DOCTRINE: Idolatrous people and weak men will result in corrupt worship.

I. THE ISRAELITES WERE QUICK TO FORGET THE LORD AND HIS SALVATION (v. 1)

II. AARON WAS WILLING TO GIVE THE PEOPLE THEIR DESIRED IDOLS IN ORDER TO KEEP THEM HAPPY (vv. 2-4a)

III. THE PEOPLE LIED ABOUT THEIR IDOL AND ATTRIBUTED TO IT THE WORKS OF THE LORD (v. 4b)

IV. AARON BUILT UPON THEIR LIE AND SOUGHT TO SYNC UP WORSHIP OF THIS IDOL WITH WORSHIP OF THE LORD (vv. 5-6a)

V. THE GROSSLY IDOLATROUS PEOPLE AND PRIEST CONTINUED ON UNAWARE OF THEIR IMPENDING DOOM (v. 6b)

APPLICATION

1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”

I) Because the Lord’s people are quick to forget their God and His salvation, you must stir them up by way of reminder (2 Peter 1:13).

2 Peter 1:13 “I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder…”

II) You must never sacrifice even an ounce of truth on the altar of peace (Galatians 1:10).

Galatians 1:10 “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

III) If you are not careful, the ways of the world will slide into the worship of the Church (2 Corinthians 6:14).

2 Corinthians 6:14-15 “14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?”

IV) God has put safeguards for purity of worship in His Scriptures and you must adhere to them (Exodus 20:4).

Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”

V) It does not matter who you say you are worshiping, if you are offering will-worship it is a substitution for God’s pure worship (Psalm 106:20).

Psalm 106:20
“They exchanged the glory of God
    for the image of an ox that eats grass.”

VI) If the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s chosen, does not stand in the breach for you, God’s wrath will not be turned away (1 John 2:1-2).

1 John 2:1-2 “If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins…”

VII) Though you have a Mediator in Christ Jesus, that does not mean you will be spared from discipline if you do not repent (Proverbs 3:11-12).

Proverbs 3:11-12
“11 My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline
    or be weary of his reproof,
12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
    as a father the son in whom he delights.”

VIII) Will-worshippers are likely continuing on unaware of their impending doom or discipline—therefore you should pray and labor, within your sphere of influence, to speak the truth of God to those offering false-worship (Hebrews 12:28-29).

Hebrews 12:28-29 “Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”