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Return back in your Bibles to 
Romans chapter one. This morning, we looked at idolatry 
and its effects. Tonight, we're going to make 
several or rather a few applications with reference to this morning's 
sermon. Romans chapter one, I'll read 
beginning in verse sixteen to verse thirty two. For I'm not 
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to 
salvation. for everyone who believes, for 
the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness 
of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the 
just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed 
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who 
suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what may be known of 
God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For 
since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are 
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, 
even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because although they knew God, 
they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful, but became 
futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened. 
Professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of 
the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man 
and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore, 
God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts, 
to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the 
truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature 
rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them 
up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged 
the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise, also the men, 
leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for 
one another. Men with men committing what 
is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their 
error, which was due. And even as they did not like 
to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased 
mind to do those things which are not fitting. being filled 
with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, 
maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. They are whisperers, backbiters, 
haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, 
disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, 
unmerciful. who, knowing the righteous judgment 
of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of 
death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who 
practice them. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
thank you again for the word. We pray now for the Spirit to 
guide us. We ask that you would bless our time together, that 
you would encourage our hearts, that you would cause us to be 
on guard and to beware of idolatry in our own lives. Help us, Father, 
to resist temptation and help us, Father, to continually fly 
to you for protection and for grace and for help each and every 
day. God, we just praise you and thank 
you for your word and for how it does instruct us in all matters 
of faith and practice. We ask that you would bless our 
time together now in Jesus' holy name. Amen. Well, this morning 
we noticed several things with reference to verses 18 to 32. We noticed the revelation of 
God's wrath. Remember, John Murray says that 
wrath is the holy revulsion of God, God's being against that 
which is the contradiction of his holiness. So Paul, after 
stating his thesis in verses 16 and 17, highlighting that 
in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith 
to faith, he then goes on. to declare or to demonstrate 
the guiltiness of man through the revelation of God's wrath. 
God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness 
and unrighteousness of man. We've seen that there is a specific 
order. Ungodliness precedes unrighteousness. What we think concerning God, 
if we embrace Him, if we worship Him, if we honor Him, then hopefully 
holiness will follow. But if we reject him and despise 
him and we seek out those things which are not God, then all manner 
of corrupt practices flow. So what a man thinks concerning 
God will affect the way he lives in light of that thought. We 
notice the particular offense that these sinners, us, are guilty 
of, suppressing truth in unrighteousness. Because, according to verse 19, 
what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it 
to them. So sinners, by virtue of the 
fact that they are created in the image of God, see general 
revelation all around them, and they understand at least three 
things concerning God. His eternal power, His Godhead 
or deity, and the fact that it is righteous with Him to judge 
sinners, according to verse 32. And then we saw specifically 
His response to that revelation. Verse 21, Because although they 
knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, 
but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were 
darkened." You see, we reject God. We cast Him out of our minds. 
In suppressing that truth and unrighteousness, we have said 
in our heart, there is no God. And as a result, idolatry then 
follows, according to verse 23. And they change the glory of 
the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man 
and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. So we embrace 
idols and then all manner of wickedness flows, as we've already 
had cause to observe. The people exchange the truth 
of God for idols. God hands them over. The people 
exchange the truth of God for a lie. God hands them over. The people exchange the truth 
of God for unnatural things. God hands them over. So the judicial 
abandonment by God is his response to man and sin apart from the 
gospel of Jesus Christ. So a pretty bleak picture in 
terms of what this passage demonstrates concerning man. But as we have 
seen, Paul is laying the foundation, laying the groundwork for his 
presentation of the gospel. Remember, he is not ashamed of 
the gospel, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone 
who believes. We need that power because our 
plight is so desperate. We need that power because our 
sin is so flagrant. We need that power because apart 
from the power of God, we will die in our sin. We will go off 
into hell forever and ever. I want to look at three lines 
of application this evening. First, the effect of idolatry 
upon the individual and society. the effect of idolatry upon the 
individual and society. We really need go no further 
than what we find here in Romans chapter 1. When men exchange 
the truth of God for the lie, when men exchange the truth of 
God for idols, when men exchange the truth of God for those things 
which are unnatural, God gives them up. In fact, when we read 
Romans chapter 1, it sort of feels like we're reading CNN. 
