Tim Keller – Redeemer Presbyterian Church
Day 1
Session 1
Paul, in his preaching of the Gospel, always took on and challenged the idols of the culture and the people’s heart – to minister to the heart we must do the same – challenge and expose the idols
Discern Idols, Expose Idols, and Destroy Idols
Discerning Idols:
-Paul preached in such a way that it changed people’s lives
-changed how they lived in the world, which changed the culture
-You have to live differently – confronting idols will do this
-Man made gods are no gods at all
-Acts 17:16 Paul saw the idols – discerned them
-need to figure out what the idols are in your town and culture/race/gender
-Paul went to where the culture was formed (the market) to deal with the idols
-Every culture not based on the glory of God is based on some sort of idol
-they look to this idol to give it meaning, hope, and salvation
-When the wrong thing becomes the central thing you are in trouble
-You can make anything into an idol, it doesn’t have to have a statue
-An idol is anything in your life that is so central to your life that you can’t have
meaning in life without it – if you lose it, you lose “life”.
-Making a good thing into the ultimate thing – idolatry
-Do you see the idols in your vocation, city, family, culture?
-Expose the idols
-Three Kinds of Idols you will have to expose
-Gospel is you are saved by grace, idol you are saved by something else
-often a form of works
1) Personal Idols
-Romans 1
-Money – Colossians 3:5
-Ephesus – worship of Goddess Artemis
-How do you make money just money, and not your salvation
- only with the Gospel
-Romance
-if you look to this other person for your worth and value it is idolatry
-Then you have no boundaries in your relationship
-Aphrodite
-Children
-People looking to their children for their worth and happiness
-If they are smart, athletes, their faith etc. can all contribute to this
-This either crushes or repels the child
-then when this happens you blame God
-Martin Luther – all sin is at its root idolatry
-Functional saviors
-Can’t understand moral or psychological problems without understanding
idolatry
-There is no mercy in false gods
2) Religious Idols
-These people think they are devoted to God, but are misguided
Truth
-Is it possible to say I am saved by the rightness of our doctrine, and not Jesus
alone? (yes)
-When you are always disdainful of people who differ with you (Proverbs calls
you a fool!) – a doctrinal Pharisee
Gifts
-Mistaking spiritual gifts for spiritual fruit
-I know God is with me because look at all my success…
-Idolizing preaching for young pastors
Morality
-Typical for Christians to say the reason God loves me is because I do all these
Things (prayer, evangelism etc), so surely God has to bless me
3) Cultural Idols
-Traditional cultures – the idol is the family
-Western Culture – the individual and “my” feelings are absolute
-no one can tell anyone else they are wrong, cannot upset them
-idea that you should not tell people that their beliefs about God are wrong is
imposing a view about God on others
Destroy the Idols - How do you actually do something?
-When the idols are exposed, it is dangerous. Idols are violent and violently protected.
-Through idols the forces of darkness control us (powers and principalities)
-Idols cost Jesus His life
-Paul risked his life to expose idols
-I know Jesus died for my sins, but what is going to help me use this to put away my
idols?
-If you live for your career, it can’t die for your sins
-don’t love good things less, love Jesus MORE!
-could be your spouse, kids, service etc.
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