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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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“AS FOR ME AND MY
HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD” (2014 GBC THEME) “CHRISTIAN
IDOLATRY” - 1 Joshua 24:15, 1/5/14 Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. THE SIN OF IDOLATRY A. Definitions of Idolatry 1. Idolatry is the sin of paying homage
(worship, service, or guidance) to any god or image other than the true
Creator God. 2. Idolatry is the sin of worshipping a
false god, a misrepresentation of the true God, or any person or thing that
takes pre-eminence over the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. Some of the more descriptive Hebrew words
for “idol” were: gillul-
rolled down or away (Eze 20:31), aven - trouble, sorrow,
wickedness (Is 66:3), emim
- dread or horror (Je 50:38), elil
- feeble or worthless (Le 19:4), mipletset -
horrible thing, cause of trembling (1Ki 15:13), atsab
- shaped and grief (1Sa 31:9). B. In Reference to God 1. Because God alone is the Creator God (Ex
20:11; Ac 14:15; 17:24) and will not share His glory with anyone or anything
else (Is 42:8; 48:11), idolatry evokes His righteous jealousy (Ex 20:5;
34:14; Ezk 8:3). 2. Idolatry is unfaithfulness toward God. It
is depicted as spiritual adultery, and often involved the pagan lifestyle of
sexual immorality (Ex 34:12-16; Ho 4:12-14). 3. Because idolatry evokes God’s jealousy
and is spiritual unfaithfulness toward God, it becomes an occasion for severe
discipline (Ex 22:20; Dt 6:13–15). II. THE SIN OF IDOLATRY AMONG ISRAEL A. Israel’s History with Idolatry 1. Abraham was called
out of polytheism (Jos 24:2 cf. Ge 31:30). 2. Israel’s monotheism was distinguished
from polytheism, characterized as the worship of the “God” (singular) of
Abraham (Ge 31:42; Ex 3:6) 3. God commanded the worship of Himself
alone and not false gods (Ex 20:3-6). 4. Idolatry always plagued Israel and the
prophets spoke against it. (Is 42:17; Je 2:28; Eze 6:4-6; Mic 1:7; Ho 3:5-6;
Zp 1:29). 5. In both his first and second admonition,
Joshua challenged Israel to put away idols (Jos 23: 7, 16; Jos 24: 14, 15,
16, 20, 23) B. Joshua’s Famous Challenge (Jos 24:15) 1. The challenge was given
in the form of two choices. The first one was implied
from vs. 14 in the form of a command. They were to “serve God…and put away
[false] gods.” So the implication was that if they
were going to serve God, they had to also put way the false gods. But, if they were not going to put away the false gods,
then neither would they be serving God. 2. The second choice in vs. 15 was explicit
and startling. If they were not going to serve God, then the only choice left
was to choose between which of the false gods they desired to serve (“whether
the gods of…or… the gods of…”). It would be like a parent stating, “If you
will not listen to me, then you will pay the consequences. You will not
listen to me, so which of the consequences would you prefer?” 3. The meaning of Joshua’s words add even more to the emphasis. He begins with, “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the
LORD.” The word “disagreeable” is the Hebrew word raa
and means “bad or evil.” It would be similar to Joshua saying, “if you
think this is a bad choice,” or “if in your own judgment (“sight” ayin) you think this is a bad choice.” It is the
same phrase repeated seven times in the book of Judges, “Israel ‘did evil in
the sight’ of the LORD” (Jdg 2:11; 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1). 4. If Israel thought it was a bad choice to
serve the Lord, then they were to choose between the old gods “beyond the
River” (Euphrates) and the new gods in the “land you are living.” It was
between the Egyptian gods of their fathers (Moon god - Sin, Sun god -Re,
Enki, Shamash, Ishtar, etc.) or the Canaanite gods of their new neighbors
(Baal, Asherah, Ashtoreth, Chemosh, Molech, etc.). 5. Since Israel had a propensity for
idolatry, Joshua poignantly challenged them to serve God and put away their
false gods. However, there was never a period in
Hebrew history when the people were free from the attraction of idols.
