Topical Sermon on Jeremiah 10 and Philippians 2
by Maylan Schurch
8/16/2025
©2025 by Maylan Schurch
(To watch this entire worship service, click the link just below:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGZJyZT7E7k
Please open your Bibles to Jeremiah 10.
This morning we are returning to our chronological Bible preaching plan. In this plan I encourage us to read the Bible through this year, and each bulletin on the announcement page gives you a framework of the chapters I’ll be reading this coming week. Today’s sermon is based on one of the chapters from last week’s readings.
If you did get a chance to read some of the middle section of Jeremiah this week, you probably noticed that in pretty much the entire book, Jeremiah pleads that the people return to God and turn their backs on idolatry.
I don’t think I’ve ever been tempted by idolatry, at least the kind of idolatry that happened in the Old Testament. We have a picture of Jesus hanging on the wall above the communion table there at the back of the church, but nobody that I know of bows down to it. When somebody gets baptized, we will often pose that person back beside that picture and take a photo. But people realize that Jesus probably never did resemble that picture, and though people appreciate Jesus Himself, nobody has made an idol out of that painting.
But idolatry was a big deal back in both the Old and New Testaments, and what you also find in the Bible is that idolatry has always been a problem for people who have been called to follow Jesus.
So this morning I’d like to spend some time in Jeremiah 10, and then go briefly to the book of Philippians. And in Philippians, I think we will discover an effective cure for any idolatry issues we might not realize we have. Because idolatry can happen even with no images in sight.
So let’s jump right into the idolatry discussion in Jeremiah 10. It would be fun, sometime in heaven, to have Jeremiah read this chapter out loud to us. Because I’m sure he would put a lot of satire into his voice. It certainly comes through in the print.
Let’s start with Jeremiah 10, verse one. And as we go along, I’m going to point out a few anti-idolatry principles which I see in these verses.
Jeremiah 10:1 – 2 [NKJV]: Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the LORD: “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; . . .
Of course, the Lord is not saying we can’t learn anything from anybody. If a Gentile knows how to build a better horse-cart, or knows how to plant crops in a more efficient way, by all means pick up any hints you can.
But as we’ll see in a few seconds, God is talking about a specific kind of knowledge you shouldn’t depend on unbelievers to supply.
But right now, let’s lay down our first sermon point, Sermon Point 1. What’s the first way to guard against idolatry?
Don’t immerse yourself in substitutes for God’s truth.
Several months ago Shelley and I were at a Barnes & Noble bookstore, and I saw a small group of young adults in the Harry Potter section. These people were in their 20s and 30s. They were looking over the various magic wands you could buy. One of them was modeled on the wand Harry Potter himself used, and another was modeled on Hermione’s, and so on.
And they were seriously discussing these wands, and pointing out details they liked. I finally came to the conclusion that they were sort of like the people who get involved in medieval fairs or Civil War reenactments. They want to live an experience vicariously.
And I’m sure that none of them believed that those magic wands really did anything. I think it was probably just a hobby for them. But they were devoting a lot of energy to their discussion.
The Bible, of course, says nothing about magic wands. It does say quite a bit about getting involved in the occult. It does warn against getting involved with witches.
And I imagine that as Jeremiah wrote these words, or maybe spoke them out loud, he was very serious.
But look at what he says next. Let’s pick it up at verse 1 again:
Verses 1 – 2: Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the LORD: “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
I don’t know what signs in the sky Jeremiah is talking about. The Andrews Study Bible suggests that these were the planets, which moved around in their orbits, and astrologers would try to use their changing positions to predict the future. It’s always surprising to me when I hear someone say, “Oh, she’s a Leo and he’s a Capricorn. That explains a lot.”
Let me give you what I think is Sermon Point Two and then we’ll talk about it. What’s another of God’s ways to protect ourselves from idolatry?
The first way is to not immerse yourself in substitutes for God’s truth. The second way is, don’t fear what God says not to fear.
Okay, what am I talking about here? Well, these Gentiles feared the signs in the heavens, whatever those signs were. But are signs in the heavens something we need to fear?
Jesus said we don’t have to. Turn to Luke 21 and we’ll see what the Son of God has to say about how to respond to signs in the heavens. Jesus is talking about events leading up to His Second Coming.
Luke 21:25 – 26: “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken . . . .
Again, we don’t know what all will be happening up there in the sky, what it will look like. But this will be dramatic – yet notice how Jesus insists that we respond.
Verses 27 – 28: . . . Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”
Notice, Jesus said that even when these things begin to happen, we shouldn’t dive for the cellar, or call for the rocks and mountains to fall on us. Instead, when we see even the beginning of such dramatic signs, we should lift up our heads, because our redemption draws near. Don’t cower – just stare right up into those fulfillments of prophecy.
So, to guard ourselves against idolatry, we need to not immerse ourselves in substitutes for God’s truth. And we don’t need to fear what God says not to fear.
Before we go over to Philippians, we need to look at one more important anti-idolatry principal here in Jeremiah 10. See if you can pick up the satire in the Lord’s words.
Jeremiah 10:3 – 5: For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers So that it will not topple. They are upright, like a palm tree, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, For they cannot do evil, Nor can they do any good.”
I remember when I was a kid hearing concerned Adventists point out these verses and tell me they were talking about how evil Christmas trees were. But that is not the point here at all. These trees the Lord is satirizing are actual worship-objects that not only the Gentiles but a horrifying number of Israelites were building and bowing down to.
