Amen. Okay, we're in Isaiah chapter 44 this evening and the theme of the passage tonight is
The stupidity of idolatry the stupidity of idolatry
Obviously, we've covered the theme and the subject of idolatry pretty consistently throughout the book of Isaiah
And this is something that is just constantly coming up and it almost sounds like God is offended by idolatry
And so this is why he keeps addressing
this particular topic here.
And tonight we're gonna look at three specific things
in this chapter.
Number one is the supremacy of God.
Number two is the stupidity of idolaters.
And then number three is the song of the Lord.
So let's look at the supremacy of God first and foremost.
And what we're gonna see here in the first two verses
is that God is the one who forms
and he is the one that chooses.
It says in verse number one,
yet now here oh Jacob my servant and Israel whom I have chosen thus say the Lord that made thee
and formed thee from the womb which will help thee fear not oh jake of my servant and thou
gesture on whom I have chosen and obviously the idea here is that God is the one who created us
right he's the one who made us he's the one who fashioned us he's the one who created us what it
from the womb, which is in stark contrast
to the absurd idea of idolatry.
You know, the idol relies on the Smith to carve him.
The idol relies on the Smith to make him,
to mold him, to bring him into existence.
Whereas Christianity, biblical religion teaches
that God is the one who formed us,
not the other way around.
Whereas, you know, the God of the Bible
doesn't rely on the finite man to create him.
He's the one who made us.
He's the one that formed us.
And it makes me think of the verse in Psalm 15
where the Lord says, if I were hungry,
I would not tell thee, right?
He says, for the world does mine and the fullness thereof.
You know, God doesn't need us.
He doesn't need us so we can worship him.
He doesn't need us to make him.
He doesn't need us to essentially create him or make him.
He's already in existence.
He is the I am.
He is from everlasting.
He's the one who created us.
Whereas idols on the other hand require the maker requires the person to make them another thing that I want you to know
regarding these two verses
is the fact that it says here that God formed him from the womb.
Now who is he referring to specifically?
Well obviously in general he's referring to the nation of Israel.
He's addressing the nation of Israel.
But he uses the phrase Jacob.
And obviously Jacob was an actual person that existed at one point.
And from him come the 12 tribes which initially comes the nation of Israel.
And that's who he's actually talking about here.
He's talking about Jacob.
He formed Jacob from the womb it says.
What this shows is that God recognizes the existence of Jacob before his birth, right? In other words, you know, Jacob was not a clump of sales
He's not just some fetus with no soul. He's actually a person that existed from the womb
Okay, you know, he's a living human being
According to God's standard and you know the Bible teaches us that life begins at conception
You know a lot of people today want to say that no it's just a clump of cells just a fetus
And they say things like this in order to justify murder what they would call abortion, but abortion is murder
Whereas the biblical teaching on this is that life begins at conception.
We see that here in Isaiah 44, but let me read to you from Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse number 4,
where God is speaking to Jeremiah.
It says, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee.
And before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctify thee and ordain thee a prophet unto the nations.
We can see here in Jeremiah chapter 1 that God already had a plan for Jeremiah before even forming him in the womb of his mother.
Before creating him, before forming him, before he even came out of the womb, there was already a purpose laid out for him in this life.
being. It also says in Psalm 138 verse 13, for that was possessed my reigns thou hast covered me
in my mother's womb. I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvelous all
thy works and that my soul I know knoweth right well. It also says in Luke chapter one
And verse 41 referring to John the Baptist it says and it came to pass when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary
The babe referring to John the Baptist
Leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost and of course he was named John even prior to
Him being born that was the name that was going to be sanctioned for him to have so this is showing us that God
views people as human beings not just after the womb but obviously even prior to them being born
and even before they even formed in the womb he sees them as a living human being and obviously
he's referring to Jacob but he's addressing the nation of Israel as a whole look at verse number
and floods upon the dry ground.
I will pour my spirit upon thy seed
and my blessing upon thine offspring.
And this shall spring up as among the grass
and willows by the water courses.
One shall say I am the Lord's
and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob.
And another shall subscribe with his hand
into the Lord and surname himself by the name of Israel.
Now, the first thing I want you to notice here
is verse number three.
It says that God's gonna pour water upon him that is thirsty.
And obviously if you've read the Bible for any length of time, this is very much reminiscent
to what?
Salvation, right?
God pouring salvation unto the world via the Holy Ghost, of course, that is symbolic
right there.
And he's saying that he's going to pour water on him that is thirsty, floods upon the dry
ground.
Now, what this reminds me of is the story in John chapter 4.
remember when Jesus Christ is talking to the woman at the well who is a
Samaritan woman he comes to her asking for water now obviously he's literally
thirsty but he's gonna use this interaction in order to communicate a
very important prominent spiritual truth regarding salvation because he asks
her for a drink of water and she's kind of you know she's kind of taken back by
that because he's a Jew
by ethnicity and of course she's a Samaritan woman and the cultural context of the day
is that they don't really intermingle. They don't like really having fellowship with
one another. The Jews don't really look lightly upon the Samaritans and so she's kind of shocked
that he's even talking to her. And of course he responds to her, you know, if thou knew
as the gift of God and who it is to say to thee, give me to drink, that would have asked
of him and he would have given thee living water. In other words, he's saying, you know,
But if you knew who's talking to you meaning the word of God made flesh you would have say hey forget this whole thing about physical water
You know give me some living water. Give me salvation. Give me eternal life, right?
