The Christian Arsenal
Exposing the Liberal Lie
Chapter 4: They Consult A Wooden Idol and are Answered by a Stick
Exposing the Liberal Lie:
What the Bible Says About Political Correctness
by Jim Alexander
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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000. (see text)
Chapter Four:
They Consult A Wooden Idol And Are Answered By A Stick
Psalm 115:2-8 -- (paralleled in Psalm 135:15-18) Why should the Gentiles say, "So where is their God?" But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell; They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them.
"Come on, aren't all religions the same? I mean -- as long as we believe in god, what difference does it make which manifestation of his or her being we worship?"
It sounds so inoffensively tolerant that any who would dare repudiate such thinking would surely be construed as narrow-minded fanatics. The current trend toward multiculturism is a chief outgrowth of such thinking, that there is no distinction or priority between the worship of one god over another, that all are equal in standing, and the way to approach god is as multitudinous as the variations of his or her manifestation.
It's a popular and politically correct notion today that the beliefs and cultures of every person are equally as important, and that to favor one over another is a conspicuous revelation of one's own perfervid intolerance. "How can anyone be so insular in their thinking as to believe their God is the only God, and their way to Him the only way?!?"
At face value, though, I would have to admit it does seem pretty arrogant to declare there is but one God and one way to Him, and all other ways counterfeit and nonproductive. But, that's at face value and omissive of the facts as revealed in the word of God. If the Bible is clear about one thing, it's that there is but one God and one way to Him.
Deuteronomy 4:35 -- To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD Himself is God; there is none other besides Him.
Isaiah 43:10-13 -- "You are My witnesses," says the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, And besides Me there is no savior. I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses," Says the LORD, "that I am God. Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?"
Isaiah 44:6 -- (the LORD speaking) "This is what the LORD says -- Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the First and I am the Last; apart from Me there is no God." (NIV)
Isaiah 45:22 -- (the LORD speaking) "Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other."
I Chronicles 16:25-27 -- (paralleled in Psalm 96:4-5) For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and gladness are in His place.
Nehemiah 9:5-6 -- (the Levites speaking) "Blessed be Your glorious name, Which is exalted above all blessing and praise! You alone are the LORD; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You."
Exodus 20:2-3 -- (the LORD speaking) (paralleled in Deuteronomy 5:6-7) "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." "You shall have no other gods before Me."
These passages leave no room for argument or denial. The LORD is God; besides Him there is no other. "Apart from Me there is no God." "Apart from Me there is no savior." "You shall have no other gods before Me." "All the gods of the nations are idols." The Hebrew word translated here as "idol" ('eliyl), means good for nothing or worthless. It isn't exactly the type of word one might find conducive to any theory of multiple gods. Continuing along these lines, the word of God is also very unambiguous relative to those who may turn from the one, true God, and seek another.
Deuteronomy 6:13-15 -- Fear the LORD, your God, serve Him only and take your oaths in His name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and His anger will burn against you, and He will destroy you from the face of the land. (NIV)
Exodus 23:13 -- (the LORD speaking) "And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth."
Joshua 23:6-8 -- (Joshua speaking) "Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have until now." (NIV)
Leviticus 26:1 -- (the LORD speaking) "'You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God.'"
Habakkuk 2:18-20 -- (the LORD speaking) "What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, The molded image, a teacher of lies, That the maker of its mold should trust in it, To make mute idols? Woe to him who says to wood, 'Awake!' To silent stone, 'Arise! It shall teach!' Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, Yet in it there is no breath at all." "But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him."
Exodus 22:20 -- (the LORD speaking) "He who sacrifices to any god, except to the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed."
"Do not invoke the names of other gods." "Do not make idols or set up an image...." "Do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it." Whereas this type of idolatry -- although somewhat more prevalent in some circles of professing Christianity than others -- may not be as common as it was when these passages were written, the underlying point is an eternal one: There is one God, and He alone is to be worshiped.
