I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back.
Let's say a quick word of prayer and then we'll sing the next song. Let's pray. Dear Lord, I think of this church service today and thank you for the opportunity to praise you. I pray that you'd help us all to be better Christians, Lord, and to turn from our sins and to trust in you for salvation, Lord. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Song number 20, When I See the Blood.
When I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you.
Jesus has saved, he has contained, as your Father so will you be.
Oh, say can you hear him trust in his word, then he will pass, he will pass over you.
When I see the blood, when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you.
The kingdom is calling, all will be there, you have to get it, you have to do.
Oh, say our thanks to you, let Jesus in, then God who has, will pass over you.
When I see the blood, when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you.
Oh, what compassion, hope, boundless love, Jesus, the power, Jesus is true.
All who believe are saved from the storm, oh, he will pass, he will pass over you.
When I see the blood, when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you.
29 at the cross.
Song number 29 at the cross.
Alas, he has saved me, and did my song refine.
Oh, believe, oh, that sacred head, who's a job or my tribe.
At the cross at the cross, where I heard a song, might ever turn around again.
It was too hard to find, to find something, and now I'm on the other hand.
Oh, dear God, that I am not, he broke the bond of pain.
Oh, may he give me grace alone, would love be God's degree.
At the cross at the cross, where I heard a song, might ever turn around again.
It was too hard to find, to find something, and now I'm on the other hand.
The light is shining, God is mine, and shining is your great hand.
When I turn my head to thy throne, and I preach her sin.
At the cross at the cross, where I heard a song, might ever turn around again.
It was too hard to find, to find, and now I'm on the other hand.
One rock, two, and every day, the day of my life alone.
Dear Lord, I give myself away, with all that I can do.
At the cross at the cross, where I heard a song, might ever turn around again.
It was there by the way, I received my sight, and now I'm happy all the day.
Okay, now we're going to read a chapter from the Bible.
First Corinthians chapter 10.
First Corinthians chapter 10, let me get this myself.
Chapter 10, First Corinthians chapter 10.
First Corinthians chapter 10.
Children, be quiet, be quiet.
Here we go, I'll start reading for the sake of time.
If you need help, raise your hand.
First Corinthians chapter 10.
Moreover, brethren, I would not have that ye should be ignorant,
how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,
and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink.
For they drank of that spiritual rock, and that followed them, and that rock was Christ.
And with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
Now these things were our examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things,
as they also lusted.
Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them.
As it is written, the people sat down to eat, and drink, and rose up to play.
Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
Now all these things happened unto them in samples, and they are written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, taketh heed lest he fall.
There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man.
But God is faithful. Who will not suffer you to be tempted above, that ye are able?
But will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it?
Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say.
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ,
the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
For we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread.
Behold Israel, after the flesh are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar.
What say I then, that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything?
But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God.
I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils.
Ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils.
Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient.
All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth,
whatsoever is sold in the shambles that eat, asking no question for conscience' sake.
For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go, whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience' sake.
But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not, for his sake that showed it, and for conscience' sake.
For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other.
For why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience?
For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of?
For that which I give thanks.
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God,
even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you very much for this day.
Thank you for the opportunity to be here, Lord.
Please fill Brother David with your Holy Spirit so he can preach boldly to us right now.
In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Thank you, Jake.
Let's give Jake a round of applause for reading the Bible.
Hey, thanks, Jake.
One more for the kids for their singing.
Hey, good job, guys.
All right.
Let's get right into this.
The title of this message this morning is Flee Idolatry.
As some of you sitting here might be thinking to yourself,
well, idolatry does not apply to me.
It's not likely that I will be under the sin of idolatry.
Remember two weeks ago, right?
I preached a sermon on the Sabbath.
Now, the Ten Commandments as a whole is not all of the covenant in the Old Testament,
but it's a summary of the covenant of God to the nation of Israel.
In the Ten Commandments, the second commandment has to do with not worshiping idols.
The Bible says in Exodus 20, verse 3,
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,
or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth.
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them,
nor serve them, for I, the Lord, am a jealous God.
Now, the word jealous, amen.
