1. Downhill. That’s the path painted by our Pastor Paul.
• Man is not improving, going up toward God.
• But rather doing down hill… and going FAST!
• It’s NOT an evolution toward God is it? NO.
• It’s a DEVOLUTION downward away from God.
• And the one of the strongest evidences of this is IDOLATRY.
Exodus 20:3-4 (NKJV) 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
SO the problem today with man is not one of INFORMATION but of dedication in serving God, of obedience in humble surrender
• As we learned, the pagan world has the witness of God’s creation. They have an internal witness of their conscience.
• Man has been created with eternity in his heart.
John 3:19-21 (NKJV) 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
So the one that DOES THE TRUTH, loves the truth.
• That’s the difference between the believer and the unbeliever.
• When the Lord shines the light on our sins, we don’t run from that but embrace the changes God wants to make in our lives.
• Because we’re NEW CREATIONS IN CHRIST and have a NEW NATURE, we want the LIGHT to shine on us.
• Show us Lord. Reveal to us Jesus. Change, shape, mold us!
Psalm 139:23-24 (NKJV) 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
But for the unbeliever… they hate the light because it exposes their deeds as evil and they have no desire to change.
• So what do they do… they create their own god (little ‘g’)
• Let’s look at the path to idolatry.
#1 – (20) MAN IGNORES GOD’S REVELATION OF HIMSELF
• We’re so thankful God has chosen to reveal Himself to us.
• But many refuse to respond what Paul says are “CLEARLY SEEN”.
• When we look up into the heavens… It’s clear.
• When gaze upon the mountaintops… It’s clear.
Psalm 19:1-4 (NKJV) 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. 4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
• When we look at the intricacies of the human body. It’s clear.
The human eye possesses 130 million light-sensitive rods and cones that convert light into chemical impulses. These signals travel at a rate of a billion per second to the brain. Incredible as the eye is, consider that we have not one but two of them. This matched pair, coupled with an interpretive center in the brain, allows us to determine distances to the objects we see. Our eyes also have the ability to focus automatically by elongating or compressing themselves. They are also inset beneath a bony brow that, along with automatic shutters in the form of eyelids, provide protection for these intricate and delicate organs.
Psalm 139:14 (NKJV) 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
• Paul says God has revealed Himself to the point where they are without excuse…
#2 – (21) MAN DOES NOT GLORIFY HIM AS GOD.
• So it’s natural when you ignore and dismiss God’s revelation of Himself that man doesn’t glorify Him as God.
• Some even go so far as to say THERE IS NO GOD.
Psalm 14:1 (NKJV) 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.
#3 – (21) MAN DOES NOT THANK GOD.
• Why thank God, who I don’t believe in, don’t care about, don’t glorify.
• No man in his spiral downward excludes God and thanks himself for the things he does.
• He gives awards for man’s achievements. He says nothing is impossible with man.
• And a thankless society is a selfish society where everyone looks out for #1 and of course, they all think they are #1!!!!
And now at the end of v21, things really get deeply dark within the heart of man…
#4 – (21b) MAN BECOMES FUTILE IN HIS THOUGHTS.
• When you reject God, when you put Him out, when you say I’m going to be an ATHIEST, an AGNOSTIC.
• I’m going to live an ungodly life as if there is no God.
• Then that’s the breeding ground for EMPTY FUTILE Thoughts
• Hey, there is no heaven… so there’s no hell.
• There’s no need to worry about death since all of our life leads to nothingness anyway, we might as well eat, drink and be merry because this life is all we have!
• No wonder people kill babies today and simply justify it calling it a safe means of birth control!
• Man’s mind is empty of God’s glory, & majesty, & honor!
#5 – (21c) MAN’S FOOLISH HEARTS WERE DARKENED.
• I don’t know that there is any other sadder description of a person who rejects God than a dark, empty, twisted heart!
• It not only affects their moral judgment, but also their intellectual and reasoning powers.
• Things are so bad that anything goes, without restraint!
Deuteronomy 28:29 (NKJV) 29 And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you.
Isaiah 60:2 (NKJV) 2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.
And so with this description we’re so blessed by what Peter taught us back in 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NKJV) 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
#6 – (22) MAN LIVES IN SELF-DECEPTION.
• The hinge of evangelization. This is why we share the gospel.
• This is why it’s our heart to WIN A PERSON TO JESUS CHRIST!
