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Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
Now if you remember last week, you know, Paul is being very much persecuted.
He's preaching the gospel in the synagogues as his manner is, you know, in Thessalonica and the Jews persecute him.
So he goes to Berea and then the Jews of Thessalonica, they stalk him 81 kilometers and they persecute him.
So at this point, the logical thing when you almost got killed, you almost got arrested and he's waiting for, you know, the backup, you know, the people to come and support him.
And all of a sudden, you know, the logical thing would be to kind of just rest and wait it out.
But Paul can just not help himself.
It says his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
And the way I see this is he's kind of waiting. I should wait for the backup and the help.
And he sees all the idolatry. He's like, I got to go soul with it. Right?
And this is just kind of an attribute of being filled with the spirit.
You know, you're filled with boldness. You're fired up to preach the word of God and do the word of God and get people saved.
And then the spirit of Paul stirs him up and he goes to just preach the gospel and get people saved.
And when it says the idolatry of Athens, you know, you're thinking of ancient Greece.
And of course, you know, the Roman culture and the Greek culture was filled full of a multiplicity of statues and gods they worshipped.
And of course, Roman Catholicism is just coming out of the Roman religion.
So basically they morphed these pagan and false gods from the Roman religion.
And these are the saints that people are worshipping.
So it just kind of flows very well with the old Roman religion.
And this is the sort of idolatry they have here in Acts 17.
And here's what it says in verse 17.
Therefore, disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews.
Now remember, that was the persecution he got because he was preaching to the Jews in the synagogue.
And he was going there because it was a very receptive area.
And then he does the same thing here at Athens and with the devout persons.
You know, the devout persons could be the devout Greeks or a mix of various just devout people.
And he's going to the devout persons and it says,
And in the market daily with them that met with them.
And isn't this kind of our pattern for soul winning?
We give the gospel to anyone we can.
But we also go to well populated areas to preach the gospel.
Obviously door to door soul winning works.
But one great thing about the Philippines is you can go to parks with a lot of people and talk to a large group of people.
Whereas door to door you don't run into as many people to talk to.
So Paul is going to the areas, you know, obviously the market or the Palenque during that day.
It's going to be filled full of people.
And he's just stopping and talking to anybody that he can about the gospel.
Then it says in verse number 18,
You have two ancient philosophies here of Epicureanism and Stoicism.
Now Stoicism is a term we still kind of hear today.
Because you kind of hear the expression of someone who doesn't have big emotions.
He's very stoic. Right? You've heard that expression.
And that actually comes from Stoicism here.
And then you have the Epicureans also listed here as well.
Now both of these philosophies would say they're not really into worshipping idols like a lot of the Greeks or Romans would.
But they still had statues of people that they revered or deeply respected.
So for example you think of the religion of Sikhism.
They would say that they're against idol worship.
But they've got all the gurus in paintings on their walls. Right?
And these are the people they respect and look at.
So they would build statues of the people they respected during that day.
And they would just look at that statue every day.
So they're not necessarily idol worshipers like some of the other Greeks.
But at the same time you see how the culture is rubbing off on them.
There are a lot of men that I respect.
But I don't build a statue of them in my house. Right?
It's like I respect them.
But it's like I'm not going to build a statue of them in my house and look at it every day and say,
Man, I really respect that person.
Because that's not actually who that person is. That's a statue. Okay?
But it's interesting how it says,
He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods.
Now number one, you're in ancient Greece where they practice Greek mythology or Hellenism.
And they're worshipping Zeus and all of these bizarre gods.
All these crazy things.
Like Zeus' father wants to kill all of his sons and then Zeus was spared.
You know, he tried to eat all the other sons but he couldn't eat Zeus.
This is weird. This is strange.
And then Paul is preaching the gospel.
That's a strange religion that you're talking about.
It's kind of like, you know, you preach the gospel to a Hindu.
Man, that's really strange.
That's bizarre. And it's thinking, you think what we believe is bizarre?
I'm pretty sure that you believing in a multiplicity of gods is pretty bizarre.
And it's interesting though, he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods.
Notice how they say gods when he preached Jesus and the resurrection.
Why do they say gods?
They did not understand the nature of God, of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost.
One God that exists in three persons.
So when they heard of Jesus and the resurrection, they heard of the Trinity.
Those are some strange gods you're worshipping.
It's like you don't understand the gospel yet.
Because it's one God that exists in three persons.
And obviously in this culture, not only would you attack the work salvation aspect,
you'd also have to talk about the very nature of God.
See, when we go so into here, one thing that makes it receptive
is that pretty much everybody believes in one God in the Trinity.
Is that not right?
I mean, very rarely do you have to spend a lot of time explaining that.
But if you lived over in India or ancient Greece,
you'd be spending a lot of time talking about the nature of God.
It's like, okay, you know, Jesus Christ was 100% God, 100% man.
And they'd be like, okay, I need to hear more about this.
And it's like a one hour long conversation.
Here though, the fact that they understand the nature of God and they believe that,
it makes things a million times easier, doesn't it?
And so they hear this and they say, wait a minute,
these are some strange gods you're preaching.
And they say, you know, we want to hear about this.
Now they mock them and they say, what will this babbler say?
But they basically give Paul an open mic to just preach and talk to everybody.
And they took him and brought him onto Areopagus, which is a location,
saying, may we know what this new doctrine whereof thou speakest is?
Now was Paul preaching a new doctrine? No.
Because the Old Testament talked about the coming Messiah,
who would come and die and pay for the sins of the world,
and then would rise again, okay?
So it's not a new doctrine, but of course in that area,
that's not the common religion, so it's kind of new to a lot of the listeners.
They think it's a bit strange or they haven't really heard this before, okay?
Then it says here in verse number 20,
for thou bringest certain strange things to our ears,
we would know therefore what these things mean.
For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else,
but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
So you've got a group of people, and what do they do?