The word jealous there does not mean how we use the word jealous today.
We say jealous to mean envious or covetous,
whereas the Bible says jealousy is being upset for that which is rightfully yours.
So, the nation of Israel was rightfully God's.
God was their God, right?
So, he is jealous of them if they go and search to serve other gods.
Now, remember, God has just pulled them out of the land of Egypt, right?
And go into the land of Canaan.
And the people of Canaan were worshiping other gods as they did in Egypt.
So, God wants the nation of Israel to know that I am the Lord your God
and you will serve no other god before him and do not make any idol.
So, think of it like this.
An idol is an actual graven or molten image.
Something that has been carved out of stone,
made out of silver, brass, wood, anything like that.
I'm from Hawaii and in Hawaii we all understand what a tiki is, right?
So, a tiki is a molten image to Hawaiian gods out of either rock or wood.
So, idolatry is very present today even as it was back then.
I will say that idolatry as a whole maybe not as big of a thing in America
but outside of the US there is lots of idolatry going on.
And even in the United States there is idolatry.
I mean, for instance, Hindus worship their gods and goddesses
and they have an idol that they bow down to and that they serve.
What do you mean? There's nothing wrong with that.
Not according to the Bible.
According to the Bible that is someone trying to give the worship that God deserves to something else.
Now, in context where we started in 1 Corinthians 10,
this is a setback story of what happened back in that time period.
Notice what it says in verse 14.
This is where I derive the title of this sermon.
It says, Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee idolatry.
Flee, run screaming in the other direction.
God is not saying this lightly.
A couple of chapters before this in 1 Corinthians 5,
there is a list of sins that will condemn people to be kicked out of church.
Sins that God says are very severe.
And in that list of sins, one of which is idolatry,
in a church, an assembly of born-again believers,
a lot of people think, well, anybody can come to church and practice whatever they want.
That's not what the Bible teaches.
You don't need to turn there, but I'll read from you from 1 Corinthians 5, verse 9, it reads,
I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators,
yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world,
or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters,
for then ye needs go out of the world.
But now I have written unto you not to keep company,
if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous,
or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner,
with such in one know not to eat.
So the Bible is teaching that if there are people that fall under these sins,
we are to excommunicate them out of the church,
not forever, but until they get that right.
Now, if they never get that right, we know the story of the prodigal son, right?
The kid went off and decided to live a riotous lifestyle.
When he got right, he came back, and with open arms,
we accept our brothers and sisters in Christ.
So the same thing would go with idolatry.
Now, once again, you might be sitting here thinking like,
well, that doesn't apply to me. I ain't worshiping idols.
Well, look, I'm going to tell you right now that even Christians today
can fall under the sin of idolatry.
I'll get to you in just a moment.
When I explain what I'm saying, maybe it'll make more sense to you.
Because, think of it like this.
Just because you're not worshiping maybe a cat or a fish or a bird,
because it says any likeness of any animal,
does not mean you're not practicing idolatry.
Now, in 1 Corinthians 10, the Bible reads,
this is a famous passage that we go to when explaining to people
that we as Christians are not sinless.
We are not without fault.
We have sins every single day that we struggle with.
The Bible says there's not a just man upon the earth
that doeth good and sineth not.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourself and the truth is not in us.
So God is giving us a proclivity of things that we are able to commit.
And it says, for instance, in verse 13,
there hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man.
And that's in the context of what happened in Egypt.
You know, they were fornicating.
They created a golden calf.
Moses went up to Mount Horeb to get the commandments of God.
He comes back down and they physically built an idol out of gold, a calf.
And if you read that story, you can see how upset Moses was about this.
And in the title of this sermon, Flee Fornication,
I mean, sorry, Flee Idolatry, also Flee Fornication,
remember that even something like this can creep into our lives as Christians.
Does that make sense?
Makes sense, right?
Now, let me explain what I mean.
The Bible, some 95 different times, explains the concept of idolatry,
which means, like I said a moment ago,
this is not something that just is accidental or like is flippant.
It is the second of the Ten Commandments.
God sees this very severely.
Now, let me help you to understand the concept of word worship.
