Identifying An Idol's Ways

Scripture Reading: 1 John 5:20-21

Are there any idols in your life? You may not have a curio cabinet full of carved wooden statues honoring Diana of the Ephesians or Baal of the Canaanites, but in many cases we may just have some idols hanging around.

Like me, you have probably heard down through the years a preacher say, "the TV can be an idol, sports can be, a car, your hobbies, etc." Of course all of this can be very well an idol, but the Apostle John in this letter to the Saints really didn't have in mind the type of idols we may have, but the power over the owner and the neglect of seeing them as competition to our Lord Jesus Christ. This week lets look at the ways an idol can influence someone and take away one's interest in serving and knowing Christ.

Idols of any type begin as innocence, but end in disaster.
Satan never presents us with something irrefutably harmful to us. When he tempted Eve it was with something tangible she wanted, and something intangible she thought she wanted. Both proved to be disastrous. Whatever can possibly be taking your focus from God did not start announcing it would do so. Just a taste, a sweet taste, of even a good wholesome thing can turn into an addiction. The problem is that people scoff and say, "Oh I have more sense than to be controlled by that," or, "Something that small cannot possibly hurt me." Let's say you're into doll collecting. Nothing wrong with it, its a nice hobby. However, there is much information about various dolls. There are scads of books, periodicals, etc about the subject. You of course are diligent in your pursuits and you want to know as much about a subject as you can, so more and more of your time gets spent in studying this subject that used to be devoted to God's Word. If left unchecked, you will start to consider taking in a doll show that is on a Sunday, and the reasoning mind will whisper, "well, after all they don't have these things that often, and they try to make it convenient for everyone..." Go to one, maybe two, and your hooked. Why? Not because it was a bad thing, its because the voice and direction of God was replaced for something else. This is what John is stressing in these verses, keep yourselves from idols and know the true God and His Life that He gives, lest you give over your life for something that will perish.
Pretty soon you stop going to church altogether, always a reason. Your life starts having difficulties and you wonder where God is in all this. You have forgotten God's ways and His Word and the perils start from here until you confess it and repent of it.

Idols have no message or hope, but they seek to undermine Christ's Message to you. Back in John's day where idols were mostly carved objects, it should be easy to see how foolish it was for anyone Christian or Unbeliever to pray to and expect an answer from a block of wood or stone. Yet so many even in Paul's day were integrating certain pagan rituals with Christianity. Again we don't normally incorporate paganism, but we do incorporate rituals. The ritual of popular opinion, the ritual of worldly philosophy, the ritual of ecumenicalism, etc, all has ties to the Christian believer today. The main point is, no matter how innocent or harmless we think something to be, a little of this here, a little dab of that there and it soaks in the soul and builds a blindness and hardness towards God. All of the world's messages are attuned to our flesh. Our flesh agrees and it seems to make perfect sense. It may not overpower our thinking at once, but what it does is weaken our spiritual immunity so much that God's Word has little effect because we listen increasingly more to worldly propaganda and forget God's instructions.
Then God seems a stranger and we have seemingly lost hope.

One of the best sermon series on this topic, of which this material is not copied from, is The Danger of Drifting by Charles Stanley. Check it out for further study on this topic.

Idols have no genuine affection for you, but they cause doubt about the One who does.
It is purely the work of darkness that would captivate a man or woman to think that some inanimate object cares for their soul and physical well being. Yet in so many deceived minds that is exactly what takes place, a feeling of belonging to a god that does not hear, nor speak, nor gives hope beyond what someone imagines. We have the Bible, God's spoken Word. We know it is true for many reasons but especially the way it works in peoples lives, changes their hearts, and has lasted for at least four Milena without change or error!!! Only the power of God's marvellous Light can do this. So, can a Christian really fall for some other fancy and expect more from it than from God? Yes. The reason is because we still have the flesh, and when we feed it the more powerful it becomes. Thankfully our salvation is not dependent on fleshly strength or weakness.

Here is the real issue. People become disappointed with God over some thing and these things did not turn out the way the person thought God would act, therefore they think God must be unreasonable, He probably does not love me, maybe there is someone or something better.

This is tragic thinking, but it is easily slipped into when we take our eyes off God. All of the sudden, sin looks practical. False ideas seem plausible. All sorts of old enemies surface as "friends" to help you in your derision. It's not however that we wholesale go for all the things the world throws at us, it's the fact that we compare them with God's Word and start to distrust God and doubt Him. When we lose our confidence in God, we have wandered into the most helpless miserable place.

