June 29
2 Kings 15:1-16:20 | PS 147:1-20 | Prov 18:4-5 | Acts 19:13-41
Many of us come into a relationship with Jesus Christ, but what do we allow to linger around from our former lives. We know that we all were and all are sinners. Our individual tendencies differ, but these tendencies and temptations all exist. We also know that though the Spirit is strong, our flesh is weak. We are surrounded by idols, some of which might tempt us, others which seem to have little effect on us. The question is, which idols are you permitting to stick around. It is a dangerous game, as we read in Galatians 5:17, "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." We also know that often we act purposely, intentionally, but there are times that we can be carried away thoughtlessly.
We read a recurring theme among the "good" kings of Judah, in 2 Kings 15:34-35, "And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. However the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. He built the Upper Gate of the house of the Lord." Like all the kings before him, he allowed these areas of idol worship to linger. Perhaps, he was not tempted. Perhaps, he was afraid the people would revolt if he became too "extreme". But we read in 16:3-4, concerning "good" King Jotham's "evil" son, King Ahaz, "But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel; indeed he made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree." These lingering idols may have had no effect on Jotham, but they became the object of Ahaz' worship. The right thing to do with those idols, is seen in Acts 19:18-19, "And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver." We need to rid ourselves of these idols, no matter the cost.
Lastly, we must be careful when we think we stand in our own strength, as we get a glimpse of mob mentality, when the idols of Ephesus were at jeopardy, as we read in Acts 19:28-32, " Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions...Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together." Our current world is surrounded by idols: on our phones, our televisions, our movie theaters. Because self is idolized as it is now, we collapsed, and there was no shortage of mob mentality surrounding the recent pandemic, and I'm sure all future ones. We cannot survive in our own strength, but only in our faith in God, as the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 147:10-11, "He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy."
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: