Acts 7:37-43 NKJV

37“This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’

38“This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, 39whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:

‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness,
O house of Israel?
43You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
And the star of your god Remphan,
Images which you made to worship;
And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’

Parallels to Today

This sounds like it could be written to and about so much of the church in my nation (the USA) today. For the prophet raised up by God being spoken of here is Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, whom we are to hear (to listen to and to obey). He is to be Lord (ruler) of our lives. He is to be head of the church, his body, the body of believers in Jesus Christ, and not men, and not institutions of men. And we are to have no other gods before him. We are not to make idols of human beings to be worshipped and followed above and/or in place of worship and obedience to our Lord and his commands.

But so many people in the gatherings of the church today who are in positions of leadership as pastors or elders or deacons or teachers of The Word are teaching the people that all they have to do is profess faith in Jesus Christ and now all their sins are forgiven and heaven is their eternal destiny, but regardless of how they live. And many are teaching that God does not require repentance (death to sin) and obedience to his commands, for they call that “works salvation.” And so, like many of the Israelites, so many are not obeying the Lord, but they are continuing in their sins.

And so they are making their own gods who they worship and follow, instead. And many of these “gods” are pastors, elders, deacons, missionaries, evangelists, and teachers of “The Word,” or else they are political figures like our president, or vice president, or other political figures in the US congress. And so they become followers of humans rather than followers of God, and they may raise some of these men (or women) to God-like status. And/or they may be those who worship the flesh and who bow to sinful practices, who live in addiction to sin in rejection of God’s commands.

So much of the church has incorporated under (partnered with) the state and with big business, and they have turned their gatherings into places of business, i.e. marketplaces to be marketed to the ungodly and to the world. And in order to attract the world to their gatherings they have altered the gospel of Christ to make it less offensive and more acceptable to the ungodly and to human flesh. And they are being led by church denominations and their theologies and by marketing books on how to grow their “churches,” and Jesus is not the head, and his teachings are being largely dismissed.

All of that God forbids. See:

[Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]

Him You Shall Hear

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For it is not the one who claims he is “in Christ” who is “in Christ,” but it is the one who has denied self, died with Christ to sin, and who is now walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice, and no longer in sin. We have the hope and the promise of eternal life with God in heaven (see Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1-3).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

Send a Revival

An Original Work / June 25, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Send a revival to this nation, Lord, I pray.
Bring us to our knees, Lord, humbly today.
Teach us to daily walk in your footsteps.
Guide us in your truth, and may we find rest.
Send a revival to this nation, Lord, I pray.
Bring us to our knees, Lord, humbly today.

Be our desire and our hearts’ pure devotion, Lord.
Make us a people who walk close to you.
Change our hearts to conform to your likeness.
May we love others who are in distress.
Be our desire and our hearts’ pure devotion, Lord.
Make us a people who walk close to you.

Teach us to be an example of your love, Lord.
May we serve others as though serving you.
Keep us in fellowship with you, I pray.
May we obey you in all things today.
Teach us to be an example of your love, Lord.
May we serve others as though serving you.

Idol Worship
An Original Work / May 24, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love