Turn with me in your Bibles to Romans, Chapter 1. Romans, Chapter 1. We're going to look at the descent into idolatry. Last Sunday morning, we considered the people of Israel dancing before the calf, worshipping that particular idol.
Well, idolatry is not confined to the Old Covenant. It's certainly part of the New Testament as well. And here in chapter 1 of the Book of Romans, beginning in verse 18, all the way to chapter 3, verse 20, the apostle outlines or highlights the universal condemnation of all mankind. All mankind is in sin.
And his primary target here in chapter 1 are the heathen or the Gentile, or those who are outside of the covenant community, those who had not received the oracles of God. He will turn his attention to those persons in chapter 2, But for this particular instance, he is dealing with those outside of that realm of receiving special revelation. And I wanted to look at this this evening under five considerations, specifically the guilt of mankind. We'll look first at the revelation of God's wrath in verse 18.
Secondly, the reason for its manifestation, verses 19 to 21. The descent into idolatry, verses 22 and 23. The unrighteous practices of idolaters, number four, in verses 24 to 32. And then the judgment of God upon idolaters, that's in verses 24, 26, and 28.
There's a bit of a sketch on what we'll do, God willing, this evening, and then draw out some practical application. This is not a study that is simply for those outside the church. It's not only for those out there. It's always intrigued me the way the Apostle John ends his first epistle.
After writing about truth and about righteousness, about obedience, about walking in the light, the last thing John cautions his readers is, little children, keep yourselves from idols. So idolatry is certainly something we need to be on guard against. And so to that end, we will engage in this study this evening. I'll just pick up reading in Romans chapter 1 at verse 16.
Romans chapter 1 at verse 16. For I am 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 worshipped 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. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word.
We thank you that you have given it to us. We know and acknowledge that it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. And our desire is that you would thoroughly furnish us unto every good work. Cause us to see the wickedness of idolatry.
Cause us to be on guard against it in our own lives. Cause idolaters in our generation to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. to believe the gospel and to be saved. And even now, Father, we ask that you would wash us and purify us and forgive us for all of our sins and send forth your Holy Spirit that he would illumine our minds and our hearts and that genuine good would be done to our souls in a study of your Holy Word. And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
Introduction
Well, this is the mighty Apostle Paul's great letter concerning the gospel. of Jesus Christ. Just prior to getting into the particulars of our sermon this evening, the guilt of mankind, it's intriguing or important to understand verses 16 and 17. This is the thesis, this is the topic, this is what the Apostle will develop in and throughout this entire letter. Notice the conviction of the Apostle declared.
He said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. He is not ashamed of this wonderful message. He is not ashamed to declare the saving power of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He was a man saved by grace, a man employed by God, a man specially called to minister unto the Gentiles.
And his conviction is sound. His conviction is solid. He is not ashamed of this word. Wherever the apostle went, He preached this word.
If he was with the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers at the Areopagus, what did he preach? He preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. If he went into the synagogues of the Jews, what did he preach? He preached the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He himself understood what it was to have been a man under God's wrath. He had been saved. He had been redeemed. He had been delivered by the grace and power of God and employed or put into special service As an apostle, he is not ashamed of this grand message.
Notice he highlights it's a demonstration of God's power. The gospel demonstrates God's power. He says, for it, the gospel, is the power of God to salvation. for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. Certainly we ought not to be ashamed of this gospel.
Certainly we ought to stand behind this gospel. We ought to promote it. We ought to propagate it. We ought to stand fast with reference to it, because in this gospel the power of God is revealed.
His power to save sinners, His power to deliver men, His power to deliver women and boys and girls from their idols. from their waywardness, from their sinfulness. God, in His saving gospel, exercises and demonstrates His great power. And then He highlights that in this gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. Notice in verse 17.
For in it, in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. And in this instance, it's not necessarily the rightness of God or the righteousness of God in terms of the attribute of his character, but rather it is that righteousness which God demands and which God supplies. This is the text that Luther said, when he understood it, it was as if paradise opened up to him. When he met that statement, the righteousness of God, it terrified him.
It scared him. It put fear into him. When we consider God's righteousness and our own waywardness and our own unrighteousness, certainly there is a great chasm between us. But as Luther meditated, as he considered, as he compared Scripture with Scripture, rather this was God's righteousness that He demands, and God's righteousness that He supplies.
