Gospel in Life #3: Grace changes everything Idolatry - The sin beneath the sin Discussion Questions 1. Is there anything you couldn t live without? Something you d be devastated to lose? What is your worst nightmare? Mark said this is your idol. Do you agree? 2. How do you think something moves from becoming something that s good to something that s ultimate that is starts to become more important that God? 3. Read some of Isaiah 44:1-23. Why couldn t people see the utter foolishness which the prophet so clearly points out? 4. What are today s idols and what are the lies they would have us believe? (Eg money. What does it promise us which many of us want?) Why can t people see the utter foolishness of some of today s idols? 5. Mark said behind every sin is the sin of having some other god before God. What god might be behind failure to obey/honour our parents? What god might be behind lying? What god might be behind wanting what others have? 6. It was the great reformer Martin Luther who said: under every behavioural sin is the sin of idolatry, and under every act of idolatry is a disbelief in the gospel. When we immerse ourselves with some idol or another, what aspect of the gospel are we failing to grasp and believe in? (Read again Romans 8:32). 7. How can we get rid of our idols and stop serving them? 8. What s to be our first passion and priority? Read Matthew 5:28-33 and discuss what it means and what it looks like in practice. 9. Read 1 John 2:15-17 and discuss how we come to the point of loving God more than anything else. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.
Gospel in Life # 3 Idolatry - The sin beneath the sin Isaiah 44:1-23; Col 3:1-6; Luke 12:13-21 The problem The deception The reach The solution THE PROBLEM What is it, in your life that you could not live without? Years ago ad campaign I couldn t get by without my mum deodorant But seriously what couldn t you live without? What is it, if you lost it, would mean your life would be virtually meaningless... would cause all meaning and significance to disappear from your life? Whatever that thing is, the Bible calls it an idol. An idol is anything more important more significant - than God to you! anything you turn to, rely on, draw comfort from... more than God. Now you may say to me Mark there s nothing more important to me than God... There s nothing other than him I look to for security......and that may be true and if so fantastic... But let me ask you what s your worst nightmare? I don t know what that might be... but you do... worst nightmare losing all my family house burning down... losing my sight... whatever that is... that is your idol. If there s anything in your life that if you were to lose it, you d lose the will to go on with life... you d think life was no longer worth living... that s your idol. It may be a good thing like family or your spouse but if that s what defines you if that s what gives your life value, it s an idol. If it s become an ultimate thing and it s not God, it s an idol. For example imagine if you were engaged. And if you were engaged, that relationship would bring great meaning in your life... of course it would. And then, imagine you broke up something happened and you broke up. That will bring tremendous grief. If it were a good relationship, if it was a good thing, then to lose it will be very hard. But if you made that person an ultimate thing; if the love of that person was the very reason you got up in the morning... is the reason you thought there was anything good about you at all; if you turned a good thing into an ultimate thing, and you lose that, it won t just be hard, you ll be completely devastated.
THE DECEPTION The deception of idols for the people of Israel of old is obvious to us... and Isaiah has done a great job in laying them out for us I love the way Isaiah completely ridicules those who bow down to gods... v12 the blacksmith gets tired making the god who he thinks will give him strength v13 the carpenter crafts something... he s watched this piece of wood grow from the beginning... some of it he burns to keep warm or bake bread... and from some he fashions a god and worships it and bows down to it... I m warm you are my god...! v18 their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see... their minds closed so they cannot understand... v20 he feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say Is this not this thing in my right hand a lie? why can t we see through the deception of 21 st century idols? Doesn t anyone see that no one s personality is determined by a star sign and that such things are completely man made? Can t people see that the future cannot be determined by the fall of cards, the power of crystals, the way tea leaves are left in a cup? Why do people have no insight in to the trap of gambling, the impossible odds of lotto, the uncertainty of the stock market? Why don t people realise that power can be lost as quickly as it is gained? That careers can come crushing to a halt at the whim of a faceless board? That the adrenalin rush of sport and the adulation of a podium win are but fleeting? That family though a wonderful gift from God is not and cannot replace God!? That chasing a ball of various shapes and sizes up and down a pitch or across a green or over the net can be (I understand) a lot of fun but can t possibly in the end define your life or supply your needs or comfort you in grief or say anything about the future!!!! Jeremiah 2:25 puts it like this: It s no use, I love foreign gods and I must go after them. That s the voice and language of Israel and Jeremiah uses it to show that once we ve come to believe that something will really make us happy, then we can t help ourselves, we must go after our gods, they completely capture our hearts. As Psalm 106 puts it they worship their idols which became a snare to them. The language of Ezekiel is even stronger 6:9 this is what the sovereign Lord says I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts which have turned away from me and by their eyes which have lusted after their idols. Friends whatever you do battle with in terms of idolatry... see through the deception. All idols are man made Deceptive in promises Powerless to do anything Futile to rely on NOTHING like the one true God we re called to follow and serve!
