I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about IDOL TIME …

(December 01, 2002)…Almost 2000 years ago, a religious teacher named the apostle Paul said these words to the followers of Jesus Christ in the ancient city of Colossi,

Col 3:5-11 (NLT)  So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry. 6 God’s terrible anger will come upon those who do such things. 7 You used to do them when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you. 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us [who have received Him].

Note what Paul, God’s representative, said the believers were to do and be careful of. They were to watch out for “greed,” overcoming their lives and allowing entrance for all the other sins against God listed there. But what astounds most people is God calls greed above all things, the sin of IDOLATRY. After our second moment of music, we’ll talk about this IDOL TIME in all humanity. Stay tuned…

…Did you note in my reading of the Scriptures in Colossians 3:5, what God says is idolatry? Listen again to what God says to the world of sinners and saints,

Col 3:5 (NLT)  So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry.

Greed or the old English word “covetousness,” is the inner desire and sin of always wanting more, and never being satisfied with what one has. The one who is greedy or covetous is one who cannot enjoy the things of life God allows them to have, without lusting for, and being envious of what others have. My friend, God calls this by one word, the SIN OF IDOLATRY.

Now I’m sure you like most, when you hear the word idolatry, you think of someone bowing down and prostrating themselves before some grotesque idol made of wood, metal or stone. We’ve seen pictures or even the real life image of many idols pagans of the past worshipped and served. But today’s modern 21^st century man or woman certainly has never and could never do such things. We are to sophisticated and intelligent to think some idol can do anything for us.

However, God defines idolatry as something that goes far beyond such physical worship or service.

In fact, the very last and perhaps the most important commandment God ever gave to humankind is the “Tenth Commandment.” We find this written in the Old Testament book of Exodus where God Himself gave Ten specific Commandments to the people of Israel and the world for that matter. Listen to the tenth one given,

Exo 20:17 (NLT)  “Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else your neighbor owns.”

Again we come across this word “covet” which is the inner desire to lust after, seek at all costs to get something for oneself. Now again, as one hears this, no one in their right mind thinks they will covet their neighbor’s ox or donkey. When we hear terms like that we place such teaching in the attic of our minds as some relic of the past to be sent to the storage box of antiquities. But don’t be so fast to do such a thing, for what follows applies to every generation. It says, “nor anything else your neighbor owns [or has].”

This last commandment God gave to humankind, has probably received the least attention of all the Commandments, but in the New Testament to the Church of Colossi, God again speaks of it to the followers of Christ through the apostle Paul. John Wesley, a great preacher and evangelist of the past once said, “Before I can preach grace, I must preach God’s Law.” Indeed, God gives His Law to fallen sinners before He offers His grace and mercy of salvation and forgiveness of sins. You see my friend; we first must come to realize we are lost before we can be found. We must realize we are sinners before God, before we can become saints. So to help us see our selves and the perilous state we all are born into, God gives us His righteous and holy Law by which He exists and lives in His universe and time itself.

So, the Ten Commandments are in essence, God’s mirror for us to look at ourselves through His holy eyes. The Tenth Commandment, in a sense, sums up all the other nine, yet it is different from them too. All the other nine commandments are concerned with outward visible acts of sin against God and mankind, but the Tenth Commandment, is concerned with the inward desires of the heart of man. The other commandments forbid the acts of sin, but this forbids the desire to sin!  Greed, and selfishness, is a description of the terrible and damning sin of COVETOUSNESS. So Jesus Christ Himself, while on earth often warned those who listened to  and followed Him, to avoid this damning sin,

Luke 12:15 (NLT)  Then he said, “Beware! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own.”

Mark 7:21-23 (NLT)  For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you and make you unacceptable to God.”

Again the apostle Paul reiterated the words of God spoken on Mount Sinai and Jesus’ teachings, and said to the Church of Corinth and Ephesus,

1 Cor 6:9-10 (NLT)  Don’t you know that those who do wrong will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, who are idol worshipers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, 10 thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers—none of these will have a share in the Kingdom of God.

Eph 5:5 (NLT)  You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is really an idolater who worships the things of this world.

We are told here that a covetous or greedy human being, man or woman, boy or girl, is first of all in God’s eyes, an IDOLATER! Oh, you may not worship an idol or graven image, but in your heart, which is black with sin, you worship and bow down to the desire to have some material object, thing or person. Now to be honest, I find that it is absolutely impossible to stand in the light of this last command from God and remain guiltless.

