"Idolatry"- The Apostolic Connection

the book of Exodus chapter number 20 and verse number one and God spake all these words saying I am the Lord thy God which have brought me out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage Thou shalt have no other gods before me Thou shalt not make unto thee any Graven image or any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the Earth 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 and showing Mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my Commandments God spoke to Israel and God Proclaim to them that he was in verse number one the Lord their God that had brought them out of the house of bondage and out of out of the land of Egypt that verse number one that verse number one is an interesting verse because not only does God want to bring us out of the house of bondage he wants to bring us out of the land of Egypt he's just not content with bringing us out of a house that has bondage he wants to bring us in out of the land of Egypt and I believe he wants to take us to that land that Dayton spoke about the land of the living I don't want to be in the land of Egypt I don't want to be in the world with its messed up values I don't want to be in the world with this messed up systems I want to be in the house of God I want to be in the true land of the living this morning he said I am the Lord your God wasn't a suggestion wasn't something for them to debate and then he gave a commandment you're to have no other gods before me and not only are you not only to have no other gods before you you are not to engrave create build construct any images to any other God to bow down to him nor to serve them and then he gave the reason for it he said I am a jealous God did he not he said I am a jealous God you ever you ever seen a jealous person you ever seen a jealous wife you ever seen a jealous man have you ever been around someone who perceived that someone else was trying to get the affections of their mate you ever seen it it's not such a listen it's not the wind blowing in Daisy's time all right it's not it it's uh it's it's something to see the jealousy because that person loves that individual so much that they don't want anything taking affection away and so it burns it burns like a fire you ever thought about God being a jealous God he said he was a jealous God he said I am I'm jealous over you I don't want your affections going any other place but to me now we understand something today that when God gives us a commandment although it may look like on the surface it's negative we must understand that every commandment God has is for is good for us it's something good for us for example to have no other gods before me well number one there is no other God but him he declared that all through the scriptures there's no other gods so when he says have no other gods he's really saving us and protecting us from worshiping things it cannot hear cannot speak cannot deliver cannot help to have another God is to believe that a rabbit's foot will bring you good fortune to have another God is to believe you can pick up a four-leaf clover and it's going to be your lucky day to have another God other than Jesus is to believe that it's bad luck it may not be a good safety measure but to have another God is to believe it's bad luck to walk under a ladder to have another God other than Jesus is to believe that if a window closes automatically in your home that that means that somebody's going to die soon never mind that the window pain may be loose it just means that somebody may die soon in that home you see all of that is superstition all of that doesn't have anything to back it up but he is the true God he is the only God so when he said don't have any other gods before me he was really saying save yourself from a lot of vanity save yourself from a lot of wasted time just keep me at the very front of your life and have no other gods don't make any graven images if you do you waste your time and your money right I don't want you wasting your time or your money if you do that if you make graven images you're praying to a god that doesn't exist and you're wasting your time and you're wasting your money and then he goes down to say he goes down to say he says if you would bow down and you would serve them if you would bow down and you would serve them I believe it is in it is in verse number five he said don't Bow Down don't bow myself down to them nor serve them for I'm a jealous God he said if you if you would bow down and serve them he says I visit iniquity I visit iniquity and when I visit iniquity what a father or a mother will bow down and serve other other than God bow down and serve has the way of getting in the generations of their descendants he said he said that he would visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation in other words when we don't follow God's pattern we don't follow God's pattern we put things in our sons lives and our daughters we put things in our grandchildren's lives and our great-grandchildren's lives and