REACH You ll see the title of this message is Idolatry: the sin beneath the sin Why? Because behind every sin, is the sin of having some other god before God. The first commandment is the first commandment because all other commandments are based on it. The first? no other gods before me. Example. Lying. Why lie? Because underneath there is something more important to you than Jesus Christ at that moment... - Self protection - Something to gain by lying - Something you re trying to hang on to Or honour father and mother - Something is more important - Self! Do not covet wanting something that s not yours - Failing to believe God is good enough to provide for you so you ll do a little bit of his work for him Greed Col 3:6 put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed which is idolatry... what is the idol? either money or what money can buy! So idolatry reaches into every corner of our lives. Great reformer Martin Luther - under every behavioural sin is the sin of idolatry, and under every act of idolatry is a disbelief in the gospel Disbelief that God is for you Disbelief that God will grant you all your need A belief that God is keeping something from you A belief that his grace is not all sufficient Distrust in God s purposes or plans A mistrust in his security Doubting his promises A hunch that a better life... more exciting... less troublesome... will come from somewhere else other than God! That s what the man in Jesus story from Luke 13 feels isn t it building better barns so he can eat, drink and be merry with ease? His god? Greed, money, pleasure seeking, hoarding... you name it! You see how far reaching idolatry is?? THE SOLUTION So where to then? How can we address this? How can we change?
If we simply try to change our outward behaviour, we ll never change. We ll always be a disappointment to ourselves and we ll feel powerless. No something fundamental has to change or grow inside in our hearts and our thinking. You see our lack of spiritual growth... you may feel you ve been struggling with the same issues for years... not seeing any progress... often it s because we fail to really believe God is best... we don t trust his promises... we doubt his care... we suspect he s keeping something from us... so we go and chase whatever it is ourselves. Or we think we know better than God so we make our own decisions... So what we have to do is go back to the gospel and remind ourselves that if God has given us his Son, can we not trust him then to be completely on our side? To not withhold any good thing from us? Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? And the more you know that here in the heart... then the less you ll run after other gods. You see what is needed to deal with an old passion, is the explosive power of a new passion. Little kids... playing with something they might wreck... don t just whatever it is away, find them something they ll love playing with even more... Eg sex outside of marriage... some pretty hard struggle...... but when my love for God - my passion for him and his ways are greater.. and when I know and trust and believe his plans and purposes are not just good but best then my passion for God can reign over my passion for cheap sexual pleasures or- greed lotto gambling when I believe that when I seek first God s kingdom he will look after me and supply all I need... when my love for him is all encompassing then I learn the secret of contentment... contentment in who God is and all he is has already blessed me with... then I don t need to go after anything else When Jesus is all your over-arching passion... then you will not want any other gods before him because you re so passionate about him so clear so thankful for all he s already given you!...and the things that control you now will lose their power... Friends I want you this morning to go home knowing 1. Just how significant the problem of idolatry is 2. Know the deception of idols 3. Know the reach of idolatry into every sin 4. Know the solution to pursue passion relationship with God where you re so deeply satisfied in him, that you re simply not interested in any other idol. As the old chorus says Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace. 1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.