"THE GOLDEN COWS"
Thesis: The Christian church of today is worshipping not God, but large Golden Cows.
Illustration:
Abraham’s Object of Worship
The Jews have a legend that when Abraham started on his journeys, he saw the stars in the heavens and said, "I will worship the stars." But ere long the stars set. Then Abraham saw the constellations -- the Pleiades and the rest of them -- and he said, "I will worship the constellations." But the constellations also set. Then Abraham saw the moon sailing high in the heavens and he said, "I will worship the moon." But the moon also vanished when her season was over.
Then Abraham saw the sun in all his majesty, coming out of his chamber like a bridegroom and rejoicing as a strong man to run a race. But when the day was spent, he saw the sun sink on the western horizon. Stars, constellations, moon, and sun -- all were unworthy of his worship, for all had set and all had disappeared. Then Abraham said, "I will worship God, for He abides forever."
Introduction:
John White states, "Faith in the invisible God can be demonstrated by power over material things, either power to manipulate them or power to escape enslavement to them. If someone’s life is controlled by material things, it is possible that such a person knows nothing of saving faith.
Golden Cows have been erected and are dominating as the gods of today. They have gained control of many Christians and many churches. God is very concerned about this man-made god society we live in because it has affected our relationship with Him.
Dr Maynard Pittendreigh observes that today many people view the 10 Commandments like some of the out of date laws of the past. He states:
Some time ago, there was an article in the newspaper listing several strange laws that had been written years ago, that meant nothing today, but were still on the books. There was, for example, the South Carolina state law that required, and still requires, adult men to carry swords to church. Anyone caught in church without a sword was subject to being fined…. Another law in Vermont required a driver of an automobile to stop at every intersection, turn off his car, get out and look to see if there were any horse back riders, then push the car across the road, get in, start it, and drive off until he reached the next intersection he would have to go through the entire process all over again.
In all probability, these archaic laws had some legitimate reasons for their adoption, but the reason no longer exists, so fo us, they seem ridiculous.
Take for example the New York law that was adopted in 1918, and that is still on the books. It makes it illegal for anyone to sneeze in public. That sounds silly until one realizes that in 1918, the entire world was in the grip of a flu epidemic, in the end, it claimed more lives than all the battles fought in the first World War….
There are countless other laws that may have sounded logical at one time, but now have lost their meaning and relevancy.
Many of us might be inclined to list the second commandment among those irrelevant laws. It forbids the making and worshipping of idols” (page 2, from Sermon - Recreating God in Our own image, Sermon Central).
The sad fact is many calling themselves Christian have rationalized that the 10 Commandments are out of date laws for today. They really believe that God does not mind if they don’t follow the 10 Commandments. He understands how these laws don’t apply today to our society and culture.
John White states, "The 20th Century church has forgotten which master she belongs to, painting herself like a hussy in her silly pursuit of Lord Mammon. Or to use another image, a church has gone a- (lusting) after a golden cow."
There are many Christians today who have become like sponges soaked to the max with the value system of this god-making society. They are really no different than the Israelites lead out of the bondage of Egypt to Mt. Sinai by Moses. Lets explore what happened there.
Illustration: Movie clip from the 10 Commandments on the Golden Calf.
I THE GOLDEN CALF, A MAN-MADE GOD (Exodus 32: 1-35)
A. Exegetical Study of the Text
Verse 1: The people in the wilderness could not wait for Moses to return. They had no patience. They wanted a god now, so they formed their own.
· This is why God gave the first four commandments in Exodus 20:
o Verse 3 – “You shall have no other gods before me.”
o Verse 4,5,6 – “You shall not make for yourself and idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; I the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me but showing love to a thousand of those who love me and keep my commandments.
o Verse 7 – “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.’
o Verse 8,9,10 - “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, not your son or daughter…”
· God’s first 4 Commandments where given to direct us into a closer relationship with him. He instructed us on how to get to know him better. He wants us to do it right-he still wants us to do it right today! He has not changed his mind!
But people today just like then have no patience for God. They demand immediate responses. If they are not served in a minute, then they deny Him and make their own gods.
They fashion their gods out of material possessions, earthly possessions, or even other people.
They form it by their own hands and use earthly items to do it. (Ex. 32:2-4)
Verse 2-4: Once they are formed they then believe that these man-made gods are what saved them in their life.
They state: These are the gods that gave me a good life on earth. It is these gods that have delivered me through life.
* They make statements like, “All I need is more money and I will be happy!” “If I could make another 10,000 a year I would be blessed.” “If I could have A BIGGER HOUSE then I would have found fulfillment in life.” “If I could buy another car then I would have the good life.”
Verse 5&6: So then they begin to worship them. They offer sacrifices to these man-made gods.
