March 3, 2024
Sermon Part 3: Destroying the Root Cause of Idolatry in Christian Life: “Ungodly Pride!”
This is the day that the Lord has made we will be glad and rejoice in it. (Ps. 118:24) We are exceedingly overjoyed today because I decree by the faith of Jesus Christ that we are breaking free from the bondage of idolatry! God desires that we all worship Him alone in the beauty of Holiness. (God’s Morality, the Word of God)
Introduction:
Last week, we identified the root cause of “Idolatry,” which is “Ungodly Pride.” (See Sermon dated, Feb.25, 2024.) Ungodly Pride is the core cause of every sin committed by mankind. This evil pride serves as the force that seeks to lure mankind, including born-again Christians, into making hard and fast decisions to place their thoughts, opinions, and actions above God’s Holiness; and to give excessive devotion or reverence to a thing or person above God, which is the very definition of idolatry.
Ungodly Pride, has the unmitigated gall to say to the Holy God, the Creator of all things, “My will be done,” and not “Thy Will be done.” When it comes to taking credit for accomplishments, Ungodly Pride says to the world, “I did it,” rather than “God did it!” And, when failures come, Ungodly Pride points to and blames God, and questions why God let the bad thing happen. Yes, Ungodly Pride is the Father of Self-Centeredness; the one who propagates the Self-Made gods, called Me, Myself, and I.
Ungodly Pride Turns People into Self-Made Idols
When we study idolatry and Ungodly Pride up close, we find that idolatry really is much deeper than the worship of an object or person above God. Rather, idolatry is the decision to worship “Self,” fueled by Ungodly Pride.
A clear example of Ungodly Pride at work can be seen in the lives of the children of Israel, God’s chosen people, after God had delivered them out of hands of Pharaoh; the bondage of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. Please see Israel from God’s perspective, who looks not on the outward appearance, but on the hearts of men.
God through Moses had Commanded Israel to worship and serve only Him. See the text below recorded at Exodus 20:3-5:
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 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;
God told Israel: “thou” shall have no other gods before me, to make no graven images, nor bow down to them. So then, no false gods could be made or worshiped without the children of Israel “making the decision themselves” to create images and “think” of them as gods and serve them. Thus, the children of Israel had the “power” to choose whether to obey God’s Commandments and worship and serve only Him, or practice idolatry as the other nations around them did.
Israel, however, chose to disobey God’s Commandments and brought the religious practices of idolatry (learned in Egypt) into the wilderness with them. In their pride, they chose to make and worship a physical deity, (a golden calf, representing the god of strength and fertility) and not worship the True and Invisible God of their forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. See Exodus 32:7-8. It reads:
And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Did you notice what God said to Moses in Verse 7? Israel had “corrupted themselves.” God did not say the idols they worshiped or the burnt offerings had corrupted them. No, no, no, God said the people had corrupted themselves! Meaning, the children of Israel had “willfully” acted “dishonestly” to make an idol to worship. They had committed a great sin against God.
In the sight of God, Israel had corrupted the image in which God had made them to be. That is, after His own image (Spiritual Personality) and likeness (Moral will). (Gen.1:26-27) While all of mankind were born into sin by Adam’s sin against God in the Garden of Eden, the children of Israel, were chosen by God to be a “holy nation” separated unto Himself. A people that God had covenanted with Abraham and His seed to bring into the promise land to worship Him and bring glory to God only. To serve as a nation that all other nations would fear, envy, and call blessed as they lived in God’s Holiness. (Gen.12:1-5 & Deut. 28:1-14)
In making the golden calf, Israel knew full well what God had commanded them not to do. But instead, in the pride of their mischief, in their impatience for Moses’ return from Mt. Sinai, Israel exalted its desires for a deity they could see and worship like the other nations, to replace the Holy God and Moses. Their hearts were only selfish.
Not only did Israel decide to make the golden calf out of the treasures (Earrings) God had given them when they left Egypt, they also bowed down and worshiped it, and sacrificed to it. They didn’t stop there but in their foolish pride, worshiped the golden calf as their “god,” professing even that it had brought them out of Egypt!
In their corruption, Israel credited the golden calf for the 10-judgments of: water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the killing of firstborn children; placed on Egypt due to Pharaoh’s refusal to let the Israelites leave Egypt.
They praised the golden calf, as the one who had provoked the Egyptians to turn over their wealth into the hands of the children of Israel. That when Pharaoh’s army pursued them to the Red Sea, the golden calf, parted the waters for Moses and enabled Israel to walk across safely on dry land. And, when Pharaoh’s army tried to pass through, the golden calf reversed the waters and drowned them all in the sea.
