Turn back to 1 John chapter 5. Now, if I had read this epistle
of 1 John carefully and tried to guess John's concluding comment,
this is not what I would have guessed. Little children, keep
yourselves from idols. Little children, and this is
one of seven times this term of affection is used by John
in this epistle. Let me quote them to you. 1 John
2, 1, little children, these things write unto you that you
sin not. I love that commandment. What if he said, I know you're
gonna sin and sin, you can't help it. It would have been true,
but it would not have been the right thing to say, would it?
1 John chapter 2, 12, I write unto
you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his
name's sake. Child of God, there's only one
way for you to look at your sins. Forgiven. Forgiven. For His namesake. For Christ's
sake. And then we read in 1 John 2,
28, and now little children abide in Him. Abide in Him. Now what's it mean to abide in
Christ? He's in heaven at the right hand of the Father. How
does one go about abiding in Him? Well, when I abide in Him,
that means He's the only place I want to be. He's the only place
I want to be found. I want it so that when God sees
me, all He sees is Jesus Christ and me in Him. That's what it means to abide
in Him. And this is a conscious desire.
I mean, you actively, want to be found nowhere else. You don't
want to be seen outside of Christ. And then we read in 1 John 3,
7, let no man deceive you little children. He that doeth righteousness
is righteous, even as he is righteousness. Now he's talking about the actions
of the new nature. He that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as he is righteous. Partakers of the divine nature. First John 4.4, year of God,
little children, and have overcome them because greater is he that's
in you. than he that's in the world." Talking about them not
succumbing to the message of the false prophets. He said in
1 John 3, 18, little children, let us not love in word, neither
in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And then our text, little
children, keep yourselves from idols. Now this name is a name
of deep affection. Little children. It's a name
of confidence that they are the children of God. Little children. This is a name of addressing
folks of humility. Little children are humble. They
have low thoughts of themselves. He's speaking to people who are
little children who have a teachable spirit. Don't you love the capacity
of a child to believe what you say? You tell them something
and they believe. And little children are weak. He's addressing little children
who are weak. And he says to these little children,
keep yourselves, be on your guard, be wary of idols. Now this is the way he concludes
this message. Keep yourselves, be on your guard,
be wary of idols. Now what was the sin that Israel
just kept falling back into throughout the history of Israel? Thousands,
hundreds of years, we read of Israel. What did they keep continually
going back to? Idolatry. I think of when the
Lord delivered them out of Egypt. I mean, they saw the 10 plagues.
They saw the parting of the Red Sea and they marched through.
They saw manna come down from heaven. They saw Moses smite
the rock and water came out of it. They saw when the Lord descended
on Mount Sinai and gave the law. They had seen all of these things.
Moses has gone 40 days, and what do they do? They make him a golden
calf and say, these be thy gods, which brought thee up out of
the land of Egypt. And don't for a second think
that you and I are not capable of doing the precise same thing. I think of Solomon. the wisest
man to ever live. And yet his heart was turned
after idols, turned after other gods. Now that happened over and over
and over again. And I fear this for myself. Let
me give you a scripture that shows you how broad this thing
of idolatry is. Paul said in Ephesians 5.5, covetousness
is idolatry. Covetousness. Coveting your neighbor's
wife, your neighbor's land, your neighbor's whatever, thinking,
I wish that were mine. Covetousness is idolatry. And we can make an idol of anything.
You know, you can make an idol of correct doctrine. I want you
to think about that. That can create such pride. You
can make an idol of correct doctrine. Little children, keep yourselves
from idols. Now what is idolatry? I wanna
go to the Bible and answer this question and I wanna look at
the commandment against idolatry that's found in Exodus chapter
20. This is the second of the 10 commandments. Would you turn
there? Now this commandment obviously
is in between the first and the third, but I wanna read the first
and the third commandment. The first, verse three, thou
shalt have no other gods before me. Look in verse seven, 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. Now what kind of glorious being
he is that he can give us such a commandment that nothing, nothing
is to be put before him. No other God before him. And his name is so glorious that
to take it in vain is a crime punishable by death. Y'all be
careful, don't say, Oh, Lord, or Oh, God, or don't use his
name in any way, but in reverence and in fear. Now, this is how
glorious he is. Now, before we look at this second
commandment, I want to consider some things that God has made
known to us about himself in his word. Now remember, this
book is the word of God. Somebody thinks, well, how can
you expect me to believe that? I don't have any trouble with
it at all. If God can create the universe, God can inspire
men to write a word and to preserve it. And this book does claim
to be the inspired word of God. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God, all scripture. The prophecy came not in old
time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost. It's easy for God to do this.