They just hang out at that location waiting to hear something, right?
Now of course this would be a great opportunity to preach the gospel, wouldn't it?
I mean, hey, if you're willing to listen, it's like, sure, I'll tell you what I believe.
I'll tell you about salvation.
Now of course this is an area where they have a lot of strange religions,
so the percentage of this group of people that's going to get saved
is going to be much lower than a culture with a Christian background,
but you are able to preach to a lot of people,
and Paul takes this opportunity to preach the gospel to them.
Verse number 22, then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said,
Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
Paul doesn't really hold back punches, does he?
He's like, you are too superstitious, right?
And make no mistake about it, people that practice idolatry today,
they are too superstitious.
People that want to rub the black Nazarene, you are too superstitious.
There's nothing magical about that statue.
They are too superstitious.
And it says here in verse 23,
For as I passed by and beheld your devotions,
I found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God,
whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you.
Now, he doesn't say that they're stupid,
but what he says is what you're doing is very stupid.
It's very ignorant.
It makes no sense.
Now, of course, when we go soul winning,
I don't believe that we should go out and be a jerk, okay?
Generally, you know, we talk to people, we're kind, we're respectful,
but Paul's getting the opportunity to talk to a group of people.
It's not the same as a one-on-one conversation,
and he must make them realize how foolish their religion is
and they're worshipping these idols to actually end up believing on Christ
and getting saved.
Now, I want to read you from an article from a guy by the name of Sri Sathya Sai Baba,
and this name might not mean anything to you,
but I'm sure there's people in here that would recognize this picture
of this Hindu godman,
and he was like the most famous Apollo Kibiloy of his day before he died,
okay, over in India.
But in India, there are a lot of godmen
where they're like the 27th avatar of this one god or whatever,
and he's a reincarnation of a former, you know, Swami,
and his name's Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
And of course, if you look at this guy's life,
there's all kinds of scandals of pedophilia and murder and all kinds of crazy things,
but this guy was worshipped big time,
and he would do like magic tricks,
and then, you know, he was exposed as being a phony
as people showed everything he was doing was a fraud,
it wasn't really real.
But he's very famous in the realm of Hinduism and these sorts of ideas,
and here's what he says from his website.
Every atom has a form.
There is no object in the universe without a form.
The form is vigraha, an expression of the divine idol.
Members of other faiths consider idol worship as irrational.
Yeah, I think Paul said you're ignorantly worshipping.
It's irrational.
Idol worship makes no sense.
It's a piece of wood.
It's a piece of stone.
It's a statue that you made.
It's irrational.
It's ignorant.
It makes no sense.
And then he says this.
They ridiculed idol worship as a form of superstition.
Yep, guilty as charged.
I mean, Paul said, in all things, you're too superstitious.
You're acting superstitious.
There's nothing to this, right?
And that's exactly like Hinduism and these religions that are doing idolatry today.
And he says, but they made no attempt to explain the worship of the formless.
So basically, he criticizes us and he says,
you guys are mocking us for basically ripping on idolatry,
but you're not actually explaining the formless.
Well, hold on a second.
Is God without form?
Because this is a backbone of Hinduism,
but God is not without form because the Bible says that man is made in the image of God.
God is invisible, but he is not without form.
The Bible says the invisible God, it does not say he's without form.
Man is made in the image of God.
And so the whole backbone of Hinduism is on this false idea that God is some sort of energy.
God is some sort of force.
God is just these atoms and molecules and energy that's out there.
That is not God.
I mean, we sing songs like What a Friend We Have in Jesus,
and we believe in a personal God that has love and has emotions that we can pray to and cares about us.
He is not some formless energy that we have no concept of whatsoever.
Now, I'm not saying we can perfectly comprehend who God is,
but I am saying that God gave us a book,
and the Bible says that the things were made so we could actually understand even his eternal power and Godhead.
We can actually understand a good bit about who God actually is.
Here's what it says in verse number 24.
And actually, one other thing I want to mention from verse 23,
it talks about the unknown God and their inscription.
And I remember a few years ago, I was reading a book on India and the history of India,
and there was a chapter called The Unknown God.
And I remember just stopping, because I've long said that Acts 17 is the Hindu chapter,
even though it's not about India, but it's the same sort of beliefs, same sort of system.
And in that chapter, there's no references to the Bible.
They are not referencing Acts 17 at all.
But the concept over in India is there is this unknown God without form.
We cannot comprehend.
And since we cannot comprehend him and he's without form,
we must make a God in our own image and then pray to it so we can kind of understand that God without form.
And that is what Hinduism will teach.
We must make a God in our image because we cannot comprehend at all who God is.
Verse 24, it says,
God that made the world and all things therein,
seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth,
dwelleth not in temples made with hands.
See, the first thing that Paul the Apostle talks about is the omnipresence of God.
He says, no, wait a minute.
God is not dwelling in a temple.
God is not dwelling in a house, a little shrine.
God is not dwelling in one part of the world.
It's not like the only location of God or his presence is going to be on Quiapo Street in four days.
God is everywhere.
God is omnipresence, present.
His presence is everywhere in the world.
He's not confined to one location.
But when you are practicing idolatry, you are essentially saying God's presence is here more than anywhere else.
Why believe in an omnipresent God?
I believe that anywhere on earth you can bow down on your knees and pray to Almighty God
and he will hear you because God is omnipresent.
He is not confined to one location.
He is not confined to Mecca.
He's not confined to Quiapo Street.
He's not confined to one location.
God is omnipresent.
He's everywhere.
Turn your Bible to Psalm 139.
Psalm 139.
Now here's the thing about this.
People that practice idol worship will claim they believe God is omnipresent.
But what Paul's saying is you might claim that, but your actions speak very differently than what your words are saying.
Isn't it true we give the gospel to a lot of people that say,
I don't believe in salvation by works, but...