When I was a kid, my parents didn’t have a lot of extra money. We never went hungry, and we always had plenty of the essentials. We got Christmas gifts, basically one gift per child, each year. But we never had a real Christmas tree. My parents had both been children in the Great Depression 1930s, on poor farms where their parents were just struggling to feed all the kids and keep the crops coming in. So Christmas trees just weren’t in the picture for us.
This never was a problem for me. But one year, one of my sisters decided she would cobble together some kind of tree for us. So she went out in the pasture and found a large tumbleweed. It must’ve been maybe 3 feet wide. I think she may have even spray-painted it white. Somehow she anchored that tumbleweed on a table in the living room, and put a little string of lights on it.
This tree was cute, but none of us in the family bowed down to it even once. And we were never tempted to. Because we knew very well who it was who deserved our worship.
Let’s read some more of the scorn which the Lord and in Jeremiah heap on these useless idols.
Verses 8 – 16: But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish; A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine. Silver is beaten into plates; It is brought from Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, The work of the craftsman And of the hands of the metalsmith; Blue and purple are their clothing; They are all the work of skillful men. But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation. Thus you shall say to them: “The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.” He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion. When He utters His voice, There is a multitude of waters in the heavens: “And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, He brings the wind out of His treasuries.” Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image; For his molded image is falsehood, And there is no breath in them. They are futile, a work of errors; In the time of their punishment they shall perish. The Portion of Jacob is not like them, For He is the Maker of all things, And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; The Lord of hosts is His name.
Here comes Sermon Point Three. What is a third way to protect ourselves from idolatry – whatever modern form it might take?
The first way is to not immerse yourself in substitutes for God’s truth. The second way is, don’t fear what God says not to fear. The third way to protect ourselves from idolatry is, don’t create objects which take God’s place.
Every once in a while, when I am online scrolling through a news story, I’ll scroll down, and suddenly I see an advertisement that always makes me feel weird. The scene is always a large plaza in a city. There are hundreds of people there, and they are either facing, and sometimes walking toward, a gigantic image of a shiny credit card. I mean, if this were real, it’s like this credit card would be maybe 60 to 80 feet tall. And all the people are hurrying adoringly toward it.
Actually, the ad isn’t very successful – to me at least. That’s because I don’t even remember the name of the credit card, or the bank which offers it. But it reminds me of how firmly Jesus warned against making money an idol. In Matthew 6 He says,
Matthew 6:19 – 21: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
And then down in verse 24 of the same chapter, He says, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
In other words, if the rich metallic glint of that gigantic credit card is causing everybody around you to hurry toward it, come to a stop and think it over. There is nothing wrong with credit cards, of course. I have just one, and I religiously pay it off in full every single month of every year, by its due date of the 11th of the month. But according to Jesus, money can become a god to us if we let it.
So far we’ve looked at Jeremiah 10’s three principles for avoiding idolatry. But I believe that there’s an even better way to banish this temptation from our minds. Let’s turn to Paul’s letter to the Philippians, chapter 1. As always, he begins this letter with gracious and loving words. But first of all, notice something sinister about where he is.
Philippians 1:3 – 7: I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.
Do you see that? Paul talks about being in chains. He’s in prison – he doesn’t say exactly where – but those chains he talks about are probably on his wrist as he writes, probably chafing them painfully.
Verses 12 – 14: But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
So now we know a little bit about what Paul is going through. He’s not out sitting under a tree somewhere as he writes. He’s not visiting in the home of a wealthy Christian convert. No, he is in some kind of prison. There’s probably a Roman guard nearby, who is literally chained to him, and who is responsible for keeping him from escaping.
I think it’s important to know this, because of what Paul will tell us as chapter 2 begins. I believe that, even though he doesn’t mention idolatry in these verses, he’s going to suggest a way for us to stay so far above idolatry of any kind that we won’t be trapped by it.
Philippians 2:1 – 2: Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
So who are we supposed to be like-minded with? Jesus Himself. After all, there is consolation (encouragement) in Christ. There is fellowship of the Spirit. There is affection (which is a powerful Greek word which means that you’re all stirred up inside with compassion). And there is mercy with Christ.
And since this is all true, Paul tells us in verse two how we can make him very happy:
Verse 2: fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
In fact, I think we can add one more sermon point here. What is a fourth way to protect ourselves from idolatry? I think if we follow this fourth step, we will scarcely have to even worry about the first three. Here comes Sermon Point Four.
The first way to keep from idolatry is to not immerse yourself in substitutes for God’s truth. The second way is, don’t fear what God says not to fear. The third way is, don’t create objects which take God’s place. The fourth way to keep from idolatry is to become Messiah-minded.
In other words, let our minds become like Jesus’ mind. Paul gives us more details about this:
Verses 3 – 5: Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus . . . .
I know that this is what I need to have happen in my own mind, every day. And our closing song – especially the last verse – tells us how this can happen in our minds. Again, this is a song in which we speak directly to our Creator, the one who has given so much to befriend us and rescue us. Let’s let this song be a way to once again surrender our hearts to Him.
My Maker and My King
My Maker and my King,
To Thee my all I owe;
Thy sovereign bounty is the spring
Whence all my blessings flow;
Thy sovereign bounty is the spring
Whence all my blessings flow.
The creature of Thy hand,
On Thee alone I live;
My God, Thy benefits demand
More praise than I can give.
My God, Thy benefits demand
More praise than I can give.
Lord, what can I impart
When all is Thine before?
Thy love demands a thankful heart;
The gift, alas! how poor.
Thy love demands a thankful heart;
The gift, alas! how poor.
O! let Thy grace inspire
My soul with strength divine;
Let every word and each desire
And all my days be Thine.
Let every word and each desire
And all my days be Thine.