What does it mean to worship something?
Yeah, well, I went to the dictionary.com
just to kind of give you a normal understanding of this word.
It reads, to honor or show reverence for as a divine being or supernatural power.
That's the first definition.
A second definition would be to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor,
and watch this word, or devotion.
So to devote to something could be considered worship.
Now, if you go to the thesaurus and try to look up this word worship,
some synonyms that you're going to get are words like glorify, reverence, venerate,
adore, pray to, bow down before, pay homage to, be devoted to.
So like I was saying a moment ago,
we can be devoted to things that are not the things of God.
The Bible reads in Psalms 115 4, physical idolatry.
God is talking about the physical idol, an image, a statue.
Like we said in reference to Hawaii, a tiki.
You know, in other religions around the world,
I pointed out Hinduism, but Buddhism.
Don't you see a little statue of Buddha around that they give alms to,
or they give food to, or they worship or bow down to?
It says in Psalms 115 4, their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
And I'm going to pause there really quickly.
The work of men's hands.
This is why God is very severe on the subject of fleeing idolatry.
Because inside of every single one of us is a creative nature.
And that's good.
God is the creator of the universe and us as humans,
whether male or female, we have a creative nature.
And I would speculate to say that that tells me a lot of your wisdom
of who you are as a person.
Some people are artistic and can draw really well.
Some people are good chefs and can cook really good meals.
Some people are really good at fighting and they have martial arts, music, athlete.
There's all kinds of artistic ability that we were granted by God.
Now some people have the ability to create things.
And God is saying with your hand, you will be able to create things
as God has created things.
But do not think for one second that the Godhead can be likened
into something that you fashioned with your hands.
The Bible says, how can the thing form to say to him that formed him,
why has thou made me thus?
His ways are above our ways and his thoughts are above our thoughts.
As the heavens are far above the earth, so his thoughts are above our thoughts.
We cannot put God in a box or in a statue or in an idol.
God is saying that there are people with their own hands are making things
and worshiping them.
So there's a proclivity for man to worship God in something that they can understand.
Now once again, it's very obvious that God cannot be likened into a bird
or, you know, an animal.
But let's go on. Let me keep reading just for sake of time.
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
They have mouths, but they speak not.
Eyes have they, but they see not.
They have ears, but they hear not.
Noses have they, but they smell not.
They have hands, but they handle not.
Feet have they, but they walk not.
Neither speak they through their throat.
They that make them are like unto them, so is everyone that trusteth in them.
So you guys, think about it.
During the time of the New Testament, right,
God is now reaching out to the rest of the world and to the Gentiles, right?
The Gentiles were known for their idol worship.
So one of the major sins that he wanted the new churches of the New Testament to know
is that you've left idols to serve the true and living God.
At one point in your life as a Gentile, as a Grecian, as a Roman,
as somebody from a region that worshiped an idol,
you no longer do that. You're worshiping the true and living God
that can't be formed in fashion with our hands.
And I just wanted you to understand that although we might sit here thinking like,
I'm not going to fall under that, I'm telling you right now,
even I standing here today could fall under this sin.
Because remember, there's no temptation taking you but such as is common to man.
So these are stories that help us to remember the severity of not worshiping idols.
Flee idolatry, don't even have the appearance of evil,
don't even make it think like you are accidentally idol worshiping.
So let me explain to you some concepts of how people do this.
Back to what I was saying in Hawaii, people have tikis in their front yard.
I know personal friends and family that have tikis sitting in their front yards
of Hawaiian gods and goddesses that they may not say they're worshiping,
but remember, they're devoting their time to it.
Some people will put a flower in front of the tiki to give reverence to it.
And especially as a Christian, you should definitely stay far from that.
In Hawaiian culture, there's what's known as an amakua,
which is like a spiritual ancestor that descends into the animal, a body of an animal.
A lot of Hawaiians will attribute the pueo or the owl as spiritual ancestors that's looking over them,
or like a honu or a turtle.
But the Bible says it's appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment.
There is no plane of existence that our ancestors are living in here on this earth.
It's heaven or hell, according to the Bible.
