IDOLATRY

1. About three months ago I wanted to deal with the subject of idolatry.

2. For one reason or another, I was unable to construct a lesson I wanted to present.

THINGS HAVE CHANGED. TONIGHT IS A TIME TO THINK ABOUT THE WORD IDOLATRY BECAUSE IT IS CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT MONEY.

a) As students of the is, we can quickly see why money and idolatry go hand in hand.

b) From the Old Testament to the New, there is a fundamental point about God.

c) God says He is to be our first item of attention, and He does not welcome competition.

2) God’s true people have always been “monotheistic” (believers in one God).

3) A lot of people in our world might consider themselves monotheistic.

4) They might say, “We believe in only one God—the creator of the heavens and the earth.”
These people might also tell us they reject all forms of idolatry.

5) While this might be their sincere belief, many now living (even in the U.S.) are idolaters.

6) Col. 3:5, a very that was just read, says “covetousness is idolatry.”

a) When a person allows money to compete with God, one result is idolatry.

b) Jesus was very aware of this and He made this point when He taught people.

c) We remember from Mt. 6:24 how the Lord said, “we cannot serve two masters.”

d) If we only read the first part of this verse, we might think it refers to having 2 jobs.

e) Jesus didn’t have in mind our occupation or the number of places where we work.

f) We get the complete picture by reading the entire verse – READ.

7) God says that money can be put on virtually the same level as Himself and this is wrong.

8) It is impossible to serve the almighty dollar (our currency) and heaven at the same time.

9) In the Old Testament (Ex. 20:5), the Ten Commandments remind us that God is a “jealous God.”

10)
With a little thought, we can understand the reasoning behind Ex. 20:5 and Mt. 6:24.

a) Most human beings want someone or something to trust.

b) There is a desire for protection, or people at least want to feel safe.

c) Trusting God can meet these needs.

d) Do we not find people who try to meet these same needs by using money?

e) Prov. 11:28 (a wise saying) refers to those who “trust” in their riches.

11) Job made an intriguing statement in Job 31:24 that I will express as a ?: “Have I made gold my hope?”

12) For the most part, Job was a great man of God.

13) What helped make him that way? His hope was based upon God, not earthly wealth.

14) We are going to trust in someone, and God says if it is Him, make it Him alone.

15) Ps. 52:7 is even more direct, and I will read it – READ.

16) God knows all about people trying to say they both trust Him and trust their wealth.

17) When the apostles began to write parts of the New Testament, they too addressed this topic.

18) 1 Tim. 6:17 explicitly tells people to not base their hope on earthly wealth.

19) All these references point to a simple and clear fact:

20) We all will trust someone or something.

a) Early in life, we trust our caretaker.

b) Later our sense of protection may be broadened to include relatives, teachers, and friends.

c) We finally reach a time when we can choose to put our complete trust in God.

d) We either trust Him (and trust Him fully), or we trust in something else.

e) Many chose the something else (often money), and this type of trust is idolatry.

21) In our culture it is not uncommon for people to sort of “split the odds.”

a) Betters might wager on two different possibilities to increase their chance of winning.

b) We often like the best of both worlds.

c) A similar strategy is sometimes tried with God.

d) A person might reason within themselves, “I will put my trust in God.”

e) Shortly after thinking this a person also devises a kind of “alternative plan.”

f) God is good, but I will have some things stashed away “just in case.”

g) Nothing is wrong with having some savings, but not all savings are savings.

h) People can treat money in a way where they do not have complete trust in God.

i) Job had a lot of money way back when; he was the Bill Gates in the land of Uz.

j) Yet, he said his hope was not in his wealth. It was in God, and that was a good thing.

22) Each accountable person will eventually surrender to something.

23) Ultimately we will surrender to death or the final return of Christ.

24) Barring these two items, each of us will succumb to something.

a) It might be an addiction, power, money, or something else.

b) Hopefully what we surrender to is the authority of Jesus.

c) If we do not do this, our choice is a great insult to God.

25) Consider some differences regarding the power we submit to.

26) God is stable, eternal, and sure.

27) Is our wealth stable? It was not that many years ago that the stock market crashed.

28) I remember people taking their lives because they had lost their wealth.

29) Who had these people surrendered their lives to?

30) I said God is eternal; what about money?

a) I have some overseas currency that used to be valid but it is now worthless.

b) Some of us have seen pictures of people having wheelbarrows full of money.

c) A stack of cash a foot deep and 2 feet wide might have been barely enough for a loaf of bread.

d) Money can lose its value, be burned, stolen, lost, or a dozen other things.

e) Why submit to something that is weak and limited?

31) Several years ago Beth was out with me; it was just the two of us.

32) I laid a $20.00 bill on the seat and said to her, “What is that”?

a) She said something like “money.” I asked what else she saw. “A $20.00 bill.”

b) “Yes, but keeping looking at it. What else do you see.”

c) “Dad, it is a piece of paper.”

33) She probably got a little frustrated with my questions, but I tried to teach her something.

34) I told her, “People will kill and hurt others for a piece of paper. Remember that money is paper.”

35) In view of this, what thinking and rational person will give money a god like status in their life?

36) If I am going to serve a God, I want it to be something more than paper.

37) I do not want a God that can be burned up, stolen from me, or lost.

38) Who wants a God that is here today but may be gone or of no use tomorrow?

39) Who wants a God that is wealthy today by in the poor house tomorrow?

40) It is no wonder why Jesus said what He did concerning wealth.

a) Many of us have read about the people who left for a “gold rush” in this country.

b) What was the most prominent item on the minds of those who left their homes?

c) Perhaps there were some New Testament Christians who heard about getting rich quick.

d) If our brethren were exposed to the chance for instant wealth, what did they do?

e) Did money become their God, or did Jehovah stay the focus of their life?

41) What if we had lived during the gold rush?

42) We might have headed west, but would we have left God back east?

43) The supreme command for Christians is love.

44) Jesus told us to love God supremely, Mt. 22:37 (with our heart, soul, and mind).

45) If we are doing this, there is no room for any other god no matter what it offers.

46) Another objection to letting wealth be our God is that such a choice dishonors God.

a) Throughout the Bible we are told that what exists belongs to God.

b) In Job 41 we discover a conversation between Job and God.

c) Job 41:11 has God saying, “everything on the earth is mine.”

d) God has 100% ownership of this planet.

47) For just a moment, imagine that you are God; you have made all that exists.

48) Man is part of your creation, and there are some human beings who say to you,

49) “I want to worship one of the things you created (money), and not you.”

50) Even if this were not said but done, we would be angry.

51) If we make something, the honor goes to use the maker, not what was made.

52) When money becomes a God, God says “IDOLATRY!”, Col. 3:5.

53) Allowing money to be a god in our life dethrones God.

54) Money is a part of life, it needs to be used, and used wisely.

55) When everything is said and done, it is a temporary resource.

56) Our trust must be in God and Him alone. Is this where our hope and trust are?