IDOLATRY AND ITS MANY FACES IN TODAY'S WORLD

In my previous posts, I have established the fact that there is ONLY one God and there is ONLY one way to worship Him, which is through His Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. If you haven't read that post, please I urge you to do so you can follow today's post.

I also urge you to read and think carefully about today's post because while it may look controversial even to Christians, remember that truth only has one meaning. The Word of God, the Holy Bible, is where ABSOLUTE truth can be found.

Always remember that the way to find the truth is to search diligently with an open mind, whilst praying for God's Holy Spirit to lead you to the truth about God (John 15:15-17).

Any act of worshipping God in anyway other than through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is simply idolatry or idol worship. Any act of giving honour that belongs to God alone to anything or person dead or alive is idolatry.

Any activity that CONSISTENTLY takes one's time rather than spent serving God constitutes idolatry. I will dwell more on this later.

When God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17, it is written in verses 1-6, God spoke, and these were His words, "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves. Worship no god but me. Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth.

Do not bow to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws."

God's command here is very clear. However, at different times in their history, the Israelites disobeyed this command, worshipped idols and on each occasion brought disaster upon themselves as God said He would do to them. Foreign armies invaded their land, took them off as prisoners for a long time on exile to foreign lands.

Each time the Israelites sincerely repented and turned back to God, He forgave them and restored His blessings upon them. To show God's distaste for idolatry, let us look at what Moses tells the Israelites in Deuteronomy 29:16-21, "You remember what life was like in Egypt and what it was like to travel through the territory of other nations.

You saw their disgusting idols made of wood, stone, silver and gold. Make sure that no man, woman, family, or tribe standing here today turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of other nations. This would be like a root that grows to be a bitter and poisonous plant. Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way.

That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike. The Lord will not forgive such a man. Instead, the Lord's burning anger will flame up against him, and all the disasters written in this book will fall on him until the Lord has destroyed him completely. The Lord will make an example of him before all the tribes of Israel and will bring disaster on him in accordance with all the curses listed in the covenant that is written in this book of the Lord's teachings.

This should tell anyone the extent to which God Almighty hates idolatry and that hatred has never, can never and will never change because God is the owner of the entire universe and everything in it and so He alone should be worshipped, honoured, adored and glorified.

It is sad to see that even in today's world, you still find people who continue to worship idols. What is even disgusting is that these idols are made by human hands and are carried by human hands and placed where the idol worship takes place. Common sense should tell anyone doing these things that it is not right but they ignorantly and foolishly continue to do so.

How can you make an object with your own hands and turn round to call it your own god? If you were born like everyone else and grew up to age of reason, how can it be something you created or bought later on in life is your god when you existed before such object? That is the foolishness of idolatry but very many people continue in this disgusting practice and continue to incur God Almighty's wrath on themselves.

If you observe today's world carefully, you will see that the areas of GREATEST disasters are areas where idols are worshipped. Just look and think carefully and you will reach this conclusion. There is ONLY one God and He is in heaven and fills the whole earth with His Majesty and nothing escapes His attention (Jeremiah 23:23-24). He alone is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient.

In Isaiah 46, God talks about the Babylonian idols that cannot do anything for themselves unless the humans assist them and in verse 9, God makes it clear that He alone is God and there is no other.

In today's world, people and even Christians have ignorantly carried on idolatry though disguised by lucifer or satan as normal activities. I will provide several examples here:

(1) As practised in different parts of the world, people CELEBRATE memorial anniversaries of their dead relatives and invite people to join the celebration. Some people even make a habit of visiting the graves of their dead relatives and speak to them. Some even visit mediums to consult the spirit of their dead relatives to either pass a message or hear from the dead relatives.

Some cremate their dead ones and place the ashes in a bottle and take it home. While there is nothing wrong in remembering a dead relative in one's mind, any action taken as I mentioned above in honour of the dead relative constitutes idolatry.

God warned the Israelites in Leviticus 20:6-8, "If anyone goes for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead, I will turn against him and will no longer consider him one of my people. Keep yourselves holy, because I am the Lord your God. Obey my laws, because I am the Lord and I make you holy."

