Why Some People Don’t Obey The Gospel - Lesson 4
Idolatry
-Introduction
-Throughout the pages of history, mankind has been plagued with idolatry - various
peoples in various places and at various times - including God’s people.
-Within the scriptures, we find idolatry in the:
-Patriarchal Age - Gen 31:19,30
-Mosaic Age - Ex 20:3; Deut 7:1-4; Isa 44:6-19
-Gospel Age - Acts 17:16, 22-23
-Idolatry is foolish and tragic. Unfortunately, numerous souls have been turned away
from God &/or kept away from God through the avenue of idolatry - to the destruction
of their souls.
-Idolatry Today?
-When we think of idolatry, we think of people bowing down in devotion to statues/
images. (i.e. Buddhists)
-example of the chocolate drippings in the chocolate factory - Some claimed the
clump that formed from them resembled the virgin Mary.
-example of the watermark under a Chicago bridge - resemblance to virgin Mary
-These things became shrines - rose pedals, candles, place of prayer, etc.
-If we think that idolatry is only a thing of the past or something that only takes place
in other countries around the world, I’m afraid we are deceiving ourselves.
-Devotion to God
-What do the scriptures say about proper devotion to God?
-Deut 6:4-5 (Matt 22:36-40)
-1 John 5:1-3
-Far too many people in this world say, “I love God,” but put forth little effort
to keep His commandments.
-various reasons for this - Could one be that there are some idols that stand in the way?
-Heb 11:6 - “diligently seek”
-Too many people want to separate the diligence from the seeking. They’re willing to
seek God as long as they don’t have to do it diligently.
-The word “diligently seek” come from a single Greek word. Therefore, these two
English words are not to be separated.
-Too many people want to seek God on their own terms rather than God’s terms.
-Perhaps, there are some idols standing in the way.
-Matt 6:33
-In our every day lives, we understand the concept of “first.”
-Ask a young child competing in a race if there is a difference between 1st & 2nd & 3rd...
-Yet, when it comes to religion, many people want to redefine “1st.”
-Unfortunately, many people don’t want to put their own souls and the church first
because there are some idols within their lives.
-Now, we’re considering these things within the perspective of those outside of the church
who, for some reason or another, do not obey the Gospel of Christ. Yet, we also need to
examine our own selves to make sure that we don’t have an idol standing in the way.
-Examples of Idols Common In Our Society
-We could come up with a rather long list of idols that exist in today’s society. I’m going
to address just a few.
-Listen Carefully - These things - in and of themselves - are not idols. Yet, we can allow
them to become idols if we place a higher devotion toward them than God.
-Again, involvement in these things doesn’t indicate idolatry. It’s a matter of our devotion
to these things in relation to our devotion toward God and our Christian responsibilities.
1. Money
-In a wealthy and materialistic nation, money is a common and widespread idol.
-Remember, money is not an idol in and of itself. However, the love of money can
certainly serve as an idol - 1 Tim 6:10-11
2. Sports
-It seems to me that this is becoming more and more of an idol in today’s society.
-Unless I’m mistaken, there are increased time commitments required toward sports
at younger and younger ages. Does it seem that more and more is being expected of
the kids and their parents?
3. Recreation
-fishing, hunting, camping, golfing, etc....
-A person’s devotion to God isn’t to be seasonal - shaped and formed around other
“season” of the year. Our devotion to God is to be year round.
-Isn’t it a shame when devotion is given to activities that are enjoyed within God’s
creation at the expense of proper devotion to the Creator!
-Summary and Invitation
-Of course, we could give many more examples of possible idols.
-So, what do we do about idols? - Ex 34:11-14
-We need to “take heed” and we need to break down the idols that lay before us.
-We need to put God first.
-We need to understand that there will be a Day of Judgment.
-2 Pet 3:10-12
-Rev 20:12
-When it comes to judgment, there are a number of things that will seem very un-important
at that time: the balance we had in checking, savings, investment accounts - who scored
the winning touchdown, made the clutch free-throw, or drove in the winning run - how big
of a bass we caught or the size of that deer we shot - how beautiful that campground was -
the lowest round of golf we ever played, etc, etc, etc....Unless, perhaps, those things stood
in the way of proper devotion to God.
-On that Day, one thing will matter - the devotion that we placed in God through the
Gospel of Christ.
-Have you obeyed the Gospel? If not, believe in Jesus (John 3:16, 8:24), confess that faith
(Matt 10:32, Rom 10:9-10), repent of your sins (Luke 13:3,5; Acts 17:30), be baptized into
Christ (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38), Walk in newness of life (Rom 6:4, Eph 4:22-24).
-If you’ve obeyed the Gospel, but haven’t remained faithful, then return to Him - confess
your faults, repent of them and pray for God’s forgiveness (1 John 1:7-9, Acts 8:22-24).