Or, it sort of feels like we're reading Fox News, or Rents, or 
we're reading some website where it describes for us the particularities 
of man's sin. It is a gross and wicked and 
horrible picture. And why it is this way is because 
man has departed or defected from the true and living God. 
The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They then go 
out and act corruptly. What we believe concerning God 
affects the way that we live. That's why we say oftentimes 
that theology matters. Good theology promotes holiness 
and righteousness and godliness and Christ likeness. Bad theology 
promotes or produces the sorts of things that we find in this 
particular passage. We see sexual immorality. Vis-a-vis, specifically, homosexuality 
is indicated in verses 24 to 27. There is that rejection of 
the natural use for that which is unnatural. God, therefore, 
gives them up. It's not an alternate lifestyle. 
It's not another way of sort of doing what you want to do. 
Greg Bonson makes this point. He says, therefore, homosexuality 
that is publicly accepted is symptomatic of a society under 
judgment, inwardly corrupted to the point of impending collapse. Paul the Apostle regarded it 
as the most overt evidence of that degeneracy to which God 
in his wrath gave over the nations. You see, we can oftentimes forget 
that fact. We can oftentimes forget that 
reality. But what we find here is an application 
or conduct flowing from a pre-commitment to idolatry. But he doesn't stop 
here at sexual immorality. You follow the train of thought. 
You see that rejection of the true and living God in verse 
28. Of course, idolatry goes hand 
in hand with that. When we worship the idol, when 
we bow down to something that is not the triune God, we assume 
that posture of verse 28. And even as they did not like 
to retain God in their knowledge. As if we have the right and the 
prerogative and the privilege to say, you know, I just don't 
want to think about God. I just want to get him out of 
my mind. I want to get him out of my heart. This is an offense 
against the thrice holy God. And then Paul highlights various 
vices. Again, thinking in terms of Romans 
chapter one, as you look out at the world around you, as you 
look at the turmoil in your own families, as you look at the 
various issues and the sins that are connected to us as individuals, 
we see that what we believe concerning God affects the way that we live. 
He says they are filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, 
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, 
deceit, evil mindedness. They are whisperers, backbiters, 
haters of God, violent, proud boasters, inventors of evil things, 
disobedience, appearance, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, 
unmerciful. It's a terrible picture. It's 
a horrific indictment upon man in sin, and it certainly looks 
like societies today who have given over or have rejected, 
rather, the worship of the triune God and have embraced idols. I mentioned this morning an excellent 
book by Greg Beal called What We Worship or We Become What 
We Worship. He makes this statement as sort 
of an overarching thesis. What you revere, you resemble, 
either for ruin or restoration. What you revere, you resemble, 
either for ruin, if it's an idol, or restoration, if it's God most 
high. Let's look at just a few examples 
of this in Israel's history. Go back to Exodus chapter 32 
for just a moment. A passage you should all know 
very well. It's the golden calf. When they 
worship the calf instead of the living God, they exchange the 
glory of the incorruptible God for an image, specifically, of 
a golden calf. Notice in chapter 32 at verse 
7, and the Lord said to Moses, go get down for your people whom 
you have brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly 
out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves 
a molded calf and worshipped it and sacrificed to it and said, 
this is your God, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of 
Egypt. The Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and 
indeed, it is a stiff-necked people. Now, therefore, let me 
alone that my wrath may burn hot against them, and I may consume 
them, and I will make of you a great nation. And they take 
on the characteristic of the calf itself. Calfs are stiff-necked. They're recalcitrant. They're 
rebellious. You need to put a yoke on them so that you can control 
them and bring them into service. Well, the children of Israel, 
in worshipping this calf, have become like the very object of 
their worship in this whole idea of being stiff-necked. Psalm 
106, we highlighted that this morning, it very much fits in, 
or it's very much background material to what the apostle 
is doing in Romans chapter 1. Psalm 106, verse 19, they made 
a calf in Horeb and worshiped the molded image. Thus they changed 
their glory into the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot 
God, their Savior, who had done things in Egypt. Looking back 
on this golden calf incident. Psalm 115, since you're already 
very close to that. Psalm 115, verse 8. Those who 
make them speaking about idols are like them. So is everyone 
who trusts in them. You see, Beale's thesis statement 
is right. What you revere, you resemble, 
either for ruin or restoration. You worship an idol, you take 
on the characteristics of the idol. You worship a calf, you're 
a stiff-necked man. When you worship those things 
which cannot see, those things which cannot hear, those things 
which cannot perceive, you become like the idol, so that when God 
speaks to you, seeing you don't see, hearing you don't hear. 