It is written in Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, Yes, the living know they are going to die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward; they are completely forgotten. Their loves, their hates, their passions, all died with them. They will never again take part in anything that happens in this world.

If this is what God's word says and we are not sure if the dead relative's soul is in eternal torment in hell fire or with God in heaven, why bother holding memorials or going to graves to speak to the relative or consult medium for advice? That is simply idolatry and God detests that practice.

(2) Greed is a form of idolatry as the word of God says in Ephesians 5:5 and Colossians 3:5. The individual who is greedy thinks only about himself or herself and does not care about others or about God because the word of God says in 1 John 3:20-21, If someone says he loves God, but hates his brother, he is a liar. For he cannot love God, whom he has not seen, if he does not love his brother, whom he has seen. The command that Christ has given us is this: whoever loves God must love his brother also.

A greedy person wants all to himself or herself. We see this in polygamy where Children are taught to hate their siblings from the other woman or women and not share anything with them; we see it in politicians in positions of authority who embezzle money meant for the country's citizens and use it for themselves and their families alone; we see it in people who want to hold positions of authority in different settings that involves handling of finances to help themselves to it. 

We see it in people who hold leadership positions in private or public sector organizations who in spite of the benefits accruing to them in their positions including salaries and allowances they earn still want the organization to foot all their bills.

We see it even in the employee who earns a salary working for an organization but still uses the company's resources of any kind for their private activities, e.g. Company telephone, stationery, printers, vehicle not assigned to him or her, etc.

We also see it in employees who in spite of earning salary from their job still want contractors who execute contracts with their company to give them money as tips or show of appreciation for assisting them to get the contract or as the desk officer supervising contracts.

Does the contractor not have staff he or she pays salary for their work just like the employee who expects money from the contractor?

(3) In Africa, people engage in idolatry in the name of preserving customs and traditions. What is sad is when they argue to justify their idolatry whilst stating that they cannot destroy their norms and traditions whilst upholding foreign religion. They refer to Christianity as the religion of the white man and say it was imposed on Africans and that religion is the cause of trouble in today's world.

People who say such things want to continue to worship demons, offer sacrifices to their so-called deities for various reasons. They want to worship creatures in the sea, land, air, and everything created by God Almighty and not the Creator Himself.

Such practices include giving of chieftaincy titles, seasonal celebrations like the new yam festivals, new moon festivals and all other such festivals that give honour to satan and his demons.

There are some who prefer going to monthly village meetings especially on Sunday rather than go to Church to give thanks to God for all He has done for them. Sunday is the day God Almighty has said people should go to Church to hear His word, worship Him, go home, rest and meditate on His word.

Some go to visit so called prophets, herbalists and witch doctors to know what the future holds in store for them or to solve one difficulty or another - looking for financial breakthrough, revenge against someone who offended them, search for a spouse, solution to spiritual problems, protection against attack from enemies, gaining favour in the place of employment, search for a job, etc. God warned the Israelites against these practices in Deuteronomy 12:29-32 & 13:1-18.

(4) Some people rather than go to Church prefer to sit at home on Sundays to read newspapers, magazines and watch football, especially the different Countries Football leagues (English Premiership, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, French Championnat, Portuguese Primeira Liga, etc) because this is a day of rest for them.

It is God Almighty who gave them the job or business they run but rather than go to Church to appreciate God as He has commanded, they stay at home to pursue their own agenda. Out of 168 hours in a week, God has only asked for a few hours of our time on just one day, Sunday, to spend in appreciating and worshipping Him, but some of us are just too busy to obey.

(5) Some people join secret cults and various occultic societies because of political positions in governments of their countries.

Some join secret cults in universities, polytechnics and other higher institutions of learning so they can get whatever they want - women, pass marks in examinations and also oppress, maim and sometimes murder other innocent students. They then take these same behaviour outside of campus to wreak more havoc on the society.

In all these, satan is being served in idolatry.

