he Necessity of Implicit Faith in The Living God
Monday Bible Study (Study 22)
Teacher: Pastor W.F. Kumuyi
Text: I Corinthians 10:14-22.
It is surprising that this counsel was coming to the Corinthian church, a group of believers. They were to flee, not to stop, meditate on or interact with idol worship. You might think that this study is not useful to you, but when you understand that in the presence of God, it is not until you bow down to, or pour oil on a statute, that you are an idol worshipper but when you worship something and put it above and beyond God when you love and cherish something, and you have it in your heart all the time, such a one or thing becomes an idol to you (Ephesians 5:5-6) A covetous man who sets money, properties, and other material things high in his heart above God is an idolater.
Point 1. The Imperative of Forsaking Idolatry to Serve God.
I Corinthians 10:14,7-8,11-13; Acts 7:41-42; 15:20,28-29; Acts 17:16,22,30-31; Romans 1:21- 28; I Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; I John 5:21; Revelation 21:8; Revelation 22:15; II Corinthians 6:16-18; I Thessalonians 1:9-10.
To serve God is a command, it is not optional, and it is coming to believers who are on their way to heaven, that they should flee from idolatry. This warning is so serious because of what happened to the children of Israel in the past (Acts 7:41-42) They made an image of gold and bowed down to it, despite all the miracles, blessings, and provisions they got in the wilderness. This made God to turn away from them.
Apostle Paul got to the city of Athens and was grieved when he saw that the entire city was given to idol worship. He told them that God has overlooked their time of ignorance, but He wanted them to repent and do away with anything that has to do with idolatry. Jesus died on the cross, but everyone has the responsibility to appropriate the sacrifice on the cross to him or herself. Every one of us has the responsibility to push away every idol, run and flee from it because it will hinder us from making heaven.
All idol worshippers will be eternally separated from God, and they will partake in the second death. Some people lie to protect themselves. The self becomes so big to them that they don’t care to lie to protect it. All these sinful things lead to the lake of fire which burn with fire and brimstone. You cannot strike a deal with anything idolatrous or of darkness, there is no relationship between the two sides. Every unclean thing in any form and shape must be repented of, and completely abandoned. God is not a Father to idol worshippers or those who exalt the creatures above He, the Creator.
Point 2. The Inconsistency and Filthiness of Idolatry in Serving God.
I Corinthians 10:15-17; Jeremiah 8:8-9; Isaiah 41:28-29; 44:9-10,18,20; Jeremiah
10:2,5,8,11,14-15; I Corinthians 10:18-19; Psalm 115:4-8; Jeremiah 3:22-23; Hosea 14:3,8;
Zechariah 13:2; Ephesians 5:3-6; Ezekiel 36:25.
It is inconsistent when you have God on the one hand, and idol on the other hand. You are not wise when you hear, and don’t receive and accept the word of God which warns you to abstain from idolatry. The knowledge of the things of the world has nothing to do with God.
The people of the world try to impart and teach their own wisdom and ways to anyone who cares to know. We as children of God are warned not to learn their ways and practices. Some idols are made of silver and gold, they are melded into the shapes and designs of animals, birds, or humans. These idols are helpless, unintelligent, blind, dumb, impotent, and deaf. They cannot help themselves, or see into the future. Those who worship and bow down to them are like them. Worshipping them leads to eternal perdition and destruction. Children of God are to trust in the Living God because He is their help and stay. They are to turn and return, abandon everything lifted and exalted above God and come back fully to Him.
Point 3. The Impossibility of Fellowship with Idols While Serving God.
I Corinthians 10:20-22; Matthew 6:24; Joshua 24:16,19-24; Matthew 7:18-23; Luke 16:10-13,26; John 8:42-44; Romans 8:5-8; Galatians 5:17-21; James 3:8-12; Isaiah 1:13-18; 59:1-3; Habakkuk 1:13,16; John 3:3-8; Hebrews 12:14-17,28.
You cannot be in the light and idol worship at the same time, and neither can you walk on two roads at the same time. Some people claim to be children of God but they don’t have any witness or assurance from the Spirit of God that they are. If indeed you are a child of God, you must have the witness in your heart, and it cannot be possible for you to be in the light and in the darkness at the same time. It is important to know that everything sacrificed to idols is to devils, and not to God.
They stayed in Jerusalem to worship the Living God and thereby strengthened the kingdom of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. If you are attending any church where they mix the word of God with the things of devils, you have an example in these people who refused to worship the idols Jeroboam set up. You must leave the such congregation.
You cannot serve God and demons, God and mammon, you cannot drink from the cup of God and of the devils. You cannot tear your heart into two between God and Satan, Devils have doctrines, teachings, and instructions. As a child of God, you cannot have anything to do with such. You cannot serve the devil until you depart from the faith and the doctrines of God.
You can only serve God after you have repented and totally abandoned idol worship. For you not to depart from the faith, you have to daily nourish yourself with the word of God. You keep reminding yourself of the good and godly doctrines. You take heed to and continue in them. This helps you to save yourself and those who listen to you.
The devil had the boldness, courage, and effrontery to come to our Lord Jesus Christ and tell Him to worship him after He had fasted and waited on God for forty days and forty nights after the power of the Holy Ghost had come upon Him and God had testified of Him as His beloved Son. You too must abandon every other thing, and exalt God to the highest position, then will He be pleased with you.