Wow, what lunacy! What a pack of lies Ungodly Pride can spin! The children of Israel changed the truth into a complete lie. Israel well-knew it was God alone who they had called on in great sorrow to rescue them from 400-years of bondage to Egypt and Pharaoh. They whaled and moaned for God to remember His Covenant with their forefathers; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to free them from slavery. (Ex. 2:23-24)
When Moses returned to Egypt from Median with Aaron his brother, they gathered the elders of the children of Israel together and told them that the God of their forefathers had seen their afflictions, heard their cries, and would deliver them from Egyptian bondage. While in captivity, Moses also performed “signs” (miracles) before them, and they all bowed their heads and worshiped. (Ex. 4:27-31)
The children of Israel were then eye-witnesses to the 10-plagues God through Moses put on Pharaoh and the Egyptians. They saw Moses part and close the waters of the Red Sea; with the dead bodies of Pharaoh’s army washed up on the seashore, with the seas made calm again. (Ex.14:15-31)
Surely, Israel remembered that immediately after Pharaoh and his army were destroyed, how with Moses, they composed and sang a song; forever memorializing their miraculous victory. (See Exodus Chapter 15:1-21) Here are a few bars of the song. Note how Israel promised to exalt God and expressed their gratitude for His great mercies toward them.
15 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name.
4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
5 The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.
6 Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
7 And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
11 Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
12 Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.
13 Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
With the children of Israel’s decision to make and worship the golden calf as their god, in the presence of God, they turned themselves into “Self-Made gods.” Self-Made gods whose spiritual personalities were full of falsehoods and wicked wills set on doing whatever they pleased to play in immoralities, without restraint.
They had become Self-Made gods who were ready, not only to disobey God’s Commandment to abstain from idolatry, but also in their hearts to flout the Ten-Commandments and other Laws God would give to Moses and Israel. Twisted in their Ungodly Pride, God and Moses were deemed irrelevant!
Thank God for His longsuffering and mercies. Israel that day were judged for their disobedience as 3,000 men died, and other judgements were later reaped by Israel. (Exodus Chapter 32) But, God did not forsake His people.
As noted earlier in this Series, the Books of the Kings and Chronicles record generations of the children of Israel, led by kings, into the practice of idolatry, judgements, and then mercy applied by God and restoration, only for the nation to return again to idolatry. As Israel worshiped the false gods, they reaped within themselves every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity that the gods they created and served represented. Just like the other heathen nations did in worshiping their gods.
It seems as though mankind never grasps that God created us as gods, having the ability to speak things into existence that flow from our hearts and mouths. Whatever a man chooses to believe in his heart and confesses with his mouth, (whether good or evil, blessing or cursing, life or death) he becomes it; and afterwards receives the rewards of it. (Prov.18:21, 23:7, Deut. 30:19 & Is.1:18-19, Luke 6:45, & Gal. 6:7-8)
Ungodly Pride unleased from the heart and mouth of a person always produces the Self-Made god; and “jacks-up” selfish opinions, thoughts, and actions above God’s Holiness, and reaps corruption.
We see Ungodly Pride ruling in the lives of many Christians today. As born-gain Christians, we do not make idols and offer sacrifices to them as the people did in the Old Testament. Our hearts (spirit, soul, and mind of the soul) are entirely new species that are renewed in the knowledge of the image of Jesus Christ as He is seated at the right hand throne of God. (II Cor. 5:17, 4:16, Col. 2:10) Our hearts are sealed by the Holy Ghost unto the day of redemption, with sin having no ability to infiltrate and corrupt our inner-man, which is renewed in Christ’s personality and morality daily. (Eph. 4:30)
Ungodly Pride, however, thrives in the thought-life (brains) and actions of many-to-most born-again Christians, which produces the practice of idolatry. For a surety, we know that Ungodly Pride is pervasive within the body of Christ, corporately and individually as we have wide-schisms (denominationalism), hatred among brothers and sisters, poor church attendance, poor financial giving, and mediocre at best participation in evangelism around the world. All of these behaviors are contrary to God’s Holiness.
Many Christians desire more to conform and fashion themselves after the ways of the world, than to be transformed in their thinking by the Word of God. (Rom.12:1-2) So many Christians live in and are being devoured by social media platforms; fascinated by U-Tube, Tick-Tock, Facebook, and many others, rather than fixated in God’s Holiness.
Let me briefly mention some specific examples of idolatry fueled by Ungodly Pride that Christians bathe and bask in daily. These examples may seem extreme to some Christians, but it only shows how far we have drifted away from God’s Holiness. As I go through these examples think about where you stand in light of God’s Holiness. Watch how Ungodly Pride, seeks to rise up in your brain (thoughts) and exalt “Self”; your opinion and way of thinking and doing above God’s Holiness.
