Exposing Idolatry

CPT: Christianity shows idolatry as corrupt, confused, and powerless.

PB: The church needs to be encouraged in the power of the gospel.

CPS: Get the idols out of your life!

Introduction

In counseling, they teach you a theory on addressing people’s needs. Abraham Maslow theorized that you needed to address the needs of people in a certain order, which is now known as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

At the base of this pyramid is the basic needs of every human being. Humans need food, water, safety and security. If you don’t address someone’s need for food or water, for instance, you won’t be able to address their higher needs like relationships or being creative. You have to address their basic needs. After you address basic needs, you can move on to relationships, esteem, and reaching their creative potential.

What’s interesting is, what I’ve found in counseling, is that at the base of these needs, the human need for safety and security, that is where you will find the idolatry in the lives of people. The Bible talks about a spiritual idolatry, and its anything that you worship other than God.

What does spiritual idolatry look like? It’s the thing in your life that you don’t want anyone to talk about, and you don’t want to talk about, because secretly you believe this is the thing that’s holding you together. You imagine in your mind that it’s the thing that fulfills your need for safety and security.

Imagine you have a ball and chain tied to your ankle. It’s holding you back from making forward progress. But you believe this ball and chain is really keeping you safe. Someone tells you, “You know, if you would just let go of that ball and chain, you could move forward.” But you run back to protect it and say, “No, I need this.” “But, if you would just take it off, you could move forward.” “No, no, I need this.”

The things is, the answer is not for you to take off the ball and chain. Humans will just go find another one, because humans tend towards idolatry. Instead, we need God to take off the chains that are holding us down.

How can we let go of the idols in our life and trust God?

Scripture Reading

Acts 19:21–41 CSB

21 After these events, Paul resolved by the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I’ve been there,” he said, “It is necessary for me to see Rome as well.” 22 After sending to Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. 23 About that time there was a major disturbance about the Way. 24 For a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, provided a great deal of business for the craftsmen. 25 When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said, “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business. 26 You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods. 27 Not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin—the very one all of Asia and the world worship.” 28 When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 So the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions. 30 Although Paul wanted to go in before the people, the disciples did not let him. 31 Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to venture into the amphitheater. 32 Some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Some Jews in the crowd gave instructions to Alexander after they pushed him to the front. Motioning with his hand, Alexander wanted to make his defense to the people. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 35 When the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “People of Ephesus! What person is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these things are undeniable, you must keep calm and not do anything rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are not temple robbers or blasphemers of our goddess. 38 So if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a case against anyone, the courts are in session, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you seek anything further, it must be decided in a legal assembly. 40 In fact, we run a risk of being charged with rioting for what happened today, since there is no justification that we can give as a reason for this disturbance.” 41 After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.

Pray

Filler.

Transition

Christianity exposes the corruption of idolatry.

State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point

In this text, we are introduced to a silversmith named Demetrius. His job was to make idols for people of the goddess Artemis. She was the patron deity of Ephesus, and was associated with nature, animals, and fertility. He described her as the very one that “all of Asia and the world worship” (Acts 19:27).

What is he concerned about? He is upset that the spread of the gospel in Ephesus is having such an impact that it is messing with his business. What was his business? His business was more than just selling some silver things he created. His benefited from exploiting a human weakness towards idolatry.

Humans have a weakness towards idolatry.

Look at the effect the gospel is having on idolatry in Ephesus:

Acts 19:25–27 CSB

25 When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said, “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business. 26 You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods. 27 Not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin—the very one all of Asia and the world worship.”

What Demetrius benefited from was the human inclination to worship something. They are prospering and exploiting a human need to find safety and security in something.

Humans have an internal need to worship.

There is a move of God through the preaching of the gospel that is threatening their business.

Imagine there was a move of God in LA that threatened the pornography business? Or a move of God in Las Vegas which threatened the casinos? A move of God where people abandoned their idolatry of sex, or money, or movie stars?

But what’s interesting is that this move of God is exposing an idol in Demetrius’ heart, which is money. Jesus said in Matthew 6:24:

Matthew 6:24 CSB

24 “No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Look at how Demetrius is devoted to money. He’s not interested in whether the gospel is true, whether Jesus rose from the dead, whether there is life in him. No, he is in the business of idol worship for his own idol, the worship of money.

Idolatry exposes corruption within the human heart. People love to worship things made by humans or thought of by humans. Movies and television producers are experts in crafting an image for people. There will be an image of a movie star carefully crafted so that you will see that person and say, “That person has it all together. I want to be like that person.” People are willing to give themselves to all kinds of images in their mind of what the ideal life would be. They see images of fancy houses, fancy cars, and will commit their lives to acquire things because they think, “That’s what will make me happy. That’s what will make me secure.”

Paul spoke about the danger of worshipping something of human imagination. In Acts 17:29:

Acts 17:29 CSB

29 Since, then, we are God’s offspring, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.

There is a danger in worshipping something of our imagination.