It's like, well, your actions speak very differently than your words.
I mean, probably the religion most famous for saying we're saved by grace through faith is the Mormons.
Does anybody in this room think that the Mormons actually believe on Christ?
No, they don't.
But they will quote, hey, we're saved by grace through faith.
And it's like, why don't you finish that verse in 2 Nephi 25-23 after all that you can do?
Because what they do is they redefine what grace is.
So sometimes people have the right words, but it's like, well, you're contradicting yourself.
And people will claim they believe God is omnipresent.
It's like, well, why do you seem to think that God is confined to one location or one statue in all the world?
Let me just continue from this article from Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
And I got to show you a picture of this guy after the sermon.
This guy's got the most wild haircut ever.
It's this Hindu, Swami guru guy with this massive afro.
I mean, this guy's a weird, weird guy, right?
And here's what it says from the article.
Every person begins to learn about all objects only in relation to their forms.
People could not conceive of God as omnipresent who is in every object and in every individual.
So he's saying, when you speak about something, you show an object for people to understand.
So if I were to explain to my son what a cube is, it's kind of confusing.
And then what do you do? You just show a picture, and then they understand, right?
You explain what a circle is.
It's like a circle is an object with only one side, and the middle of that circle, everything on the outside is an equidistant from the center.
They're going to be like, what?
And then you show a picture. Oh, I know what a circle is, right?
The definition can be very confusing, and then a picture.
And that's what he's saying. He's like, well, wait a minute.
With everything on Earth, everything in the world, you show a picture, and they understand the object.
He's saying, well, we don't have a picture of God, so we can't comprehend Him, right?
And of course, in Hinduism, what they teach is that God is without form, which is false.
What the Bible says is man is made in the image of God,
and so we are a good likeness or representation of who God is, okay?
And it says here, people could not conceive of God as omnipresent who is in every object and in every individual.
Some were able to conceive that the atom is present in every object and everywhere,
but it was only in the 17th century that atomic physics came into existence.
But long before this, the child Prahaladha realized the omnipresence of the divine.
He told his father, do not have any doubts that the divine is present here and not there.
He is omnipresent. You can find Him wherever you seek Him.
What Prahaladha declared millennia ago, the scientists of today are discovering,
namely that the energy that is present in the all-pervading atom is divine.
I point my finger at the mic and tell you, this is a mic.
After you have seen the mic, you don't need the finger to point it out.
I point to a flower and say, this is a flower.
After you have seen the flower, there is no need for the finger to point it out.
Now before I go on, let me explain what he's saying.
Because you don't really get this on the surface level unless you really listen in depth to these Hindu leaders.
Here's what they're saying. They're not saying that God's presence is everywhere like we think of as omnipresent.
Here's what he's saying. This is God. That's what he's defining as omnipresent.
This is God. This is God. Everything is God. That's what he means by omnipresent.
The atom is ever. Everything is God is what he's saying.
So they would say, hey, I believe in an omnipresent God,
but the backbone of idolatry is teaching this, that God is everything.
And he's saying, once you realize that this is God, you no longer need the idol to point you to God
because you now realize God is everything.
And when I say that Hinduism teaches God is everything, Hinduism teaches that God is literally everything,
whether sinful or righteous.
They will literally teach the most disgusting and dirty or sinful perverted sin is God.
Everything is God. That is what it teaches.
Now, look, I believe in an omnipresent God, but I don't believe that.
God's presence is everywhere, but this is not God, my friend.
And you're worshiping the creature rather than the creator.
God's the one that made the wood. God's the one that made the tree, but God is not a tree.
But that is what Hinduism actually teaches.
Now, look, I understand that probably most Hindus don't fully understand what they actually believe
or what the backbone or philosophy behind their religion is.
Same thing growing up in Catholicism.
I didn't grow up Catholic, but many of you probably practice idolatry and you didn't know why.
It's what we do. Right?
And I get that. Everyone kind of just follows what they're taught.
I did as well. Whatever you're taught, you follow, and sometimes you're like,
I don't know, this doesn't quite make sense to me, but I'll do it. Okay. Right?
But that is literally what Hinduism teaches, that this is literally God, and that's what he's saying.
Once you realize this is God, you no longer need the object because you now have arrived to moksha, my friend.
You got your salvation. You have a complete comprehension of the God that is without form.
And then it says this in this article, likewise idols were used to point out God.
Until God realization comes, idols are essential. After God realization, there is no need for idols.
So once you understand that this is God, you no longer need to pray to it because you have perfect understanding.
But until you reach that point that you realize this is God, you still need an idol to help point you to the formless.
I mean, I don't know about you, but this is pretty bizarre.
Idolatry is insane. It makes no sense.
Now, the difference between the Hindus and the Catholics is the Hindus are a bit more honest about what's going on.
Because the Catholics will claim, we don't worship images. We don't worship idols.
It's like, okay, once again, you say something, but your actions speak very differently.
Here's what the Bible says about the omnipresence of God, Psalm 139, verse 7.
Whither shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea.
And he's going to name all these locations and he's saying, you know, God's presence is everywhere.
God's presence is in heaven. God's presence is in hell. God's presence is in the ocean.
God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. But God is not literally the ocean.
God is not literally hell. God is not literally heaven. But God's presence is everywhere.
And see, when you have these religions that are worshiping the ocean, the backbone behind it is,
well, this is actually God. And I'm worshiping part of who God is.
And hey, you can worship a tree if you prefer. I mean, you can worship that fan.
You can worship this pulpit. Right? You can worship whatever you want.
I mean, whatever gets you a better understanding of who God is, it's a plus.
Just worship whatever you want. Yeah, you're making a God in your own image.
Turn your Bible to Acts 17. Acts 17.
Now, let me say this, that Hinduism is a very bizarre religion.
But, you know, one thing I appreciate about Hinduism is they're actually honest about what they're doing.