And I know all kinds of people can criticize it and they think
they can find faults with it and contradictions. Well, if
you want to go for it, but this is the word of God. And all we'll
really know of the living God is from this word. There's some
things that we can see by the light of creation, But there's
a lot we cannot see apart from this book where God reveals himself. Now in this book, God reveals
to us that he is holy. Holy, holy, holy was the cry
of the seraphims from around his throne. Now, what does that
word mean? Well, it means separate. It means other. It means he's
not in any way like me and you. That's what holy means. It means
there's none like him. There's none to compare him to. He's in a class by himself. He
exists outside of space and time. He's transcendent. He cannot
be measured. He is above and beyond the material
universe and independent of the material universe. He created
all and he's independent of all. Now I want you to think about
how dependent you are. I want me to think about how dependent
I am. I'm dependent upon Him for the next breath I take, and
He can take it away. I'm dependent upon Him for everything. I'm not just talking about food
and shelter. Yes, I'm depending on Him for
that. I'm dependent upon Him to take care of me, to provide
for me. But I'm dependent upon Him to give me eyes to see the
gospel, to give me a heart to receive. I'm dependent upon Him
to give me faith and repentance. I am completely dependent on
the completely independent God. He is the only independent being. Now think about that. He is the
only independent being. I love it when he says in Psalm
55, if I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you. The cattle on a thousand
hills are mine. He's not worshiped with men's
hands as though he needed anything. Heaven is my throne and earth
is my footstool. Where's the house that you'll
build me? You know, I love to see massive architecture, you
know, some of the big cathedrals and everything, but I hate them
religiously. You know, I love seeing the, way men can build things. It's
interesting, but as far as trying to think that there's, they try
to make a big and impressive God's contained here. No, he's
not. No, he's not. Not in any way, to any measure,
to any degree. His otherness, his uniqueness
is seen in creation. He created all things by an act
of His own will. Now think about this. There was
a time when there was nothing but God and the Trinity of His
sacred persons. There was no universe. There
was no galaxies. There was no moon and stars.
All there was was God. And He willed the universe into
existence. And do you know that's the only
reasonable thing to come up with? You know, being an atheist is
about as unreasonable and irrational and illogical, and there's no
excuse for it. Somebody had to cause this, and
he caused it as an act of his own will. None but God could
do that. Who hath known the mind of the
Lord? Or who hath been his counsel? Or who hath first given to him,
that it might be reconvened to him again? For of him He's the
origin of all things through him. He's the cause of all things
by him. He's the reason for all things
are all things to whom be glory both now and forever. His uniqueness
is seen in this statement. Only thou art holy. I love that. Only thou art holy. Every one of his attributes are
holy. He's holy in his righteousness,
holy in his justice, holy in his wrath, holy in his love,
holy in his mercy. Every attribute is holy. Only thou art holy. There's none
like him. His uniqueness is seen in his
eternality. You want to try to think of this,
it blows my mind, but he never began to be. He's always, I am that I am. He never had a beginning point
like me and you. He never had a beginning point. I was born
on September 9th, 1959. He has no date of birth. He dwells outside of time. He's
eternal and he's not bound by space. He's not bound by time. Who calls God? Nobody. He is. His uniqueness is seen in his
omnipotence. Power belongeth unto the Lord.
