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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 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 saith the Lord that made thee and formed Form thee from the womb which will help thee fear not O Jacob my servant and thou Jeshurun 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 says there 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 is 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 required 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 twelve 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 and 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 cells 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 in 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 showing us that God already viewed him as a human 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 1 and verse 41 referring to John the Baptist It says in 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 gonna 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 three He says for I will pour water upon him that is thirsty 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 unto 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 gonna 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 if you 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 with 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 is the gift of God and who it is to say that he give me to drink that would have asked Of him and he should he would have given me living water. In other words, he's saying, you know, I Know I'm asking you for water 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 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 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 you know 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, you know in this context there's people in this world that use idols to quench their thirst and You know the consistency of religious rites of worshiping these idols giving offerings to these idols. 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 Then 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 need to go from one church to the next and they have this, you know bottled water 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 it 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 the steady 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 the quenching that thirst for salvation is no longer there and That's why he says whosoever 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 spake concerning the Holy Ghost Which they didn't believe on him 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 your thirst is quenched 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 indwelled and Sealed with the Holy Ghost in whom you also trusted After that, you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and whom also after that you believe you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise 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 springing up to everlasting life and so this promise is not just to those of Judah and Jerusalem and 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 lamb 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 the 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 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 gonna subscribe to the name of Israel, right? Now, why is that significant? Well because of the fact that according to the New Testament 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 in verse 6 It tells us not as though the Word of God has taken an effect for they are not all Israel Which are of Israel and what is that referring 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 is 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 dispensationalist They count to the people who worship Jews They count to the people who you know 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 physical excuse me as a spiritual Israel are those who have believed on Christ And in fact it goes on to say in verse number 7 of Romans 9 Neither because they are of the seed of Abraham, what's that referring to the physical descendants of Abraham are? They the children are they're 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 we 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 unto 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 the fake nation of Israel they see the fraud of You know the 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 you'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 shall subscribe with his hand unto 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 okay, because we are and in fact you know first John 3 1 pretty famous verse behold What manner of love the father 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 of 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 is 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 But 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 kingdom not the children of God But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness Where there shall be weeping and wailing and ashing 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 scribe themselves as being a part of that Nation look at verse number six we're gonna see the preeminence of God here says thus saith the Lord Thus saith the Lord the king of Israel and his redeemer 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 neither be afraid have not I told thee from that from that time and have declared it You're my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? Yay. There is no God. I know not any he's basically Establishing the fact that he is preeminent above all gods of course We're referring to lowercase G and he says there verse number 60. He is the first and the last Just as Jesus Christ in Revelation 1 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 9 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 that's basically what it is though Okay, and and once you read this chapter and this passage you'll you'll come to realize. Oh, yeah, that is pretty stupid You know, first of all, let's look at the the fact that Idolaters are oblivious of the shame to come it says in verse 9 They that make a graven image are all of them vanity and their delectable things shall not profit They are all 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 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 and 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 gonna help you anything It's not gonna give you knowledge. It's not gonna give you wisdom. It's not gonna 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 a verse 10 who have 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 he's saying 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 gonna 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 it's important especially because the chapters 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 or 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 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 What how they justify is a well an idol is pagan Okay, so they only essentially categorize idolatry as that which comes from pagan countries pagan religions Not associated with Christianity So to them, you know So 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 or worshiping Jesus And he said well, are you worshiping Mary's like no, no, we're venerating Mary we're venerating the Saints we're worshiping Jesus We're venerating, you know 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 underneath 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'll say oh man wait till he finds out that he has all these pictures of his family in his home Because they think like, you know, what we mean by that is like an image like a picture or something, right? Now obviously people can make pictures idols, you know, ie 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 what you bow down to Okay, and you kiss and you you you you just you ascribe divinity towards right and Orthodol Orthodox Church does that a lot. So even though they're not necessarily Worshipping 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 worshiping 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 why 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 it 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 four and So yeah, they can say well, you know 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 That would be idle I'll 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's fine with pictures Bible's not fine with graven images 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 got to watch you? No, no, it does though. It 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 heed unto yourselves For ye saw no manner of similitude Let me repeat that no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the Fire, so what is he saying? He's a you better be careful because when I spoke to you from Mount Horeb 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 heed 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 Horeb 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 is 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 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 looked 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 right? He's got like panting Pro V hair Right, just like