And that's what Isaiah the prophet brings up in chapter 6 of his 
particular message. You may turn there as well. Isaiah 
chapter 6. You remember the pomp and the 
glory of this particular display. The prophet is rehearsing his 
call to the prophetic ministry. He says in chapter six, verse 
one, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting 
on a throne high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled 
the temple. Above it stood Seraphim. Each one had six wings, with 
two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and 
with two he flew. And one cried to another and 
said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth 
is full of his glory. And the posts of the door were 
shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was 
filled with smoke. So I said, woe is me, for I am 
undone. Let's just stop there for a moment. Woe be to any man or any woman 
who says they saw God and didn't fall down like a dead man at 
his feet. There's a particular pastor in Southern California 
several years ago rehearses in a situation where he was shaving 
and Jesus appeared to him. Pastor John MacArthur said, what 
happened? Did you fall down at his feet? You're going to continue 
to shave while Jesus is in your presence? I mean, the claim that 
Jesus appeared to him is just, you know, charismatic weirdness. 
But if, in fact, Jesus appeared to you, you don't keep shaving. When you trace out Theophany 
or Christophany in the Bible, when men are confronted with 
the thrice holy God, they fall as dead men at his feet. They 
don't continue shaving. He says, Woe is me, for I am 
undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in 
the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the 
King, the Lord of hosts. Then one of the seraphim flew 
to me, having in his hand a live coal, which he had taken with 
the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with 
it and said, Behold, this has touched your lips. Your iniquity 
is taken away and your sin purged. Also, I heard the voice of the 
Lord saying, Whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then 
I said, Here am I, send me. And he said, Go and tell this 
people. Keep on hearing, but do not understand. Keep on seeing, 
but do not perceive. Sounds just like the description 
of idols in Psalm 115. Here it's turned upon them as 
judgment. You're going to worship idols. 
You're going to follow Baal. You're going to follow Molo. 
Well, then God is going to dispatch his prophet and say, this is 
judicial heartening. This is abandonment. This is 
God handing you over. When you reject him, you reap 
judgment. Verse 10, make the heart of this 
people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they 
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand 
with their heart, and return and be healed. Then I said, Lord, 
how long? And he answered, Until the cities 
are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, 
the land is utterly desolate, the Lord has removed men far 
away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the 
land, but yet a tent will be in it and will return and be 
for consuming as a tarabim tree or as an oak. whose stump remains 
when it is cut down. So the Holy Seat shall be its 
stump. So you see, the prophet Isaiah rehearsing his call to 
the ministry highlights the reality that Yahweh would send him against 
an idolatrous people to condemn them and to highlight the reality 
that they have become like the idols that they worship. Hosea 
chapter four. Hosea, chapter four. Again, these 
are just a few specimen passages developed by Beal in that book 
on on idolatry. I really commend that work to 
you. Again, it's we become what we worship. Hosea, chapter four, 
verse let's go at verse 15, though you Israel play the harlot, let 
not Judah offend. Do not come up to Gilgal, nor 
go up to Beth Avon. nor swear an oath, saying, As 
the Lord lives. For Israel is stubborn like a 
stubborn calf. Now the Lord will let them forage 
like a lamb in an open country. Ephraim is joined to idols. Let 
him alone. Their drink is rebellion. They 
commit harlotry continually. Her rulers dearly love dishonor. 
