It is not my intention to hurt nor to offend anyone, but to we must hear the truth, the truth of God. There is only one truth and that is our Lord Jesus Christ for: He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.(Deut.32:4)
If Jesus is the only truth what about all other religions and their gods? For us Christians, the truth is Jesus but what is the truth to a Muslim or to a Catholic for example? What about their idols and their gods? A muslim will perceive Allah as truth, and a Catholic will perceive Mary as truth. Almost every religion has its own gods and its own truth, but the reality is, there is only one true religion which truth stands for ever, and that religion is based on Jesus Christ..Every other religion has a dead god, an unrissen god, a hand made god or an idol which is worshipped. Christianity is the only religion that worships a living God. Christianity has the only God who rose from the dead, who appears to man, who speaks to man and who blesses man. No other religion nor idol nor god is capable of doing so.
Now Catholics will say that Mary is also a living god for she appears to men. Without going deeper into this subject, let me state that nowhere in the Bible Mary is called the Mediator. The only Mediator between heaven and earth is Jesus Christ ."
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." 1 Tim2:5
In Christianity, we know that we have an adversary called Satan, who likes to counterfeit everything of God. He even appears as an angel of light(2 Cor 11:4). Now I leave it up to you to draw your conclusions as to what this Mary appearances are, but one thing is certain, this Mary which appears to men today is not the mother of Christ, for the truthful mother of Christ is in heaven and remains in heaven!
Mary though, is not the only idol of worship in Catholicism. Catholics worship idols of many saints. These are even portrayed, placed and venerated in churches, houses etc. The Bible clearly forbids such practices (Ex.20:3-5, Deut.27:15). Sad to say that Catholicism is not the only religion who trespasses God’s laws. Many, many other religions do worship graven or hand made idols. A reasonable argument is that those religions have nothing to do with the God of Christianity. That is right, but nevertheless those religions are false. God tells us that there is only One God which is the God who is in Heaven, and therefore all thos other religions are not right. Ask yourself this question: "Is there any other person besides Jesus ever risen from the dead?" Now, I know the answer to that, do you?
Any god which is made by humans and for humans cannot do the things for you that God does! Have you ever seen an idol work a miracle or speak to you? I know I have not. An idol is hand made by humans and thus a dead thing, it has no eternal life nor in fact any life attached to it. Let’s see what the Bible has to say about the worship of idols: " But that which is made with hands is cursed, as well it, as he that made it: he, because he made it; and it, because, being corruptible, it was called god. For the ungodly and his ungodliness are both alike hateful unto God. For that which is made shall be punished together with him that made it. Therefore even upon the idols of the Gentiles shall there be a visitation: because in the creature of God they are become an abomination, and stumbling blocks to the souls of men, and a snare to the feet of the unwise. For the devising of idols was the beginning of spiritual fornication, and the invention of them the corruption of life (Wis.14:8-13)
And furthermore: Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen. Deuteronomy 27:15. First of all God tells us that everyone that worships and idol is under a curse, and everyone that makes an idol is cursed also. In order to understand what this means, let’s see what Webster’s Dictionary says about a curse: a curse is ‘evil or misfortune that comes as if in response to imprecation or as retribution’. We see thus, that a curse brings misfortune, bad luck and all kinds of evil. It is contrary to a blessing. A curse is therefore very destructive. People in witchcraft know how destructive and how powerful a curse can be, for they use it very often to bring misfortune to others.
Then if a curse is evil, how much more will a curse be that comes from God? Have you ever wondered why people who worship idols are so prone to misfortunes? Countries which have idol religions suffer from many evils such as poverty, hunger, loss of homes due to environmental catastrophies. You see these countries suffering much more than countries that have the Christian faith. The reason is of course thier idolatry. God hates every other worship that is not of Himself. Moreover, an idol not only brings destruction to the worshipper,but also it brings spiritual destruction,physical destruction and material destruction.
The worship of idols is not the only form of idolatry! Idolatry has many facets. A truthful Christian can be idolatrous as well. I see this happening more and more. Society and its demands can be an easy snare for anyone of us. The mayority of idolatry performed in the Western world consists in the ungodly worship of the famous evangelists, worship of the self, materialism and the like. Evangelists for example are treated as if they where almost a god. Have you noticed a healing session with such people? Whenever a person is healed through such a famous Evangelist, the healed person almost never gives God the credit of this healing, but always gives this credit to the Evangelist. People tend to believe almost everything they say, they hardly compare their teachings with the Bible to see if these are truthful or not.
That is shere idolatry. Another form of idolatry is the extreme love of self. Many people who think too highly of themselves (the arrogant ones), are in fact nothing else than idolatrers. They think that everything they say is truth, and everything they are and do is truth. Society today for example, views these people as perfect. The same goes for the worship of the self. We are made belive today that we must wear Prada, Dolce &Gabana and the like to be accepted. In fact society has become an idolatrous society. The worship of the self is propagated in quite unhealthy proportions. This in return brings the idolater under a curse. Have you ever wondered why many famous people who love to be worshipped have such devastated lives?