rosy cheeks Just he's been mewing the whole time and you know, and he's really soft. He's just like, you know That that would stand out in the crowd And He's really 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 Okay Whereas the Bible literally says that he has no comeliness 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 live Christians that want to make Jesus out to be the most handsome Well according to biblical standards, he wasn't comely 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 You know and So, you know that that's why the Shroud of Turin is also garbage and false and stupid Because that 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 they'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 were worshipping this statue Because it's Jesus. So that's not the same thing as worshiping an idol 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 that talk about worship in the New Testament, by the way But show me an example in the New Testament where someone is actually falling 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 that 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 his spirit and injury And so, you know that 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 delivered 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 well no 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 would a 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 Melted the gold strawed it and made them swallow it And it wasn't like five guys either You know Moses like literally tore down, you know, cuz Aaron was such a weak leader he's like I threw it into the fire and then this came out and 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. I don't worship Because I 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 him 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 You're 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 gotta say this every once in a while because last time I preached this and there's people 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 around cuz 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. Did it? Well, 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 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 he's saying like, you know that the Smith comes and he's working hard and making the idols. He's graving it 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 I know 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 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 I don't feed you then? Because he can't feed you He says a verse 13 the carpenter stretches out this rule He market that out with the line. He fitted it with planes He markets it out with the compass and maketh it after the figure of a man According to the beauty of a man that it it may remain in the house he Hugh with it, excuse me, he Hugh with 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 a verse 15 Then shall it be for a man to burn For he would take thereof and warm himself Yeah, he kindleth it and baketh bread Yeah, he maketh the God and worshipeth it and he maketh it a graven image and followed 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 would make a great God and Then he's throwing that into the fire to warm himself Right. He's throwing in 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 16 he burneth part thereof in the fire With part thereof he eat his flesh. He rose to the roast and is satisfied Yeah, he warmeth himself and saith 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 item? 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 to 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 they're 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 a god even his graven image He falleth down unto it and worshipeth it and prayeth unto and say it listen to 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 could kind of deliver yourself just by physical sustenance. You can just kind of help yourself You don't even need the idol What is he 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 that they cannot Understand, you know you think of like again going back to the Catholics but going just back to like Buddhists and Hindus You know, you could 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 in 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 weakest. They're they always they always kiss rear-end and the bunch of brown-noser's 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 don't 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 Woe into the Catholic that lifts up their eyes in hell and realizes all of it was in vain You know, 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 cuz 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 many their be which go in there at So yeah, the Catholics 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 Cuz straight is the way narrows narrows the way to which leadeth 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 That they cannot see in their hearts that they cannot understand He says in verse 19 none considerth in his heart Neither is their knowledge nor understanding to say I have burned part of it in the fire What does he say? He's 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 Cuz he's saying like they don't have the knowledge or understand 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 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 to Your God and your idol has as much power as that piece of wood. You just throw in the fire He says neither is their 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 is 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 eaten 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 he doing? He's highlighting the idiocy of idolatry He's grabbing the residue of what he 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 say is there not a lie in my right hand? So this passage is basically made to highlight the blindness of the idolatry 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, and by the way, how about this, you know, how about the Eucharist? You know, he uses they use 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 this you have to be saying the only way you can be saved is 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 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 He says remember these Oh Jacob in Israel for thou art my servant I have formed The he's like remember this the next time you're tempted to worship an idol Just remember this you formed them, but I formed thee I made you Okay, it's common sense. Thou are my servant of Israel Thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I Have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a thick cloud thy sins returned unto 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 all ye heavens for the Lord hath done it Shout ye lower parts of the earth break forth into singing the mountains of force and every tree there him for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob glorified himself in Israel thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer and he that again formed thee from the womb I am the Lord that maketh all things that stretches forth the heavens alone that spreadeth abroad 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 turneth wise men backward and make it their knowledge Foolish so not only does 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 all he's also able to predict the future events with accuracy says in 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 not but he's also able to predict future events He's saying 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 saith of Cyrus who's king of Persia? He is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure Even saying to Jerusalem thou 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 could confound the wicked he can cause those who claim to be wise in this world and bring their knowledge to not but he's also able to predict the future with accuracy and even call our names because Cyrus king of Persia, that's nowhere near the timeline of where Isaiah is preaching this So obviously you have diviners you have stargazers They claim to be able to tell the future palm readers They can claim to look at the grooves in your hand and say you're gonna 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. Oh, I see fortune, 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 the 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 they're phonies they're 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 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? Right When we're going through a time of financial crisis who we're gonna depend on more God or fill in the blank Right and you know, obviously over these next four years Not many people are gonna experience financial crisis because Trump isn't you know, Trump is president. Amen he's gonna boost the economy, but you know, that's gonna cause people to do is rely on The arm of the flesh more than on God Right, you know times of prosperity has never helped Christians In general as a whole just cause people to just be more reliant upon 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 foolishness 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 soul-winning training Lord And may all things be done for your honor for your glory in Jesus name we pray. Amen