Confronting Idolatry In Our Lives Today Exodus 20:1-6 (NKJV)

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Jacob Henry Cooper
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1 Message for THE LORD'S DAY EVENING, November 8, 2015 (Possible REVIVAL Sermon) Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister TOPIC: Idolatry, Christian Living P R A Y E R Confronting Idolatry In Our Lives Today Exodus 20:1-6 (NKJV) EXODUS 20:1-6 (NKJV) 1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. ************************************************************

2 INTRODUCTION More than anything, GOD wants you and me to love Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. (Mark 12:30) GOD doesn't want a place in our lives, He wants first place. He wants us to love Him and worship Him above everyone and everything else. And any time you or I allow someone or something to come between us and GOD, we incite the righteous jealousy of God. God is not going to play second fiddle to anyone or anything. He is either our all in all or He is nothing at all. There is no in-between. In tonight's message, we are all going to see that sometimes we unknowingly allow things to become idols in our lives without even realizing it. And if we are to be serious about following Jesus, we must confront our idolatry head-on. ************************************************** First of all... I. Consider The Problem of Idolatry In Ancient Israel 1. When you read through the Old Testament and see all those wonderful accounts where God revealed His incredible power and glory to the Israelite people it is hard to understand why they would repeatedly worship false gods made of wood and stone. But they did!

3 2. During Old Testament times, idolatry was generally associated with images made of gold, silver, stone or wood that represented various gods of other nations. Sometimes these gods were in a strange, distorted human appearance, while other gods were in the image of animals or bizarre looking creatures. 3. The most common idols worshiped by the Israelites were the Canaanite male fertility god BAAL and his female partner ASHERAH. Other idols frequently mentioned in the Old Testament were DAGON of the Philistines; ASHTORETH the goddess of the Sidonians; CHEMOSH the god of the Moabites; and MILCOM the god of the Ammonites. 4. We must understand IDOLATRY was Israel's greatest sin. Out of all the nations on earth, GOD had selected the JEWS to be His chosen people, and yet they blatantly rejected the One True God in favor of a bunch of worthless, counterfeit gods. They prayed to gods who could neither hear or answer their prayers. They showed love for gods who couldn't love them back. They trusted in gods who could neither protect them or provide for them.

4 5. Along with the worship of these idols, the Israelites descended into other abominable sins such as orgies, prostitution, drunkenness, and even sacrificing their own children over open flames. 6. The Old Testament provides us with numerous accounts of Israel's idolatry. Here are some of the most noteworthy. (a) In GENESIS 31 we read the account of RACHEL, the wife of Jacob, stealing her father's household idols to take with her to the land of Israel. (b) In EXODUS 32 we read the most familiar account of idolatry in the Old Testament, and that is when Aaron molded the image of the golden calf. While Moses was on top of Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments, Aaron and the Israelite people were down at the bottom of the mountain breaking the first two commandments. Aaron even went so far as to tell the Israelite people that the golden calf was the god who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. (Exodus 32:4b) And then when Moses questioned Aaron about where the golden calf had come from, Aaron gave him the most lame excuse in all the Bible. Aaron said, I I took the gold that the people brought to me and threw it in the fire, and out popped this golden calf. (Exodus 32:24)

5 (c) In a recent Sunday night message, we looked at that account in I Kings 11 where King Solomon married many foreign women who turned his heart away from GOD and he worshiped many pagan idols. In fact, Solomon even went so far as to build high places near Jerusalem so he and his wives could worship the pagan gods. (d) In I Kings 12, King Jeroboam erected two golden calves for the Israelites to worship, one was placed in the city of Bethel, the other in the city of Dan. (e) In I Kings 16 we read one of the most despicable acts of idolatry in the Old Testament. Israel's King Ahab married a wicked, godless woman from Sidonia named Jezebel. She was a worshiper Baal, the pagan fertility god. In honor of his wicked wife, Ahab built the temple of Baal in Samaria. and together, Ahab and Jezebel led the Israelites to the lowest levels of idolatry and depravity than any king who reigned before him. (f) In II Chronicles 33 King Manasseh literally filled the city of Jerusalem with idols. He rebuilt all of the high places that were torn down during the reign of his father, King Hezekiah. Manasseh led the people into Baal worship and he practiced witchcraft, sorcery, and communicating with dead.

6 5. Time after time, God's prophets warned the Jewish people to turn away from their idols and return to GOD or they would suffer grave consequences. But the people didn't listen, and GOD eventually brought the kingdoms of Israel and Judah to ruin because of their idolatrous ways. And for over 2,000 years Israel was no longer allowed to live in the land God had promised to their forefather, Abraham. 6. After all GOD had done for Israel, for them to turn to idol worship was the equivalent of spitting in God's face, and now over twenty centuries later they are still suffering the consequences of their idolatrous ways. Next, let's... II. Consider The Idols We Must Confront Today 1. If I were to ask you tonight, Are you an idol worshiper, chances are you would quickly dismiss the question with a chuckle, like Me, an idol worshiper. You gotta be kidding! 2. When we think of idol worshipers today we might picture images of Buddhist monks in long robes chanting to a big, pot-bellied image of Buddha. Or perhaps we might think of a large room filled with Muslims down on their knees with their faces to the floor, praying to Allah.

