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Battling the Idols in Your Heart
Scripture Passage:
1 Samuel 5:1-7 INTRODUCTION: An idol is a pagan god or any object of excessive devotion or admiration. Exodus 20:3Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
See All... declares, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
- Bring the Lord Into Your Heart (1 Samuel 5:1-2 [1] And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.
[2] When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
See All...) (House) - Lydia – “come into my house, and abide there” (Acts 16:15And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.
See All...) - Reformation without redemption – like starting a car that has no motor
- Identify the Idols in Your Heart (1 Samuel 5:2When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
See All...) - Establish the Authority of God in Your Heart (1 Samuel 5:3And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
See All...) (Romans 12:1-2 [1] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. [2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
See All...; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 [14] For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: [15] And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
See All...) - Remove the Authority of Your Idols (1 Samuel 5:4And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
See All...) “the head” (Romans 6:1-11 [1] What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? [2] God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? [3] Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? [4] Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. [5] For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: [6] Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. [7] For he that is dead is freed from sin. [8] Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: [9] Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. [10] For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. [11] Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
See All...) - Destroy the Power of Your Idols (1 Samuel 5:4And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
See All...) “hands” (Romans 6:12-14 [12] Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. [13] Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. [14] For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
See All...; Romans 8:13For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
See All...; Colossians 3:5Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
See All...) - Keep a Proper Distance Between You and Your Idols (1 Samuel 5:5Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
See All...) (Romans 12:9Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
See All...) - Never Cease to War Against These Idols (1 Samuel 5:6-7 [6] But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.
[7] And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.
See All...) (Uzziah – 2 Chronicles 26:1-5 [1] Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah. [2] He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers. [3] Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. [4] And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did. [5] And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.
See All..., 16 “But when he was strong…”)
CONCLUSION: Revelation 3:19-20 [19] As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
[20] Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
See All... was written to believers. It deals with the Lord standing at the door and knocking. In response to this knock we find three categories of peole. Those who do not hear, those who hear but do not answer, and those who hear and answer. Are You Listening? Are You Willing to Answer the Door?