The wind has wrapped her up in its wings, and they shall be 
ashamed because of their sacrifices. Israel is stubborn like a stubborn 
calf. Why does God use that imagery? Because they've become like that 
which they worship. They take on the characteristics 
of that object of worship, and thus what they revere, they resemble 
in this instance for ruin. As Christians, as believers, 
as those freed by God's sovereign grace, we are to resemble Him. We are to be conformed to the 
image of the Lord Jesus Christ for our restoration. This is 
God's grand purpose. Romans 8, for whom he foreknew 
these he predestined, the ones he predestined to be conformed 
to the image of his firstborn son. So that's the first line 
of application, the effect of idolatry upon the individual 
in society. I alluded this morning as well. 
When Israel was in sin, when Israel was in idolatry, it was 
then that social injustice, that murder, that crime, that wickedness 
was just magnified throughout the nation. Not to say that when 
people worship God, they always live perfectly and consistently. 
They do not. But they are being conformed 
to the image of Christ. They are being sanctified. When 
we depart from God, When we embrace the idol, we have plunged ourselves 
into all manner of sin and evil. So the first, the effect of idolatry. Secondly, what are some responses 
by the believer when it comes to a study like this? The first 
response ought to be one of caution. Turn over to 1 John 5 for a moment. I mentioned this this morning. We'll develop it a bit more now. 
1 John chapter 5. Caution is a good response by 
the believer in light of a study called idolatry and its effects. 1 John 5.18, we know that whoever 
is born of God does not sin. The idea there is practice is 
sin. We could show that if we had 
more time, but suffice to say does not mean sinless perfectionism. John was not Wesleyan. John was, 
if I could be so crass, Calvinistic. He understood total depravity 
and remaining corruption. The point is they don't practice 
sin. We know that whoever is born 
of God does not sin, but he who has been born of God keeps himself 
and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of God 
and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. We 
know that the son of God has come and has given us an understanding 
that we may know him who is true and we are in him who is true. 
It is on Jesus Christ. This is the true God in eternal 
life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. Kind of an 
abrupt ending for a wonderful epistle. It doesn't say grace 
and mercy and peace to you. I hope everybody's well. I hope 
you're happy. I hope everything's good for 
you. He says, little children, keep yourselves from idols. What 
is the implication that Christians, believers, those in Jesus, are 
prone to wander, are prone to leave the God they love. There 
is that tendency, that inclination to descend back into idolatry. We are either for Christ or we 
are against Christ. If we are not actively pursuing 
Jesus, We are not reading our Bibles, we're not praying, we're 
not in the church, we're not using the means that God has 
ordained for our good. When we separate ourselves from 
those means, then we have the tendency to fall prey to idolatry. There are several idols that 
present themselves in the lives of the believer. The first idol 
is the idol of false religion. It's interesting, verse 20, we 
know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding 
that we may know him who is true, and we are in him who is true. 
In his Son, Jesus Christ, this is the true God and eternal life. 
John is writing to caution the people that he's writing to against 
embracing the Antichrist. Now, the Antichrist, for John 
the Apostle, was not some looming figure in his future, wasn't 
some looming figure in our future. Rather, Antichrist was a heresy, 
a Christological heresy that plagued the early church. There's 
three statements that John gives in 1 John and 2 John about the 
Antichrist. One, the Antichrist heresy denied 
that Jesus is the Christ. Two, they denied the Father and 
the Son, and they thirdly denied that Jesus Christ came in the 
flesh. That's all that the Bible says 
concerning the Antichrist in terms of belief. John also relates 
that there are many Antichrists, that there were Antichrists present 
at the time that he was writing. So John is speaking in terms 
of the learning to his readership about the reality of a departure 
from biblical Christology. And he wants them to embrace 
the truth, not to go astray, not to wander. And if there is 
an idol that we as believers are susceptible to in the Christian 
life, it is heresy. It is false doctrine. It is that 
which is perverse in terms of God's written word. That's why 
we put a premium on exposition of the scripture, why we put 
a premium on studying doctrine. The first and foremost, uniquest 
thing about Christianity is what we believe, not how we act. Our act and our conduct should 
follow the way we believe, but what separates Christianity from 
every other religion and every other philosophy is the truth 
we believe. You see, it's very easy to go 
astray. In Galatia, you remember what 
they started to tamper with or what they started to play with. 