Why this is the very commandment that brought down the great Pharisee of the 1^st Century named Saul of Tarsus, who was converted to Christ and became the apostle Paul. He tell us in his writings,

Phil 3:4-6 (NLT)  “Yet I could have confidence in myself if anyone could. If others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! 5 For I was circumcised when I was eight days old, having been born into a pure-blooded Jewish family that is a branch of the tribe of Benjamin. So I am a real Jew if there ever was one! What’s more, I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 And zealous? Yes, in fact, I harshly persecuted the church. And I obeyed the Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault”

 Paul tells how righteous and perfect he was in the eyes of his religious peers and he included, before God revealed the sin of IDOLTARY in his heart. When the Law of God exposed him he later said after conversion to Christ,

Rom 7:7-10 (NLT)  “… it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” … But when I learned the truth, I realized I had broken the law and was a sinner, doomed to die...”

You see idolatry, the sin of our hearts puts everything else “first place,” in our lives and shoves our Creator God and His desire for us to love and worship Him aside. In fact, the sin of greed or covetousness in us all is the sin “seed” that spawns all other sins the Ten Commandments command us not to do! You see, a greedy person will dishonor God in every way, will often take God’s name in vain when one doesn’t get their way, and will lie, steal, commit adultery and even murder, in order to satisfy the sinful desires that soon rule their lives. Friend, let’s face it every sin and evil we see perpetrated against our fellow man in this world stems from the sinful and greedy desires within us to get what we don’t have at any cost or sacrifice. We all do this and when greed gains control, our mind and heart is set on one thing we want, and all else is pushed aside. I think way back in the Old Testament of an individual who was a follower of God. One man, a lowly soldier in the army of Israel named Achan was overcome by the sinful idolatry of greed. We read of this man Achan in…

Josh 6:16-19 (NLT) “ … Joshua commanded the people ‘…the LORD has given you the city and everything in it must be completely destroyed as an offering to the LORD… 18 Do not take any of the things set apart for destruction, or you yourselves will be completely destroyed, and you will bring trouble on all Israel. 19 Everything made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron is sacred to the LORD and must be brought into his treasury.”

This was God’s plain and explicit command and condition of giving the Israelites victory in their first battle for the land God had now given to them. But we discover a soldier named Achan was idolatrous or greedy and wanted some of these things “devoted to the Lord and His work,” for himself. His judgment was clouded as a result, and he was willing to pay any price for it. We further read that God stopped the victory march and singled out Achan and his family that hid the stolen silver, gold and beautiful garments he found in the spoils of Jericho. God gave him time to confess, but he did not for he hid these material things in his tent and underneath it. However, God seeing all, and knowing all exposes him finally at the moment of judgment. It is here Achan confesses, but alas it’s too late for judgment was promised and did come,

Josh 7:20-21 (NLT)  Achan replied, “I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. 21 For I saw a beautiful robe imported from Babylon, two hundred silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest.”

Upon his confession and the fact that his whole family joined him in this deception, theft and  greed, God pronounced His judgmental wrath upon him and his entire family!

Josh 7:24-26 (NLT)  Then Joshua and all the Israelites took Achan, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, tent, and everything he had, and they brought them to the valley of Achor. 25 Then Joshua said to Achan, “Why have you brought trouble on us? The LORD will now bring trouble on you.” And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies. 26 They piled a great heap of stones over Achan, which remains to this day. That is why the place has been called the Valley of Trouble ever since. So the LORD was no longer angry.

My friend, greed is the seed sin of all other sins and will bring everyone down, some in this life but all in eternity. God hates sin, for He is holy and without sin. He cannot look upon sin and tolerate it in His presence, except for the moment of His grace which is this period of time in which we live. The sin of IDOLATRY not only destroyed Achan but his whole family too. Greed can do that and it does it today as well. Achan saw, he coveted, and the sinful desire swelled up in him to sacrifice everything in that desire to get what he wanted -- gold, silver and material things.

Friend is it much different today? Look at the greed that has brought down our Stock Market and blue chip companies. Leading executives, already making huge sums of money and having luxurious material possessions – well, it wasn’t enough. They had to have more and so they sacrificed their companies, their employees, and their own families to “get” what was not theirs but others!

James the Lord’s own brother, who was converted to Christ after the Lord Jesus died for the sins of the world, wrote in his New Testament epistle,

James 1:14-15 (NLT)  Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil [covetous or greedy] desires. 15 These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death.