So that's why we need to remember that the godhood cannot be made or fashioned in anything that we can create.
Animal worship. You don't need to turn there.
If you'd like, you can turn to Romans chapter 1.
And there are people that worship animals.
No, they don't, David. I don't know what you're talking about.
Well, a lot of people believe in what's called evolution, don't they?
They believe that at some time in history, millions and billions of years ago,
animals are the creative process of how you and I are even standing here today.
Is that what the Bible teaches?
The Bible says in Genesis 1 that everything brings forth after its own kind.
Dogs bring forth dogs, cats bring forth cats, lizards bring forth lizards.
A dog has never made a non-dog, and a cat has never made a non-cat.
The Bible clearly teaches that everything brings forth after its own kind.
So if somebody believes in evolution, which I don't know if any of you have even understood that this is idolatry,
I'll help you to understand this through Romans chapter 1.
Romans chapter 1 verse 15, the Bible reads, I'm sorry, verse 16.
You know, let's start in 18.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
Who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
So I'm going to pause here really quickly. Notice it says, against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
Who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them.
God has showed clearly how he can be seen in this observable world.
If we look up at nature, if we look at animals,
we can see that the hand of God is on the creative process of how we're all even standing, sitting, being here today.
And it goes on to read,
For the invisible things from him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhood, so that they are without excuse.
Because that which may be known of God is glorified in him,
not because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God,
neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
Think about your science teacher who is sitting there trying to explain to you that
long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, spontaneous life created itself out of nowhere.
You know, the Bible talks about science falsely so called.
There is truly a science that we all know and understand,
anything that's demonstrable, provable, or can be done in front of us.
So that being said, there's a group of people that profess themselves to be wise and are trying to explain to you that actually, evolution is a real fact.
They profess themselves to be wise, they become a fool.
The Bible says that if you don't believe in God, you are a fool.
Everything shows the glory of God.
Let's go on to read, it says,
There are people who will worship a dog, a cow, a fish.
No, David, nobody worships fish.
Really? In the Bible, there's a false god called Dagon, and he's the fish god.
People who used to navigate the seas used to look into sea monsters and mermaids and all these other mythological creatures of the ocean,
birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things.
People have always worshipped throughout all time in history.
So that's the first thing I wanted you to understand.
An idol is a physical image of something that you worship.
Primarily, in a lot of cases, it's animals.
And if somebody believes in evolution, little do you know, you're believing or worshipping a creative process that is not from the Bible.
What else can one idolize or create as an idol?
The planets.
Now, a lot of people don't get this one because they think to themselves, what are you talking about, planets?
We have planets out in the solar system.
We know that there are stars and planets.
Yeah, but did you know people worship those stars and planets and the sun itself?
My brother had a girlfriend a long time ago.
I'm sorry, his girlfriend's friend.
It's not the best way to start a story.
I had a friend of a friend.
No, but seriously, my brother's girlfriend's friend used to wake up and do a yoga devotional every morning to worship the sun.
And I remember listening and seeing that, and one time I got up and she's doing yoga positions to the sun, and I'm like, what is she doing?
At first, I'm thinking she's stretching, you know.
It's like, okay, I like stretching first thing in the morning.
But he told me, he's like, actually, she's worshipping and thanking the sun for rising every day.
And once again, this is blasphemous.
The Bible says Jesus Christ is the son of righteousness, meaning that Jesus Christ, the sun represents Jesus.
But we don't worship the sun.
Jesus Christ is also representative of the lamb.
We don't worship lambs.
So just like the Bible made very clearly that we are not to worship any physical item, whether it's an animal, the same would go with the sun.
I'm going to go to Deuteronomy.
You don't need to go there, but it says in Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 14, it says,
And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land, whether ye go over to possess it.
Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves, that ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire.
I'm going to come back to that moment in here in just a moment.
Moses is saying, when you were up in Mount Horeb, when the children of Israel looked up at the mountain of God,
when Moses went up to grab the Ten Commandments, they did not see a similitude of anything.
They didn't see any figurative thing.
Now Moses saw the back part of God, but he never saw the face of God.
