Idolatry Without the Gospel: A Warning for Modern Believers

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:00] Lord has dealt with me, not for a message or something. He's dealt with me personally on the subject of idols. It's hard for us to, as Americans, and particularly as American Christians, to get our minds around what that might look like in America. On my first trip to India, and the Indian people, they're just wonderful people, but India has

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:03:14] about 300 million gods. I remember driving by the monkey god standing several stories high and imposing structure, intimidating people. We drove by multiple idol sites there every few hundred feet sometimes every mile or two
[00:03:39] as you're driving because these become altars and places of worship and then there's so many of them they just put them on buildings i remember sitting on a train this was a 12-hour train ride and we watched a woman sweeping in front of her of course i don't know
[00:04:01] what's going on my friend who was with me is much more educated at the time than i was in this there's this practice called jainism where the belief is that everything has a living soul
[00:04:16] and so you take a broom and you sweep in front of you so that you don't step on something that is living I stood in front of Krishna as people were bringing coconuts and bananas again I thought
[00:04:34] they were just bringing them for themselves to eat but they were offering them to Krishna hopefully that Krishna these were poor people they didn't have food to offer but they were bringing it to Krishna in order to offer it to him so that he might wake up one day and answer
[00:04:58] their prayers and of course I've watched the witch doctors in Guatemala attempt to help people with their issues and their struggles and then you've probably seen this up in Hickory on 16th street the idol temple that is there and then those idols aren't too far from where I live
[00:05:19] they're in Lincoln County and more and more individuals are actually bowing literally before gods and then of course you probably heard about this statue that's being built over in Chatham County once it's completed it's going to be taller than the Statue of Liberty I'm asking myself Lord
[00:05:46] what does this what does this look like for us here in America because what we're really dealing with is altars or places of worship, but I don't want you to miss this. Every person is a reflection
[00:06:01] of the altar they are worshiping at. Can we grasp that for a minute? All of us become reflections of the altar that we're worshiping at, and every believer is responsible to tear down the altars.
[00:06:20] We've been talking in the Old Testament last week with the prophet Hosea, and one of the things that God would do. He would commend the kings that tore down the altars, and he would discipline the kings
[00:06:33] that would not. So I asked myself, okay, what does idolatry really look like here in America?
[00:06:42] And so there were really four different, or many of them, but there were four different gods that constantly gave Israel struggle.
[00:06:57] The first one was a God named Baal.
[00:07:01] He was the fertility, weather, and prosperity God.
[00:07:04] He represents a focus on money, success, productivity, materialism, consumerism, investments, personal comfort, career obsession, workaholism, the American dream, independence on our own ability to provide without God's help.
[00:07:17] Here's the questions I have to ask myself.
[00:07:19] Am I being influenced by this?
[00:07:21] here's the questions do I understand everything I have belongs to God what am I financial spending giving saving serving eating and time happens do I feel I'm owed or deserve more do I have a fear
[00:07:36] of not having enough am I thankful am I generous or tight-fisted is my time disciplined and we don't literally bow to an idol here in the United States in that way but in some way are we
[00:07:55] bowing to that and then there was this God named Asherah and she was the goddess of sex and sensuality and beauty and image and of course she represents sexual fulfillment outside of marriage perversion, hook up culture, pornography
[00:08:13] lust, seduction, gender identity, confusion, body, image obsession, human trafficking prostitution, pedophilia personal sexual gratification entertainment, hobby and food addictions and in pursuing unholy passions outside of purity here's the questions to ask yourself if if this is influencing you what do i look at when i'm alone what images do i have on my devices
[00:08:45] does my family have unrestricted access to my electronics what do i fantasize about am i always taking the second glance or my eyes single focused are there soul ties from previous relationships i need to renounce? Do I try to present myself so others will look at me and be attracted?
[00:09:02] Do I have clear moral boundaries? Am I accountable? Is there something lacking in my intimacy with God?
[00:09:07] Is my appetite under control? Are my hobbies under control? I'm reading through these things with Baal and in Asherah and saying, God, what are you trying to say to me? And then there was He was a god of nationalism, tribal identity, violence, child sacrifice, psalm, more Moloch
[00:09:30] on child sacrifice, but sometimes Kimosh.
[00:09:33] He represents political idolatry, nationalism, party worship, ethnic favoritism, looking for elections to save a nation instead of confidence in God, an unhealthy allegiance to political, spiritual, religious, military, educational, organizational structures, intellectualism without humility, and then I ask myself, do we argue politics? Am I more concerned with left
[00:09:56] and right, Democrats and Republicans, up and down, heaven and hell? Can I worship with any group who loves Jesus regardless of denomination or religious affiliation? Does color or race matter to me, or do I see all of us as equal in God's eyes? Listen, I know that we should put people in
[00:10:11] office, the right people on all four, but I need you to understand something with me today.
[00:10:15] We are Christians first and Americans second.
[00:10:21] And one day the government is going to rest on the shoulders of Jesus and the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
[00:10:31] And then there's this fourth one.
[00:10:33] This might be the most influential of all.
[00:10:36] It was in the northern part of Israel, a place called Dan and Bethel.
[00:10:39] These two golden cows.
