1 Kings 9
1 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do,
2 That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.
3 And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:
5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.
6 But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:
7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:
8 And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?
9 And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.
Exodus 20
1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
These were not the ten suggestions.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Things that pre-occupy our time and take us away from what God would have us to do.
Distractions
Israel had a hard time staying focused. One day they were praising God and thanking Him for victory and the next day they were cursing and ready to go back to bondage. (sounds like the church today).
What does this mean today? We don’t have small golden calves in our living room with a bench to knee and worship.
My friend idol worship is worse today in 2003 then it ever was in Moses’ day. They were Saints compared to the church today.
Anything that takes you away from doing the will of God is an Idol.
I. Jobs – If and when you job becomes priority over your relationship with Christ and His church – it is an Idol.
1. “Well, I’m to tired to read my Bible today”.
2. “I worked like a dog all day I can pray later”.
3. “I can’t fast because I work so hard I need fuel to make it through the day”.
4. “I’ll work Sunday’s because we need the money and God will understand”.
II. Our family can become a god.
1. When your family becomes an excuse not to do God’s work – it becomes an Idol.
2. You need to quit calling it your family, it’s God’s family that he gave to you and allows you to borrow them for a while. THEY BELONG TO GOD NOT YOU!
3. When you have to look in the eyes of a mother that just lost her 8 year old baby. As tears roll down her face and you stand there questioning God through Grace and the Holy Spirit she lifts her hands to Heaven and praises God and thanks Him for giving her 8 wonderful years and she says she understands that God needed here and she was a gift.
4. The man that loved his Boa-Constructor Snake that he kept in a cage. When God blessed him with a daughter he kept that snake around and made excuses why he should keep it. Then one night the snake escaped his cage and daddy found it wrapped around his little girl the next morning with the life squeezed out of her.
5. He said I WILL HAVE NO other god’s before me and that is what he met.
6. Some of you are playing with danger and it may take God getting your attention to make you realize you need to get rid of the snake.
III. Habits can become a god.
1. When something controls you to the point it controls your life, it becomes a god.
2. It you can’t go 2 hours without nicotine and you set there consumed with the urge to the point you will stop God dealing with you because it controls you so much, that’s wrong.
3. What’s the first think you do everyday when you get home? What’s the first thing you desire when you wake up in the morning? If it isn’t God it’s an idol.
IV. Tradition can become a god.
1. When we hinder the move of God because the fear of being offensive it’s a god.
2. Hebrews 13
9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
NIV Hebrews 13
9Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.