The Bible says no man can see the Father and live.
So once again, this is critical.
Nothing in the Bible is incidental, coincidental, or accidental.
The Bible is clearly saying that you saw no similitude.
You saw a cloud of fire.
That's what you saw.
Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves, for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire.
Lest ye corrupt yourselves and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
the likeness of birds that are on the earth, the likeness of any beast of the earth, winged fowls, that flyeth in the air,
the likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth.
And lest thou lift up thine eyes into heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the hosts of heaven,
should be driven to worship them, and serve them which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
In the Roman Empire, right, you know of the Roman gods?
They're named after planetary system, Mars, Venus, Mercury.
People throughout all time in history have always worshipped the celestial bodies.
Some people get into astrology and do horoscope readings, and that is against the things of God.
That is worshipping, devoting your time to, observing, serving the celestial bodies as if they have some authority over you.
God made the stars and the planets for us and for times and for seasons.
They are not to be worshipped.
Alright David, I'm not going to worship an animal, I'm not going to worship the sun, I get it.
I'm not going to fall under that.
Okay, well let me ask you this.
Don't you know somebody who has a picture of Jesus Christ on their wall?
Don't they worship an image of Jesus Christ?
Or how about the saints?
The Bible says that that is idolatry.
Exactly. Catholics are known for this.
Eth-Orthodox are known for this.
Russian-Orthodox are known for this.
Now remember the Bible said you saw no similitude.
You didn't see what I looked like.
Because I don't want you to form and fashion anything to think that you're fashioning me.
Exactly. He's saying, what do we see?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
God reverence His name, His Word above His name.
So if somebody in their life as a Christian puts a Bible verse on their wall, that's good.
We are Word worshippers of the Word of God.
We worship the words of God.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
And we beheld His glory.
The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Glorify, remember is one of the synonyms for worship.
Don't you know somebody with a picture of Jesus on their wall?
And mind you, this is some blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Anglo-Saxon, white, 15th century Renaissance picture of Jesus.
This is not really what he looked like.
He was Middle Eastern.
We don't know what he looked like.
And I'm going to show you that very clearly here in a second.
But they put a picture of Jesus, and they have a light shining over it.
That is you glorifying an image of a white guy that you're calling Jesus.
Now what if you heard a podcast of my preaching?
Right? You don't know me.
You don't know me from Adam.
You've never seen my face.
And you hear this podcast preaching of mine, and you like it.
You're like, man, this is good preaching.
And then somebody's like, hey, man, I've got a picture of David for you.
Let me show you what he looks like.
And then they show you a picture of Jake.
They're like, hey, look, that's David.
Now, it's like, well, I didn't expect him to look like that, but hey, you might be convinced, right?
So, you know, the Bible is making clear that you didn't see any similitude.
Now, here's the thing.
People did walk with Jesus Christ while he was on this earth.
They did physically see Jesus.
We know that Jesus was physically here.
It's not symbolic.
It's not metaphorical.
But in 1 Peter, if you'd like to, you can turn to 1 Peter.
1 Peter 1, verse 7.
I'm just going to go ahead and read.
It says,
The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor,
and the glory of the appearing of Jesus' crime.
Whom having not seen, ye love.
And whom, though ye now see him not, yet believing,
ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory,
receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
So, the Bible is saying that these people never saw Jesus physically.
Jesus said in his ministry, blessed are they who have not seen me and yet believe.
We sitting here today don't know what Jesus looked like.
When Judas betrayed Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane,
he said the one whom I kiss is the one who's his master.
Why didn't he say, oh, it's the guy with long hair?
Because Jesus didn't have long hair.
He looked like everyone else.
He looked like everyone of a normal person.
They couldn't distinguish him out of the crowd.
He was a normal looking guy.
And that's important.
Now, the Bible never records an image of Jesus
so that we would not make a picture of him
because he does not want to be idolized in that way.
He wants his word to be idolized.
He was definitely short here.
I wouldn't say he's bald.
It's hard to say, but who knows?
All right, David, we get it.
I'm not going to carve an image of an animal.
