Idolatry

Jeff Kinder

Beyond Borders Pastor Conference • Sermon • Submitted 10 months ago • Presented 10 months ago

Idolatry

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Where Does God Reside?

The New King James Version (Chapter 3)

16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

The New King James Version Chapter 3

17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love

The first thing we have to know is Where is God? These verses tell us that as believers God resides in us. For New Testament believers we have become the temple. Paul tells the church of Ephesus that God dwells in our hearts. Where God dwells he on the throne. Our hearts become the throne where God sits. Idolatry displaces God. We find Idolatry wrapped up in the ten commandments. WHATEVER sits on the throne of our displaces God and therefore becomes an IDOL.

I confess I would almost rather be charged with a religion that extenuated murder, than with one that justified idolatry. Murder, great as the offense is, is but the slaying of man; but idolatry is, in its essence, the killing of God.

Charles Spurgeon

We think of the 10 Commandments when we think of Idolatry. Specifically number 2.

The New King James Version Chapter 20

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.

While we may or may not have graven images we all to often have Idols.

Exposing the gods that Reside on the Throne of Your Heart

The First 3 gods we’ll look at deal with fleshly desires.

gods of pleasure

FOOD

SEX

ENTERTAINMENT

These things all deal with pleasure. The gods of pleasure often begin as good gifts from the Lord God. All of these things in and of their self are not bad but when we place them on the throne of our hearts they become IDOLS. It’s when we begin to live for the pleasures of life we fall into trouble. What motivates us to get up out of the bed in mornings and go to work. It’s what our relationships, our time, and our money often revolve around.

There’s a story of a little girl walked into a saw a cheap set of pearls. The price tag said ten dollars which is pretty cheap in America. The story goes that the little girl saved her money and bought the pearls. She loved and never took them off. One night her father asked her if she would give him the pearls. She responded no. The next night he ask her if she loved him. she said of course I love you. He asked again if she would give him the pearls. She said daddy you can have my favorite doll but not my pearls. The next day she came to him with the pearls in her hand and tears in her eyes. She said,” Here, Daddy you can have my pearls. I want you to know how much I love you.” The father reached into her pocket and pulled out a velvet case containing genuine pearl necklace. He was waiting for to give up the cheap imitations so he could give her the real thing. Is God waiting on you to give the imitations so he can give you the real thing?

God will not bless Competition!!

Do you know the story of King Ahab?

The New King James Version Chapter 16

Ahab Reigns in Israel

29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.

Ahab becomes King marries a woman named Jezebel. He built for her beautiful gardens to remind her of her home land. They fall into idol worship “BAAL”and God closes the heavens. NO RAIN!!

God’s man Elijah comes on the seen.

The New King James Version Chapter 17

17 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”

gods of power

The New King James Version Chapter 18

18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”

21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”

22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

24 And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

26 And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?”

27 But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

There are a few things that stick out in this parable.

SUCCESS

MONEY

ACHIEVEMENT

gods of love

ROMANCE

FAMILY

gods of me

ME!!!

Now that we know where God is supposed to reside and the gods of idolatry have been exposed.

How Do We Restore God to HIS Rightful Place?

What Lies Beneath

Idolatry isn’t just one of many sins; rather it’s the one great sin that

all others come from. So if you start scratching at whatever strug-

gle you’re dealing with, eventually you’ll find that underneath it is

a false god. Until that god is dethroned, and the Lord God takes

his rightful place, you will not have victory.

What motivates you?

Instead of “impressing others” that answer becomes “pleasing GOD”

What is your standard for success?

Instead of “personal gain” the answer becomes “faithfulness to God”

What’s your source of power?

Instead of “self-empowerment” your answer becomes “Dependence on GOD”

What is the purpose of your life?

Instead of answering “personal happiness” your answer becomes “GOD’S Glory”

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