our great great grandchildren's lives that God would have to visit them now God would not visit them for my sin because God only requires that that that as a man sins he stands for his own sin but sin is so powerful that the actions of a father are many many many many times carried out in the sun and in a grandchild and in a great grandchild and this is can be proven by my statistics because they show many times that alcoholics and drug abuse they'll find when they begin to when they begin to to list it my dad was an alcoholic his dad was an alcoholic his dad's dad was an alcoholic no and he goes all the way back so I want to be very careful today in my actions because what I do has a way of influencing and directing my children and the same punishment that God would put up on me from my iniquities could be placed on my children and I don't want to do that but watch The Mighty power of Grace this morning he said if you do bow down to them and you do worship them that sin has an effect to the third and fourth generation but then it says and showing Mercy verse 6 and showing Mercy unto thousands of them that love me and that keep my commandment thousands look at the power of Grace sin has an effect upon the third to the fourth generation but let a person embrace the true God let a person really embrace the true God and it has a way of not only affecting just three or four generations God said it has a way of affecting thousands of generations in other words there's no end to a Godly example give me a godly man that that walks the walk and talks the talk give me a Godly woman that walks the walk and talks the talk give me a Godly marriage a Godly couple and I'll show you somebody that their influence can influence Generations yet to come as a matter of fact there was a young man there was a young man he wasn't doing real good himself spiritually and he alone did not deserve this but God moved in this young man's life and told the prophets you tell him that he's getting this today because of the sheer mercies of David you tell him he's getting this today because of King David now the most interesting thing King David lived about 700 years before that descendant was ever born but 700 years later God was still looking down trying to find people of the descendants of David to say you know what I'm going to move in your life because of 700 years ago your your forefathers they had a love for God's house they had a love for God's word and I'm going to do something for you I don't know about you but that's exactly the kind of example that I want to be because we really don't know how long it's going to be before the Lord comes that's the kind of example so today as we're studying about idolatry it's interesting that we would take this turn but go with me to the Book of Mark chapter number chapter number 12.

of The Book of Mark verse number 29. now Jesus or 28 excuse me now Jesus was always trying to be entrapped by the religious people either the Pharisees or the Sadducees or he was trying to be entrapped by them they tried to catch him in some kind of inconsistency and he was all in this was at the end of one of these such talks and the Sadducees that actually came and that actually came and uh they said this they said Jesus if a man has a wife and they have no children and he dies and they have no children and his brother marries her and he dies and they have no children and the third brother marries her and he dies and they have no children he goes all the way down to the seventh brother four five six seven all seven of them marry the same woman and all seven of them had no seed in the resurrection Jesus whose wife will she be well he said you do air because you don't know the scripture nor the power of God for in the resurrection there's no no marriage no given in marriage so he had answered them he had answered them well and the Bible says in verse 28 this is right after this had happened and one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together and perceiving that he had answered them well ask him which is the first commandment of all he was impressed with how Jesus answered him and then he took an opportunity he said I'd like to know the very first commandment of all Jesus answered him the first of all the Commandment is hear o Israel the Lord our God is one Lord that's the first commandment and you know why it's the first because Jesus said it was the first that ends it right there he said it's the first makes it the greatest got to start with the first so we're not on we're not on a hobby horse today we're not on some kind of a denomination denomination uh lollipop today the first of all the Commandments is here o Israel the Lord our God is one keeps us out of idolatry doesn't he keeps us out of looking for anything else when we just understand up front hear o Israel the Lord our God is one now that that takes care of idolatry because you don't want to bow down anything else or serve anything else or engrave anything or build anything because there is only one God one Lord the verse 30.