They'll say they worship idols. Almost every religion on the planet will say they do not worship idols.
Now, in Hinduism, they will change the term from idol worship, but they'll say,
yeah, that's what we do, but we don't want the negative connotation, so they call it something else.
But they'll say, you can go online, reasons why we worship idols. Okay?
But there's a lot of religions that do worship idols, but they're not that honest about that.
I mean, think about it. What is the biggest idol in this entire world?
And when I'm saying, obviously there's the symbolism of having something as an idol in your life,
but I'm talking about literal idolatry that made God extremely angry throughout the Word of God.
The biggest idol in the world is over in Mecca, the Kaaba.
You've got two billion Muslims who their whole goal in life is to make a pilgrimage to Mecca and touch that Kaaba.
And literally, no matter where they're located, it's like, what direction is Mecca? We better pray to it.
We've got to pray to the cube, which is literally what Kaaba is in English, cube.
It's like, literally, no matter where they are in the world, where is the cube that we pray to?
It's idolatry, my friend. You're worshiping an image rather than the Creator.
Now, of course, they're not going to say that they're idol worshippers.
They will mock Catholicism. They will mock Hindus.
But your actions speak very differently than your words, my friend.
Because literally, no matter where you are on earth, you're facing the direction of the Kaaba, and you're praying to it.
And then you see people over there in Mecca, and it's like they're so excited to try to touch the Kaaba.
Sounds pretty similar to the Black Nazarene, doesn't it?
There's no difference, my friend. A huge crowd, and their goal is, can I just get there and touch it?
And then they touch it. You see the reaction. It's like, oh, they're so excited. Tears are flowing.
It's an idol, my friend.
And so here's the thing. All over the world, religions are practicing idolatry, but they're not always honest about it.
Now, Hindus have a multiplicity of idols. They will literally worship whatever.
I mean, you can literally go over in India, it's like they've got a rat temple where they worship rats.
And if you accidentally step on a rat and kill it, you've got to buy an idol of a rat and give it as an offering to the temple.
It's just like, literally, they will worship whatever.
And when I say whatever, I literally mean whatever.
If you read in the Hindu scriptures, they will talk about worshipping dung, tai, poop.
They will literally talk about worshipping cow dung.
I mean, during the days of COVID, you know what one of the biggest cures over in India was?
A cow dung bath or a cow dung shower.
Literally, you can see pictures of it and you're like, they're covered in cow dung and they think it's going to cure COVID.
And this is the bizarre result of worshipping the creature rather than the creator.
It's insanity, my friend. But that's what they do.
You say, well, why do they worship an object like that?
Because the concept behind Hinduism is, like a lot of these Eastern religions,
you do not want to have any attachments to this world.
So by worshipping the most grotesque and disgusting thing you can think of,
if you're able to do that and see God in that object,
you have now reached a level where you have separated yourselves from the world and now you're in the divine.
I mean, that is bizarre. But that's what they do.
Point number one, the omnipresence of God is destroyed when you're practicing idolatry
because you're basically teaching that God's presence is there more than anything else, anywhere else.
Look, I don't need to bring an idol with me everywhere I go to be able to pray and talk to God.
I can stop anywhere in this world and talk to God.
Anywhere in this world I can close my eyes, bring my hands together, bow my head and pray to Almighty God.
I don't need to bring a little object with me.
Now it's amazing, and I'm not saying everybody understands this when they get saved,
but I remember my wife was given the gospel before I lived here.
This was when I visited like 10 years ago.
And this Catholic got saved and she's given the gospel to this person and giving in Tagalog.
And then, of course, at the time I didn't understand any Tagalog, so I was just, you know,
I hope this is making sense. And then the person bowed their head and they got prayed.
And then all of a sudden they handed an idol.
And I was thinking, oh, they didn't get it.
But what they said is, now that I have Jesus, I don't need this anymore.
And it's like, praise God, they got it right.
Now I'm not saying everybody has that full comprehension, but I'll say this.
A lot of people are practicing idolatry because they don't know anything else.
And once they hear the truth and get saved, it's like, how foolish was I before?
And look, I don't need a show of hands, but many of you are raised Catholic.
And many of you practiced idolatry.
And it's like, is it not true? How foolish was I for doing all these weird things?
But you know what? Everybody just kind of does what they're taught.
I am not saying Hindus are dumb. I'm saying what they do is ignorant.
Paul did not say the group in Athens was ignorant. He said, what you're doing is ignorant.
And, you know, the traditions that people follow before they're saved are pretty ignorant and pretty stupid, right?
But not only is the omnipresence of God destroyed when you practice idolatry,
but the omnipotence, the power of God, is destroyed when you practice idolatry.
Because not only is God's presence everywhere, God's power is everywhere as well.
Here's what it says in verse number 25 of Acts 17.
Neither is worship with men's hands as though he needed anything,
seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things.
God giveth to all life and breath and all things.
All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
And the Bible says, neither is worship with men's hands.
Now, when it says neither is worship with men's hands, it's not saying that we created God with our hands.
Here's what the Bible's saying. And think of the black Nazarene.
Neither is worship with men's hands. Like, you hold them up on your hands,
parade them down the streets like they're going to do here in a few days or on January 9th.
It's like, all right, here's God. Here's his power. Here's his presence now. Now you can worship him.
Look, God doesn't need me to carry him on my hands.
God's the one that's the creator. God's the one that's all powerful.
God's the one whose presence is everywhere.
But this idea that you've got to carry around God, and you see it all over the Philippines.
All of a sudden, you'll see a group of people, and then they're carrying a statue down a street.
Now, one thing I like about this location is we're in the back corner, so there's not as many distractions.
I'll tell you what. Where our church is in Pampanga, it's right in the center of Angeles City.
And so there will be times where all of a sudden there's a lot of noise that's distracting.