–Christians treat their jobs as god. Today, if Jesus Christ said to Christians, as He said to His disciples, to forsake all and follow Him, the response of most would be, “No way Lord you are asking too much.” “I will not obey you Lord.” (Matt. 4:19) We know this is true if, as survey data suggest, that 75 to 90-percent of Christians refuse to tithe. There is no way Christians would forsake their jobs for Christ, when the majority rob God of 10-percent of their income every pay day!
–Christians even think their “living” is made by the job they have. Ask a Christian what they do for a living? They will quickly tell you their job title. But this is contrary to God’s Word. God says, He is our life and length of our days, and we are to “live” by every Word of God. (Duet. 30:20 & Matt. 4:4) Only God’s Word is the navigation system for living. The Word of God is our security, not our employment. Christians go to work every day, but the majority of us do not study the Word of God for daily living.
–Christians treat material wealth as their god. If Jesus Christ said to Christians, as He did to the rich young ruler, to go and sell all that you have, give it to the poor, and follow me; (Matt.19:21) The response by most Christians would be, “No can do, Jesus,!” I will not be homeless for you.” They would ask, “God, were you really serious when you said we are to put all of our heart’s trust in you?” (Prov. 3:5) “Are you really serious that we are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all things will be added unto us?” (Matt. 6:33)
–Lastly, sex is a god to Christians, as the majority of Christians today hold opinions that sex before marriage is acceptable for adults. God’s Word says it’s not! (I Thess. 4:3-4, Eph. 5:3, Heb.13:4, and I Corinthians 6:18-20) Interesting that a 2020 Pew Research Center Survey of Christians found that 51-percent of those surveyed indicated that casual sex – defined in the survey as sex between consenting adults who are not in a committed romantic relationship – is sometimes or always acceptable.
Fifty-seven percent of Christians in the survey believe that sex between unmarried adults in a committed relationship is sometimes or always acceptable. Lastly, 46-percent of Christians reported, it’s sometimes or always acceptable to have sex on the first date.
Christians must understand that we are a sanctified people in the Truth. (John 17:17) To have sex outside of marriage brings people into manifold deceptions; thinking that premarital sex is necessary, acceptable, and satisfying. But the truth is, sex outside of marriage unleashes a multitude of spiritual, physical, emotional, health, relational and financial negative consequences that must be reaped because Christians have “chosen” to operate outside of the Truth.
Walking in falsehoods only lead to reaping the fruit of corruption. We cannot let Ungodly Pride remain as strongholds in our thinking (brains). We must destroy Ungodly Pride!
“Self-Denial” Kills Ungodly Pride and Idolatry
So how do we as born-again Christians destroy Ungodly Pride, and in so doing, free ourselves from the bondage of idolatry and all sin practice for that matter? Simple, we must return to our first work when we came to Jesus Christ. Go back and rehearse daily the very first thing you did, or at least you said you were willing to do, when you received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. You submitted your life completely to Christ. You said you were willing to “deny” yourself in order to follow the Lord. Am I right about this?
In order for any person to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, they must first deny themselves; Jesus Christ demands this! Check out Matthew16:24 in the Amplified Version. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].
Each of us needs to examine ourselves and determine critically whether we are the Lord’s disciple. If we are truly the Lord’s disciples, then we must also deny ourselves; set our own self-interest a side and have a willingness to only follow Jesus Christ. No person can enter the Strait Gate and walk in the Narrow Way with Jesus, without denying themselves. (Matt. 7:13-14)
To identify oneself as a Christian and follower of Jesus Christ is no small matter and cannot be superfluous, it’s a total commitment of your life to Him. With Jesus, we willing forfeit “all rights” to retain our selfish interest, personal opinions, philosophy, logic, vain traditions, and desires to take actions independent of God’s Holiness.
We become completely impassioned about our belief in Jesus, hunger to learn of Him and live according to His example in this world. In so doing, we lose sight of our own interest and way of doing things until we come to the point that we forget about serving as the master and ruler of own selves! The denial of ourselves, comes with it a willingness to suffer for His sake, lose all material resources, and if necessary face death.