(6) Some people, male and female alike love fashion to the realm of idolatry. They are ready to follow the latest fashion trends and are ready to spend ANY AMOUNT of money to acquire those things (cosmetics, clothings, cars, bags, shoes, perfumes, synthetic hairs, jewellery, wristwatches, etc). 

Some who even say they want to go to Church to worship God would rather miss Church until they are able to acquire the latest fashion to show off to other church members. It means the reason for going to Church is no more to worship God Almighty but to display their knowledge of the latest fashion trends to others and stir envy in the weak minded church members.

How would they pay attention to the word of God, understand and obey it when they are distracted by things of the world? As Sacred Scripture tells us in 1 John 2:15-17, Do not love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you do not love the Father. Everything that belongs to the world - what the sinful self desires, what people see and want, and everything in this world that people are so proud of- none of this comes from the Father; it comes from the world.

The world and everything in it that people desire is passing away; but he who does the will of God lives forever.

(7) A lot of my Roman Catholic brethren are ignorantly engaged in idolatry without even realising it. They pray the rosary, bow to candles, bow to images, venerate images and other statues. They claim to pray to saints to intercede for them to obtain favour with God. They draw this practice from the apostles creed, which is man-made in the portion where it is stated that they believe in the communion of saints, which means they can ask the saints in heaven to intercede for them.

The Nicene Creed, which is the longer version, does not make reference to the communion of saints contained in the apostles creed. The Nicene Creed correctly acknowledges the Divinity of Jesus Christ where it is stated, I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, Begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through Him all things were made.

This Creed was formed at the Council of Nicaea in 325AD by Bishops who by the Holy Spirit's guidance were able to puncture the erroneous doctrine of arianism that claimed that Jesus did not have a Divine nature. The Apostles’ Creed that came later now had a wrong doctrine of communion of saints included in it. The Roman Catholic even have a process of making saints of those who have died. The question now is, how can human beings know who qualifies to be a saint when only God knows those who truly worship Him and what they do in secret?

Roman Catholics have gone to the extent of FAST TRACKING the process of sainthood and people can die today and qualify to become saints within a very short period. They then pray to the person for intercession. They even pray to angels for intercession.

The word of God is clear as He warned the Israelites in Exodus 20: 1-6 not to worship idols or make images of anything in heaven, or on earth or in the water under the earth. Recently in 2009 & 2010 in Ecuador and 2013 in Sierra Leone, the Lord Jesus took Angelica Zambrano and Linda Ngaujah respectively to hell and heaven to show them different souls in torment in hell and with several warnings including to Roman Catholics to stop praying to Mary or saints who are in heaven and don't even know what is happening on earth and they should pray to ONLY Him, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as He has commanded in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me."

It is written in 1 Timothy 2:5-6, For there is one God, and there is one who brings God and mankind together, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself to redeem all mankind. That was the proof at the right time that God wants everyone to be saved.

If you wish to see these testimonies of Angelica and Linda, go to my first post called Introduction and at the end, click on the links with the names of these sisters to see the Lord's message there.

(8) Some pastors in Christendom leave the true gospel message and rather than focus on Christ and the truth about Him now turn their attention and those of the congregation to handkerchiefs, soaps, holy water, holy communion, aprons, anointing oil, candles, etc. The reason is because they want solution to earthly problems and forget that the stay here is temporary and the real focus should be on getting to heaven by serving God in truth and in spirit.

Christ has said in Hebrews 13:5, "I will never leave you; I will never abandon you." Rather than pray to Christ who answers all prayers made with faith from a SINCERE and REPENTED heart, they focus on these other items and turn them to idols.

(9) Anyone who depends on a fellow human being for well-being, is ready to do whatever the benefactor wants even in compromise of God's commands in engaged in idolatry. Sacred Scripture tells us in Isaiah 30:1-2, "Woe to rebellious children," says the Lord, "Who take counsel, not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of my Spirit. It is also written in Jeremiah 17:5-8, Thus says the Lord: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord.