And we know that because after detailing the universe of condemnation of all men everywhere, in chapter 3, verse 21, Paul then writes, But now the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. Philippians 3 verse 9, Paul says, I have a righteousness which is not my own, but the righteousness which is from God through faith in Jesus Christ. And so the gospel is the great revelation of God's righteousness. the righteousness that he demands and the righteousness that he supplies by the power of his Holy Son. So that's his thesis.
And as I said, in order to get to the good news, he must first start with the bad news. And that brings us to consider the guilt of mankind. Verses 18 to 32.
The Revelation of God's Wrath
Notice first the revelation of God's wrath. Verse 18. Now, I know you've heard me say this many times, and it bears repeating. Paul does not start his gospel presentation with, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
Paul does not start his gospel presentation with, God just wants to make you happy. He doesn't start his gospel presentation with, God just wants you to have purpose. God just wants you to realize your potential. God just wants to unleash you. to be the biggest blessing to others around you.
That's not where Paul begins his presentation. Before the Apostle gets to the good news, he starts with the bad news. Before he gets to a declaration concerning the righteousness of God, he starts with the wrath of God. And he says that that wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
Murray explains wrath this way. He says, wrath is the holy revulsion of God's being against that which is the contradiction of His holiness. In other words, when God looks down upon man and sin, Wrath is the inevitable response. When God sees apostasy, and when He sees idolatry, and when He sees sexual immorality, and when He sees the waywardness of sinners, it is right that He reveals His wrath.
Remember, after He dispatches Moses to go down and deal with Israel, God is angry. God expresses His anger. God says, I am going to destroy them, and I will start a new nation from you, Moses. And of course, Moses intercedes with Him to be sure, and then God relents, as the text says, and He continues His plan with Israel.
It is right, it is just, it is good with God as the Holy One of Israel to express wrath against sin and against demerit. Notice the conspicuous order that is given to us in the passage. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven. against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." Now some commentators say, the order really doesn't matter. Murray insists that it does, and I agree with Murray.
Ungodliness precedes unrighteousness. In other words, when we reject God, when we defect from God, when we apostatize, from God, then what ensues is all manner of unrighteousness. The remaining context demonstrates that very thing. The apostle deals with their ungodliness.
He deals with the fact that they reject him, and then he begins to highlight the specific vices that follow from that theological commitment. When we abandon God in our thoughts, when we reject Him from our hearts, when we despise Him in our minds, then the logical expression of that is ungodliness, unrighteousness rather. So the ungodliness and the unrighteousness here are targeted by God's wrath. And then a specific offense is highlighted here in the text.
He says in verse 18, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Man knows God exists. Man knows God exists. There is no such thing as a genuine atheist.
God has made man in His image, God has stamped that image upon them, He has hardwired them to know certain things, and that is what Paul will detail in just a moment. The idea is clear. God has made Himself known, but sinners do all they can to try and escape that knowledge. They try to suppress, they try to hold down, they try to bury that information.
Psalm 10 tells us, the wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God. God is in none of his thoughts. He's ejected him. He has removed him.
He has sent him away. Psalm 14.1, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works.
There is none who does good. You see that same progression of thought. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. As a result of that particular theological confession, they are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.
Edward says that Psalm 14.1 is better to be understood this way. The fool has said in his heart, no God. Not that there isn't no God, but he is ejecting him, he is staying him away, he is keeping him from him. I don't want you, God, is what Edwards says Psalm 14 is about.
So we have here the revelation of God's wrath.
The Reason for God's Wrath
Notice, secondly, the reason for its manifestation. Verses 19 to 21. Because what may be known of God is manifest in them. Remember, they're suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.
They are trying to eject God from their thoughts. They are trying to conduct themselves as if they live in an atheist world. But they cannot. They cannot escape it because what may be known of God is manifest in them for, notice, God has shown it to them.
That's why I generally don't try to prove to people that God exists. You ever been in that encounter? You ever met an atheist or an agnostic who said, well, I don't think God exists? Well, let me give you 15 reasons why God exists.
No, they know God exists. You've already won the debate according to Romans 1. All men know God exists. Their problem is that they're suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.