Yes, it's good to believe the gospel, but you must also be 
circumcised according to the law of Moses so that you may 
then be wholly accepted by God. Paul does not entertain that 
as some yet nice little addition or some sort of a non harmful 
thing within the lives of the churches. He says, I marvel that 
you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the 
grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another. 
But there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel 
of Christ. This is Galatians 1 8. But even 
if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you 
than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. Read 
between the lines. Paul is saying, let him be damned 
to hell. Let him suffer eternal condemnation. Let him be separated from God 
forever in the lake of fire. That's what Paul sees in terms 
of a departure from the Christian message. He says in verse nine, 
as we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches 
any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him 
be a curse. You see, false religion is an 
idol that we need to guard our hearts again. false religion, 
a departure from the truth of the gospel, a shaving off the 
edges, a tailor fitting it to our own liking. That is damnable. And we need to resist that temptation 
to idolatry. There is the idol of Mammon. 
We'll see this in a couple of weeks when we pick up Matthew, 
chapter six, verse twenty four. No one can serve two masters 
for either. He will hate the one and love 
the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise 
the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. He says no one can 
serve two masters. You might have a job and then 
moonlight somewhere else. Or you might have the type of 
job where you work for several different men. You might be a 
subcontractor. So in a sense, we can serve two 
masters. But the Greek word used there 
is slave. You can't be a slave to two masters. You see, slavery involves ownership. So Paul, what Jesus is saying 
is you cannot be, or you cannot be the slave of two masters. 
You are the slave of one master. It's either God or it's Mammon. Just like Elijah said, if Baal 
is God, worship him. If Yahweh is God, worship him. Don't halt between two opinions. 
You can't play games with the living and true God. You don't 
have a little God in the parlor, as Spurgeon says, and then have 
Satan in the basement. You don't have God and Mammon, 
or else you have neither. Well, actually, you still have 
Mammon. God is jealous in that regard. And then Mark 8, 34 to 38, another 
place where Jesus indicts men for that commitment to Mammon. 
We need to be very mindful of this. We live in an affluent 
society, right? No, what do you mean? We have 
more wealth and more riches than kings in the past have. The most 
humble abode represented in this church, in terms of the families 
of this church, far exceeds king's palaces. We have running water. Some people had air conditioning. 
We have fans. We get a little warm up here. 
I just nod to our dear deacon and point, and he goes and turns 
on the fan and circulates. It's beautiful. It's a wonderful 
thing. It's very easy to get caught up in these things. I 
mean, who doesn't like nice stuff? If you say, I hate brutality, 
or I hate good things. I've got to have it miserable. 
Really? Really? Come on. It's us. Let's not play games. We like 
some. We like comfort. I mean, given 
the choice of an indoor bathroom or an outhouse, who here is going 
to pick the outhouse? If you do, speak with Deacon 
Steve. He's going to analyze you for 
mental competency after the service. You see, the point is, is that 
in an affluent society, we must be on guard. We must be careful. No one can be the slave of two 
masters. We just read in the Proverbs 
where diligence is enjoined upon the people of the earth. Diligence 
is good. Work hard. If you work hard, 
you'll probably be rewarded for your work. You'll probably get 
money. You'll probably get raises. That's 
not wicked. It's not evil. The Bible does 
not frown upon that. The Bible frowns upon laziness. The Bible frowns upon not working 
and then still expecting to eat. But there's that delicate interplay, 
that delicate tension and balance that we have to be on guard. 