And all of a sudden, you look out the window. There goes Mary. There goes Jesus.
And everyone's going crazy like, yeah, God doesn't need us with men's hands to hold him up to be worshiped.
You say, why? Because God's presence is everywhere, and God's power is everywhere.
You say, oh, Pastor, I want to touch the black Nazarene because I've got this ailment. I want to be healed.
What's the answer? Here's the answer. Go down on your knees later today and pray to God and ask for God to heal you.
You don't need to touch the black Nazarene because God's presence and power is everywhere.
It's not like, man, I came so close with the towel to reach the black Nazarene, but I missed it.
I mean, I dove. I mean, I was training for months to get in better shape, and I ran and I jumped,
but I didn't make it. I can't be healed now. God's presence is everywhere.
It's not confined to one location. And here's the thing.
People will claim they believe God is omnipotent, but their actions speak very differently than what they're saying.
Turn in your Bible to 1 Samuel 5. 1 Samuel chapter 5.
It says here from this article, the translation of the black Nazarene commemorating the solemn transfer of the images copy.
It has up to six and a half million devotees. And look, I don't even know how you count a number,
because when I see pictures and videos of the black Nazarene, it is a multitude.
It's a multitude of people. So many people that are going there, right?
Millions and millions of people. You say, why are they going there?
Because they believe that God's presence and power is in that statue.
And if they don't believe that, they're just doing it because the rest of their family is doing that.
But those that are really devoted to it, that's what they believe.
If you believe touching that statue is going to heal you of some disease, you believe God's presence and power is dwelling inside of a statue.
What I believe is God is all powerful everywhere, and you can pray to him at any time and ask for something.
It's not one specific location. 1 Samuel chapter 5, verse 1.
And the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashtod.
When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.
And when they of Ashtod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord.
And they took Dagon and set him in his place again.
Man, it's got to be frustrating when your God falls over and you've got to pick him up and put him back up with men's hands.
That way he can be worshipped again.
See, my God has never tripped and fallen flat on his face.
But when you're worshipping a statue, I mean, this is what you have.
All of a sudden, Dagon falls over. It's like, oh, man, our God needs our help again.
Verse 4. And when they arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord.
And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold.
Only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
Therefore, neither the priests of Dagon nor any that come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon and Ashtod unto this day.
But the hand of the Lord is very heavy upon them of Ashtod, and he destroyed them and smote them with emerods, even Ashtod and the coast thereof.
And when the men of Ashtod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us, for his hand is sore upon us and upon Dagon our God.
It's like, man, our God got beat up.
Our God fell over and his head's cut off and his arms are cut off. It's like, our God got beat up.
Well, if God is omnipotent, how can he get beat up?
God is all powerful.
Look, God Almighty doesn't lose any battles.
It's not like, all right, we got Satan versus God, round 20. Who's going to win this one?
Man, the first round was tough. The second round, the third round, God was fighting back.
It's like, no, because God is omnipotent, so there is nothing to compare to God.
There's no challenge. There's no match. I mean, God is omnipotent.
God is omnipresent. His presence is everywhere, and God is omnipotent.
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Nothing is too hard for God.
Go to 1 Kings 20.
1 Kings 20, verse 23.
And notice what the Bible says here in verse 23.
And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills.
Therefore they were stronger than we.
But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.
Do you realize how stupid that statement is?
It's like, okay, we thought our God was omnipotent, but he's not omnipotent in the hills.
It's like, so he's not omnipresent and omnipotent.
But in the plains, we'll win the battle.
It's like, that's interesting because, you know, my God will win any battle anywhere at any time.
I mean, this is basically, they would say they believe God is omnipotent, but it's completely contradictory.
Because, like, we just got beat up. What's the explanation?
You know what the logical explanation is?
Maybe we're worshiping the wrong deity.
Maybe what we believe doesn't make any sense.
But it's like, well, I guess we're only omnipotent here.
You know, a lot of people have this weird idea as if there's different gods in different locations,
where it's like, over here is the God you worship.
Over here you worship this God.
No, it's the same God everywhere. You say, why?
Because God is omnipresent.
Turn your Bible to Acts 17.
Acts 17.
How about another religion that has a lot of idolatry?
How about Buddhism?
I mean, Buddhism has some pretty massive idols throughout this world.
And I still don't understand this, but so many Catholics here in the Philippines have idols of Buddha.
It's like, you're not a Buddhist.
I don't get it, but I see idols of Buddha everywhere, right?
And in Buddhism, though, I mean, they have some of the biggest statues throughout the world.
I mean, huge, massive statues everywhere.
You know, in the United States you'll have a lot of Chinese donut shops,
and at every donut shop they have these idols and they have donuts.
New donuts they feed to those idols every single day.
And of course the idols, I mean, you say, man, do people really sacrifice food to idols?
It's like, yes. I mean, every donut shop in the U.S.
And of course the idols never eat the donuts. What a shock.
You know what's crazy about Buddhism?
Buddhism does not believe in a creator God.
They will say they believe in rebirth, which is their term for reincarnation,
which is a little bit different than the Hindu version.
They will say they do not believe in a creator God.
And yet in Buddhism they teach that you can become omnipotent yourself.
They teach that the Buddha, and there was many Buddhas over the time period,
but the famous Buddha, and by the way, on a side point, the famous Buddha was not fat.
That's the Chinese version of Buddha.
The famous Buddha was an ascetic. He was actually very skinny, okay?
And so Buddhism, though, teaches that Buddha himself became omnipotent.
I mean, I've seen long documentaries, like animated ones, just for educational purposes on it,
and like Buddhas performing all of these miracles.
And it's like you don't believe in a creator God, but it's like you pretty much believe that Buddha is God.
You're making all these statues of them. He's omnipotent. He's all powerful.
And one of the big keys to reaching nirvana, which is their word for salvation,
is not only becoming omnipotent, but also becoming omniscient.