Their problem is that they're rejecting the general revelation of God. They're rejecting the reality that they are created in the image of God and that when they look out upon this world and they see the handiwork of God, instead of acknowledging God and glorifying Him as God and being thankful to Him, they're saying, no, God! Why spend hours trying to prove something that somebody already knows is the case? The Apostle Paul says it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Verse 19 is clear, "...because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them." And there are specific things that sinners learn based on being created in the image of God and seeing general revelation around them. Paul says in verse 20, For since the creation of the world is invisible, attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. You see, man realizes, if he's at least somewhat honest, that there's something outside of this created order. Something fashioned this.
Something put it into place. That's why man adopts evolution. He adopts anything that tries to remove God from the equation. Paul the Apostle says, being understood by the things that are made.
Notice, even his eternal power. Man knows that by virtue of general revelation. He suppresses that truth in unrighteousness. He knows something of God's Godhead, the deity, the fact that He is the One who is altogether glorious.
And then notice in verse 32, sinners know that it's righteous with God to judge them. Again, we are image bearers. When you see some horrific deed that takes place, it ought not to surprise you that people want justice. Why is that?
Because we bear God's image. There's something still in man as distorted, as twisted, as warped as it may be, and as hard as we try to hold down or suppress that truth in unrighteousness, when a man violates a child, most thinking people believe he ought to be punished. Well, sinners know that to be the case with reference to God. Notice in verse 32, "...who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them." You see, it's in man.
He understands. It is right with God to judge sinners. This renders man inexcusable. Notice in verse 20 again.
The end of the verse, so that they are without excuse. You've heard the word apologetics. This is the word here. negation of the word. They are without an apologetic.
They are without a defense. They cannot stand before God on the day of judgment and say, but I didn't know. Of course you knew because God made it manifest to you. You were made in His image.
You saw the created order. It spoke of His eternal power. It spoke of His Godhead. You understood the righteousness of God in bringing judgment to bear upon those who violate His law. and His Word.
You are without excuse. There is no defense to be given on that day. There's no crack defense attorney. There's no legal team that you can consult with.
You don't pay a fee and then get your verdict. No, you will stand before God Almighty and stand there without excuse. Man knows God exists. Notice verse 21, because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts.
The Descent into Idolatry
Here is the descent, thirdly, into idolatry. They know God is there, but they don't glorify Him as God, they don't honor Him as God, nor are their hearts thankful. What do atheists do on Thanksgiving Day? They eat turkey.
They celebrate the land. They thank Mother Nature. The Earth has been good. That's not what they're supposed to do.
We're supposed to honor and glorify God as God and be thankful to Him. Now notice the descent into idolatry in verse 22. They profess to be wise, they become fools. 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.
Terrible situation. It is absolutely abominable for the Gentiles to do such misdeeds. It is terrible when they exchange the glory of the incorruptible one and they fashion idols of animals and they bow before that. It is absolutely terrible exponentially to consider Israel as the covenant community bowing down and dancing before and rising up to play in the presence of this calf that they have now termed Yahweh, who brought them out of the land of Egypt.
You see, it ought not to puzzle you that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Someone wrote a book once and called or asked about the problem of pain. The problem of pain. Why is there pain in a world like this?
Another man, John Gershner, wrote a little pamphlet in response called The Problem of Pleasure. Why is there any pleasure in a world like this? Why is there any joy in a world like this? Why is there any happiness in a world like this?
Why do we get to feast? Why do we get to drink? Why do we get to have marital bliss? Why do we get to have the joys associated with bearing children and all those things when we're rebels against the living and true God?
It ought to be a no-brainer that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness. and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Professing to be wise, they become fools. They change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things." Now, the apostle has some doctrine or has some information in his mind, I suspect, as he's writing this. The psalmist, in Psalm 106, meditating upon the situation at Horeb, meditating upon the situation concerning the golden calf.
Psalm 106, verses 19 to 21. They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped the molded image. Thus, they exchanged their glory into the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt.
They exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for a little statue of a golden calf. Well, the Gentiles are not immune to this idolatry. We in the 21st century are not immune to this sort of idolatry. We live in a generation filled with idolatry.
When we get to the vice list in Romans chapter 1, remember the spring from which it flows. It is this pre-commitment, it is the theological abandonment, or the abandonment rather of theology, that leads to this sort of thing. When you look at a society that is sex crazed, when you look at a society that is violence crazed, when you look at a society that calls good evil and evil good, you can trace it back to a particular That spring is idolatry. Man has abandoned God.