For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its root by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor cease from yielding fruit."

What this means is any act of man that does not glorify God but man alone is idolatry e.g prostitution, armed robbery, gambling.

We also see this where some have even turned paid employment or their businesses into idols - they work round the clock and do not allow their staff to go to church to worship God on Sundays.

Some worship their supervisors and are ready to do anything to keep the job.

(10) These days, people, especially those in the music entertainment industry openly profess satan as their master since they have sold their soul to satan for fame and money. Yes, the fame has come, the money has come but as Jesus Christ said in Matthew 16:26, "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

What these unfortunate folks fail to realise is that satan has deceived and continues to deceive them here on earth to serve him but what awaits them on the other side of life is eternal torment in hell fire. Those who did it before them are now in hell fire regretting why they ever sold their soul to satan who is now torturing and tormenting them incessantly.

What is even more unfortunate is that these folks have misled a lot of youth these days to engage in indecency and immorality, and even in idolising them. Against God's warning, they tattoo their bodies and lips, expose their bodies, sag their shorts and trousers, put on dreadlocks and other funny hairstyles, perform surgery to put horns on their heads, split their tongues, make satanic signs and symbols as a way of greeting, engage in erotic dances, take alcohol, drugs, watch and engage in pornography and orgies, and even praise satan in their music, movies, books, etc.

Some are openly rebelling against God by their comments, stating that Jesus Christ did not come to die for man's sins but to teach the Christ consciousness. If Jesus did not come to die for man's sins and resurrect as He said He would, mankind would have been doomed and God would have destroyed the world long ago and there would have been no basis for Christianity.

Thank God and Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for love and mercy upon mankind in spite of all the sins even going on right now. But I tell you, dear reader, that that mercy is running out and God's judgement is about to come upon the world. This is why Jesus Christ is sending different people in different continents to warn mankind to repent and turn to Him. Anyone who has died in sin is now in eternal torment by satan and demons in hell fire and can never get another chance of repentance.

For me and for you who read this, we still have that opportunity to sincerely repent of wrong doing, turn to Jesus Christ, accept Him as Lord and Saviour of our lives and ask God for the Holy Spirit's guidance to the truth. I warn you dear reader, do not engage in idolatry and immorality.

In response to the Pharisees' question, Jesus Christ said in Matthew 22:37-40, "Love the Lord your God will all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it: Love your neighbour as you love yourself. The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments."

Anything that takes the place of God in one's life is idolatry. Anything someone thinks he or she cannot do without has become an idol for that person and this is dangerous because God has said He will not tolerate rivals. In her testimony on the realities of hell and heaven as Jesus showed her, Mary K. Baxter said Jesus told her that even if someone has signed an agreement with satan for his or her soul, such person can still be redeemed but ONLY while alive here on earth and NOT after death when it will be too late to repent.

That is the extent of Jesus' immeasurable love for mankind - He still loves us and is ever ready to save us even though He sheds tears for our continuous sinfulness, which He knows the end if we die in such state.

Dear friend, today as you read this post is another opportunity Jesus is giving you and I to turn to Him and accept Him wholeheartedly. I urge you to accept Him NOW as the next minute may be too late. Jesus loves us so much and that is why He continues to plead with God the Father to show mankind mercy but this will end one day sooner than we expect.

DO NOT BE CAUGHT IN THE WEB OF REGRET IN ETERNAL TORMENT IN HELL FIRE AS MILLIONS OF SOULS ARE EXPERIENCING RIGHT NOW WITHOUT ANY HOPE WHATSOEVER OF A SECOND CHANCE.

WHEN WE EXIT THIS WORLD, NOTHING ELSE WOULD MATTER EXCEPT WHETHER WE SPENT TIME SERVING GOD BY OBEYING HIS WORD AND LIVING A RIGHTEOUS LIFE THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OR SERVING SATAN AND HIS DEMONS BY SINFUL ACTS.

God bless you as you hear His word today, accept and act on it and share it with others who are in need in Jesus' Mighty name, Amen.

Gabriel Ama.