That's what he's referring to and then he goes on to say you know in verse 13
He said whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again
That's pretty interesting that he says that because he's obviously referring to the actual physical water that's there
But you know we can apply that to pretty much everything when it comes to salvation, right?
Like whoever drinks of this water referring to false religion
Whoever drinks of this water referring to your works whoever drinks of this water referring to your obedience to his command
You know what that person shall thirst again
You know a person can rely and depend on false religion and quite frankly
They can drink of the fountains of false doctrine of this world and even possibly have a quenching of their thirst
Temporarily right you know some person can join some community. They can join some false cult
They can join the Mormons. They can join the Jehovah's Witnesses and quite frankly they can create that illusion
that their thirst is being quenched, right?
Oh man, I just feel the presence of God here, you know?
I just feel so good and I feel like God is in this place
and I feel a burning in the bosom.
And I feel like God is being with me
and he's blessing me with this.
And they might even feeling a quenching of that spiritual
thirst that they have.
But let's just be real honest, they will thirst again, right?
There's plenty of people that use false religion as a way to quench their thirst.
They use works, they use philanthropy as a way to quench their thirst.
And in fact, in this context, there's people in this world that use idols to quench their
thirst.
And, you know, the consistency of religious rights of worshiping these idols,
giving offerings to these idols, and what are they doing?
They're just constantly seeking to quench their thirst for eternal life.
But quite frankly, the fact that they have to keep doing it over and over and over again shows what?
It shows that they shall thirst again.
Whereas, the water is springing up to everlasting life.
Which is the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, once you believe on Jesus Christ, you'll never thirst again
You know once you get saved and you believe on Jesus Christ, you know what you'll never have that longing to be saved
You know, I had that longing 18 years ago when I was just seeking after
salvation and how to be saved and how to have my sins forgiven past present and future and there's that thirst
There's that longing for the truth, right? And it's a scary position to be in
Looking for the truth because you just don't know what's right. You don't know what's true
And it's almost as if you're gonna go from one church to the next and they have this, you know bottled water of
False religion and they're like, oh, yeah, this is this will quench your thirst repent of your sins
This will quench your thirst. You got to keep God's commandments here. This will quench your thirst, you know
Just do works meet for repentance
This will quench your thirst baptism
And then you drink and it's just like I'm still thirsty though like I'm not sure if I'm saved
But once you get the clear-cut gospel though
Right that salvation is by grace through faith not of works. Let's say the man should boast that it's the gift of God
That it's not by works of righteousness, which we have done but according to his mercy
He saved us once you drink that living water, you know, you just never thirst for that salvation ever again
And here I am 18 years later, and I'm not like let me get some of that more without water because I just don't know if I'm saved
You know, I just wonder if I'm saved or not. No, that thirst was quenched 18 years ago
I'm never thirsting again. The only thing I thirst for now is just knowledge of the Word of God, right?
And knowledge of the Bible, knowledge of what the Word of God teaches and the doctrines of God and you know
the work of God, but as far as you know the quenching that thirst for salvation is no longer there.
And that's why he says who serve a drink of the water that I shall give him shall be in him a water
A well of water springing up to everlasting life in other words once you have this
You know out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water
This he's made concerning the Holy Ghosts which they didn't believe on him should should receive right and so though the water
It represents the Holy Spirit it also just represents salvation because they're kind of synonymous, right?
You know once you get saved
You're thirst is quench for salvation, but you also receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, right?
That's one of the, what we would say like the confirmations of salvation is the fact that you're
dwelled and sealed with the Holy Ghost in whom you also trusted. After that you heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed you were sealed with the
And so that is the blessing of drinking of this water and you know God is saying here in Isaiah 44
That he's gonna pour that water to those who are thirsty and it's not just the Israelites
It's not just of those of Judah, you know Gentiles are also thirsting after salvation
They also want the waters of of springing up to everlasting life
And so this promise is not just to those of Judah and Jerusalem
Israel it's to just the whole world the Bible also says in Revelation 7 verse 16
They shall hunger no more
Neither thirst anymore neither shall the Sun light on them nor any heat for the land
Which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of water and God shall wipe away
All tears from their eyes Revelation 22 verse 17 says in the spirit and the bride say come and
Let him that heareth say come
And let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely the Bible says
So here in Revelation 44 we see that beautiful calling here that promise
That he is going to quench the thirst of a lost and dying world that is seeking
Salvation, but we also see here in
Verse number five it says one shall say I am the Lord's
And another shall call himself by it's just a train call himself it could sound a little crazy sometimes
Get used to it and another shock. It's almost as if we need a new building
No, and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob. It says now
That's pretty interesting is it not because what is it implying here? He's saying that once a person receives the water
That will quench the thirst
They are going to subscribe to the name of Israel right now. Why is that significant?
Well because of the fact that according to the New Testament
Once a person believes on Jesus Christ regardless of their ethnic background
They become a part of the Israel of God become the chosen people of God right and
We can say
Just like it says here in the verse that we shall call ourselves by the name of Jacob and who's the name of Jacob's referring to Israel
Okay, now in Romans chapter 9 of verse 6
It tells us not as though the word of God had taken an effect for they are not all Israel
Which are of Israel and what does that refer to it's referring to the fact that?