• We want to see true wisdom replace the foolishness they are bound up in and by!
• A life lived in darkness, changed… translated.
Ephesians 5:8 (NKJV) 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
#7 – (23) MAN WORSHIPS CREATURES RATHER THAN CREATOR!
• That is the heart of idolatry! They worship themselves & man.
• Forsaking God to worship images designed after themselves.
• They exchange the glory of God for the corruption of man.
• They take God and reduce to man’s size.
Faith teacher KENNETH COPELAND has done that.
He claims, “God is not some creature that stands 28 feet tall, and He’s got hands, you know as big as basketballs… He’s very much like you and me. A being that stands somewhere around 6’-2”, 6’-3”, that weights somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple hundred pounds, little better and has a hand span of nine inches across.”
BENNY HINN is REALLY twisted on his view of God…
“Man I hear revelation knowledge already coming on here…. Hear it. Hear It. Hear It. See, God the Father is a person, God the Son is a Person, God the Holy Ghost is a person. But EACH ONE of them is a triune being by Himself. If I can shock you, and maybe I should, there’s NINE OF THEM!” Of course the next week he said it was a ‘dumb’ statement. But the problem is he said it was from God!
The original lie in the garden was…
Genesis 3:5 (NKJV) 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
THE MORMONS teach falsely “That as man is God once was an das God is man will become!”
• God to them is nothing more than an exalted man.
• And if you accept Mormon doctrine and do your work and you’re baptized and married in the temple and you’re good your whole life, someday you’ll be a god or goddesss in your own heaven!
Faith Teacher KENNETH HAGIN says man was created on terms of equality with God. He said we can stand in God’s presence without any conscience of inferiority! That’s so totally wrong! THE TRUTH IS God is God and we are not!
SO What do we do with all these false teachings?
• REJECT THEM and the teachers that bring them!
• Wait a minute Ed, you’re getting a little too close to home.
• I mean I listen to them. I support their ministry. I enjoy them.
• Why would you name names like that? Who are you?
Well… I’m just a man who wants to lead you into truth.
• Naming names is important sometimes.
Romans 16:17 (NKJV) 17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.
• Flip back to 1 Timothy 1.18-20
• Study these things Scripturally & test whether what I say is true. If it is, then please obey the clear teaching of Scripture!
These false teachings and others are clearly on the pathway to idolatry… It doesn’t end with that… But notice at the end of v23.
• When people leave the worship of the living God trying to fill that void left without God in their lives.
• They will worship almost anything.
• Their bodies, their cars, their careers, their spouse, a movie star, rock star, animals, cows, birds…
• After self worship, there is no end!
Egyptians worshipped... bull, crocodile, falcon, jackals,
Romans worshpped… eagles, licentious, and even Caesar.
Hindus have manufactured over 330 million little Gods.
Buddhists have a temple of a tooth!
Even segments of Christianity teach the veneration of idols and has them prominent around their churches.
THE Bible SAYS NOT TO DO IT!
Exodus 20:3 (NKJV) 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
Isaiah 44:12 (NKJV) 12 The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals, Fashions it with hammers, And works it with the strength of his arms. Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails; He drinks no water and is faint.
1 John 5:21 (NKJV) 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
And so we need to be careful of things that might be in our lives that amount to idolatry.
• Ouigi boards, amulets, Kachina dolls, dream catchers.
• Unicorns, male witches, wizards… this stuff is not harmless!
Think of the YING/YANG symbol. It’s very popular today.
• Really a Buddhist symbol that says God has good & evil in Him!
• That is not what the Bible teaches at all! We don’t want anything to do with that junk!
• They all represent false gods. (List on Information Table)
• Flip over to 1 Corinthians 10:14-22
• It’s all demonic. We don’t want anything to do with it!
SO PASTOR ED, U really think I should get rid of some of this stuff?
Let’s look at Deuteronomy 7:25-26
• If you kids are reading books about witches, & playing with toys that are occultic, U need to sit down with them & show them the truth… Open the Word w/ them and bring the issue to the Lord.
Acts 19:18-20 (NKJV) 18 And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. 19 Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.
Whew… I’ll tell you guys, The Lord is coming back soon & we don’t want anything to do with the unfruitful works of darkness AMEN?
• We don’t want to give up any ground to the enemy in our lives, in our homes, in our churches!
Romans 16:19 (NKJV) 19 For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.