7 3. But listen to this stern warning in I John 5:21 (NKJV) Little children, keep yourselves from idols. The apostle Paul gives a very similar warning in I Corinthians 10:14, when he says, Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. To whom are John and Paul issuing these warnings? They are warning CHRISTIANS! They are saying, Christians, keep away from idols! Don't fall into idol worship. 4. We must understand that idols encompasses a whole lot more than images carved out of wood or fashioned out of gold like those we read about in the Old Testament. 5. Listen very carefully... In the most basic sense, an idol is ANYTHING that takes the rightful place of GOD in your life. An idol is anything or anyone that is worshiped or loved as a god. An idol is anything or anyone we allow to have a greater place of priority in our life than God. An idol is anything that we devote an excessive amount of time and attention to that draws us away from God. An idol is anything or anyone we give excessive honor, value, or praise that is rightfully due to GOD alone.

8 6. When you look at this broad definition of idols and idolatry there are certainly a number of things that could qualify as candidates for idols. Let's consider just a few: (a) The LOVE of MONEY Can Be an Idol 1 Timothy 6:10 (NKJV) For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Paul is telling us that many have strayed away from the LORD because of their love affair with the almighty dollar. Jesus says in Matthew 6:24 (NKJV) No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. There is nothing wrong with money itself. There is nothing wrong with having money or making money honestly. But when attaining money becomes an obsession and takes over our life, MONEY BECOMES AN IDOL.

9 (b) The LOVE of MATERIAL THINGS Can Become an Idol. Remember the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19? He asked Jesus, Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? Jesus asked him to Keep the commandments. The Rich Young Ruler said he had kept the commandments since he was a boy. Then Jesus told him there was one thing he lacked. The Rich Young Ruler said, What's that? Jesus said, Go sell what you have and give it to the poor, and then you will have treasure in heaven. Matthew tells us, But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:22 NKJV) Like the Rich Young Ruler, material things can easily become an idol in our lives. It is very easy to become so obsessed with cars, or boats, or jewelry, or clothes, that those things become our god. (c) PEOPLE can be an IDOL. 1 Corinthians 1:12,13 (NKJV) Now I say this, that each of you says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

10 Just a few weeks ago we saw non-stop coverage of the Pope's visit to the United States. Thousands upon thousands lined the streets just to get a glimpse of him and to hail his arrival. By the huge masses, one would have thought it was Christ Himself making His Triumphal Entry. Only it wasn't Christ. He is man just like you and me, and yet he is worshiped and adored as a god. If ever there was a case of blatant idolatry that was it! Many of you can probably remember the night the BEATLES made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show back in February of Over seventy three million people tuned in that night as JOHN, PAUL, GEORGE and RINGO walked on to stage. Women in the audience that night were screaming and swooning as they worshiped the rock band from England. This form of idolatry is widespread in this country. We worship musicians, and athletes, and Hollywood actors and actresses like they are gods. (d) FAMILY can be an IDOL. Luke 14:26 (NKJV) If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

11 If you are a student of the New Testament you understand JESUS is not telling us to hate our family, but rather He is saying Anyone who loves his family more than me cannot be my disciple. The Bible clearly teaches that we husbands are to love our wives, and you wives are to love your husbands; and as parents we are to love our children. But when family activities regularly keep you out of the Lords house on the Lord's day, you need to search your heart. It is very possible your love for your family has surpassed your love for God, and your family has become an IDOL. I could give you many more examples, but let me just share this clear, concise summary by Steve Cole: In the most basic sense, an idol is anything that takes the rightful place of GOD in your life. Your career, your pursuit of money, your possessions, or even excessive devotion to sports, leisure, or recreation may all become idols. Watching hours of inane or immoral TV or spending several hours a day playing computer games, while not having time to spend with God or to serve Him, is a form of idolatry. At the root of all idolatry is self. The idolater has not yet yielded the throne of his or her life to the one true God. What is that one thing your whole world revolves around? What is that one thing you are more passionate about than God? What is that one thing you couldn't live without if God asked you to give it up? Take a good look at it, because that is your idol.

12 None of us wants to think of ourselves as idol worshipers. In fact, we may even take offense at the notion. But if we will be completely honest, we must confess that anything in our life that is more important to us than GOD is an idol. Just as GOD commanded the Israelites to repent of their idolatrous ways and return to Him, God commands us to do the same. Let us flee idolatry in all its forms and give our full love and devotion to the LORD GOD OF HEAVEN, for He alone is worthy of our worship and adoration!

~ Men Unrighteous Jeroboam - Take counsel makes two [44] - References

Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved By Jerome Cameron Goodwin JEROBOAM - GOLDEN CALF IN DA N A ND BETHEL ~ Men Unrighteous Jeroboam - Take counsel makes two [44] - References golden calves, splits Israel