There is a life that humans imagine will make them happy, but it is never fulfilling. We need to get rid of the imaginary life in our minds that we think we need. There are rich people just as troubled as there are poor people. The rich and the poor are the same level before God. We are all people in need of Christ’s salvation.

Christianity exposes the corruption of idolatry. Second:

Christianity exposes the confusion of idolatry.

State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point

There is this interesting point in Acts 19 where people are looking around and are just confused by why they are there. The craftsmen start shouting out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” and in Acts 19:29:

Acts 19:29 CSB

29 So the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.

It says, “the city was filled with confusion.” So you have all of these people rushing into the amphitheater, shouting about Artemis, and people are confused. It says in Acts 19:32:

Acts 19:32 CSB

32 Some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.

They didn’t know why they had come together, but they could hear the shouting. It says for two hours people were shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

Idolatry is wickedness that leads to confusion.

Idolatry is wickedness before God, and it leads to confusion. Why is that? Because at the end of the day, idolatry disappoints. It creates storms in your life, because what you imagined that this thing could do for you never happened. The prophet Isaiah wrote about the confusion of the human spirit away from God in Isaiah 57:20-21:

Isaiah 57:20–21 CSB

20 But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its water churns up mire and muck. 21 There is no peace for the wicked,” says my God.

What does the confusion of idolatry look like?

Imagine you spent your life looking up to a celebrity. You watch all of their movies, or you hear all of their music, or you read all of their books, whatever it is that this celebrity does. There is a picture in your mind of who this person is. You believe in this person, and you shape what you do around what you think this person is like. You dress like this person. You try to act like this person. You follow the image that was created for you in your mind.

Then, one day, you get to meet this person. And, instead of this nice, kind person you imagined the person to be, you find out that they are rude, cold, and not nice at all. You walk away confused.

What happened? The image in your mind was not reality. So you end up being confused and disillusioned, because an idol can never fulfill what you think the idol will do for you.

Where there is confusion in idolatry, there is clarity in Christ.

But where there is confusion in idolatry, there is clarity in Christ. The world will want you to believe that there are multiple ways to God. The idolatry in the world is confusing, and people will try to convince you that someone could go to any of these contradictory paths.

But the Bible gives a clear path. Christ gives extreme clarity. In John 14:6:

John 14:6 CSB

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Or in Acts 4:12, speaking of Jesus:

Acts 4:12 CSB

12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

The Bible gives clarity that the path to God is only through Jesus Christ. A life in Christ clears out the confusion of idolatry, and puts a person on a path of peace and joy in Jesus.

Christianity exposes the corruption of idolatry, the confusion of idolatry, and last:

Christianity exposes the powerlessness of idolatry.

State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point

There is something interesting as you look at the story in Acts 19. There is a lot of the humans trying to prop up the power of their idol, but the idol has no power in itself.

Humans have to prop up an idol because idols are powerless.

This city clerk comes out, and to tries to pacify the crowd by speaking of the greatness of their idol. In Acts 19:35-36:

Acts 19:35–36 CSB

35 When the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “People of Ephesus! What person is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these things are undeniable, you must keep calm and not do anything rash.

He describes their idol as great, as their city because they are the temple guardian of their idol, and their idol being heavenly. He says these things are undeniable. What he does is attempt to prop up the power of their idol in the minds of the people.

But why do the craftsmen and the city clerk have to work so hard to try and defend their idol? Because the reality is their is no power in their idol. Their idol does not have the power to save them, because it has no power within itself.

An idol will not get you through the hard times.

We do this with our own idols. We try to convince ourselves that our idols will get us through the hard times. If I just have enough money, if I just have enough success, if I just have enough power, than I’ll be happy and fulfilled. But you get the money the money, the girl, the career, the position, whatever it is, and you’re not fulfilled, because there was no power in your idol to change and affect the sin condition of your human heart.

The cross has the power to make the difference in our lives.

We need to get the idols out of our life and focus our minds and our hearts on the power God shows in the cross. See, where the idols of this world have no power to change, the cross has the power to make the difference in our lives. It says in 1 Cor. 1:18:

1 Corinthians 1:18 CSB

18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.

The cross exposes the powerlessness of the idols in your life, and at the same time exposes the power of God to save. We need to repent of all the times we believed that something other than God could get us through a situation, and instead focus our minds and our hearts on the cross. The cross both exposes the horror of my own sin, and the power of God to take on sin and save his people.

There is no greater illustration of the power of God than in looking at the cross. We live in a world that is crying out for hope. There news is a constant reminder that people need hope. Every story of war, or hatred, or corruption, or greed, or anything else is a reminder our community and our world needs hope. The cross shows us that there is a God that loves us, that cares for us, and that sent His Son to die in our place.

Now, if the power of God at the cross, that powerful, than we don’t need the idols in our lives. What are the things in your life that your are still trusting in, still holding onto? What are the things that you haven’t surrendered to God? Put your idols to rest, because they don’t have any power in your life. Put your full faith and trust in God through Christ.

Conclusion

Christianity exposes the corruption of idolatry.

Christianity exposes the confusion of idolatry.

Christianity exposes the powerlessness of idolatry.

Conclude