that we don't end up like being in the beach or in the ocean 
when you get sucked out by the undercurrent. We have to be mindful 
of the reality that the temptations that Mammon presents are oftentimes 
enticing. And then, of course, there is 
the idol of self. Believe this is the most pernicious 
and most dangerous of all the idols. Began in the garden. Remember 
the tempter's words, for God knows that in the day you eat 
of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God. What do you think Eve was thinking 
there and Adam was thinking that I want to be like God. Turn over 
to Second Timothy, chapter three, for a moment. We're still working 
with those, or we're still under the assumption of these are idols. These are things that believers 
or professing believers can fall prey to. Notice in 2nd Timothy 
chapter 3 describes the character of the last day. The last days 
in the scripture is the time frame between the first and the 
second coming of the Lord Jesus. We live in the last days. But so did Paul and Timothy, 
or else Paul could not tell Timothy to avoid such characters like 
these. But notice this in 2 Timothy 
3 gives specific attention to what men will love in the last 
days. Know this, that in the last days 
perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, 
lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, 
unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without 
self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, 
haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Those three 
things that we are lovers of, lovers of ourselves, we call 
that today secular humanism. Men love and value and prize 
themselves. They love money. What's that? Materialistic idolatry. Paul says in Ephesians 5.5 and 
Colossians 3.5 that covetousness is idolatry. And then that last 
thing that we love, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of 
God. That's the philosophical system called hedonism. Hedonism means I want my pleasure 
and I want as much of my pleasure as I can possibly have. And it's 
very pernicious here because they're lovers of pleasure rather 
than lovers of God. Now note the next clause. I've 
often thought in my mind that this is the Romans 1 of the church. It sounds just like Romans 1, 
doesn't it? I mean, disobedience to parents 
is there again. All these sorts of vices and 
sins and the wickedness that we see in Romans 1. Notice that 
final clause or verse 5, having a form of godliness, but denying 
its power. He's not dealing with the heathen 
here. He's not dealing with the Gentile. He's not dealing with 
the Bush man out in the middle of nowhere, worshiping his totem 
pole or his stones or his rocks or whatever it is he worships. 
They have a form of godliness. They profess religion. They say 
the right things from time to time. They go to the right places, 
but they deny its power. You see, little children are 
my little children. Keep yourselves from idols. These 
things infest and infect local churches. And the apostle is 
highlighting this to Timothy. And he says very specifically 
at the end of verse five and from such people turn away. So, man, in terms of idolatry, 
oftentimes looks to himself. as his chief idol. I just want 
to read a couple of quotes from that book, We Become What We 
Worship. This is actually Beal quoting 
a couple of other men. But he's quoting a man by the 
name of David Wells from his book, Loving Our Virtue, about 
this whole idea of self-worship. Self-worship. Now, self-worship 
doesn't look like we might imagine it would. You know, you get the 
mare out, you bow to yourself. I just love you. You're so awesome. Now, self-worship is seen in 
the manner in which one approaches life. The manner in which one 
conducts him or herself. In the manner in which he or 
she is oriented. What matters most. You're not 
bowing down to a mirror. and worshiping and adoring yourself, 
singing hymns of praise to yourself, all hail the power of Jimmy's 
name. That's not what you're doing. 
Here's what Wells says in terms of self-worship. He says, what 
is uppermost on their minds is not the moral fabric of life. 
but how to cope with their wayward personalities, self-doubt, the 
stages of life, marital stress, as well as calamities like job 
losses and the soaring cost of college tuition. These are the 
things that are intensely real to them and that drain their 
psychological energy. However, while these are not 
inconsequential matters, they are not burning moral issues 
with which the Bible is concerned. What is central to the Bible 
is the true and the right, sin and grace, God's wrath and Christ's 
death. What is central to so many people 
today is simply what offers internal relief. Many of the church today, 
especially that part of which is evangelical, is in captivity 
to this idolatry of the self. This is a form of corruption 
far more profound than the list of infractions that typically 
pop into our minds when we hear the word sin. We are trying to 
hold at bay the gnats of small sins while swallowing the camel 
of self. It is idolatry as pervasive and 
as spiritually debilitating as were many of the entanglements 
with pagan religions recounted for us in the Old Testament. 
