Tearing Down Our High Places W HAT IS D ISPLACING G OD IN O UR L IVES ?

Deuteronomy 12:1-4 1 “These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the L ORD God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. 2 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. 4 You shall not worship the L ORD your God with such things.”

Leviticus 26:30 30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you.

2 Kings 23:19-20, Now Josiah also took away all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the L ORD to anger; and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel. 20 He executed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned men’s bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the L ORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.

Acts 17:16, Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. 22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you…”

3 Key Questions… What is it that you let displace God’s rightful place in your life? What would you not give up to serve the Lord? What are you most passionate about (consumes your time, energy and affection)?

Numbers 21:8-9 8 Then the L ORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

2 Kings 18:4 4 He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.

Tearing Down Our High Places I S SELF D ISPLACING G OD IN YOUR L IFE ? Self

Selfishness Are you overly consumed with your own cares and concerns? – Phil. 2:1-4 (cf. 1 Cor. 13:5) Is the pursuit of your own interests undermining the cause of Christ collectively and personally? – Jas. 3:13-18

Independence Does your desire for independence trump your need for God? – Rev. 3:14-22 Has your heart become utterly self-sufficient, avoiding the idea of “one-another”? – 1 Cor. 12:12-27

Indulgences Which among your carnal appetites owns you? – 1 Cor. 9:24-27 (Acts 24:25; 2 Pet. 1:5-7; Rom. 13:13-14) Is your body in subjection to the Spirit or is your spirit in subjection to your flesh? – Rom. 8:13 (Gal. 5:19-23)

Well-Being Are you more concerned about the welfare of your body than the welfare of your soul? – 1 Tim. 4:6-9 Are you content to live for Christ with physical infirmities if necessary? – 2 Cor. 12:7-10

Life Do you value your own life more than you do the souls of men? – cf. Phil. 2:25-30 Do you love your own life more than you do the Lord? – cf. Luke 14:26 (Rev. 12:11)

Mark 12: So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”