Idols have no identity or future, but they cause us to protect them from the Truth.
Here is perhaps the most entangling influence of idols. Even though we know in our souls there is nothing to what they say or do, the longer we stay wrapped up in them, the harder it is to rid ourselves of their deceptions and lies. In fact we protect them when another Christan rightly confronts us with the True Faith of God's Word against what we are doing. We put up walls and spar with believers, so intoxicated with the world we forget we are not of the world but of Christ. It's like uncovering a wall that has had years even decades of vines growing over it. The years have produced a thickness that we have become accustomed to. We forget that underneath there is the True identity of Christ within us. The longer we give place to whatever idolic influence, the harder it is to brake away. This is why John said shortly but firmly, "Keep yourself away." Don't grow accustomed to sins and false teachings! Just because they may have made you feel good or appealed to your flesh doesn't mean they are for you or are correct. The only way to deal with this is to rip away the cancer feeding on your soul. Stop whatever is feeding your desire to be turned to idols than to Christ. Then spend time in God's Word. You must rebuild that which was lost and renew that which was forgotten. Only then will idolatry leave you alone.

Are there idols in your life? If that question offends you, then it is a sure sign that they are present. Consider the source of idolatry and consider the dangers, then consider Christ, it will be purely obvious what to do and Whom to turn to.

Father thank You today that we are not cast away from You even when we turn to idols. Forgive us wretched creatures for even drawing a chair up to listen to what they have to teach us, and cleanse us from any stain they have had on us. I pray as those who read this will be challenged and convicted, but more importantly set free by returning to You. Thank You for the great bond of perfect love we have in You. May we make the most of our time at Your Feet and not those of another. In Your Name, Amen.

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Herod: Puppet On A String

Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:1-18

Once the Messiah Prophecy was fulfilled, it made no small stir in the community. Many people rejoiced, many scoffed, but one man became really worried, really fast. Herod, set up ruler of Israel under Caesar Augustus. Herod is an interesting character in the Scripture.

Three things are interesting to note about this "king."
First, Herod wasn't a Jew. Second, Herod wasn't a royal member or even a distant cousin nine times removed of King David. Lastly, Herod was a coward in a brave man's throne. The most significant realization of Herod is that he was controlled by the Devil, for the Devil's purposes, while all the time Herod thought he was acting on behalf of his own interests.

In the latter middle ages, many carols came to life in England. Many of these carols have found a place in our Christmas traditions. One of these is the "Coventry Carol." It is of a stark contrast to traditional carols in that while they speak of joyous tidings, Coventry recounts and remembers the "massacre of the Innocents," carried out by Herod. One of the carol's lyrics defines Herod as "this man of might in his own sight." How true. Man sees only himself and what he does. Man's centralized thinking writes God out of plans and actions. Man does this because he is blinded by Satan and has no concept of Divine matters. Naturally then man sees his own affairs of paramount importance. This is why mankind is largely self centered, desperate, controlling, fearful, obstinate, and overly wise in their own rationale and perception (for this is all they have).

Like Herod, all sinful mankind is but a puppet on Satan's string. Man does as Satan voluntarily or involuntarily directs. Man thinks himself or herself to be acting on their own impulses (which they do) but are unknowingly fulfilling Satanic purposes against themselves and Christ all behind the curtain they are blind to. So why talk about Herod at all in this time of the Christmas season? Simply, Herod plays an important role in helping us see that the King of Kings has nothing to fear or compete with from earthly rulers. Let's see why.

First, God's Kingdom doesn't advance on the fear of loss. When Herod heard what the Messiah, this new King, would do, one thought crossed his mind. "I am not the rightful King of Israel, I will lose my position, my castle, my status, the new King must be killed, or I will be." All Herod could see is what lay before him. God's Kingdom on the other hand looks at not only what is ahead, but what will last for eternity. Herod didn't really, I think, sort out all the spiritual implications of the Messiah's birth, he just saw a threat. When a man cheats or gets somewhere unlawfully, deep down inside the thought plagues him that he will lose eventually to the right person or manner. So Satan capitalized on this and used Herod. As long as Satan could keep the status of King dangling in front of Herod's eyes, Satan could mask a more sinister plan to kill the Infant King Jesus. Who is it then that can steal anything from the Lord? Who has seriously challenged the security of His Kingdom and stands a chance against Him? No one. Yet a helpless cooing baby was enough to unnerve a puppet king to rash fearful action. In the end, God's Kingdom will triumph and that never taking thought of loss. Jesus said that the Church will crash through the gates of Hell and never be defeated.

