Joshua 24:14-15
14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
- Bible Hub
- Idolatry, in biblical terms, refers to the worship of idols or the elevation of anything or anyone to a status that rivals or replaces the worship of the one true God. It is a recurring theme throughout the Bible, consistently condemned as a grievous sin against God. The sin of idolatry is not limited to the physical act of bowing to carved images but extends to any form of allegiance or devotion that detracts from the exclusive worship due to God alone
- Pastor Kyle Idleman
- “Idolatry is the number one issue in the Bible, and that should raise caution signals for us. Idolatry comes into every book. More than fifty of the laws in the first five books are aimed at this issue. In all of Judaism, it was one of only four sins to which the death penalty is attached.
- Theologian A.W. Pink
- “An ‘idol’ is anything which displaces God in my heart. It may be something which is quite harmless in itself, yet if it absorbs me, if it be given the first place in my affections and thoughts, it becomes an ‘idol’. It may be my business, a loved one, or my service for Christ. Any one or any thing which comes into competition with the Lord’s ruling me in a practical way, is an ‘idol’.”
Matthew 22:34-38
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
- “We are stuck in a generation (culture) where loyalty is just a tattoo, love is just a quote, and lying is the new truth”
- You see, the problem isn’t that the church body exist in a culture of idolatry, but that idolatry exist in the body of the Church
- What if we were ask to prove that our love and commitment to God is greater than anything or anyone else? How would you answer? Would your life give the evidence?
- Genesis 22:1-12
- Luke 14:25-27
- Danger of idolatry
- The greatest danger of idolatry comes not from what is bad, but from what is good
Loving our families is biblical — BUT OUR LOVES MUST BE ORDERED
The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth and Love, will NEVER contradict the word of God.
Isaiah 5:20
- Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
- We live in a CULTURAL MOMENT where there is both pressure from within and without the church to validate EVERYBODY — in the name of “love”.
Matthew 10:35-38
- 35 For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ 37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Bill Muehlenberg wrote:
- Biblical love is about willing the highest good of the other person. And that can often entail confrontation. As C. S. Lewis put it, “Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.” And this kind of love will involve truth telling.
Kyle Idleman – Gods At War
- The supreme act of family love is to set your heart on Christ. Doing that leads to the most loving family relationships possible. Maybe what we ought to say (to our family members) is, “I love you too much to make you the center of my life.”
Idolatry is the worst sin!
- Why?
- Because it breaks the first and greatest commandment. When we place anything or anyone above God, we rob Him of the glory and devotion He alone deserves.
S. Michael Craven – VP and Dean of the Colson Center Fellowship
- Our idols will not disappear simply because we expose them. They disappear when we behold Christ.
YOU AND I ARE ASK TO CHOOSE GOD AND MAKE HIM THE SOLE SOURCE OF OUR WORSHIP — that our love and commitment to Him is greater than anything or anyone else.