He has all power. Whatever he wants to do, he does
because he's all powerful. He doesn't lack the ability to
do anything. He's God. People talk about powerful men
and women. You know, I want to throw up when I hear that. I
hate saying that, but I mean, it's just disgusting. There's
no such thing as a powerful man or powerful woman. Power belongeth
to the Lord. And the very step you take is
because he put you there. He gave you the strength. Whatever
position you have, he put you there for his own purpose. I
don't know what all it is, but I know it's for his glory and
power belongeth unto the Lord. His uniqueness is seen in his
omniscience. He knows everything. He's never
learned anything. He's never had a new thought. He's never had a discovery. There's none like Him. He's the only wise God. His uniqueness is seen in His
sovereignty. There's only one sovereign and
that's God. He controls everybody. He controls everything. Right
now, the free random thoughts that are going through your mind,
He's in absolute control of. Totally. That's who He is. He's absolutely sovereign. He's
got a will. He's got the power to make His
will come to pass. He always does make His will
come to pass. This is who He is. He's utterly
unique. You know, the very notion of
free will is the biggest, most ridiculous lie there is. If man
has a free will, that means his will is sovereign over God's
will. That's never going to be. God is absolutely sovereign. That's him being God. Sovereign
in creation, sovereign in providence, and sovereign in salvation. There's
none like him. He's utterly independent of that
which he created, and he's beyond all physical law. Unknown and
unknowable, apart from revelation. Now that's God. He's unknown. You can't know him. He's unknowable. Apart from divine revelation. Turn with me for a moment. Hold
there to Exodus 20 and turn to Matthew 11. Verse 25. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent. When's the last time you heard
a preacher deal with that? Thou hast hid these things so
they can't be seen. Who did he hide them from? The
wise and the prudent. The Lord knoweth the thoughts
of the wise, that they're vain. Thou hast hid these things. This is what God did. From the
wise and prudent, and hast, what's that word? Revealed them. uncovered them, made them known. I think of what the Lord said
to Peter, Whom say men that I am? Well, they say good things. John
the Baptist, Jeremiah, one of the prophets, they put you in
some high cotton. Whom say ye that I am? Thou art the Christ. the Son of the Living God. Blessed
art thou, Simon Barger. Blessing blood didn't reveal
that to you, but my Father, which is in heaven. Let's go on reading. I love our Lord's reason for
why God has hid these things from the wise and prudent and
revealed them unto babes. Note the reason, even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. You satisfied with that? Are you satisfied with that?
Well, If you're not, you've got problems. This is what God does. He does all things because it's
good in his sight. Whatever he does is right. Whatever
he does is glorious. Whatever he does is just. He
does what he does because it's good in his sight. Now look what
the Lord says, verse 27. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. And no man knows the Son but
the Father. I am so gloriously great that
nobody can know me but the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father
save the Son. And he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him. Now God is unknown and unknowable
unless he's pleased to make himself known and reveal himself. The only way you're going to
know what's going on in my mind is if I make it known. You can guess,
you can conjecture, but the only way you can know is if I make
it known. That is the God of the Bible. And this unknown and unknowable
God is made known and revealed in the person of his dear son. You remember when Philip said,
show us the father and it'll suffice us. We'll be satisfied.
Show us the father. He didn't realize how stupid
and dull his language was, and the Lord said, have I been so
long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me too? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. He didn't say, it's as if you've
seen the Father. He said, he that has seen me
hath seen the Father. Turn with me to Colossians 1.
We're going to get to Exodus 20 in just a moment, but I want
to show you a few scriptures regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 1, verse 15, who is? Jesus Christ is the image. He's the visible expression of
the invisible God. the firstborn of every creature.
For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are
in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers. All things were created by him
and for him. And he is before all things.
And by him, all things consist. And he's the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning. the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased
the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. Look in chapter two, verse nine.
For in him, in the Lord Jesus Christ, dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead, all the fullness of sovereignty, all the fullness
of wisdom, all the fullness of power. Every attribute of God
dwells in the body. the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to
Hebrews 1. Verse 1, God, who at sundry times
and in divers manners, spake in times past unto the fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by sun. whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness
of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he by himself purged
our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on
high. Now let's go to Exodus chapter
20. Here's this commandment regarding idolatry. Now we see how the Lord is utterly
unique. There's nobody like him. There's
nobody he can be compared to. Any comparison we make with him
to anything is degrading to his person. How many times did he
say, there's none like me? There's none like me. Verse four, Exodus 20, second
commandment. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image. That's a carved, you use a tool
to make an image and say, this is a representation of God. Or
any likeness of anything that's in heaven above, or that's in
the earth beneath, or that's in the water under the earth. Now, any attempt at making an
image of God is evil. any religious relic, a cross,
a picture of Christ, whatever it might be, it is an idol made
by men's hands and an attempt to bring down and degrade the
living God. Now, I asked this not that long
ago, but I want to ask this again. Who is most like God, an angel
or a grasshopper? Now, I bet you thought, well,
an angel is a little bit more like God than a grasshopper is.