Based upon what God states he's saying that those of the nation of Israel there are some who are actual Israelites
But not everyone who is in that physical nation of Israel is of Israel. Why well because not everyone in there saved
And so God only recognizes regenerated Israelites as being true Israelites.
Whereas the other Israelites who are only Israelites ethnically,
they don't count according to God.
Now they count to the dispensationalists.
They count to the people who worship Jews, they count to the people who believe that the Jews are God's chosen people even though they broke that covenant.
They count to them, but you know what? That doesn't matter in God's eyes.
And God's eyes, the only ones who count as the spiritual Israel are those who are believed on Christ.
And in fact it goes on to say in verse number 7 of Romans 9,
neither because they are of the seat of Abraham.
What does that refer to? The physical descendants of Abraham.
Are they the children? Are they all children? But in Isaac shall thy seed be called and
We obviously know that according to Galatians chapter 3
That if we are Christ then are we Abraham seed and heirs according to the promise
So you can see how this passage in Isaiah 44
Matches those of the New Testament because once they are quenched by that water they shall say
I am the Lord's right. I belong into God. I am a child of God. I am part of the people of God
And we shall call ourselves by the name of Jacob referring to Israel, you know
We are the true people of God and it could be folks that you know
Obviously we believe in replacement theology, but it almost seems as though that other side is dying out a little bit
You know just like the pre-tribbers are kind of dying out
I think also those who believe that the Jews are God's chosen people that group is dwindling quite a bit now
You know why is that well because people are seeing the fraud of that's the fake nation of Israel
They see the fraud of
You know, the of Judaism and not only that, you know, they have the Internet where a lot of preaching a lot of information is available
And they're starting to realize oh man, we're the people of God if we believe on Christ
And so, you know, this is the fulfillment of that promise and praise God for that and this is another show subscribe with his hand into the Lord and surname himself by the name of Israel and I do believe that is a fulfillment of the fact that believers are claiming to be the people of God.
Because we are and in fact, you know first John 3 one pretty famous verse
Behold what manner of love the father had bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God
And don't let anybody fool you into thinking well
There's a difference between being a child of God and the people of God
You know a child of God are those who get saved the people of God as the physical nation of Israel
No, those are both used interchangeably in the new testament
Plain and simple you can read all of Romans chapter 9 and come to that conclusion that the people of God are children of God
You can't separate the two and let me just tell you right now that God doesn't send his people to hell
Okay, and so you know there is the children of the kingdom
According to Jesus Christ and according to the Bible the children of the king not the children of God
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness
Or there shall be weeping and willing and ashen of teeth
So that is a biblical title to use for those who are of Israel, but
Physically, but are not saved. They are the children of the kingdom. Okay, but of course, they're not saved and
so beautiful verse there to
Highlight the fact that future Gentiles who are believers will become a people of God and they'll ascribe themselves as being a part of that
Nation look at verse number six. We're gonna see the preeminence of God here. He says does say the Lord
Does say the Lord the king of Israel and his redeeming the Lord of hosts
I am the first and the last and beside me. There is no other God
There is no God and who as I shall call and shall declare it
And said in order for me since I appointed the ancient people and the things that are coming and shall come
Let them show unto them
Fear not and neither be afraid have not I told thee from the from that time and have declared it
You are my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? Yeah, there is no God. I know not any
He's basically establishing the fact that he is preeminent above all
Of course, we're referring to lower case G and he says there in verse number six that he is the first and the last
Just as Jesus Christ in Revelation one calls himself the alpha and the omega the first and the last
Meaning he doesn't need anybody to create him
He is the one from the very beginning from everlasting who created all things and he is also the last look at verse nine
So that is the supremacy of God kind of establishing his preeminence among the people among all creation
Now we're gonna look at the stupidity of idolaters
And you may think, well, that's kind of harsh, you know, calling idolaters stupid, but you know, that's basically what it is, though, okay?
And once you read this chapter and this passage, you'll come to realize, oh, yeah, that is pretty stupid, you know?
First of all, let's look at the fact that idolaters are oblivious of the shame to come.
It says in verse 9,
They are their own witnesses. They see not nor know that they may be ashamed. So what do we see here?
We see that he's addressing those who actually create idols these graven images and
He's basically saying that men who make graven images are a testament to how unprofitable
Idols are in other words. They are their own witnesses. Why well because graven images have never led their followers
Graven images can't lead the people who worship them.
You know why? Because they can't impart wisdom.
They can't impart knowledge.
They can't give wisdom, prudence, knowledge.
And in fact, they can't even foresee the future
or even chronicle the past.
A graven image, a physical idol,
can do nothing but just stand there.
Right? I mean, think about that.
So this man of skill...
This man of great skill who's able to create this image create this idol
Can't come to the conclusion that what he just made can do nothing profitable for him
right
idols cannot see or know
Nor feel shame because they are inanimate objects and
So God is trying to reason with Judah and say look, you know these men who are creating this they're they're full of vanity
Now, what does vanity mean? Well, vanity means emptiness and
So what he's saying here is you know, you're so skillful in making these idols
But yet at the end of the day you're still like dumb
You're empty your vein because as skillful as you are to create these by the world standards
masterpieces of idols of art or whatever
You're still so empty in your mind you don't realize that what you just made is just completely unprofitable.
