Sermon by Ps Daniel Khong of the Faith Community Baptist Church 11 Oct 2025. Click here to watch the full service on Youtube.
Background
Exodus 20 is the chapter on the 10 commandment. The first 2 commandments says that we shall have no other gods and to not make any idols and to worship or bow down to them.
An idol could be an image or representation of a god, where we pray or bow down to it. It could also be a singer, musician or sportsperson that we admire. Another intangible form of worship could also be the worship of money, a man who we may rely on to bring great help, or even our own wisdom/intellect. Charles Spurgeon wrote that if there is anything you would not give up for God, it is your idol. Anything that we seek with more fervour than our God, then that is our idol.
Scripture:
Mark 10:17-22 speaks of the man who came to Jesus asking for what to do to get eternal life. Jesus told him to sell everything, give to the poor and to follow Jesus. He was sad because he was rich.
Most in church probably has never worshipped another God, but many may have intangible idols in our lives.
How do we deal with idols in our lives?
1. Surrender our Idols
If God is truly Lord, then He must be the Lord of our lives. Paul wrote in Romans 1:25 that people worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator.
2. Reorder our Love
The things that we love are not inherently bad. However, if we spend more time on it than God, then this is a problem. This include loving money, our parents, our children. We need to reorder or rearrange - that we love them in the correct order. St Augustine defines sin in a positive perspective: "the essence of sin is disordered love."
We have to examine our own lives, if there is disordered love. Do we love something we love more than God and people - success, possessions, career, hobby, money?
How to identify the idols? Most don't quite know. To narrow it down, we ask the following:
- What is our greatest desire, what we want most?
- What is our deepest, darkest fears and nightmare?
King David wrote in Psalm 51 to cast me not away from God's presence and take not the Holy Spirit from him.
For what is idolatry if not this: to worship the gifts in place of the Giver Himself? - John Calvin