I'm not going to carve an image of the planet.
I won't put a picture of supposed Jesus on my wall.
And not only that, or the saints
or any of your favorite Christian leaders, me.
Don't put a picture of me on your wall.
Don't put a picture of Joel Osteen.
Don't put a picture of any Christian leader
because here's the thing.
There's nothing wrong with reverencing your pastor
or reverencing a preacher,
but there's a difference between devoting and worshiping
than to reverence, right?
Now, I'm going to give you,
for the last little bit of time that I have left,
figurative idolatry.
Because we understand literal idolatry is absolutely wrong.
But this goes back to my point about even we today
can fall under the sin of idolatry.
Figurative idolatry could be your favorite musician.
You have a favorite musician, they're not Christian,
some rock star, and you put a picture of them on the wall.
That's not good.
You should not have Tupac on your wall.
You shouldn't have these musicians that we idolize.
I mean, you've all heard of the television show, right?
American Idol.
These people who are trying to be lifted up
to be seen as glorified.
It's not good.
Now, I'm not saying if you watched American Idol,
you're in sin.
What I am saying is your favorite musician
needs to be put in his right place
and not be extolled above measure.
What about your favorite actors and actresses?
You watch a movie, you have a favorite actor you like
or a favorite actress that you like,
and you have a picture of your favorite actor on the wall.
That's not good.
Ben Affleck?
No, don't say that.
But that's the thing.
Whether it's actors, musicians, athletes, what about money?
Money can be seen as figurative idolatry.
The Bible says,
They that will be rich
fall into temptations and a snare.
We should not want to be rich.
There's nothing wrong if you gain wealth
and there's nothing wrong with making money.
But the Bible says,
The love of money is the root of all evil,
which while some covet after,
they have pierced themselves through
and earned from the faith.
The Bible says in Colossians 3, 5,
Mortify therefore your members
which are upon the earth
for an occasion, uncleanness, inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence, and covetousness,
which is idolatry.
So to covet or to want more money,
the Bible calls a form of idolatry.
All right, David, we get it.
Flee idolatry.
I'll run screaming in the other direction.
I won't worship animals.
I won't have a statue.
I won't even have a picture of a white guy
called Jesus on my board.
I'm not going to reverence or glorify
my favorite actor or musician.
But still, it's not likely
I will ever commit the sin of idolatry.
Once again, I just want you to know
there is no temptation taking you
but such as is common to man.
And even when it comes to the end times
in the book of Revelation,
as far right as you can go in your Bible,
the future to come,
the Bible clearly teaches that men will die
and go to hell because of their idolatry.
It says in Revelation 9-20,
The title of this message this morning
is Flee Idolatry.
Let's go ahead and bow our heads
and have a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father,
thank you so much for allowing us to be here.
Thank you so much for everyone
who could make it today
if anyone's not feeling good
and I ask that you help them to feel better.
I know everyone's starting to get sick and stuff
but please keep those in good health
and those who have made it,
keep them healthy.
Help us to realize the severity
of the sin of idolatry
that any one of us could fall into this
and we should really take heed
lest we fall.
God, thank you so much
for all that you do for us.
And please help us
to always be in your word
to help us to grow in our faith.
And in Jesus Christ's name we pray.
Amen.
Alright, let's turn to song number 64.
Song number 64,
Shall We Gather at the River?
Song number 64.
Shall we gather at the river
Where bright angel feet have trod
With its crystal tide forever
Flowing by the throne of God
Yes, we'll gather at the river
At the river
The beautiful, the beautiful river
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God
On the bosom of the river
Where the Savior King we own
We shall meet in sorrow never
Beneath the glory of the throne
Yes, we'll gather at the river
The beautiful, the beautiful river
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God
Ere we reach the shining river
Lay we every burden down
Grace our spirits we'll deliver
And provide a robe and crown
Yes, we'll gather at the river
The beautiful, the beautiful river
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God
Soon we'll reach the shining river
Soon our pilgrimage will cease
Soon our happy hearts will quiver
With the melody of peace
Yes, we'll gather at the river
The beautiful, the beautiful river
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God
Amen!
.