That's what Buddhism teaches. It's like, wait a minute.
You don't believe in God, but we can become all powerful. We can become omniscient.
That's what Buddhism actually teaches.
And what I'm saying is when people practice idolatry,
they have such a morphed in a weird understanding about the nature of God,
and I feel like, I mean, how do you even communicate with them?
I mean, I grew up in the Western world. I mean, everyone is some sort of Christian pretty much,
and then their understanding and philosophy of God is so weird and so bizarre,
but this is what takes place when you worship idols.
Not only is the omnipresence of God destroyed when you practice idolatry,
not only is the omnipotence of God destroyed when you practice idolatry,
but the omniscience of God is destroyed as well when you practice idolatry.
Notice what it says in verse 26.
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell in all the face of the earth,
and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation.
Paul is trying to help them understand who God is and how God alone has these attributes,
and not only has God determined the times before appointed,
but God knows what is going to take place according to that verse.
You say, well, how is that possible? Because God is omniscient.
God knows everything.
Go to Genesis chapter 3.
Genesis 3.
Not only in Buddhism, but you have the religion of Jainism as well.
And this is one of these Indian philosophies or religions.
And Jainism is very, very famous because in Buddhism,
you're going to run into Buddhists that say they believe in God,
but Jainism is very dogmatic. There is no God.
And it's amazing because they will fit under categories of religious.
They're technically atheists, but there's like a large number of them
that have a different basic philosophy and a spiritual book they follow.
Like four million Jains in the world.
And it's like in Jainism, though, they believe in atheism.
And they basically pride themselves on being the most mathematically
and scientifically gifted people that there are,
and yet in their holy books, they teach the earth is flat.
And they also teach that the universe is eternal.
They don't believe. They cannot conceive in a God that has always existed,
but the universe has always existed.
And I'm just thinking, do you not realize how stupid?
I mean, professing yourself to be wise, you are a fool, as the Bible says.
That doesn't make any sense.
But in Jainism, their term for salvation, you know, it's moksha in Hinduism,
it's nirvana in Buddhism, and it's kevalin in Jainism.
And what do they teach when you reach kevalin?
You become all-powerful and omniscient.
And it's just like you don't believe that there's an all-powerful God
that created everything, but we can become all-powerful.
And what's interesting about this is it kind of makes Genesis 3
make a little bit more sense,
because it's kind of bizarre in Genesis 3 where Satan's like,
you can become a god, and it's like, does anyone besides the Mormons believe that?
And actually, a lot of philosophies teach this.
Notice what it says in Genesis 3, verse 1.
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field,
which the Lord God had made, and he said unto the woman,
Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden,
but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,
God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it,
neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be open, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Basically, you're going to become omniscient.
You're going to know everything.
And that is exactly what it teaches in Buddhism and Jainism
and other religions that practice idolatry.
Go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 10.
1 Corinthians, chapter 10.
And I'm going to read you from an article on a Hindu website.
The article is a very long article.
It goes in depth on idolatry and the philosophy behind it.
But the article is called Reasons for Idol Worship in Hinduism.
So they're being honest. We worship idols.
Reason number six, in idol worship, the true worshiper becomes God.
And there's a long explanation of how you become God.
In idol worship, the true worshiper becomes God.
And here's what it says in this article.
When an idol is worshiped with intense love and devotion,
almost a similar process takes place in the mind of the worshiper.
The idol is no doubt inert and inactive.
At the physical level, it is just a piece of stone, clay, wood, or some other material.
So Hindus do not believe that an object is anything more than wood or stone initially, basically.
It's like, well, it's just a piece of wood. There's nothing special.
Even if it looks like a certain god, it's just whatever was made.
But here's what it says.
However, in the mind of the devotee, it comes to life as he pours his love and devotion into it and makes offerings to it.
It happens repeatedly whenever a devotee worships it.
Hence it is believed that not all idols are liked.
Those which are more frequently worshiped by more people accumulate higher power in proportion to the offerings they receive.
Thus in worship, devotees step into the role of God.
They put life into the materiality of the idols and make them alive.
According to this article, you become God by making that object alive.
Okay? I want to give you a demonstration here today.
All right? Here we go. We got an object. This is just a cup.
Nothing special about it. And you know what? I'm not very good at drawing, so this is going to be It Is What It Is.
But now we got eyes. Right?
We got eyes. We got a mouth. And I need like a blue marker to make the blue god like the Hindus. Okay? I don't have that.
But you've got a little smiley face. Well, this is nothing.
But here's the thing. As I put this here and I start bowing down to it every day and worshipping it and maybe put a necklace around this and maybe just like spray some incense or whatever,
it's just like it becomes alive. It's alive! It's alive! Behold my God!
And what they're saying is this object that you make, you make it alive.
Now here's the thing about this. I don't think they're really wrong in what they're saying.
But what's actually taking place? When you start bowing down and worshipping an object and a lot of people do, you know what gets filled full of that object? Devils.
You see, the black Nazarene is filled full of a multitude of devils. And I'm not saying this to be dramatic.
This is literally what's taking place. That black Nazarene that's going to be parading down the streets in four days, that is filled full of so many devils.
And when people are bowing down and worshipping it, if they do make it and actually touch that idol, they're walking away possessed later this week.
I am dead serious about that. That is what is taking place. You go over to Mecca, the Kaaba that they're so excited about, that is filled full of more devils than any object in the world.
Why? Because more people are worshipping that than any object in the world.
So I mean literally, and look, obviously don't do this, but you know, if you went to the store and just bought an idol that looked like Buddha or whatever, Hindu God or whatever, I mean it's literally nothing.
But as you start praying to it, all of a sudden it's going to be filled full of devils. You know what, I don't know about you because I've been in a lot of Catholic houses both preaching the gospel and relatives, and then you come to like a section of the house with all the idols.
