us.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Hi. I'm pastor Matt Brown. Thank you so much for watching this content.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The reason that we produce this content is to help you build an authentic relationship with God, with yourself, and ultimately with others, people just like you who are furthering, their relationship with God. If you would like to transition from someone who just watches this content to partner with us so that we could produce that content, I would really like to invite you to go to donate.sc. This is the best way for you to become a part of what God is doing at Sandals Church, to share this message of authenticity all across the globe. Thank you so much for your time, and I appreciate your generosity.