Waging War Against the Modern Day gods.

Opening:

Good afternoon. For those who don’t know me, my name is Jonathan Hansen. I pastor Ramsey Reformed Church up in Titonka. My family and I moved out here in September. I have a beautiful wife, Katharine, who is the crown of my head and two boys, Caspian and Arthur, who are the joy of my eyes.

I come from Spearfish, SD, where I was born, raised, and trained. I originally was a church planter out there in South Dakota, but God moved out here and we have been loving it. We have a fantastic church family here.

This afternoon I will talking on the title of “waging war against the modern day gods.

Introduction:

But before we begin, let me say, I am a minister of the gospel. This means many things, but at it’s core it means this. I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, that He died the death that we deserved, that he was buried, that He rose from the death on the third day offering life and salvation to all who believe in Him, that He is seated at the right hand of the Father with all power and authority, from this seat He will come again to judge the living and the dead. It also means that I am commissioned by God to declare what He has said in the Word of God. I am bound as a slave to the Word. So this afternoon, I am attempting to declare the Lordship of Christ, and declare the marching orders from God’s Word in an age of open and blatant idolatry. Our culture is embroiled in flagrant worship of false gods.

If we look outside we may be tempted to view our age as a non-religious age. But that would be a fatal mistake. Our pagan age is incredibly religious. Complete with blood sacrifice, sacraments, orthodoxy, a liturgy, and more. Any disagreement with this established religion of secularism is met with religious fervor. Fighting against the established religion of our culture results in an Acts 19 style riot, complete with people crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Although, admittedly they chant that in a different dialect where is sounds more like “My body my choice.” But the sentiment is the same. No, we do not live in an irreligious age. We live in an age where false gods are worshipped openly.

But first, what is a god?

What is a god?

Your god is your highest authority. Your god is what has the highest say in your life. Your god is also where your highest allegiance lies. A god is that which you give your allegiance, obedience, sacrifice, and love.

But remember, I am a minister of God’s Word. And God’s Word speaks often about gods. So according to the Bible, what is a god? Well, Scripturally there is only one God.

The One True God is the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth who is the one and only true God existing in three persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; who has revealed Himself in His inerrant Word, the Sacred Scriptures.

Deuteronomy 4:35“35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him.”

Deuteronomy 4:39“39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.”

Isaiah 45:5–7“5 I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. 7 I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.”

Isaiah 45:22“22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.”

And many more such passages.

However, Scripture talks at great length about false gods. A false god is anything that is given allegiance, obedience, worship, or sacrifice above that rightly given to the one true God, or that which enables, causes, or justifies disobedience to the one true God. And the term “false god” is synonymous with “idol.” The reason I use the term false god is because it is sharper. The term “false gods” is a bit more broad including vain and empty idols as well as the demonic forces pulling the strings of some of these idols.

But even then we see several categories of false gods in Scripture. You see, humans are beings that worship. In the old days theologians would use the term homo-religiosus to describe mankind. This literally means the people who worship. You see, humanity is fundamentally, at it’s very core, a creature made to worship. And if we do not worship the one true God, then we will worship false gods. And the Bible shows this again and again. And we see this in reality.

What are the false gods talked about in Scripture?

God’s Word as well as history show us clearly what and how people used to worship.

Kings:

First, we see kings worshipped as gods. History, as well as Scripture show us numerous kings who presented themselves as deities. They demanded the people worship them. One only has to think of Nebuchadnezzar building his golden idol of himself in Daniel 3. The people were commanded to bow down and worship the king.

Idols of Wood and Stone:

But Scripture also talks about idols and false gods being merely empty wooden or stone images. They are not gods. They may be called gods, but the Bible ruthlessly mocks them and shows them as empty and dead.

There is a great passage in Isaiah showing this. Isaiah 44:13–17“13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!””

Isaiah is mocking the idol maker by pointing out how ridiculous it is to carve an image out of wood and then pray to it. But Paul echos this sentiment in 1 Corinthians 8:4–6“4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

So some false gods are merely wood blocks, easily burned in a fire and unable to do anything. But the Scriptures do have another, more terrifying category.

Unseen Spiritual Entities:

The Bible also speaks about false gods not just as being mere empty images. But as being real. Not true gods, but demons masquerading as gods.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:20“20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.”

Paul is here saying that not all idol worship is merely empty. It is actually demonic. And the same is said in Deuteronomy 32:15–18“15 “But Jeshurun (Israel) grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation. 16 They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. 17 They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded. 18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.”

God had turned Israel over to demon worship. We must not forget that the world is not just stuff. We must not buy the materialistic lie. The world is physical and spiritual. Worship is real. And Scripture is saying that the worship of false gods is at best empty and wicked, but at worst it is actual worship and communion with demons.

This is why the Bible is so harsh on false worship. It warns countless times against worshipping anything or anyone other than the One True God.

What are our false gods?

“We live in an age where images used in worship is less common.” John Piper

Statism.

Scientism.

Personal Autonomy.

How are false gods handled in the Bible?

2 Kings 22-23.

2 Kings 10:18-31.

How do we wage war on false gods?

1. Kill the gods in your life.

2. Reformation begins in the church.

3. Word, Water, Bread, Wine.

Benediction:

1 John 5:20–21“20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”