It's not going to help you anything. It's not going to give you knowledge. It's not going to give you wisdom.
It's not going to give you prudence. It can't tell the future for you. It can't even chronicle the past.
It can't do anything for you, but just stand there and look at you and that's it.
He says in verse 10,
Who hath formed a God or a molten or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
Behold all his fellow shall be ashamed and the workmen they are of men.
Let them all be gathered together. Let them stand up yet. They shall fear and they shall be ashamed
Together and you say look, you know, you're putting all this work to creating this this idol here, but
Because they can't do anything for you, you're essentially going to be ashamed at the very end when you realize that.
Idolaters are oblivious, are often oblivious, to the nonsensical practice of idol worship.
And I know I get on this a lot, but it's important, especially because the chapter is talking about it,
that, you know, the most notorious of these people is the Roman Catholic Church.
Because the Roman Catholic Church is a den of idolatry.
They're filled with idol worship.
And, you know, and obviously, you know,
when you talk to these Gen Z-er type, you know, Catholics,
they'll often say, that's not an idol, that's Jesus.
You know, that's not an idol, that's Mary.
That's not an idol, that's Joseph.
That's not an idol, that's a saint.
And how they justify their idolatry, aside from the fact
that they call it veneration, which is synonymous with idolatry
according to biblical standards, how they justify it is say,
well, an idol is pagan.
So they only essentially categorize idolatry
as that which comes from pagan countries, pagan religions,
not associated with Christianity.
So to them, you know, you can mold or make a graven image and if it's Jesus, then it's not an idol. It's no longer an idol
What is it? It's a divine representation of God. Okay, that's what they think they're like
This is not an idol is Jesus, you know, we're worshiping God worshiping Jesus
And he said, well, are you worshiping Mary?
He said, no, no, we're venerating Mary.
We're venerating the saints.
We're worshiping Jesus.
We're venerating the saints or whatever.
But here's the thing is that a graven image
by biblical standards is anything
that is graven of that which is in heaven above
or earth beneath.
Because when you read the standards in Exodus chapter 20,
God specifically says, don't make any graven image
of anything that is in earth or that is in heaven above.
And I don't know if you know this.
But God is in heaven above
He resides in it Jesus is in heaven
God is in heaven and let me just tell you every saint is in heaven as well
So according to Exodus chapter 20 verse 4
God prohibits making any graven image of
any saint or of the Godhead that's in heaven
And here's what a lot of Catholics will say.
They will say, oh man, wait till he finds out
that he has all these pictures of his family in his home.
Because they think like, what we mean by that
is like an image, like a picture or something, right?
Now obviously, people can make pictures idols,
you know, i.e. the Orthodox Church,
where they have these images and pictures
and they actually worship them as idols, right?
Because when we talk about idol worship,
it's not just referring to graven images, molten images.
It's also referring to that which you bow down to, OK?
And you kiss.
And you ascribe divinity towards, right?
And the Orthodox Church does that a lot.
So even though they're not necessarily
worshiping an actual graven image,
they have all types of quote unquote images
that they worship, which would fall into the category
of idolatry.
And of course we know that the New Testament talks about the fact that covetousness is idolatry.
So the scope of idolatry spans from what?
Worshipping literally a graven or molten image bowing down before it, okay?
But it also talks about the fact that something that you put before God,
you know, mammon, unrighteous mammon, can be your master.
At that point that becomes an idol, right?
Which is why the New Testament refers to a covetousness as idolatry because there's people who worship money
Right, and that's what he says. No man can serve two masters and the two masters that he's referring to
He's referring to God, but he's also referring to money
So, you know, we need to be careful as Christians to make sure that yeah
We condemn the molten image the graven image, but in like manner we also condemn
The secondary idols that the Bible highlights, which is money and things that we put before God,
understand, things that you're actually putting at more preeminent than the Lord, right?
But probably the most severe and grievous of all idols is the Graven image,
is the molten image, because that's the one that's actually mentioned in Exodus chapter 20 verse number 4.
And so, yeah, they can say, well, a picture, you know?
Yeah, but here's the difference.
You know, I have a picture of my family in my living room,
and you could put a camera there.
I'm not there like,
mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm.
That would be idle, that'd be idolatry.
You know, the last time I checked,
my wife's not putting candles
and giving offerings to the pictures there, right?
Last time I checked, we're not like putting,
making an altar before the images.
The Bible is fine with pictures, the Bible is not fine with graven images, you understand?
And that's the part they like to remove when they'd like to debate this is the graven part.
Something that's molten or graven carved out of wood and brass and gold and silver in order
to create an image.
They like to stay away from that definition, but that's literally what Exodus 20 verse 4 says they what they do
Is they try to gaslight you and say oh, man, but so you're against pictures
Well, if you're first of all if you're bowing down to that picture and kissing it and doing all kinds of work and offering oranges
And grapes and candles to it. Yeah, I'm against it. That's weird
Okay, and that's idolatry
But let's
Get off the image aspect of it. Let's just talk about graven image
Something that's actually carved out that you're bowing down before
Okay, and they're like well. Yeah, but nowhere in the Bible does it really forbid us to make a graven image or a statute of Jesus
Who has gotten watch you know, I does though. I actually does
So you're violating that for sure. Let me read to you from Deuteronomy 4 verse 15
And listen very closely Deuteronomy 4 15 says take ye therefore good heat unto yourselves
For ye saw no manner of similitude
Let me repeat that no manner of similitude on the date that the Lord spake unto you in whore of out of the midst of the fire
So what is he saying? He's like you better be careful because when I spoke to you from Mount
Whoreb out of the fire you didn't see my face
He says you saw no manner of similitude meaning you didn't see what I look like
So what does he get? What is he telling him to take good heat to?