A still popular idolatry today is the worship of kings and queens. This was no different in Bible times. Wherever the king was worshipped, and often worshipped as a god, people tended to drive away from the Living God, the King of kings, and thus become idolatrous in their worship. Many kings for example, demanded total submission unto them. They thought they where the representatives of God on earth. This so altered their egos that in time they did believe they had the same prerogatives and rights as God. Many tyrant kings ruled in this way. Salomon in his Wisdom of Salomon 15:22-30 writes about these kings and their idolatry:
"Moreover this was not enough for them, that they erred in the knowledge of God; but whereas they lived in the great war of ignorance, those so great plagues called they peace. For whilst they slew their children in sacrifices, or used secret ceremonies, or made revellings of strange rites; They kept neither lives nor marriages any longer undefiled: but either one slew another traiterously, or grieved him by adultery. So that there reigned in all men without exception blood, manslaughter, theft, and dissimulation, corruption, unfaithfulness, tumults, perjury, Disquieting of good men, forgetfulness of good turns, defiling of souls, changing of kind, disorder in marriages, adultery, and shameless uncleanness. For the worshipping of idols not to be named is the beginning, the cause, and the end, of all evil. For either they are mad when they be merry, or prophesy lies, or live unjustly, or else lightly forswear themselves. For insomuch as their trust is in idols, which have no life; though they swear falsely, yet they look not to be hurt. Howbeit for both causes shall they be justly punished: both because they thought not well of God, giving heed unto idols, and also unjustly swore in deceit, despising holiness. For it is not the power of them by whom they swear: but it is the just vengeance of sinners, that punisheth always the offence of the ungodly."
We see that many kings who demanded this kind of idolatrous worship not only placed themselves on the same level as God, but in doing so, became utterly ignorant and blind and were thus lead to self destruction. In their self proclaimed wisdom they ruled extremely unwise, ultimately bringing many calamities upon their vassals and their country.
In my opinion,the worship of any form of idols, whether they be hand made or the worship of mere men, brings Satan on the scene. Satan loves everything that is contrary to God. He thrives on our disobedience, for our disobedience is a feeding-ground for demons to enter in our lives and take over.
A good example of this are pagan religions which have all kinds of hand made idols. Some of these idols are to be worshipped by human sacrifice or the sacrifice of animals, as long as blood is being poured. As Christians we ought to know that Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice. He gave His blood for us. Any other kind of sacrifice is thus against God and therefore utterly pagan and demonic in origin. Demons love the shedding of innocent blood. That is why they were trhilled at the crucifixion of Jesus, only to later find out that the last laugh was on Jesus, when He conquered them.. He overcame them all at the cross! Nevertheless their love of blood has not ceased.
Many missionaries who work in countries where blood sacrifices are being performed as part of the region’s pagan worship life, testify that these sacrificial places become infested with powerful demonic activity,. After such a sacrifice these demons strongly influence everyone around. Many pagan worshippers have in this way afflicted many good hearted Missionaries who tried to convince them that blood sacrifice and the worship of idols is evil, hunting them even unto death through their blood sacrifices.
You also need to know that many idols and pagan religious artifacts are being incantated while making them. In this way these are given powerful forces, which are always demonic in origin. Of course these will work, but only to destroy or to bring the person into more bondage.
Furthermore, it is my believe that people who worship idols are not only cursed by God for doing so, but are being infested with demons of spiritual blindness in order to subdue them into more bondage. When a person is spiritual blind he may find it difficult to see truth, to discern between good and evil. In this way this person is totally submitted unto the control of Satan who will only lead him into further bondage and ultimately into total destruction. God has not forbidden us to worship idols for nothing. He has good reason to do so. Have you ever noticed why many pagan religions are in fact so blood thirsty? All these religions that claim innocent blood for the exchange of eternal life are nothing else but the product of deceit by Satan. These people are blinded due to their idol worship. An idol focuses your eyes on something that is visual, something that is material. This visualization often blocks the spiritual visualization which in return will block your discernment. God works in the spiritual realm. If a person does not open himself up to worship God in the spirit and through his spirit and thus in the spiritual realm he will become spiritual dead.
A spiritual dead person is an easy target of Satan, who in this way can work unperceived in that person’s life. That is his goal! An idol is a good example of this. People who worship idols are usually spiritually dead to God. They can not perceive Him, and are totally under the control of Satan. Yes, they can perceive evil spirits and do so often, Satan usually does allow this in order to bind them more strongly to him and to receive their worship. Pagan religions often worship idols that need appeasement. They do not love their gods as we do love our God. They fear them, and to appease their wrath, for these gods are usually wrathful gods, they bring them all kinds of sacrifices. Many of them are human or animal blood sacrifice. It is like a never ending circle.
The worship of an idol will only reinforce the demonic powers attached to it through every time it is worshiped via a sacrifice, in order to appease its demonic spirits. Many idols demand worship in order to bring blessings to the people. People go out of their way in order to appease their wrath and obtain their blessings, hardly ever changing their lives nor sinful attitudes. They do not have too, you see. All they have to do is appease these gods. These poor people are reigned by fear of them. We Christians are truly loved by God and love reigns our religion. If we hate, we sin and will be punished, but if we love and obey God, He blesses us. We never ever have to bring sacrifices of blood or in any other material form to Him. This sacrifice was done two thousand years ago by our Lord Jesus Christ. The only sacrifice we have to do is crucify our own flesh and its desires, which is hard enough on us, though not impossible..
Idols are never pleased, but the true an living God is pleased whenever we obey Him. Our God speaks to us, whether in an audible voice or through the Holy Spirit right into our own spirit, in dreams, visions, through people and through the Bible. I have never heard an idol speak, have you?. Our God gives us confidence, and never invokes our fear, idols reign by fear. Worshippers of idols are slaves to the idols and slaves to fear. We are servants of the most High God and God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind(2 Tim 1:7). That makes all the differenc!. Our God is a God of love and a living God who blesses us and who loves us. A God with whom we will spend eternity!