and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart with all thy soul with all thy mind and with all thy strength this is the first commandment now let's break the first commandment down for a moment the first commandment not only has a fact that there's only one God but the first commandment also carries a command for a proper response that there's only one God you can't just hear the first commandment that there's one God and have a ho-hum attitude because to have a ho-hum attitude that there's only one God is to absolutely break the very first commandment no wonder things don't work for some people because they don't even get started good because you have to love the Lord your God this is a response this is a response back to the first commandment we're not done yet he said hear o Israel the Lord our God is one lord it's not period there it's not over that's only part one of the first commandment the rest of it is and you need to respond and you need to love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind with all your strength you're to put everything in it you're to put everything it is to alter it is to alter the way that you live your life you can't say that you believe in one God and it not alter your life you you really don't believe in one God if it doesn't alter your life you would fit more in the category with the devil because the devil believes in one God and trembles you would be more in that category but to believe there's one God and not do anything about it you're not believing but to truly obey the scripture you have to decide all right I'm going to love this one God with all my heart I'm going to love because love is not a feeling I I get so tired of people talking about I fell in love and I fell out of love and and all this love is a decision that you make love is a decision I'm attracted to God I am attracted to God he attracted you and I when we were in our sins when we were going about our merry way he came down and attracted us he came down and began to deal with us we began to let us know it was it wasn't it wasn't us that decided man things are going crummy I think I'll turn toward the church it was God's presence that came to the hell hole you were living in it was God's presence it came down in your life and began to Quicken the thoughts of your mind that there's got to be a better way and when he attracted me to him and when he brought when he brought me to him in his attractedness and I saw I'm tired of living this ugly life I'm tired of living this bondage life I'm tired of feeling like trash I'm tired of feeling this way I made a decision to repent I made a decision to be baptized I made a decision to seek the Holy Ghost I made a decision to live for God can I tell you something God didn't suck my brains out of my head when I got the Holy Ghost God didn't suck all my will out of me we're not robots we're not programmed robots I made a decision to go to the altar just like when I got attracted to my wife at the Shoney's the old shonies now you all say all of them is old right now well there was a day in this town when we had an old shonies and a new Shoney's the old Shoney's was out on Alcoa Highway and the new Shoney's was what was on 129s right up there on 321 excuse me right up here that was a new that was the new Shoney's but when I saw my wife for the first time at the old Shoney's I was attracted to her sister harwood's here she was with me her and her husband I was attracted to her brown hair blue eyes tan I was that's her I'm talking about I was attracted to her but he didn't stop there I made a decision to find out her name I made a decision to get to know her I made a decision to get around her I made a decision to ask her out on a date I made a decision to ask her to be my girlfriend I made a decision to ask her to be my wife I made a decision to get married I made a decision to stay married and I mean it's all about making decisions it's about making decisions right so this commandment hero is of the Lord our God is one God I can tell you all that all day long but have we decided to love him with all of our hearts all of our souls all of our minds nothing should stir our emotions like God nothing should stir our emotions like God there shouldn't be anything else that stirs our emotions like God he said you got to love me with all your heart soul mind strength this is the first commandment and the second is like is like namely this Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself this is there is none of the Commandment greater than these and the Scribe said unto him well Master thou Hast said the truth for there is one God and there is none other but he and to love him with all the heart and with all all the understanding and with all the soul and with all the strength and to love his neighbor as himself is more than the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices man he said to do what you just said to to know there's one God and to love with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself he said that's more than the Old Testament sacrifices put together that's more than Holburn offerings that's more than all the drink offerings the meal offerings the festive days all of the hymn on the end of the garments that's more than everything that the law could entail that is more than all listen to what Jesus says and when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly he said unto him Thou Art not far from the kingdom of God and no man after that nurse ask him any questions wait a minute I'm not far from the kingdom of God that's exactly right do you know that to know that there's only one God and to love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself do you know Sister Franklin that when a person knows that he's not far from the kingdom of God he said you're not far away from my kingdom but now we don't want to deal with being close because when it comes to God almost sin is always out you can't almost make it to Heaven you got to get all the way there all right you can't be like the guy in the book of Acts that said almost you persuade persuade me to be a Christian you don't need to have an almost got there because almost right is always wrong almost in is always out so I don't want to be almost there so how I'm not far from the kingdom of God that's right because you know this but what will get you in the kingdom of God is to do this that's why the scripture says don't be a hearer of the word only deceiving yourselves but be a doer of the word don't just don't just know that there's one God and you should love him with all your heart soul mind and strength do it do it what does it entail it entails you deciding I'm going to sing the next time they get up and lead in Singing I'm going to look up there and sing the words I'm going to clap I'm going to fight distraction I'm going to fight standing here and thinking are we going to get into out in time to beat the Baptist to the restaurant I'm going to sit here and I'm gonna I'm gonna fight off what am I going to do tomorrow I am not going to have my checkbook in my hand uh balancing my checkbook while pastors teaching I am not going to be texting on around on the bottom here I'm not going to be texting to see I'm going to love God with all my soul mind and strength I'm going to turn my cell phone off I'm going to turn everything off because I don't want to give God part of me I want to give God every bit of me and now he says now you're coming on into the kingdom now you're coming on in come on into the kingdom