I believe when we preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and lead people to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, we need to make clear that in coming into the Lord’s fold, the person must be willing to forsake all for Christ’s sake. We need to stress that leaving our self-interest to enter into Jesus’s interest involves learning to live the life of Christ in the world. We must be willing to give up such things as:
*The right to a comfortable, secure home. (Luke 9:57-58)
*The right to spend money as we please. (Matt. 6:19-21)
*The right to get revenge on people. (Rom. 12:19-20)
* The right to hate our enemies. (Matt. 5:43-47)
* The right to a good reputation. (Matt. 5:11)
* The right to be honored and served. (Mark 10:42-45)
* The right to understand God’s plan before we obey Him. (Heb.11:8)
* The right to live by our own rules. (John 14:23-24)
* The right to murmur and complain. (Col. 3:13)
* The right to put “Self” first. ((Php. 2:3-4)
* The right to express sexuality freely. (I Cor. 6:18-20)
*The right to rebel against authority. (I Peter 2:13-15)
The conclusion to the whole matter is you must be willing to present your bodies (whole-self) as a living sacrifice to God, holy, and acceptable in God’s sight. Not because of the rewards and benefits we receive from being in an abiding relationship with God, but because God is “I AM.” The self-existing One! We must make the decision to surrender our wills to God’s Holiness, and let the work of the Holy Ghost transform our thought-life from “selfishness” to “selflessness;” from “self-dominated” thoughts to “God-dominated” thoughts.
The Apostle Paul wrote:
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. (Rom. 6:13)
The denial of yourself defeats Ungodly Pride because it sets aside all self-interest. In denying self, you lose interest in your opinion and way of thinking and doing things. You only seek to please God in all your conversations, and when you miss the mark, you are quick to repent and go the right way.
When you have denied yourself the only me, myself, and “I” in your life is the Life of Christ. Notice where the “I” and “me” are focused in Paul’s description of his life in Jesus Christ, recorded at Galatians 2:20. His testimony was as follows:
I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
The life that Paul lived in Christ was completely surrendered to the Lord and daily transformed into conforming to the example of Jesus Christ, which included suffering many things for the Lord’s sake. (II Cor.11:25-30) Paul urged Christians to follow his example as He followed Christ. (I Cor.11:1). Jesus’ example was that, His “Will” was completely submitted to His Father God, to only say and do what God told Him to do. (John 12:49-50) This is the example we have from Jesus Christ to follow. To only live in God’s Holiness, to live by every Word of God; not by our own opinions, thoughts, and ways of doing things.
Now is a very good time to ask, “Have you denied yourself?” Have you divorced yourself of all your opinions, thoughts, and actions that are in opposition to God’s Holiness; it’s a daily pursuit.
Satan is the brazen devil that attacks us with thoughts and imaginations that exalt themselves above the knowledge of God. However, the weapons of our warfare are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds. (II Cor.10:4-6) Daily, we are attacked with thoughts that are of the world and contrary to God’s Word that we must mortify (kill). See Colossians 3:5, it reads:
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
We must use the Whole Armor of God in prayer with God without ceasing to destroy Ungodly Pride, which produces idolatry. Take out the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and by the faith in Jesus Christ and finished works on the cross, denounce and divorce yourself of Ungodly Pride.
Every self-centered thought that seeks to exalt itself above God’s Holiness, you condemn it, capture it, and make it obey the Word of God. Money, cell phones, sex, jobs, video games, television, cell phones, sports teams, food, clothes, vacations, cars, cosmetics and weave, and medication have no power; as they are only things. As such they have no power over you!
Only say what God’s Word says about you. That is, the God-head dwells in Jesus Christ bodily, and Christ dwells in you. Thus, you are complete in Him. (Col. 2:9-10) You acknowledge that God dwells in you and you in God. (I John 4:15) Therefore, you belong to God and are not your own. (I Cor. 6: 19-20) You are only interested in thinking, talking, and doing those things that please God and bring Him glory, and not yourself!
Furthermore, God has given you a sound mind; the Mind of Christ, and there is no room in your head for deception, fantasy, and evil imaginations concerning material things or people. (II Tim. 1:7 & I Cor. 2:16) You only permit thoughts of Godly-Pride to enter in and reside in your thinking and meditations.
You abhor any thought that comes your way that rivals and blasphemes God’s Holiness. You hate Ungodly Pride that seeks to display the temperament of high-mindedness, vanity, and a haughty spirit. Come against it with the fruit of the spirit; faithfulness, patience, and self-control. You are a new creature in Christ Jesus, greater than Adam before he sinned against God, and are made in the image and likeness of Jesus Christ as seated at the right hand throne of God the Father (Possessing the Lord’s Personality and Morality to do the Will of God only).
You now have yielded your whole-self to the righteousness of God and declare that that Ungodly Pride is under your feet. You are free from idolatry! Decree your freedom from Un-godly Pride, and that you are alive unto God’s Holiness. God’s Holiness has become your Holiness. You are dead to yourself interest and alive unto God’s Interest only. Amen!
Next, week the Lord willing, we will go higher and enter into “I AM” Worship! See you there!
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