And I understand somebody thinking that, but the answer is neither. Neither. God is in, I don't know
how else to say this, he's in a class by himself. He is to
be compared to nothing. Now, why would men want to make
graven images? Well, look in verse five. Well, we're not worshiping them,
we're just worshiping what they represent. Thou shalt not bow
down thyself to them, nor serve them, for I, the Lord thy God,
am a jealous God. I am intolerant of rivals. I'm intolerant of idols. visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children under the third and fourth generation
of them that, what are those next three words? They hate me. The reason A man
makes an idol, a false representation of God is because he hates God
as he is. That is the only reason. Turn with me to Romans chapter
1. Hold your finger there and turn to Romans chapter 1. Verse 18, for the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness. and unrighteousness
of men who hold, and that word is literally who hold down, who
suppress, who seek to extinguish the truth in unrighteousness,
because that which may be known of God, is manifest in them,
for God has showed it unto them, for the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen. Everybody born
into this world can see this. Being understood by the things
that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they
are without excuse. Now let me give you a real simple
way to say this. You can look at creation and
you say, somebody made this and he had to be all powerful
and nobody made him. That's the truth. Somebody made
this. He had to be all powerful and he's eternal. Nobody made
him, therefore they're without excuse. Now let's go on reading
verse 21. Because that when they knew God,
They glorified him not as God, neither were thankful. They weren't
thankful God is as he is, they didn't like it. But they became
vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened,
professing themselves to be wise. You know who he's talking about?
The Greek philosophers. He's talking about Socrates and
Plato and Aristotle and all those guys you learned about in school
that brought in Western civilization and they professed themselves
to be wise. They became fools and changed the glory of the
uncorruptible God into an image made like the corruptible man. They made God to be like they
are. I love that passage in Psalm 50 where God says, thou thoughtest
I was altogether such a one as yourself. You think I'm like
you are, but I'm not. They changed the glory of the
uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man
and then took it down even lower to birds and forfeited beasts
and creeping things. Wherefore, God also gave them
up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor
their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God
into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than
the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. Now, any God, now listen
to me real carefully. Any God that is not just like,
that is not, I shouldn't even say that. Any God that is not
the God of this book is an idol, a false God. Now let me put that
in even clearer terms. A God who's not a God of absolute
predestination is not the God of the Bible. He's a false God. He's not. There's no salvation
in him. And we could go on with every
other thing the Bible teaches regarding the living God, a God
who could send somebody to hell that Christ died for. is a false
God. He's not the living God. That's
not who God is. We could say so much about this,
but a God who is not this God is a man-made idol that men have
made because they hate the living God. They actually hate him. And they would, well, the one
time men were allowed to do what they wanted to do, what did they
do with the God-man? They put him to death. Men would
rip God from the throne if they could, but they can't. They can't. Now turn to Psalm
115. I'm going to read several scriptures
here. I want you to see these. Psalm
115. Verse two, wherefore should the
heathen say, where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Now, a God that doesn't do whatsoever
he's pleased is not God. And look what it goes on to say.
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They
have mouths, but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear not. Noses have they, but
they smell not. They have hands, but they handle
not. Feet have they, but they walk not. Neither speak they
through their throat. They that make them are like
unto them. So is everyone that trusteth
in them. Turn to Isaiah 40. I got a few
scriptures I want to look at out of the book of Isaiah. Beginning in verse 18. To whom were you like in God? Or what likeness were you comparing
to him? The workman melteth a graven
image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold and casteth
silver chains. He that so impoverished that
he hath no umblation chooses a tree that will not rot. He
seeks unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image that
shall not be moved. Have you not known? Have you
not heard? Hath it not been told you from
the beginning? Have you not understood from
the foundation of the earth? It's he that sitteth upon the
circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers,
that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them
out as a tent to dwell in. Look at Isaiah 44. I love the
sarcasm Isaiah uses here with regard to this. Verse nine. They that make a graven image,
all of them are vanity, and their delectable things shall not profit.