Man has rejected the Holy One of Israel. And as a result, that God has gave them over into all manner of ungodly behavior. Jeremiah the prophet. Chapter 2, verse 11, has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods, but my people have changed their glory for what does not profit.
My people have changed their glory for what does not profit. Douglas Moos says this tragic process of human God-making continues apace in our own day. And Paul's words have as much relevance for people who have made money, or sex, or fame their gods as for those who carved idols out of wood and stone. It really is smug, and really is pretentious, and really heaps evil upon evil.
When we say, look at those heathen dancing around before their sticks and their stones, Look at Israel bowing down before that golden calf, all the while feeding whatever idol it is that we worship. All the while bowing to sex, or bowing to money, or bowing to faith, or bowing to condentment, or bowing to whatever it is we have exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for. Mu goes on to say, thus as verses 24 to 31 show, the whole dreadful range of sins that plague humanity has its roots in the soil of this idolatry. Again, back to 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.
Professing to be wise, they became fools, They change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
The Unrighteous Practices of Idolaters
Notice, fourthly, the unrighteous practices of idolaters. In other words, when a man, when a society rejects God the Lord. When we adopt the theological commitment, know God, what ought we to expect? What ought we to consider is the natural outflow of such a mindset?
Well, that's what's indicated in most of the rest of the chapter.
Sexual Immorality and Homosexuality
Verses 24 to 27, sexual immorality. This is not the results of the liberation of the 60s. This is the result of God handing man over. This is judicial in nature.
You cannot say, well, that's unfair for God to give man up. No, that is justice. It is right. It is good for God to give man up as an expression of his judicial punishment.
He is a God who is right. He must punish sin. Verses 24 to 27 highlight the sin of sexual immorality. Vis-a-vis specifically, which has great bearing upon our own generation, the sin of homosexuality.
Paul does not say it's a legitimate expression of one's love for another. What is in view here is homosexuality, not a condemnation of polygamous homosexuality. This is not to say that if you're in a monogamous homosexual relationship, somehow that's okay. What is condemned is man lying with man and women lying with women.
The backdrop, of course, is the Mosaic Law, where God is expressed as a natural implication of the seventh word, which protects the fidelity and the chastity of the marriage relationship. Threats to that are condemned by God. Homosexuality is wrong. Dropping down in the passage, in the list, he deals with just the broad sense of porneia.
Verse 29, sexual immorality. It's not just homosexual, it's all manner of sexually immoral practice.
Practical Rejection of God
Notice secondly, in terms of the unrighteous practices of idolaters, there is a rejection of God, practically. Okay, we've already got this mindset, we don't honor God as God, our hearts are not thankful, we're suppressing truth and unrighteousness. Now notice in verse 28, and even as they did not like to retain God, in their knowledge. We just don't want this one to rule over us.
We just don't want this one in our thoughts. We just don't want this one bearing down upon us. I mean, the text really expresses just how wicked we can really be. I don't want to think about God today, thank you very much, as if the creature has the right, as if the pot has the right As if man, the rebel, has the right to say, you know, God, I don't want you in my mind.
You know, God, I don't want you in my thoughts. You know, God, I am going to live as if you don't exist because that's the way I want to do it. I gotta be me. Remember when that prodigal comes to his father, give me my share of the inheritance.
What is the prodigal saying? Better off to be dead. Let's just skip those formalities and just give me my share of the loot right now. It's the same sort of a thing.
And the prophet Jeremiah is upbraiding Israel for rejecting God. God, through the prophet, says, they turn to me the back and not the face. What does that mean? That means instead of bowing before the God of heaven and earth, instead of giving Him the reverence that He deserves, instead of loving Him and worshipping Him and serving Him, you turn and you walk away.
The Vice List and Shared Solidarity
Notice thirdly, the various vices of verses 29 to 31. 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. I do not think anyone escapes that description. The fact that the word proud is there.
I'm sure I've shared before when I was in the Air Force, there was a uniform code of military justice. 133 articles of how you could get in trouble. And if none of those 133 got you, General Article 134 got you. It basically said, anything not covered herein, you're going to get in trouble for that. It was the catch-all.
Most of the apostles' vice lists, if you're exercising a bit of ingenuity, you might try to wriggle your way through it. Well, it didn't describe me. The fact that he puts proud in here describes everybody. Notice that he puts disobedience to parents.
