View Resource Online
Accept No Substitutes! – Handout
Exodus 20:4-6 (NLT) 4 Do not make idols of any kind, whether in the shape of birds or animals or fish. 5 You must never worship or bow down to them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god! I do not leave unpunished the sins of those who hate me, but I punish the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations. 6 But I lavish my love on those who love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.
WHAT IS AN IDOL?
l An idol is anything that takes the ____________________ off God and puts it on something else.
l When anything besides God is first in my life it is an idol – even if it is ____________________!
l In Bible times, there were three primary idols:
o Baal, the god of ____________________
o Mammon, the god of ____________________
o Molech, the god of ____________________
l The devil tries to portray God as the _________________ when He is really the _________________.
o James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
o Deuteronomy 4:15-16 (GN) For your own good … don’t sin by making an idol in any form at all.
WHAT IDOLS DO TO ME
1. Idols will _________________________ me
l Jeremiah 10:14 (GN) Those who make idols are disillusioned because the gods they make are false and lifeless.
l They always promise more than they can ____________________
2. Idols will _________________________ me
l 1 Corinthians 12:2 (GN) [Before you knew Christ] you were controlled by dead idols, who always led you astray.
l There are two inevitable effects when you love something more than you love God:
a) It begins to _________________________ you.
The modern word for idol is “__________________.”
b) It causes you to be _________________________.
l Idols always make you lose your ____________________.
3. Idols will _________________________ me
l Psalm 115:8 (GN) Those who make idols will become like them, and so will those who trust in them.
l Human ____________________ are one of the biggest idols today.
Addictions are simply ________________
answers to humanity’s timeless problems.
WHY WE WORSHIP IDOLS
1. We are attempting to limit God’s _________________________.
2. We are attempting to reduce God’s _________________________.
Many people change their theology because they
can’t justify their _____________ any other way.
3. We are attempting to _________________________ God.
WHY I WORSHIP GOD ALONE
1. It will _________________________ me.
l Proverbs 37:4 (GN) Seek your happiness in the Lord and He will give you your heart’s desire.
2. It will _________________________ me.
l John 8:36 (GN) If the Son sets you free, you will be really free.
l God will set you free from your PAST (______________________), your PRESENT (______________________) and your FUTURE (______________________). That is REAL freedom!
3. It will _________________________ me.
l 2 Corinthians 3:18 (LB) As the Spirit of the Lord works with us, we become more and more like Him.
God wants you to know Him as He really is!
Colossians 1:5 (NLT) Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