And I don't know if it's just in my head, but I get a really eerie feeling being around it.
And it's just like, I hope these people are not that devoted to Catholicism and worshipping these idols because if so, I mean there literally could be devils living in that house.
Here's what it says from another article on Hinduism, an idol or an image is a living embodiment of God. It is not a lifeless form.
Life is poured into every image or idol when it is reverently worshipped with devotion. Devotion has such power, according to our Puranas, this is in the Hindu scriptures, with devotion you can awaken the divine power which is hidden in any object.
And look, this might look like the most pathetic idol in the world, but you can make this alive, my friends. You worship it, you have incense, you do whatever, all these weird rituals and everything, and this object can become alive.
And I'm telling you, when you go to these temples with these idols that are being worshipped, those objects are getting filled full of devils.
First Corinthians chapter 10, see, not only is the omnipresence of God destroyed when you practice idolatry, but the omnipotence of God is destroyed when you practice idolatry.
The omniscience of God is destroyed when you practice idolatry, but also the eternal nature of God is destroyed when you practice idolatry.
They're talking about making objects alive and it being, I mean, God's eternal. We don't need to create God. God already exists, God always has existed.
In the beginning was the word the Bible says. I mean, God is eternal, we don't need to create God.
And see, what's actually happening is people are actually literally worshipping devils when they're worshipping this object of stone. Here's what it says in First Corinthians 10 verse 19.
What say I then, that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything?
See, you know, you'll get an object, I mean, it's nothing, and you could literally have, and I thought about getting a mini idol, but I was like, no, I don't want to do that, you know.
But it's like you could literally have an idol of Shiva or Buddha or whatever, and it's nothing. It's just a piece of stone. It's just various colors. It's literally nothing.
But then the Bible also says in verse 20, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrificed, they sacrificed to devils and not to God, and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils.
Why is it saying they're sacrificing this to devils? Because literally when you worship that object, it becomes alive and filled full of devils.
And look, the black Nazarene, make no mistake, is filled full of a multitude of devils.
Go to Acts 17. Acts 17. I mean, I'm not saying this to be overly dramatic. I mean, if you have relatives going to the black Nazarene later this week, you should pray that they are not able to get that close to it.
As much as they want to touch that statue and rub that statue with a towel, you should pray that they are not able to do that.
Because I don't think everybody in that crowd is going to get possessed, but those that are actually rubbing the statue and getting very close to it,
it's like, yeah, you absorb, as you'll see in many of these articles on Hinduism, you absorb the power of that statue.
There's even a lot of people that are Catholics that would say that exact thing. Yes, I want to absorb the power of that statue.
And it's like, you know what? As a Bible-believing Christian, I do not want you to absorb the power of that statue.
Acts 17, verse 27,
That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.
For in him we live and move and have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said, for you are also his offspring.
For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that God is like on a gold or silver stone graven by art and man's device.
I mean, he's saying, we're the offspring of God. God created us. God made us. Therefore, we don't have to make God.
And I mean, it seems like such basic common sense, but yet there's billions of people on this planet that don't get it.
Recently, I think, you know, it's just over 8 billion people as the population of the world.
I think that's recently that they crossed 8 billion. But the vast majority of this world are actually worshipping idols.
The vast majority. Because the two religions that are big that you would think of as not being into idol worship are Islam and Christianity.
Well, in Islam, they're worshipping a cube.
And in Catholicism, the biggest branch of Christianity, they're worshipping idols.
And in the second biggest branch of Christianity, the orthodox 260 million people in this world, no, no, no, we're against idolatry, they'll say, but then they have icons.
So instead of making a statue, they just make a painting of the saints and pray to those paintings.
But no, no, we're not into idolatry because that's a graven image. And then they pray to a statue of Peter and all these other saints.
It's like, yeah, you're an idol worshiper. This is exactly what God is talking about.
The vast majority of this world are bowing down and praying to idols.
And the more devoted you are to this pagan and wicked practice, the more likely you are to walk away possessed by a devil.
Let me read you from this article on reasons for idol worship in Hinduism number four.
The idols help the devotee become deeply religious. Now, that is a true statement.
No doubt about it, when people are worshipping idols and really into it, they're religious, but you got the wrong religion.
Here's what it says from this article.
A devout Hindu worships his favorite deities and the temples are at home to fill his mind with their thoughts and keep himself in a certain reverential and devotional state as he engages himself in worldly activities and obligatory duties.
And make no mistake about it, Hindus are very religious. Before we moved houses, we were living before here in the Philippines.
We had Hare Krishna neighbors and sometimes I'd walk outside and my neighbor's got a plant and he's bowing down to the plant and he's got candles and incense and all these weird things, praying to a plant.
Yeah, you're pretty religious. Every day it's like you're spending your personal time with your plant.
I mean, it's religious. It's the wrong religion.
It says here, though, the practice reinforces his faith and his confidence to face the problems and difficulties in life.
When the idols of the gods are installed in the house or in a puja mandir parentheses place of worship in a house, the very house becomes an abode of gods.
And I'm glad they made it lowercase G in the article, because that is exactly what's taking place.
You just filled your house full of devils.
And when they are bowing down and praying to those statues, yes, on one level, it's nothing. It's a piece of stone.
It's a piece of wood. And yet they're sacrificing two devils. You say why? Because when they do these wicked things, it is attracting all of these devils and they're literally bowing down with devils before them.
And then they just get more and more devoted and they stick to it because they're going to be getting possessed and things like this.
And then they just stick to all these practices.
Of course, in the black Nazarene, it's like the goal is to touch and kiss that statue, do whatever you can, and it will heal you.
I mean, there's literally people. And look, I'm not trying to say I'm not saying these people are stupid that are doing these things.
What they're doing is ignorant, like Paul said. I'm not saying they are ignorant.
But there are millions of Catholics this week that they think that if they touch that statue, it will help them make more money this coming year.