That this devotion to the self seems not to be like that older 
devotion to a pagan god blinds the church to its own unfaithfulness. The end result, however, is no 
less devastating, because the self is no less demanding. It is as powerful an organizing 
center as any god or goddess on the market. The contemporary 
church is whoring after this god as assiduously as the Israelites 
in their darker days. It is baptizing as faith, the 
pride that leads us to think so much about ourselves and much 
of ourselves. Wow. I just read the blog, you 
see the promotion. What's most important in some 
churches, it's you. I'm sorry, brother, I don't want 
to offend you, but you're not the most important thing at Free 
Grace Baptist Church. You shouldn't want to be. God's 
the most important, the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 
He then goes on to quote a man by the name of Eugene Peterson. 
Yes, of the message Bible fame, but this is spot on. It's from 
an article in Christianity Today. He says, Do we realize how almost 
exactly the Baal culture, Baal, B-A-A-L, the idol in Canaan, 
do we realize how almost exactly the Baal culture of Canaan is 
reproduced in American church culture? Baal, we could add Canadian 
here, I think. You'll allow that, because oftentimes 
what happens in America comes over that 49th parallel. Isn't 
that what it is, the 49th parallel and Canadians imbibe the same 
sorts of things. I think this is applicable here 
as well. He says, Bale, religion is about what makes you feel 
good. Baal worship is a total immersion in what I can get out 
of it. And of course, it was incredibly 
successful. The Baal priests could gather 
crowds that outnumbered followers of Yahweh 20 to one. There was 
sex. There was excitement. There was 
music. There was ecstasy. There was dance. We got girls 
over here, friends. We got statues, girls and festivals. This was great stuff. And what 
did the Hebrews have to offer in response? The word. What's 
the word? Well, Hebrews had festivals at 
least. It is the biggest word we have. Salvation being saved. We are saved from a way of life 
in which there was no resurrection and we're being saved from ourselves. One way to define spiritual life 
is getting so tired and fed up with yourself. You go on to something 
better, which is following Jesus. But the minute we start advertising 
the faith in terms of benefits, we're just exacerbating the problem. With Christ, you're better, stronger, 
more likable. You enjoy some ecstasy, but it's 
just more self. Instead, we want to get people 
bored with themselves so they can start looking at Jesus. We've 
all met a certain type of spiritual person. She's a wonderful, wonderful 
person. She loves the Lord. She prays 
and reads the Bible all the time. But all she thinks about is herself. He's right on. At least the blogs 
I read, it's all about what they do. Or how we can make you feel 
better. She's not a selfish person, but 
she's always at the center of everything she's doing. How can 
I witness better? How can I do this better? How 
can I take care of this person's problem better? It's me, me, 
me, disguised in a way that is difficult to see because her 
spiritual talk disarms us. My little children, keep yourselves 
from idols. Watch out for yourself. You're 
not the most important thing in the universe. God is. God 
Almighty is. The sooner you reckon with that, 
the better off you're going to be. It's not all about you. So caution with reference to a study 
like this. Concern for others. Woe is me, 
for I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell 
in the midst of a people of unclean lips." Isaiah saw him connected 
to a larger whole. Israel, as a people, had gone 
a-whoring from God. Douglas Moon, his commentary 
on Romans 1, says, every person is without excuse, because every 
person, whether a first-century pagan or a twentieth-century 
materialist, has been given a knowledge of God and has spurned that knowledge 
in favor of idolatry in all its varied manifestations. All, therefore, 
stand under the awful reality of the wrath of God, and all 
are in desperate need of the justifying power of the gospel 
of Christ. We will never come to grips with 
the importance of the gospel or be motivated as we should 
to proclaim it until this sad truth has been fully integrated 
into our worldview. Everybody is affected by this 
position in Ada. Every man rejecting God embraces 
the idol and turns away from the truth. We need to realize 
that. It's interesting. I hope you 
were following the reading at the outset of worship in Acts 
chapter 17 and verse 16. What's Paul doing when he's in 
Athens? He's sampling the local fair. He's snacking at the street vendors. 
