A Person’s Idol Is Whatever Receives the Primary Devotion and Commitment of That Person’s Heart, Whatever Consumes That Person’s Life.

The Powerlessness of False Gods to Save Their Worshippers 

⁵“With what in all of heaven and earth do I compare? Whom can you find who equals me? ⁶ Will you compare me with an idol made lavishly with silver and with gold? They hire a goldsmith to take your wealth and make a god from it! Then they fall down and worship it! ⁷ They carry it around on their shoulders, and when they set it down, it stays there, for it cannot move! And when someone prays to it, there is no answer, for it cannot get him out of his trouble.^[1] (Isaiah46:5–7) 

False Gods Are Worthless, For They Are Unable to Help Their Followers
And Powerless to Save Their Worshippers.
Six Facts Prove Their Powerlessness:

A. They Are Not Like the Lord nor Equal to The Lord. Idols are not like the Lord nor equal with the Lord (v. 5). As the living and true God, the Lord is able to help His people by strengthening them through all the difficult situations and worldly enticements of life. Idols cannot do this, for they are neither true nor living. 

B. They Are Only the Creation of Man’s Mind, Thoughts, And Ideas. Idols are only the creation of a person’s mind (v. 6a). An honest, realistic evaluation of idols reveals that every idol has its beginning in people’s thoughts. When people conceive an idea of who God is and what He does, a god is born in their minds. Sadly, most people worship the gods of their own imaginations rather than the Lord. The Lord alone has revealed Himself in His Holy Word, the Bible, and has come to earth to reveal Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ. 

C. They Are Only Tangible, Physical Objects: They Are Made by Mere Man. Idols are only material objects or ideas that are made or conceived by mere men (v. 7). In some cases, craftsmen manufacture an idol out of gold or silver, and people bow down to worship it. But today, most people worship the idols of their own thoughts, such as …

Ø  athletes

Ø  movie stars

Ø  models

Ø  sports

Ø  television

Ø  recreation

Ø  sex

Ø  wealth

Ø  possessions

Ø  comfort, a life of ease

Ø  religion

Ø  family or other loved one 

A person’s idol is whatever receives the primary devotion and commitment of that person’s heart, whatever consumes that person’s life. The Lord, the true and living God, demands our highest devotion and commitment, our best time, and the greatest energy of our bodies. If we give our greatest devotion, commitment, time, and energy to something else, we place that thing ahead of God. If a person or thing, not the Lord, becomes first in our lives, it is an idol, an object of our own creation that we worship.  

D. They Are Unable to Help or Sustain People in Life: They Have to Be Carried. Idols are unable to carry people through life; instead, they must be carried. Consider any of the idols already mentioned or any other idol in the minds or possessions of people. In all cases, idols must be carried by their creators or worshippers, whether in their minds or in their hands. Idols are lifeless, totally incapable of helping or carrying anyone through the severe hardships or wicked snares of this world. 

E. They Cannot Move (To Guide, Protect, Or Provide for People). Idols cannot move. They have no ability to move, for they exist only in the mind of the worshipper or else at the spot where they sit. Lifeless and immobile, idols are not able to help, guide, protect, or provide for people. 

F. They Cannot Answer or Save When Called Upon. Idols cannot answer people who cry out to them for help. Nor can idols save those people when they face tremendous problems. No matter how much people pray or how loudly they cry when in distress, idols cannot answer them. Idols cannot deliver or rescue them. Idols can do nothing. They have no life; consequently, they are worthless, utterly useless to their worshippers. Idols are absolutely nothing like the Lord, who is the true and living God. Because He lives, He can give believers supernatural strength to walk through any circumstances, no matter how difficult or frightening. And when believers face the final trial of life, which is death, God gives them the wonderful promise of being immediately transferred into His presence (2 Ti. 4:18). 

V  “For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom, therefore, ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he is not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Ac. 17:23–31).

V  “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and to birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen” (Ro. 1:20–25).

V  “As concerning, therefore, the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in the earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” (1 Co. 8:4–6).

V  “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Co. 12:1–3).

V  “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image and prays unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Is. 45:20–22).

V  “They are upright as the palm tree but speak not: they must need be borne because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might” (Je. 10:5–6).^[2]

---

^[1] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible, Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.

^[2] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2005. Isaiah: Chapters 36–66. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.