Breaking Down Idols

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Transition: Like all of you, I have been trying to make sense of the last two months. I’ve felt like I'm living in a tug of war contest over my heart. Pulled one way with questions and concerns. Tugged another way with the reality that things have changed. Yanked in directions that I've been hesitant to go, and jerked in other areas were I've been pleasantly surprised. One question that has repeatedly come to mind is, “What is God doing with all this?”

Transition: There is an Old Testament account found in I Samuel 5:1-5 that helps to gives us perspective on our current days. (Offer a little context)

1 Samuel 5:1–5 ESV

When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

Perspective: God is breaking down our idols. Much like the Philistines, we have been guilty of trying to position the One True God alongside other gods. We have adapted and adopted the false idea that Jesus is one of many gods that we can invite into our idolatry in order to get what we want. We have treated Jesus like a gene who we keep tucked away in our pocket only to come out in times of crisis and a puppet to serve our wish list. Like the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22 we have invited Jesus to come and sit with our riches and wealth in order to make us comfortable, and haven't even realized the shame of our miserable poverty and nakedness. So, by the grace and mercy of God He has been very kind to break the head and arms from our idols.

If your job was your lord and source of security… laid off.

If your family was your all in all… isolated.

If extracurricular activities were the great hope of your heart.... canceled.

If religious traditions were your king… dethroned.

If education defined your days… postponed.

If money ruled your heart… crash.

If people are your saving grace.... distanced.

If isolation was your therapy… now everyone wants to video chat.

If sports consumed your identity… vanished.

If governmental politics were you lasting hope… disappointment.

If health and good healthcare are your ultimate concern.... virus.

Transition: In some ways, God has used a microscopic virus to redirect the whole world.

Transition: I’m not suggesting that God is directly responsible for sending a virus throughout the globe. However, I am absolutely suggesting that we must not neglect this great opportunity to examine our hearts and turn toward our Sovereign God and flee from idols. We could respond like the Philistines and try to stand the dagons back up in our lives, but that will prove to be futile. We could harness up some milk cows and send the ark on its way to see of all of this is just a coincidence. However, I’d suggest we would do well to recognize that, God has graciously created space in our lives , and we dare not fill that space up with anything but Him.

Transition: The sin of idolatry has always been a problem since the fall of humanity in the garden of Eden. Even among those who claim Christ as Savior and Lord we are instructed from passages like, I Cor 10:14 which tells us… Again, I John 5:21 speaks about idolatry....

1 Corinthians 10:14 ESV

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

1 John 5:21 ESV

Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

Transition: Its possible that you have not felt the tug of war in your soul through theses unprecedented days. We may even conclude that after evaluating our hearts that we are free of idolatry, to which we will give praise to our God and King. Perhaps your life has not been full of dagons, and will not look that different. However, even then we should continue to be on guard against the sin of idolatry and stand ready to fill up the space that God has created with God alone!

Transition: How do we go about having the great Physician offer an examination of our hearts ex-ray our soul to know if we are guilty of idolatry? How do we identity idolatry and what should we do when we find this sin in ourselves?

Definitions of idolatry

Attachments of the heart (Ezk. 14:1-5)

Ezekiel 14:1–5 ESV

Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them? Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols.

At the core, idolatry is a heart problem.

Definitions of idolatry

2. What we worship (Romans 1:24-25)

Romans 1:24–25 ESV

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

When we give adoration, praise, and honor to created things rather than the Creator, it is idolatry.

Definitions of idolatry

3. When something good, becomes something ultimate. (Psalm 16:2)

Psalm 16:2 ESV

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”

James 1:16-17 says… We should readily receive all good things created by God for us to enjoy with thanksgiving. However, even those good things can creep into our hearts and plug up the flow of our praise to end at the good thing, rather than the good God they come from.

James 1:16–17 ESV

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Transition: On the basis of those definitions, I want to offer you some questions that can help us identify idols.

How to Identify and idol?

What causes me the most fear?

What do I love?

Can I be happy without it ?

What makes me angry?

What makes me worry?

Where do I go to relieve stress?

Who do I go to for ultimate comfort?

What do I most treasure?

Whose approval do I desire?

Where do I find greatest satisfaction?

As we are told in (Col. 3:1-11) Coveting reveals that we are not content with God. It reveals that we are seeking satisfaction in another.

Colossians 3:1–11 ESV

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

What do I long for, and look forward to the most?

What do I view as my greatest sacrifice?

Who is the most dear to my heart?

What does my soul most thirst and hunger for?

How do I describe and identify myself?

Transition: God is not just a name at the top of our priority list of life. He is the only priority. He will not share His glory with another. If we are going to flee from idolatry and fill our lives with God then everything we think, feel, or experience must be out of the overflow of being in right relationship with God.

Transition: This leads us to two final applications. Where do we go from here? How should we repent? How do we turn from idols and trust only in God? Since God has been so gracious to break down the idols among us, how should we respond? What do we do with the space God has created? How do we refrain from filling our lives up again with idols?

Application

Be converted. Perhaps you are being made aware of the great rebellion of your heart toward the Holy God of Creation. Perhaps you are experiencing true conviction concerning your guilt of idolatry. Perhaps for the very first tim the kindness of God is awakening you to realize that even though you have been blessed with good things, the seductive idolatry of your heart is leading you to follow those good things rather than God. I have good news for you today. The love of God has been demonstrated to you, that even though you are guilty of your sin of rebellious idolatry, God has provided the necessary means for you to be made new. For you to be made right with Him. For you to be cleansed of idolatry and walk in a worshiping relationship with Him. God the Son came to earth as that provision for sinners. Jesus was crucified on a cross and died as the total payment the sin that has separated you from God. He raised from the dead, making new life possible for you through the power of His resurrection. He ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father and is waiting to return and gather those who belong to Him to be with Him forever in Heaven. If this truth is stirring your heart today then agree with God about your sin. Confess Christ as Savior and Lord. Even now, with the breath that He has granted to you, respond by receiving His free gift and trust in Christ alone. And if you have responded in that way, please don’t leave this gathering today without telling someone about your conversion.

For those who are converted, Be filled with God alone. Fill up the space that He has created with God Himself. It is as we are told in Ephesians 5:18 ...

Ephesians 5:18 ESV

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

Do not yield to the temptation to fill the space God has created with activity. Not programs. Not duty bound rituals. But have your heart set free from idolatry. Turn away from the attachments that have filled up your heart and rest in Christ alone. Enjoy the presence of God in your life. Enjoy your relationship with Him.

How??? How can we live being constantly filled with God?

Illustration: Like drinking water from the fresh, crystal clear, mountain spring that never runs out. Out of the well spring of abundant life that He produces in you.... When we are saturated with God like a sponge soaking in water, what happens when our lives are put to use, and squeezed out for His glory?

Talk to Him-Prayer

Listen to Him- Bible

Share Him- Evangelism

Enjoy His people- Church

Closing: The Lord has been kind to us by breaking down our idols. And so we conclude with the same verse we read at the beginning… I Peter 3:15

1 Peter 3:15 ESV

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

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