I don't think that would be necessarily sinful. Is he hanging out? Is he being 
missional? Is he being cultural? Is he being 
relevant? What does Acts 17, 16 tell us? Now, while Paul waited for them 
at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the 
city was given over to idols. It was provoked within him. That's 
why he went into the agora, or the marketplace, and he reasoned 
day by day. That's why when the Epicurean 
and Stoic philosophers said, we want to hear what this babbler 
has to say, he goes up to the Areopagus and he declares the 
triune God. God made this world. God governs 
this world. God calls you to repent and forsake 
your sins. His spirit was provoked within 
him. He understood what idolatry meant. He understood where this 
city was in terms of God's wrath and revulsion against sin, and 
he was upset to see God dishonored in such a way. So he took the 
initiative and he preached the gospel. Concern for others ought 
to be flowing from a study in Romans one. And then thirdly, 
in terms of the response by the believer, worship and thankfulness 
on the part of the believer. Remember how the idolater is 
described in Romans 121? He neither glorifies God as God 
nor is he thankful. What should Christians do? We 
should glorify God as God and be thankful. They've been called 
out of darkness into marvelous light. We have been saved by 
the blood. We have been washed. We've been 
justified. We've been sanctified. We have 
been purified. We have been blessed immensely. If what is characteristic of 
the man in sin, if what is characteristic of the rebel sinner is that he 
does not glorify God as God, nor is his heart thankful, then 
what should the saint look like? A worshipful, thankful person. Remember how Jesus described 
that woman, which was a sinner. Therefore, I say to you, her 
sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom 
little is forgiven, the same loves little. We have been blessed 
immensely and immeasurably. We ought to respond to God in 
worship and in thanksgiving for his amazing grace and his amazing 
power. As I mentioned this morning, 
we can find ourselves somewhere in Romans chapter one. We can 
find ourselves somewhere. We may not have been a homosexual. 
We may not have been a murderer. But I guarantee you beyond a 
shadow of a doubt, we were all proud. We are all still proud. And nevertheless, God set forth 
his son as a propitiation to wash us in his blood so that 
God could demonstrate his righteousness and show that he is just and 
the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. How can we 
not but respond in worship and in thanksgiving? We ought to 
sing amazing grace when we come to the end of Romans chapter 
one. And as we continue on and see 
God's great grace and God's great mercy displayed to us through 
his son and the best antidote to idolatry, we've already seen 
it. Romans one seventeen, Romans three thirty one. But just turn 
finally to Second Corinthians five. See a design of the cross 
in Second Corinthians chapter five, verse twelve. For we do 
not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity 
to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those 
who boast in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside 
ourselves, it is for God. Or if we are of sound mind, it 
is for you. For the love of Christ compels 
us because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then all 
died. And he died for all, that those who live should live no 
longer for themselves. but for him who died for them 
and rose again. The best death to idolatry of 
the self is the cross. Christ emancipates us. Christ frees us. Christ cuts 
us off from that self-love, that self-devotion, that self-adoration, 
that self-worship and self-idolatry. May God indeed cause us to appreciate 
the cross through whom the world has been crucified to us and 
we to the world. And let us, by God's grace, keep 
ourselves from idols. Well, let us pray. Father, thank 
you for your word and thank you so very much for the consistency 
from Genesis to Revelation. Thank you, God, for the grace 
that you have poured out upon us. And may we respond with worship 
and with thankfulness if the unbeliever is characterized By 
not honoring you as God and not being thankful, then may you 
forgive us, Lord, for sometimes imitating him. Help us to always 
be mindful of you, God. Help us to always be seeking 
to glorify you and to be a genuinely thankful people. We ask that 
you would go with us now, watch over us as a local church, and 
we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.