Oh, it's just a little bit of childish rebellion. It's just the adolescent phase. God says that is a mark of the rejection of the living Lord. The apostle highlights these unrighteous practices of idolaters, sexual immorality, rejection of God, various vices, various and sundry, we might say.
And then notice the solidarity that sinners share. Verse 32, 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. This is an interesting word the Apostle employs here. This is the word employed by Paul's friend Luke in the book of Acts.
When Stephen is being stoned to death, when Stephen is about to meet his Lord Jesus, when Stephen is being forced into the presence of his God, it says that Saul of Tarsus is giving his approval. He is consenting. He is standing there in hearty agreement. Paul knew all too well what this particular word suggested.
And the idea here is that not only are we content in damning ourselves, we want to see others damning themselves as well. What an expression of wickedness in the hearts of men. Murray says, to put it bluntly, we are not only bent on damning ourselves, but we congratulate others in the doing of those things that we know have their issue in damnation. It's terrible.
The Judgment of God upon Idolaters
So we've seen the revelation of His wrath, the reason for its manifestation, the descent into idolatry, the unrighteous practices of idolaters, and fifthly and finally, the judgment of God upon idolaters. Verses 24, 26, and 28. The people exchanged the truth of God for idols. God gave them up.
The people exchanged the truth for a lie. God gave them up. The people exchanged the natural use for the unnatural. God gave them up.
This is judicial, it is punitive, it is retributive, it is God handing men over. If you think about it, this is ultimately what hell is all about. When a man continues to reject God, when he continues to refuse God, God ultimately gives him up to that which he most desperately wants, his own sin and a world without God. Van Til referred to hell as a soundproof exclusion chamber wherein the Lord gives men over.
It is a terrifying picture. Again, the backdrop of Psalm 106, verses 40 and 41. Therefore, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against his people, so that he abhorred his own inheritance, and he gave them into the hand of Gentiles, and those who hated them ruled over them. God does not take idolatry lightly.
God does not blink at such things. God expresses His wrath because men know that He is, and instead of honoring Him and glorifying Him as God or being thankful to Him, rather they seek out those things which are not God and give their religious affection and give their devotion and their worship and their reverence to those things that are not God. Idolatry causes men to become like that which they worship. Pastor Cam read that tonight in Psalm 115, verse 8.
Those who worship idols become like idols. When Israel dances before the calf, they are expressed or identified as being a stiff-necked people. They take on the characteristic of that which they worship. When men worship idols that have ears and don't hear, they have eyes that don't see.
Then men are described that way by the prophets. Hearing, you don't hear. Seeing, you don't see. What has happened?
They've exchanged the glory of Yahweh for those idols and they have become like them. Has a nation changed its gods? Again, the prophet Jeremiah. But my people have changed their glory for what does not profit.
They have gone far from me. They have followed idols and have become idolaters. It is a terrible indictment upon a man that he degrades himself through worshiping that which is corruptible.
Application: Guard Against Modern Idols
As believers, I've already mentioned the text in 1 John 5.21. It indicates that believers are susceptible to idolatry as well. We must be on our guard. My little children, John says, keep yourselves from idols.
I suppose that most of you are not going to go home and fashion a golden calf. I suppose that most of you are not going to go out into the woods and chop down a tree and use some of that wood to burn so you can make your food. And then use some of that wood to burn so that you can keep your hands warm. And then use some of that wood to fashion into an idol and bow before it.
This is the folly of idolatry in the prophet Isaiah. That's how he describes that man. He goes out into the woods, he chops down a tree, he cuts up the tree, he uses it for food, or he uses it to burn his food, he uses it to make heat, and then he uses it to fashion an idol. I don't think you're going to do that.
There are certain idols that I think 21st century professing Christians need to look out for. The idol of false religion.
The Idol of False Religion
The idol of false religion. We need to be on guard. We need to watch our hearts. There is something in man that gravitates toward that sort of an approach that says, you know, God wants you to be your best.
God wants you to have everything. God wants you to be purposeful. God wants you to be a blessing to others. There's something in the heart of man that we gravitate toward that.
Be on your guard. Be on your guard. Watch out for a denial of the Reformed faith, the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone. We will not enter into heaven.