He says lest he corrupt yourselves and make you a graven image
The similitude of any figure the likeness of male or female and it's in context of them not beholding to the similitude of God in
Horrib when he spoke to them out of the fire
So what is he basically saying in Deuteronomy? He's saying, hey, you better be careful that you start making graven images of God
Since you don't know what God looks like
Right
Yeah, but we know what Jesus looks like though, you know, we we know exactly what he looked no you don't
You know the one of the biggest gaslighting lies of the Catholic Church is that Jesus some Caucasian dude with long hair and a dress
He's from the Middle East and
If you if I were to ask you what did Jews look like back in those days?
Even all even the Roman Catholic Church would basically point to just dark-skinned people from the desert
But when it comes to Jesus he looks different than them
Wrong because according to the Bible Jesus basically look like every other Jew
This is why when he was persecuted or when he would preach and he would take off the Pharisees
You know he can just kind of hide in the crowd because he just looked like every other one
You know, and I'm not one to call a man beautiful. Okay
But you know when you look at that image of the Roman Catholic Church the guy looks kind of beautiful, right?
He just looks a little too perfect
Can right?
He's got like panting, provie hair, right?
Just like rosy cheeks.
Just like he's been mewing the whole time.
And he's really soft.
He's just like, you know, that would stand out in the crowd.
And he's always really tall.
And he has his heart protruding out of his chest
for whatever reason.
That kind of stands out a little bit in the crowd, OK?
Whereas the Bible literally says that he has no cumbliness that we should desire him
Okay
He's basically saying like there's nothing about him. That's physically attractive
Sorry to ruin it for you know these Lib Christians that want to make Jesus out to be the most handsome
Well according to biblical standards, he wasn't cumbly
The Bible says
He humbled himself so much to the point where he just basically took on the form of every other regular human being.
You couldn't distinguish him between other people. He looked exactly the same like everyone else.
And so, you know, that's why the shroud of Turin is also garbage and false and stupid, because that image looks exactly like the Roman Catholic image.
And if Jesus had long hair, he's an abomination, right?
Because he's going against his own biblical teachings that does not nature teach you that if a man have long hair
It's a shame unto him. Okay, and it would essentially
state that Jesus Christ was not under God the father's authority
Since a man having long hair is essentially saying that you're not under biblical authority
And I can go on and on about that the point that I'm making here is the fact that you know people can say well
Yeah, we we we're worshiping this statue because it's Jesus
So that's not the same thing as worshiping tonight or because this is actually Jesus
well
You don't know what Jesus looks like and even if you did the Bible still forbids you to make any graven image of anything in heaven above
And pray tell point out a verse in the New Testament which they can't
Point out a verse in the New Testament and there's plenty of verses to talk about worship in the New Testament by the way
But show me an example in the New Testament where someone is actually fallen down before an idol not a person
Because there's plenty examples of people falling down before an idol before a person like Peter and Peter just doesn't stand up
But give me an example of someone doing what the Roman Catholic Church does to those idols in the New Testament. You're not gonna find it
Not gonna find it
All we see is the condemnation from the apostles and of Jesus Christ to idol worship
Okay, of the pagans and so if this was such a big deal to God making these idols of the Godhead
Why don't we see why don't we see Jesus commissioning that?
Why don't we see him telling his disciples? Hey go make these graven images of me and worship me
No, the Bible actually says they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth
not in idolatry and
He could have slipped that in he could have said hey, they didn't worship me must worship me in this image right here
You know and and do the rosary or whatever
He didn't say that he's a spirit and in truth and
So, you know did this whole excuse of well, it's not idolatry because we're actually worshiping Jesus
You know there's another example of people who did that in the Old Testament too, right?
You have the nation of Israel when Moses is in the mount and he creates a golden calf
And he says what?
These be thy gods which deliver thee out of Egypt
And he says tomorrow shall be a feast unto the Lord. He says
So there you're using the golden calf as a means to worship God
That's what they're doing. They're using the golden calf
as a way to substitute worshiping God.
And they claim, oh, no, we're worshiping God.
Because they know that God is the one who delivered them
out of the hand of Egypt.
Yet, Aaron is saying, these be thy gods,
which delivered thee from the land of Egypt.
And what did God do?
Oh, it's still worshiping me.
I know what they meant.
Our Roman brothers, they're still,
I still think they're saved.
You know, no he actually Moses actually went down there meld to the gold straw it and made them swallow it
And it wasn't like five guys either
You know Moses like literally tore it down, you know cuz Aaron was such a weak leader
He's all I threw it into the fire and then this came out
And then Moses just melted it and he made them drink it and even after he made them drink it
He basically said like who's on my side and everyone came to his side. He told them
All right now everyone slay your brothers who was like guilty of this idol worship
He's like kill them too, you know and obviously
The Israelites drinking of the melted gold is a picture of people drinking of the wrath of God, right?
And pouring his wrath upon people, making them drink of it.