Unfortunately, the recurrent phrase, “Israel did evil in the sight of the
Lord,” was most often associated with idolatry. But
in stark contrast, Joshua confirmed his decision, “but as for me and my
house, we will serve the LORD.” III. THE SIN OF IDOLATRY AMONG THE PAGAN WORLD A. Idolatry has been the main stream
concept among the pagan world. But before blaming
the pagan world totally for Israel’s problem with idolatry, a few things need
to be understood. First, it must be understood that even the pagan world
turned away from a knowledge of the existence of
God. Secondly, idolatry is the sinful propensity of all of mankind. B. In Ro 1:20 we learn that God has revealed
His existence clearly through creation. But even
though the pagan world knew of God, they did not acknowledge Him as the true
God (Ro 1:21). This denial of God led the pagan world into darkened hearts
and minds, whereby they began to worship the creation rather than the Creator
(Ro 1:22-23). C. Calvin claimed from these verses that all
men have a sensus divinitatis
(“sense of divinity”), an inherent awareness of God (Ro 1:19). But because of man’s sinful nature, he suppresses the
truth about God (Ro 1:18) and exchanges that truth for the lie of idolatry in
manifold forms (Ro 1:25). In fact Paul reveals that idolatry is an aspect of
man’s sinful nature (Ga 5:20). D. So idolatry is not just a problem for the
pagan world or Israel, but innate in all of sinful mankind.
Therefore, it should not surprise us that idolatry can make its way into
Christianity. IV. THE SIN OF IDOLATRY AMONG CHRISTIANITY A. Christian Idolatry in Worship 1. Christian idolatry could
be defined as worshipping the true God (Christ), but worshipping Him
from a skewed perception or misrepresentation. 2. Man cannot fully know the infinite God
(Job 11:7-9; Ro 11:33-36). 3. But God has revealed Himself to finite man,
though not all-inclusively (Dt 29:29; Ep 3:10, 18). 4. God must be worshipped
for Who He is, and not what man wants Him to be (Ex 3:14). 5. God must be worshipped “in spirit and
truth” (Jn 4:24). In contrast to mere external form or place (Jn 4:20-21),
worship must be heartfelt and spiritual (pneuma,
prob. not Holy Spirit). It especially must be done with the “truth” (alātheia - real state of affairs) of
the knowledge of God (Jn 4:22). 6. God must be worshipped through His own
revelation from His Word, for knowledge of God (Is 66:2; Ho 6:6), knowledge
of truth (Ps 119:142, 151, 160), knowledge of worship (1Co 14:23-25), and
knowledge of sanctification (Jn 17:17; 2Pe 3:18). 7. When the Word is not the emphasis in worship,
then self-styled, feel-good, preference-oriented, entertainment-driven
worship take its place and becomes Christian Idolatry. B. Christian Idolatry in Practice 1. Christian Idolatry could
be defined as allowing a person or a thing to takes first place over
the Lord Jesus Christ. 2. God’s great and foremost command was that
man would wholly love Him above everything else (Dt 6:5; Mt 22:37; Mk 12:30;
Lk 10:27). 3. When a believer does not love God above
everything else, it is Christian Idolatry, akin to the idolatry to which
Joshua referred (Jos 23:11-16). 4. Christ deserves the pre-eminent place in
the believer’s life (Col 1:18). As the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15,
19), Creator (Col 1:16), Sustainer (Col 1:17), and Savior (Col 1:14, 20),
Christ is head of the body of Christ, the church. Therefore, He Himself is to
become in all things, “first” (prōteuō
- first place, highest rank, first priority). 5. Anything short of this is an offense
against Christ’s position, disobedience to the Creator/God, and a form of
Christian idolatry. 6. Joshua may have said to believers today,
“If it is disagreeable to place Christ first in your life, then
choose which idol you wish to have in first place.” Oh that
we would affirm with Joshua, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the
Lord.” C. Conclusion 1. While the believer is not likely to
commit idolatry of the pagan kind, he must guard himself from Christian
Idolatry. That is, the believer must continue to grow in the true knowledge
of God and worship Him accordingly. But also, the
believer must not allow anything to take the rightful place of Christ, first
in his life. 2. The first part in choosing to serve God
rather than idols is to understand what idolatry is, and heed the words of
the apostle John, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols” (1Jn 5:21). |
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