They offer their time
They offer up a relationship with Him
They offer up their purity
They offer up their families
They offer their money
They offer their life
They offer their spouses
They offer their kids
They offer their resources
They present themselves as living sacrifices
Verse 7-10: God is not blind to this idol worship. He sees and He still becomes angry.
· Why do you think God addresses idol worship to Moses on the mountain?
· God still sees what is going on today! Don’t be fooled into thinking he does not!
God hates idolaters, "God Makers"
God detests those who give glory to their man-made gods.
God hates traitors
God will not tolerate this evil.
His Word promises to deal with those who make golden cows and worship them.
Verses 11-14: The Power of Prayer. If Moses had not interceded for the Israelites, they would have been destroyed.
Intercession is a powerful force to give salvation to those who need it.
We today need to have intercessors step forward and intervene for our nation, our church and our lives.
We need to recognize that this force can save the church of today from worshiping idols.
But we need people to pray and intercede for the church and the body of Christ. There are so many golden cows out there today:
1. Money
2. Power
3. Fame
4. Things
5. Sports
6. Alcohol/drugs
7. Jobs
8. Sex
9. Gambling
10. Other people – like Elvis!
11. Other myths of god’s
12. Self – Yes people make themselves out to be golden cows – they formulate a statue of themselves and worship it.
Hands on Illustration: Pass around the cow and have others write on it other idols of today that they can think of!
Verse 15-18: The Word of God is revealed and judgment is coming.
The Word judges by truth.
Joshua thought war. In a sense it is a war against God
Revelry – Is a party hearty mindset with no regard for God and it is the sound of defeat. Parties full of immorality, drug and alcohol abuse are the sound of defeat not victory.
****Note show on the drug ecstasy.
Verse 19: Moses saw the golden cow. It was created and fashioned by men and made of earthly material.
When a man of God sees men/women who are suppose to be following the Lord and sees that they have formed their own god it is the responsibility of this man to toss God’s word at its base and destroy it.
· Yet the first phrase most people use to justify them not being held accountable about their golden cows is you are not allowed to judge me. I respond that is correct when comes to things not clearly defined in Scripture but when it comes to what is blatantly called sin by God then “I am required by God to do my job and call it sin.”
· When you see sin does it make you upset? Or does it look appealing to you?
Verse 20: Every man-made idol (god) will be cast into the fire.
Cadillac’s, farms, drugs, alcohol, money, jobs, self made images, materialistic items and the like will pass away in the cleansing fire of God.
Verse 21: All priests of God who have let men create their own gods will be asked by God why they did this.
Aaron uses the excuse that the people were prone to evil. They will place the blame on the outside force (the pressure of the world) into making this god. They will make excuses for themselves and their families why they gave in to the world.
God will still call it sin. We will answer to him for our choices. We will not be able to justify to him why it’s okay to worship golden cows.
God will hold us accountable for our actions- It’s a promise!
Verse 25-26: God will always give people a chance to repent and choose Him or evil.
God is giving us a choice today. He is saying, "Whoever is for me, come to me."
The question is, are you for God or for man-made gods?
Verse 27-29: Judgment came to those who rebelled and it will come on those who today choose evil.
Verse 30-35: After the first judgment for rebellion was carried out the man of God went back to intercede for the people.
But God had to judge sin – It’s the right thing to do!
He sent an angel to lead the people but promised a judgment for their sin. (Verse 35). It came to them. God will also judge you one day it’s coming sooner than you think.
Conclusion:
Man-made gods grieve God because when the Jews did this sin, they forgot who they were. They neglected to remember from whence they came and to whom they belonged. It follows that whenever we forget the same thing and form our own man-made gods, we are on the brink of destruction.
John White states, "The misery of a Christian torn between heaven and material idols can be pitiful. Our goal in life will determine our view of life."
Monkey Illustration
There was a study done where there was a monkey with his fist trapped inside a container. The monkey had reached in the container and grabbed a handful of peanuts. The monkey upon clutching a fistful of peanuts trapped himself because he could not pull his hand out. Therefore he was unable to get free. Yet he could have let the peanuts go but he would not.
The monkey wants freedom and peanuts, and he cannot have both. He must leave the peanuts if he wants to get away. As a matter of fact, he will lose both peanuts and freedom if he hangs on too long.
Application:
And we are caught in a similar bind. We long to be free of earthly entanglements to serve God in the Spirit. Yet we cling to something more elusive than peanuts. We may only want enough. But without realizing it, we redefine enough again and again with the passage of time. Others of us want to have as much as we can get. So we trap ourselves because we will not let go of the man-made god which has trapped us. Therefore, we lose our freedom and end up in bondage.
(John White pg. 48)
Altar Call: God is calling us today. He is saying, "Whoever is for me, come to me!"
The key to overcoming man-made gods is to take more time to devote yourself to meet with Him by worshipping Him, learning about Him, serving Him, and this will give you less time to fall into the worship of man-made gods.