And so that's a perfect example of the fact that God does not accept worship from people who are bowing down before an idol and subscribing that to God.
So people can be bowing down before Jesus at the Catholic Church. God sees that as idolatry
According to the Exodus account according to Exodus 20 verse 4 according to Deuteronomy plain and simple
And look if you have an idol in your house
And so I feel like I got to say this every once in a while because last time my priest is and there's people who went home
And threw away they still had idols and they threw it away and praise God for that amen
Destroy those things and I don't think like if you have an idol in your home like you know
You're gonna be like there's some like demon like messing with your head and like
Scratching your back or whatever
You know doing all these weird stuff because the Bible says that we know that an idol isn't anything
right
Idol is nothing in the world, you know, it doesn't this is it's an inanimate object
But that's not to say that God can't punish you for having idols in your house, okay?
Whether Christian or not
Okay, you know pagan idols obviously is off the table, but so is Christian idols, you know
Saints or whatever and things that people keep around for
Sentimental sake like oh man my my great-grandmother who was a Roman Catholic she gave this to me
I don't worship it. I just keep it right because it reminds me of her go burn that thing smash it destroy it
And so you know and this is why God's rebuking them he's saying look
You know so nonsensical that you would spend so much time and effort and molding engraving this image and
Yet it can do nothing for you didn't what did it profit you nothing
Look at verse 12. He goes on with this and he begins to talk about the uselessness
The useless labor of making idols, okay?
He's basically expounding on how absurd it is for people to make idols look what it says in verse 12
the Smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals and
Fashioneth it with hammers and worketh it with the strength of his arms. Yeah, he is hungry and his strength faileth
He drinking no water in his faint
So you're saying look, you know that the Smith comes and he's working hard at making the idols
He's graven in he's trying to fashion it all the while. He's hungry
You know, he gets tired. He needs to drink water. He's faint. What does that mean?
It's like the idol you're making can't even like sustain you throughout this process
Whereas what does the Bible tell us, you know, seek you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and these things shall be added unto you
You know serving God actually causes us to be fulfilled not just spiritual, but even physically like God pays our bills
He provides food. He provides the rain. He provides the manna
He provides the quail. He provides everything that we need to sustain our life because he's the owner of all of it
Whereas the guy who's fashioning the idol. He's like, oh man, I'm hungry. It's like well. Why don't you ask your idol to feed you then?
Because he can't feed you
He says a verse 13 to carpenter stretch it out this rule
He markets it out with the line. He fitted it with planes
He markets it out with the compass and make it that after the figure of a man
According to the beauty of a man that it may remain in the house
he heweth it excuse me he heweth him down cedars and
Take it the cypress and the oak which he strengthened it for himself among the trees of the forest
He planted an ash and the rain doth nourish it.
So he's talking about this process
that this man goes to, just to create this idol.
He says in verse 15,
then shall it be for a man to burn.
For he would take thereof and warm himself. Yeah, he kindled with it and bakeeth bread
Yeah, he maketh the God and worshipeth it and he maketh it a graven image and fall it down there, too
So in other words, what is he saying the idol maker has more power than the idol itself?
He puts all this work to create an idol even to the point where you know, he's breaking down the cedar
He's like all this will make a great God and then he's throwing that into the fire to warm himself
Right he started on the fire to warm himself. He's doing all this stuff. He's kindling he's baking bread
He's making his own food and then like he feeds himself
He's able to warm himself. He's able to feed himself and it doesn't come across like hey
Don't you think like your idol should be doing this for you?
You have more authority more power than this stupid idol and then once he's done with all that what does he do?
He falls down and he worships it
It's absurd
Says of verse 16. He burned his part thereof in the fire
With part thereof he eat flesh. He roasteth roast and is satisfied
Yeah, he warmeth himself and say, aha, I am warm. I have seen the fire
In other words, he takes better care of himself than the idol takes care of
Someone should come to and say, hey, do you think you would have all this without the idol?
Like if we remove the idol out of the picture, can you still warm yourself?
Can you still feed yourself and the answer would be yes?
Now this kind of shows us also that God is very gracious and merciful even to the idolaters sometimes
Because he's warming himself. He's feeding himself. He's quenching his thirst
But who is it really coming from? It's coming from God because he said he sent it the rain on the just as well as the unjust
I mean there's tons of people all around the world who are idol worshipers
They're devil worshipers and just the mere fact that their breathing is accredited to God's power allowing them to have that
They're breathing God's air
They're eating the cattle that belong to God
So this man is taking better care of himself than the idol is verse 17 and the residue thereof he maketh the God
Even his graven image. He falleth down unto it and worshipeth it and prayeth unto it and sayeth
Some of this deliver me for thou art my God
So as efficient as the idolatry is in nourishing himself
He lacks the common sense to discard the idol
And this is what this passage is telling us here. He's saying, you know, how stupid is it to worship an idol?
When the man himself who's making it is able to sustain himself by the God-given skills that you know the Lord gave him
To carve things out to system. He gave him a brain. He gave him strength. He gave him skill of hand
He gave him knowledge of how to take care of himself yet in spite of all that
He what does he do? He carves the image and he says please deliver me
It's just like technically you can kind of deliver yourself just by physical sustenance. You can just kind of help yourself
You don't even need the idol
What is it showing is showing us the idiocy of idolatry and he restates this in verse 18
He says in verse 18, they have not known nor understand for he hath shut their eyes that they cannot see in their hearts
They cannot understand, you know, you think of like again going back to the Catholics
But going just back to like Buddhist and Hindus, you know, you can look at them and say man, they're blind
Right because they they're just not saved. They're worshiping cows
They're worshiping
demonic-looking images that just give you nightmares. They don't realize how evil and wicked it is
But how much more the Catholics when they have access to the Bible?