Now quickly, what marks a covetous or greedy man or woman? Here’s a checklist to measure yourself. If you find a greedy heart within you, turn from it because you are an idolater and God promises us none will have any part in His eternal kingdom, but suffer His wrath and judgment in the fires of Hell to come. We see then,

1. A person is covetous when their thoughts are wholly taken up by the things of this world, to the exclusion of what God wants for THEM – This type of person rarely thinks of God, never reads the bible, rarely if ever goes to a bible believing church, never prays and never thinks about the fact that one day he or she must meet God in judgment. This world and what it brings and does for them alone matters. Is this you my friend? If so, you are an idolater whom God one day will judge for your sin. But, if you turn from it today and turn to Jesus Christ to be saved, God will give you a new heart to think and desire differently. Secondly,

2. A person is covetous when they are willing to give up everything in exchange for SOMETHING IN THIS LIFE  – How many today live to have “things,” and people.  I saw a bumper sticker once that read, “He who dies with the most toys, wins!” How sad, yet I confess this is what brought me down before God, to realize before I was saved from my sins that this was my sin. I lived to “get.” Oh, I worked hard for it, but everything was done to get something material for my pleasure. New cars, motorcycles, house, swimming pool, luxurious furnishings, first class vacations, you name it. That was my life whole a businessman. You see I grew up rather poor, and had little. The friends I hung around with were from well-to-do families. I longed for what they had, and when I was able to earn it – that was the sum total of my life, until I met God along life’s way. God showed me in a verse of Scripture what was the real value of all my gathered toys and life in two verses of Scripture Jesus spoke,
    Mark 8:36-37 (NLT)  And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul?
   In a moment of time, I realized all that I gained was worthless in the sight of God and in eternity. How my soul longed for at that moment, to be right with God. However, I first had to see I was an idolater. I lived for things, nothing else. How is it with you my friend? Am I describing you and your life? Even though one can get many things by “hook or by crook,” it rarely brings lasting satisfaction. Deep in my heart at that time, I keenly felt an emptiness which in time I learned, could only be filled with God and His love for me. I say to you, turn from such sinful idolatry, and turn to the living God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will save you, and set your heart right, and give real meaning to life and living! I know, for almost 30 years, the dragon of greed that once ruled me, has laid dead at my feet, thanks to Jesus Christ taking control of my life. Oh, I thank God for saving me from, yes, “myself” and my sin of idolatry that one day would have caused me to sacrifice everything including my family for things that would rust out, wear out, and pass away. Now take example. These corporate executives being held in jail for trial and future sentences committed this sin of idolatry, and how they and their families will suffer. But do you know their suffering in this life is nothing compared to what all idolaters will suffer when they face their Creator God and judge, Jesus Christ in eternity.  Jesus said by illustrative comparison, the seriousness of Hell to come,

Mark 9:43-48 (NLT)  If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter heaven with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. 44  45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter heaven with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. 46  47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It is better to enter the Kingdom of God half blind than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out.’

God has a cure for our sinfulness. It is Jesus Christ and His blood death on the cross 2000 years ago. This was God’s offer of grace and mercy. He came to earth in the Person and work of Jesus Christ to pay for our sins, Himself. Now, all one needs to do is accept God’s son Jesus Christ, bow in surrender to His Lordship and Saviorhood. When anyone does this, regardless of the sins they’ve committed in this life, God forgives them all and gives them a NEW nature to live for God and enjoy the pleasure of his love and righteousness. That’s the new birth, only Christianity offers. Have you received it? If so, share it with others. If not, take it to yourself today wherever you are, and experience the peace that passes all understanding, the joy and contentment that comes not from things or people, but from God Himself. It’s all yours for the asking, if you will bow your heart and life to call upon Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior. May God so bless these words to every listening heart for Jesus sake, Amen…

…There’s a story told about World War II and the infamous Herman Goering of Hitler’s regime. It appears his wife and daughter were Christians. While imprisoned for war crimes, Goering’s wife visited him. Goering asked, “Do you a message from our daughter?” Yes she replied, she told me to urge you to come to Christ so you might meet us again in Heaven. Goering replied, “It’s too late, I’ll take my chances here and now.” You see, years before, he was encouraged to receive Christ, but his greed and selfishness led him to think he and Hitler would have the whole world at their feet. Well he went his way and died an IDOLATER and lost his soul. May it not be said of you dear listener. Make peace with God today, through Jesus Christ.

·         Radio talk # 4802

·         Broadcast date: December 01, 2002

·         Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator

·         Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast

·         Address: P.O. Box 40133 Grand Junction, CO 81504

The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 22 years, and serves as General Director.

These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are actual radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of recent messages is available upon request also.