We do not garner acceptance with God based on Christ's works and ours. It is Christ alone. It is Christ only. It is His doing, His dying, and His rising that secures a place in heaven.
Reject heresy, reject false doctrine to the law and to the testimony. If they do not accord with that, get rid of it.
The Idol of Mammon
Secondly, the idol of Mammon. Jesus says you cannot serve both God and Mammon. You cannot entertain the one in the parlor and the other in the basement. You must give God your all.
Lewis has an interesting statement about prosperity. The Bible tells us we ought to work hard. The Bible tells us we ought to be diligent. The Bible produces and promotes a very sound work ethic.
In other words, Christians ought to be the hardest workers. Christians ought to be at work on time. They ought not to murmur. They ought not to grumble.
They ought not to complain. They ought not to be the one gossiping behind the boss's back. Rather, they ought to be faithful, hardworking, prosperous young men and women, and old men and old women as well. But we need to be careful.
The same proverbs that enjoin diligence in the workplace tell us, do not overwork to be rich. Now, don't take that young man and say, well, I can't work any overtime because I'm afraid to get rich. Go work overtime. As young men, we've got to work more.
It's just the way it is. When you're young and you have strength and you have vitality, you should be producing more. But that same idea Lewis makes this statement. He says, prosperity knits a man to the world.
He feels that he is finding his place in it, while really it is finding its place in him. You see, that's a bit of a subtle distinction there. Again, work hard, provide well. The scripture says as men, we need to make sure that our wives' cupboards are filled, We need to make sure that our wives' closets are filled, not with frivolous knick-knacks and, you know, a hundred pairs of shoes.
I'm not suggesting that my dear wife does that. She doesn't, praise God. We're not into frivolous knick-knacks. I like to take frivolous knick-knacks to the thrift store.
Can let some other poor slob get those frivolous knick-knacks. But a man is to fill his wife's cupboards, he is to fill her closets. There's nothing wrong with hard work. There's everything wrong with laziness and slothfulness and a lack of diligence.
There's nothing wrong with being successful. Do you see a man who excels in his work? Solomon asked. He will stand before kings.
That is a blessing. That is a good thing. But when we cross that line, and instead of us finding our way in the world, the world is finding its way in our hearts, that's when there's a problem. Beware the idol of false religion.
Beware the idol of mammon.
The Idol of Self
Beware the idol of self. Probably the biggest offender for most of us, okay? You don't love money. You don't love you know whatever we generally love ourselves We generally want to promote ourselves.
We generally want to bow to ourselves We like everybody else to bow to us. We need to guard our hearts serve others get outside of your own head care about other people and Pray for other nations, pray for the persecuted church. Do not allow yourself that whole narcissistic mindset that is so rampant in our generation. Guard against the idol of self.
And then finally, this quote, I think this brother nails it. He says, all idolatry, whether ancient or modern, primitive or sophisticated, is inexcusable. whether the images are metal or mental, material objects of worship or unworthy concepts in the mind. For idolatry is the attempt either to localize God, confining him within the limits which we impose, whereas he is the creator of the universe, or to domesticate God. making him dependent on us, taming him, whereas he is the sustainer of human life. Or to alienate God, blaming him for his distance and silence, whereas he is the ruler of nations and not far from any of us.
Or to dethrone God, demoting him to some image of our own contrivance or craft, whereas he is our father from whom we derive our being. In brief, all idolatry tries to minimize the gulf between the Creator and His creatures in order to bring Him under our control. More than that, it actually reverses the respective positions of God and us. So that instead of our humbly acknowledging that God has created and rules us, we presume to imagine that we can create and rule God.
There is no logic in idolatry. It is a perverse, topsy-turvy expression of our human rebellion against God. It is terrible. The only antidote is the gospel, for in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.
As it is written, the just shall live by faith. But now, Paul says, the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul sets forth the reality that the gospel cuts us off the idol of self. 2 Corinthians 5.15, 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. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Stay close. to the cross of our Lord Jesus. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, how we thank you for your word and how we thank you for its clarity and for the way that it leaves us not wondering whatsoever about your view of idolatry. God, we pray that you would just grant us grace and protection and watch over us, cause us to love you, cause us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus. Help us, Father, to understand the truth and to put it into practice in our own lives. And God, as we live in a generation of idolaters, we pray that your gospel would be preached, that men would be reconciled unto you through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it's in his name that we pray. Amen.