It will help them recover of their ailment or their illness. In all things, you're too superstitious.
They want to do everything they can to just touch or kiss or whatever that statue later this week. Right?
I'll be honest. As an American, sports is like a huge thing. There's all kinds of pro sports leagues in the NBA, the NFL, baseball, all these things.
All these famous athletes and everything. And it's like these are sort of like the alternative to these sporting events with a multitude of people.
The crowd's going crazy. Like in American football, they've got the terrible towels, the Pittsburgh Steelers, they're rubbing everything.
And it's like the crowd is jumping up and chanting. It's like, Viva, Viva, Viva.
I mean, you go online and type in Viva chant because I'm trying to find good footage.
And what you're going to find is like soccer games where the crowd's chanting Viva.
But over here, it's just like Viva, Viva, all worshipping that morbid and weird idol of Jesus.
They could not make that look more crazy and more bizarre and everything. This morbid, disgusting looking version of Jesus that they have that they worship.
But here's the good news about this. Because it says here in verse number 30, Acts 17 verse 30,
In the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.
Now, of course, there's nothing in this passage about getting rid of your sin. Is there?
Paul did not talk about drinking alcohol. He didn't talk about music or movies or anything like that.
He's talking about their wrong understanding of what they believe. And he's like, God commands everyone to repent.
What is he saying? God's commanding everybody to change their mind about their belief in these gods and put their belief on Jesus Christ that died and paid for our sins and rose again.
But see, the good news about this is that these people are willing to listen.
Because notice what it said in verse 21.
For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
I mean, Paul shows up and they're like, sure, just tell us what you believe.
Now, from my experience, because Hindus will often listen to the gospel, the chance of a Hindu getting saved when they hear the gospel is very small compared to a Catholic.
But the good news is a lot of people that are really into this, they actually really listen.
Look, I'm sure in this room there's probably people that were very into idolatry when they were younger, and yet you believe on Christ now.
Because some people, they're taught this, they're trying to do what they think is correct, and they have a love of God in their heart, they're trying to do what's right.
And then God basically just shows them, hey, actually, this is the truth. And then you believe on Christ and you get saved. Right?
And you know what the Bible says? You don't have to turn there in Titus 3, but it says, for we are also ourselves sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived.
You know what? Before I was saved, I was deceived and foolish, but after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy.
And I am saved by the grace of God and by the mercy of Almighty God. And before I was saved, I thought Catholicism was the weirdest thing ever since I was growing up.
I was like, man, you're worshiping a man that's wearing a dress, you know, the pope, and it's like you're bowing down to these idols.
I thought Catholicism was stupid, but you know what I didn't realize? A lot of the things I believe are pretty stupid too.
And the thing is, I'm not sitting here saying, Hindus are just idiots for what they're doing. What they're doing is stupid.
What people are doing, worshiping the black Nazarene, is stupid. It is ignorant. But I'm not saying they're ignorant.
People just naturally follow the traditions they're taught. And we were also deceived, we were also foolish before we were saved as well.
Let's just close up the chapter here, Acts 17 verse 31.
Because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, and that he hath raised him from the dead.
And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. It's like, that's ridiculous.
I mean, you believe that God died, buried, and rose again. I mean, that's dumb. It's like, you're doing the dumbest things.
And then what we believe is stupid? And yet, we give the gospel to people that mock us sometimes.
And it's like, what you believe is really stupid, and yet they mock us. And it just is what it is.
And others said, we will hear the again of this matter. So there's people that heard it, but they needed to hear more.
They didn't believe it, but they're like, this is interesting.
So Paul departed from among them. How be it, certain men clave on to them and believed.
Among them, which was Dionysus, the area pay guide, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
So in this group, I mean, people listen, a small percentage actually get saved compared to other areas, but some did get saved.
And yeah, you know what, there are a lot of people that practice idolatry, that they believe something very different from you,
and you might think, my relative is never going to get saved. But you know what, in Acts 17,
we do see that some people practicing idolatry do get saved. So don't give up on your Catholic relatives.
I mean, if they're worshiping the black Nazarene later this week, and they're really devoted to that,
that does not mean that they are a lost cause. Because you know what, a lot of us in this room used to believe some stupid things.
A lot of us were foolish in the past. A lot of us had had dumb practices. We were ignorant. We were deceived.
And why do people do these things? Because they're deceived. It's not because they're stupid.
What they're doing is stupid, but it's because they're deceived and they believe the wrong thing.
Let's go to the word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today.
And thank you for allowing us to see the word of God on this topic, God.
And I ask you to help give us the opportunity to preach the gospel to people that are practicing idolatry,
whether they're Catholic or Hindu or whatever religion it is, God. Please give us this opportunity to get people saved.
We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
All right, for our last song, let's turn our hymns to hymn number 37.
Hymn number 37, let's sing the song There'll Be No Dark Valley.
On the first.
There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes.
Together his love wants hope.
There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes.
Together his love wants hope.
There'll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes.
But a glorious sorrow when Jesus comes.
Together his love wants hope.
There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes.
Together his love wants hope.
There'll be no more weeping when Jesus comes.
When Jesus comes by the blessed repeat.
Together his love wants hope.
There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes.
Together his love wants hope.
On the last.
There'll be songs of meaning when Jesus comes.
And a joyful meeting when Jesus comes.
Together his love wants hope.
Everybody!
To gather His love, one soul
His love, one soul
There be no dark valley with Jesus
To gather His love, one soul
Brother Dangan, can you close us in a word of prayer?
Thank you, Lord, for allowing us to be in church today.
Thank you for just joining us to prove your word.
I pray you wake up this world through the sin of idolatry,
that people will worship you and Jesus Christ
and help this message to reach the whole world.
We love you, Lord, and we pray this in Jesus Christ's name.
Amen. Let's have a short break.
We love you, Lord.