The forty-fourth chapter of Isaiah (specifically verses nine through twenty) contains a particularly humorous pronouncement of the folly of those who worship the works of their hands. It is a fine, if not somewhat sobering characterization of the fool without God -- as, so needful is man for an object of worship, that when failing to recognize the true God, he must fabricate one of his own.
The word of God also contains many warnings against the consultation of spiritists and mediums -- a devilry all too common today, even among professing Christians.
Leviticus 19:26 -- (the LORD speaking) "'Do not practice divination or sorcery.'" (NIV)
Leviticus 19:31 -- (the LORD speaking) "'Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God." (NIV)
Leviticus 20:6 - (the LORD speaking) "'And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.'"
Isaiah 8:19-20 -- And when they say to you, "Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter," should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Deuteronomy 18:9-13 -- When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God. (NIV)
"Well," one might interject at this point, "these are all so obviously false gods, but what of the other, major religions? Aren't their gods and their ways just as substantive and affecting?" Again, what does the word of God say? Can one come to God through Confucius or Buddha or Muhammad or Zoroaster or some other?
Hosea 13:4 -- (the LORD speaking) "Yet I am the LORD your God Ever since the land of Egypt, And you shall know no God but Me; For there is no savior besides Me."
Acts 4:12 -- (Peter speaking -- referring to Jesus) "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
I Timothy 2:5-6 -- For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time...
These all seem graphically trenchant confirmations of the one God, one way dogma of the Judeo-Christian faith. What does the Lord Jesus say about the way to God?
Matthew 7:13-14 -- (Jesus speaking) "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
John 10:1-5 -- (Jesus speaking) "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
"Okay. So why all this talk about gates? What gate? Where is it? How does one find it?"
John 10:7-10 -- Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
"Perhaps here Jesus isn't really saying what He appears to be saying. Isn't there somewhere else we can turn where He's more definite?"
John 14:6 -- Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
That's pretty definite. I don't hear Him saying, "Many are the ways, the truths and the lives. Anyone may come to the fathers -- or mothers (as some maintain) -- through them."
John 11:25-26 -- Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die."
"How arrogant can one be?!?! How can he claim that?! How can he even think that?!" The answer is obvious. Either Jesus is who He claims to be, or he's insane and a liar. Let's look at both possibilities, the latter first, and assume Jesus was quite mad and not really who He said He was. Okay, simple enough. Then all of Christianity is a lie, and more are we who profess a faith in it to be pitied than any wretched creature on this planet -- for we've denied ourselves all the pleasures and excesses of this world for naught. There is no God -- at least not the God of the Bible -- no Savior, no resurrection, nothing. As the writer of Ecclesiastes reasoned through the eyes of the world, all that we have is what's under the sun, and all that is under the sun is an utter waste of time and meaningless -- a chasing after the wind. We live rather pathetic existences here, then we die and that's all. Why get up in the morning except to indulge our own insatiable lusts and desires, entirely incongruous to anyone else? Why the pretense of charity, kindness, patience, goodness, meekness, self-control or love? We should only be concerned with how we can please ourselves at this moment, for if tomorrow we die and are no more, nothing but this very moment matters, and my wants for this moment are foremost and all-important.
But, what if the former assumption is correct -- that Jesus is who He claims to be? Then there is but one way, for He said: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." "I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved." Whoever attempts to enter any other way is "a thief and a robber". "All who ever came before Me were thieves and robbers." " I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies."
Luke 11:23 -- (Jesus speaking) "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters."
In essence, what it comes down to is just this: Is Jesus Christ the Son of God? If He is, then we need to believe Him when He claimed to be the only way to the only God.
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." The options are simple. This statement is either true or false. No other options exist. Jesus Christ did not come to hang on a cross and shed His blood so that people could come to God through Buddha, Muhammad or Moses.
The option you choose to believe will determine your outcome for the rest of eternity. Jesus is the only Savior or Jesus isn't any savior. The word of God emphatically confirms the one, the world the other. Which do you choose to accept?