They are their own witnesses. They see not, nor know that they
may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god or a molten
graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his
fellows shall be ashamed, and the workmen thereof men. Let
them all be gathered together. Let them stand up. Ye that shall
fear, and they shall be ashamed together. The smith, with the
tongs, both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth with hammers,
and works it with the strength of his arms. Yea, he's hungry,
his strength faileth, he drinks no water, and is faint. The carpenter
stretches out his rule, he marks it out with a line, he fits it
with planes, and he marks it out with a compass, and maketh
it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of man,
that it may remain in the house. He heweth him down cedars, and
taketh the cypress, and the oak, which he strengthens for himself
among the trees of the forest. He plants an ash, and the rain
doth nourish it. And then shall it be for a man
to burn. For he'll take thereof, and warm himself. Yea, he kindles
it, he bakes bread, and he makes a god, and worships it. He makes
a grave and images, and falls down thereto. He burneth part
thereof in the fire, with the part he uses to cook. He roasts,
roasts, and he's satisfied. Yea, he warms himself, says,
aha, I'm warm, I've seen the fire. and the resident thereof,
he makes a God. Even his graven image, he falls
down into it and worships it and prays unto it and says, deliver
me for thou art my God. They have not known or understood
for he has shut their eyes that they cannot see and their hearts
that they cannot understand and none considers in his heart,
neither is there any knowledge or understanding to say, I burn
part of it in the fire, yea, also I bake bread upon the coals
thereof. I've roasted flesh and eaten
it, and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? Shall
I fall down to the stalk of a tree? He feeds on ashes, a deceived
heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul,
nor say, Is there a lie in my right hand? Look in Isaiah 45,
verse 20. Assemble yourselves, Come, draw
near together ye that are escaped of the nations. They have no
knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image or any
false concept of God and pray unto a God that cannot save. Now that would typify most prayers. praying unto a God that cannot
save unless I do this or unless I do that to enable him to save
me. And they have no knowledge. that
pray unto a God that cannot save. Verse 21, tell ye, bring them
near, yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this
from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I, the Lord, and there's no God else beside me, a just
God, the Savior? There is none beside me, look
unto me. Everything he is. Look unto me
and be ye saved. all the ends of the earth for
I am God and there is none else. Closing comment about this thing
of keep yourselves from idols. The fact that Paul said covetousness
is idolatry tells us how big this is. You can covet popularity. You
can covet pleasure. You can covet power, you can
covet money, you can make an idol of your family, of your
job. Whatever is more important to you than God is an idol. Amen? What is the cure? Well, I read
it. Look unto me. I love the passage of scripture
in Hebrews chapter 13, where the writer of the Hebrews said
to the people he was writing to, let your conversation be
without covetousness and be content, be satisfied with such things
as you have. Now, let me give you a hint.
He's not talking about being satisfied with material things.
Now we ought to be satisfied. We all live like Kings and we
ought not be coveting more material things and desire more material
things. I realize that, but that's not what he's talking about. Let your conversation be without
covetousness and be content with such things as you have. What do you have? God. I have my beloveds. and He is
mine. I have Christ. I have His righteousness. I have
justification. That means when God looks at
me, there is no sin. I'm perfect in His sight. I have
holiness. I have sanctification. I'm just
as holy right now as I'm gonna be in glory. And if you're not,
you won't be in glory. That's the holiness every believer
possesses. Christ Jesus is my holiness. I have all of God's providence
working everything from my good and his glory. Now, whatever's
happened to you in the last 24 hours, the last week that has
hurt your feelings and disappointed you and discouraged you and upset
you, he sent it. for your good and for His glory. And He did it for you. It was
done out of kindness of Him who's too wise to err and too kind
to be cruel. We have the forgiveness of sins. We have adoption. We have the promise of predestination
that we will be conformed to the very image of His Son. We have acceptance. We have an
internal inheritance. Now, can you be content with
such things as you have? You know, here's the deal. The
only time you can be Content and not covet anything is if
you have everything. If you have everything, there's
nothing to covet. There's no reason for anything
but contentment. Now, you and I keep yourselves
from idols. How? Number one, look to Christ. And
number one, know only he can cause that to happen. And number
one, ask him to keep it from happening. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word. And Lord, how we thank you for this warning because
we confess that we're by nature idolaters and we will go after
idols of our own making, false ideas and concepts of you. Lord, deliver us. We ask that
you would give us such a view of thy son that we'll say with
thee from behold, what have I to do with idols? Lord, give us such a glorious
vision of him that we're utterly offended by idolatry. In Christ's blessed name we pray.
Amen. Amen.