IDOLATRY

IDOLATRY

Scripture: Colossians 3:5

TOPIC: Idolatry

 

“Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”

                                                                                                                                    Colossians 3:5 - NASB

It is worth of stating that idolatry has been revived and sneaked into the church. The revival of modern idolatry is the chief reason for the lack of fresh fire on the altars of the heart of God’s children. The fire has been put out, and new abominable fires lighted unto “other gods”. The church must deal with idolatry in the manner that Hezekiah dealt with it. Hezekiah’s name meant, “strengthened of Jehovah”, and he was the third good king in the genealogy of Christ—2 Chronicles 29-32. 

 

His zeal for God is more known than any of his acts in secular matters. Hezekiah was the son of a wicked father, Ahaz, of whom it seems Hezekiah received no wicked inheritance of evil morality from. His father Ahaz was a staunch promoter of all forms of heathenism, where it was lacking; he found and introduced new varieties of sin from other lands. Thank God Hezekiah never honoured the things his father honoured, rather the scriptures said of him,

 

“And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not. He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.”

                                                                                                                                                  2 Kings 18:3-8

 

In the same way Hezekiah set out immediately to restore what Ahaz his father had destroyed, the church must rise up immediately to restore the things that remain fallen, the loss of zeal and true fire. It is time to remove the high places, break down the images, cut down the groves, and break in pieces the brazen serpent that is erected in the church of today. Hezekiah saw the brazen serpent for what it really was; nothing but a piece of brass. Therefore when he saw his people worshipping it as “god” and burnt incense to it, he knew they were wasting their worship on a lifeless, senseless piece of brass. Remember the brazen serpent was not carved an object to be worshiped but it was a means of cure. Today we have sneaked into the church all form of brazen serpents, and are devoting so much worship to it. The brazen serpent of money is the chief object of worship for many. Hezekiah called it by its right name, Nehushtan! He called the brazen serpent Nehushtan, which means “a piece of brass”. This is the same way Jesus called money by its right name, “mammon”.

 

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” 

                                                                                                                                           Matthew 6:24

Mammon is the modern day object of idolatry. Mammon is worshipped on the altar of many churches than Jesus Christ is. More messages are preached on mammon in the church than about Jesus Christ. We have made mammon our “god”, and have shamelessly bowed down to it. This mammon has quenched the zeal, the fire of many preachers, and ruined the lives of many unbelieving believers in the church.

 

I wonder if the church today can do half of all that Hezekiah did to restore the true worship of God back to Israel. His surrounding was anti-true worship, therefore he needed great courage to set in order the things lost to Israel in relation to true worship of Jehovah. Whereas his wicked father had closed the door to God’s house, Hezekiah had to undo the locks, and immediately bring the people back to God by setting in order the fallen things.

 

Credit: Excerpt From

ZEAL

Apostle Raymond Tamakloe