Where they claim credit for the Bible that tells them not to do the things that they're doing
And you like and and I've been down this road where I think to myself. How can these people?
literally just go and start contrast to the Bible.
How can they contradict the Word of God so much
to the point where they just ignore Exodus chapter 20 verse 4?
They just ignore all the passages on idolatry.
They just ignore all the warnings and all the prohibitions against idolatry.
How can it be? I'll tell you how.
They have not known or understand, for he has shut their eyes
that they cannot see.
and their hearts that they cannot understand.
You know, I've said this before, and I'll say it again,
being a Catholic is a punishment from God.
Catholicism is a punishment from God
to anyone who just completely rejects the word of God.
You know how severe that punishment is?
Is that they literally claim they gave us this Bible,
the Bible that literally just condemns their entire religion,
explicitly.
How can it be? I'll tell you how they're blind. They can't understand
And you know Catholics will go to hell
You know Protestants are such weak
Opponents of the Catholics. They're the wicked. They're they always they always kiss rear end and
a bunch of brown-osers
To the Roman Catholics, you know what I'm talking about if you see this online you see it all the time
You know Protestants are constantly kissing up to Catholics. They're just yeah, I don't I can't say they're not saved
You know based upon what the Bible says, I think they're they're not saved
Just say it. They're not saved
You know, I want to really know, you know, if they're not really saved or not folks every Catholic if they have not placed our faith
Exclusively on Jesus Christ for salvation will burn in hell
It's not hard to say that we see it according to the Bible and you know what?
Woe unto the Catholic that lifts up their eyes and hell and realizes all of it was in vain
You know, you're like wow, it's purgatory really this hot
Wow purgatory it's taking a long time for people to pray me out. I'll tell you why because you're not getting out
Yeah, but there's more Catholics than there are Baptist of course because broad is the way
that lead to destruction, meaning their beat which go in there at.
So you have the Catholics outnumber us?
Of course they do.
Folks, people in hell outnumber the people in heaven!
Did you know that?
There's more people in hell than there are people in heaven.
Because straight is the way narrow is the way which leads them to life
and few there be that find it.
So next time you see a Catholic, you know, who's just staunch Catholic and they're just they're just you know
Stubborn and they can't see it. Just remember this verse right here. Oh, it's because they shut their eyes
They cannot see and their hearts that they cannot understand
He says the verse 19 none considerate than his heart
Neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say I have burnt part of it in the fire
What he's saying is like, you know the guy who's making the idol
Like he doesn't understand like oh, man. I just burned some of my God
Right because he's saying like they don't have the knowledge or understanding to say I have burned part of it in the fire
Like oh stink. I just I just burned my deity
It's just like oh, oh throw some more of that wood in there if you could I'm a little I'm a little cold
Oh, it's just like if you throw this it'll also, you know warm you up, too
Your God and your idol has as much power as that piece of wood you just threw in the fire
He says neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say I've burned part of it in the fire. Yay. Also, I have baked
Bread upon the coals thereof. I have roasted flesh and eaten it and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination
That's hilarious. What's he saying?
No, let me finish it shall I fall down to the stock of a tree in other words
He's saying like you know after everything is said and done
You know, he's warmed himself
He's cooked his meal, you know, he roasted the flesh. He's eating it and now there's a little bit of wood left
He's like oh, should I make an abomination with this or what?
And then fall down and worship it. What is it? What is doing? He's highlighting the idiocy of idolatry
He's grabbing the residue of what if what he's used to nourish himself in order to make an idol
To worship and ask please deliver me
He says in verse 20 he feedeth on ashes a deceived heart hath turned him aside that he cannot deliver his soul nor save
Is there not a lie in my right hand?
So this passage is basically made to highlight the blindness of the idolater that just cannot see
beyond the church fathers.
Cannot see beyond the pope. Cannot see beyond tradition.
Because, you know, we look at the idolaters of the Roman Catholic Church and we say, man, that's stupid.
You know, by the way, how about this? You know, how about the Eucharist?
To eat and then they ask it deliver me
It's like do you not see how dumb that is and he's just like well, you know that this you have to be say
You know the way you can be saved by participating in the Eucharist in the mass
And like then why do you have to do it every single Sunday?
So you're literally claiming that Jesus Christ is that little cracker a little wafer and
It's that one is to say it is Jesus
And you think to yourself
You've been deceived your heart has turned aside
You cannot deliver yourself and yes, there is a lie in your right hand. They're blind. Look at verse 21
Says remember these oh Jacob and Israel for thou art my servant I have formed thee
He's like remember this the next time you're tempted to worship an idol just remember this you form them
But I formed thee I made you
Okay, it's common sense thou are my servant of Israel thou shall not be forgotten of me
I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a thick cloud thy sins returning to me for I have
Redeemed thee he goes on to talk about how he created all things in verse 23 and 24
It says seeing oh ye heavens for the Lord have done it
Shout ye lower parts of the earth break forth into singing the mountains of forest and every tree therein for the Lord
That's redeemed Jacob and glorified himself in Israel. Let's say the Lord thy Redeemer and he that again
Form the from the womb. I am the Lord that maketh all things that stretches forth the heavens alone that spread at the broad
The earth by myself. What is he emphasizing here? He's saying, you know
You're spending all this time forming
Molting making these images and you're not looking to your Creator who actually formed you made you and so forth
Verse 25 says that frustrated the tokens of the liars and make it the diviners mad
that turn its wise men backward
and make it their knowledge foolish.
