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I John 5: 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. What is the most basic question which God poses to the human race? Has something or someone beside the Lord taken title to your heart’s trust, preoccupation, loyalty, service, fear and delight? The O.T. principally pictured this pathology in the worship of actual idols. 2

Heat – The circumstances of our life – including personal history, traumas, present challenges Heat will reveal what is in the heart – thorns? Fruit? What do I love? What do I fear? What do I hope in? – who or what rules me? Cross – Who is God and what does He say and do in Christ 3

The N.T. largely moves the orientation of O.T. idolatry to a matter of the heart (epithumiai): Gal. 5: But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires (epithumiai) of the flesh. Eph. 2:3 - carrying out the desires of the body and the mind Eph. 4:22 - put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful (epithumiai) desires I Peter 2: Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 4

Observations 1.Indwelling sin is pictured as an inward power, present in the believer. 2.The terms of the conflict are war-like and intense 3.They picture the epi-center of the issue of motivation – the place where the issue of what makes humans tick is waged 4.From the most obvious lusts (like sex or food) to the more subtle ones (fear of man, need for approval, need for control) the question is binary: God or something else 5

David Powlison on idols “As a Christian you profess that God controls all things, and works everything to His glory and your ultimate well-being. You profess that God is your rock and refuge, a very present help in whatever troubles you face. You profess to worship Him, trust Him, love Him, obey Him. But in that moment—or hour, day, season—of anxiety, you live as if you needed to control all things.. 6

David Powlison on idols You live as if something—money, someone’s approval, a “successful” sermon, your grade on an exam, good health, avoiding conflict, getting your way—matters more than trusting and loving God. You live as if some temporary good feeling could provide you refuge, as if your actions could make the world right. 7

David Powlison on idols Your functional god competes with your professed God. Unbelievers are wholly owned by ungodly motives—their functional gods. Yet true believers are often severely compromised, distracted, and divided by our functional gods as well. Thankfully, grace reorients us, purifies us, and turns us back to our Lord. Grace makes our professed God and functional God one and the same.” 8

Counterfeit character & identity 1.Idols counterfeit aspects of God’s identity and character – in fact every feature of God’s to which we as dependent creatures might look for are mimicked by idols – security, status, love, fear, hope, strength, comfort etc 2.What they promise are lies: If you are smart enough… If you are funny enough… If you are in control… If you are organized…. 9

Example: The Fear of man The allurements and the threats of our social existence beguile us toward defections into idolatries - this is the meaning behind a scripture like: Proverbs 29:25 - The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe. What is the snare? That gaining the approval of others will be sufficient to sustain things which can only come from God 10

Idols define good & evil in ways contrary to the truth of scripture 1.Idols establish a point of control that is earth- bound. Either in objects (money, possessions) or in people (needing the approval of particular people) 2.False gods create false laws with promises and curses: If I have enough money… If certain people like me… I will be happy – If not I will be miserable 11