Second, God's Kingdom doesn't resort to duping its servants to do God's will.
Though God doesn't always fill us in on the complete details of every plan, He never has us do one thing in order to unknowingly do something else. There is no guile in God's camp. When God spoke to the prophets, He gave them a clear message to tell. The standards of God's law do not change. This is so opposed to a world swallowed up in change. God never tells us to do something against His own standards. We ought to have and can have an open relationship with God. None of the Devil's servants are the Devil's friends. Yet Jesus in John 15:15 plainly told His disciples, "I have not called you servants, but My friends." Friends have a relationship not formed in deceit. Herod had very little friends. Those he did have probably were such out of fear or want. To live under a tyrant breeds no true friendship. But it was all the Herod knew being the child of darkness. We have it better, we as believers are children of Light. Light always reveals, it never disguises.

Thirdly, God's Kingdom doesn't rely on earthly power solely to accomplish its goals. But wait a minute! Didn't Jesus send out twelve ordinary men? Didn't God promise Abraham the seed of the nation of Israel? Wasn't it John the Baptist who prepared the way of the Lord? The answer to all these is "yes." The important thing to remember though that God is not dependent on us, He chooses to use us. Satan on the other hand does depend on human involvement. Satan influences man to wreack havoc in the world. The reason is that Satan is bound to this world. On the other hand, God directly rules everything and everywhere. God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. Satan is none of those things. Satan is powerful, much too powerful for even the strongest of Christians to take on single handed. Yet, in all his rage and power, Satan MUST use flawed beings. If God solely depended on such, the world could not and would not have any justifiable hope in Him. We see from the text that Herod had to send out the Wisemen to find Jesus. Herod had to use soldiers to slaughter in order to preserve himself. Herod had to rely on religious men to tell him the Truth recorded by Micah the prophet, for he had no knowledge himself. The king of any nation is nothing without his servants. God is the Supreme Exception!

Lastly, God's Kingdom doesn't have to shoot in the dark to achieve its needs. God has no "Plan B" for the salvation of mankind. It has never entered in the mind of God to desperately try to hold control over everything. When God acts, it is intentional and direct. Satan on the other hand could not quite kill baby Jesus directly. Herod's grand plan was to kill every male child born in a certain time frame. Herod figured that he would surely end this threat to his rule by carrying out a massive shotgun raid. All he managed to do was fulfill a prophecy in spite of himself (Jeremiah 31:15). Though in all that sadness that cannot be accurately described, comes the Prince of Peace and the Giver of Life. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He didn't wonder, "now will this do it?" Sovereignty shoots a straight arrow and hits the mark every time. Satan is not Sovereign, nor are his servants.
Blanket attacks, endless attempts, redirected strategies, vain endeavors, all this has no place in God's Kingdom. Even in the last hours of the known world, Satan will try to rally a force against King Jesus. It is interesting that the Saints coming with Christ in the battle of Armageddon wear no weapons. We simply watch God wipe out evil with His words. God spoke the world into existence in a single purposed manner, likewise He can speak them out too.

So here we are. Its Christmas time, lots of busy preparations. In all this consider the power of God. After all, had God not acted purposefully and sovereignly as He did, we would flounder with all the world in a never winning battle. We would all be led along by the Old Liar never knowing who was really controlling our movements, thoughts, or blinded us from our condemnation. But God who is rich in mercy, saved us from all our sins and cut our strings by the love of His heart, the shedding of His blood, and the Resurrection of His body.

How about you today, are you trusting in your own wisdom or desires above God's? Does the attitude of your life reflect a life dependent on God, or, strung along by Satan? I urge you to consider the fate of a life not placed in Christ. If your life is in Christ, let's humbly show the world there is a better life with no strings attached!

Heavenly Father, thank You for not being such a one as the Devil. Thank You that You love us and have no plans to condemn those who trust in You. Forgive us when we falter and turn our hearts once again to the great all encompassing wonder of why You came just for us. We have in You a Sovereign who is not disturbed with fear, duping, or rash behavior. Thank You for the privilege of calling You Father and Jesus, Brother and Friend. Help us to keep this in mind this Christmas. In Your Name, Amen.

Image by: Meul