So not only is God able to provide for his people,
to protect his people,
but he's even able to make people go through states of psychosis.
It goes beyond just forming the man. He can actually create delusions. He could also destroy the wicked
He can make people who are wise and smart
intelligible and knowledgeable to go backwards and make them sound stupid
So he's able to just kind of like you know go beyond what any human being can ever do
He's able to go through the inner recesses of the heart
He's also able to predict the future events with accuracies is a verse 26 that confirm it the word of a servant
And perform at the council of his messengers that say to Jerusalem thou shall be inhabited and to the cities of Judah
Ye shall be built and I will raise up the decayed places thereof that say to the deep be dry and I will dry up the rivers
So he's able to provide he's able to protect
he's able to cause people to go through states of psychosis and
Destroy their knowledge and their wisdom and bring it to naught, but he's also able to predict future events
He say he could say look I'm gonna rebuild your city, and it's gonna happen. No word shall fall to the ground. I
Can raise it up the decayed places I can cause the dry places to become
You know filled with water or he can also dry up the deep and the rivers as well
And along with that he's able to predict future Kings by name verse 28
That's safe of Cyrus who's King of Persia
He is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure
Even saying to Jerusalem that shall be built into the temple thy foundation shall be laid now
That's powerful there because you know we can obviously see that God is able to do all things
He's able to provide, protect, he can foretell the future.
He can chronicle the past with accuracy.
He can confound the wicked.
He can cause those who claim to be wise in this world and bring their knowledge to naught.
But he's also able to predict the future with accuracy and even call out names because Cyrus
So, obviously, you have diviners, you have stargazers
that claim to be able to tell the future.
Palm readers that can claim to look at the grooves in your hand
and say, you're going to be rich.
Everyone wants to hear that.
I see great future ahead of you.
Yeah, that's what everyone wants to hear.
I see you're, oh, oh, you're a businessman.
You know, you could have saved money and just broken a fortune cookie and it could have told you that
When people just communicate success vaguely that's easy
But when the God of the Bible says no Cyrus is gonna come and that's his name. That's different. All right
He is predicting the future with accuracy and look folks. That's what diviners and stargazers do. Anyways, what do they do?
They pretend to be able to predict the future, but all they're doing is just giving you vague
Illustrations things that could happen mimicking that which God has done
But they can never predict the future with accuracy and look, you know, you can go through the Bible and see this with what the
magicians
The Stargazers under Pharaoh under Nebuchadnezzar he had a dream both of them had dreams and none of them can interpret the dream
Why because our phonies their charlatans they cannot see the inner recesses of the mind or the heart
They can't see those things whereas God can say Cyrus and by the way God is saying this but he's saying this to who the prophet Isaiah
He's using the human instrument to say and look Isaiah's like I don't know. He just said Cyrus
You know, I don't know who that is, but that's the name, you know
Cyrus King of Persia apparently he's gonna deliver and you know what? It did come to pass one of the most notable
Kings not just in the Bible, but even throughout history Cyrus King of Persia
and so what is he doing here what he's been doing over the last couple of
chapters is just essentially destroying the reputation of the idols of the land
and exalting his power his preeminence and obviously we don't struggle with
idolatry in our church or in our country per se the way the nation of Israel did
but you know what you could as a Christian depend on something else more
than God though right
On your own power, on your own ability, your own skill, your own knowledge.
You know, you could depend on money, as most people do.
Rely on wealth, rely on riches, and put those things before God.
But you know, we need to remind ourselves of the power of the Lord.
who has far more power and capability
and supernatural ability to deliver you,
to provide for you by just putting him first.
And that is the theme of just our lives as Christians
is like, who are we gonna depend on more?
The Lord or fill in the blank?
Right?
When we're going through a time of financial crisis,
who are we going to depend on more?
God or fill in the blank?
And obviously, over these next four years,
not many people are going to experience financial crisis
because Trump is president, amen?
He's going to boost the economy.
But you know that's going to cause people to do
is rely on the arm of the flesh more than on God.
Times of prosperity has never helped Christians,
in general, as a whole.
Just cause people to just be more reliant upon their resources their jobs or whatever rather than on God
And so though we do not struggle with the physical idol
There are still idols that Christians can often combat with because they are relying on that
Mammon more than on the master himself. And so let's pray father. We thank you so much for your word and
Thank you for laying out the stupidity and idiocy of
Idols and idol worship
Help us also to apply that to ourselves Lord, and whether it's
Resources money skills jobs
Maybe it's a hobby Lord that we may put before you help us as your people to recognize the foolishnesses of that Lord and to make sure that we are
Giving you the preeminence in all things and may you bless us as we go on our way
Give us a great weekend Lord of soul winning. Give us a great Sunday of preaching
as well as a so-winning training Lord and may all things be done for your honor and for your glory
in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.