[00:10:41] They represent convenient worship, self-made religion.
[00:10:45] serving God without obedience or holiness and church attendance on the weekend without personal Jesus time during the week a God who doesn't judge a God who lets me define my own truth a God who fits my lifestyle
[00:10:58] lack of personal evangelism and supernatural demonstration and here's the questions I begin to ask what does our relationship with Jesus look like outside of somebody do we make decisions by reading through the Bible and leadership of the Holy Spirit
[00:11:16] what we feel Do we only worship when we like a song or because Jesus is always worthy to be worshipped?
[00:11:23] Listen, if we worship according to our personal preferences, that, my friend, is idolatry.
[00:11:30] Are we planted where the Lord put us?
[00:11:33] Do we move whenever something no longer suits us?
[00:11:37] Am I connected and accountable and serving in a local church or independent and isolated?
[00:11:42] Do I think with mission and share Christ with unbelievers?
[00:11:45] Do I have a biblical or cultural morality?
[00:11:48] Do I pursue personal repentance?
[00:11:50] Am I the king in my home?
[00:11:51] Am I the servant in my home?
[00:11:52] Am I teachable?
[00:11:53] Do I attempt to create outcomes?
[00:11:55] Am I perceived as controlling or easily approachable?
[00:11:59] And I said, God, it was not that they just worshipped idols.
[00:12:10] What happened with Israel was that they worshipped God.
[00:12:17] The text out of 2nd Kings.
[00:12:27] And though they worshipped the Lord in the American church.
[00:12:36] Though they worshipped the Lord.
[00:12:38] This is what the Holy Spirit has been dealing with.
[00:13:01] Jesus will say this in Luke's Gospel.
[00:13:07] Whoever wants to be my disciple, hear me today.
[00:13:29] Men, listen to me.
[00:13:33] Those of you in this room, mom and dad, listen to me.
[00:13:38] Teenagers, kids, listen to me.
[00:13:40] This cannot just be about a good feeling.
[00:13:44] Listen, I live for atmospheres.
[00:13:46] The atmosphere in this room is an open heaven right now.
[00:13:50] Live for those kinds of atmospheres.
[00:13:55] But this cannot be just about me feeling good on Jesus.
[00:14:01] I love you.
[00:14:02] but walk back into our homes this thing that separated the men into the difference of those that let the idols stand or those that knock them down and somebody if we talk about revival we talk about awakening we have all of this terminology in the american church
[00:14:36] But there isn't going to be any revival until we make a decision to tear down every potential idol that is in our lives and submit it to the lordship of Jesus.
[00:14:51] Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
[00:14:59] for whoever wants to save their life will lose it but whoever loses their life for me is going to save it and I've been on this for the last several weeks and studying this over and over and over
[00:15:16] again and I said God one man said it like this the issue in the American church is idolatry it's not just a problem it is fart i said god then here's what we do on sunday morning we do this god is
[00:15:49] done tuesday evening we pick it back up again well then knock it back down again say well i i picked it back up again okay all right you did all right then knock it back down again let me tell you
[00:16:07] where jesus is going to show up and among the people that god is going to use i don't mean a church i mean as an individual let me tell you where jesus abides hangs out lives with watches
[00:16:23] over answers prayer it is among people who are idle tear down people get rid of it deal with it this is why hosea would say this so to yourselves in righteousness reap the fruit of unfailing love
[00:16:43] and break up your unplowed ground.
[00:16:47] The hard heart, the stuff.
[00:16:50] Oh, yeah, you can talk to me about this, Jesus, but don't talk to me about this part of my life.
[00:16:56] You can talk to me about this, but don't talk to me about that.
[00:16:59] He said, break up your unplowed ground, your hard soil for now, right now, today, right now in this very moment, it is time to seek the Lord.
[00:17:11] for what reason until he comes and showers his righteousness upon us and changes our families and changes our cities and changes our nation the only people that are going to have influence in this culture right now are those people that stand before the cross of jesus christ
[00:17:33] and tear down every potential idol that might exist within their own lives and their potentially We are many of them.
[00:17:46] Here's, he's not angry.
[00:18:07] Lover, whose heart is broken, that while we are looking to him, we are looking, we are taking our, we are paying attention to other things.
[00:18:27] We are doing other things.
[00:18:30] And then if Jesus gets time, we're back over here.
[00:18:34] We have this hook today.
[00:18:44] Listen, regardless of what the person beside you wants to do, husband, wife, kids, whatever.
[00:19:22] And right now, if there's a generation in this room, regardless of your age, if there's a generation of young men or older men and women in this room right now, if you're younger, you've got an opportunity.
[00:19:42] And watch God do something so supernatural.
[00:19:46] You can't have it both ways.
[00:19:55] You've got to leave even the things that...
[00:20:08] I say, God, the idols.
[00:20:13] And we'll take them.
[00:20:16] We will lay them right here at the foot of the cross of Jesus.
[00:20:23] every person in the room if that means anything to you at all to make a move toward Jesus this is a call today to lay down the idols to repent and lay what's that mean?
[00:20:37] he said change my mind about it and to lay down the idols at the foot of the cross I want to know if there's anybody in this room that wants to make this the center of your life
[00:20:48] get out of your seat right now and you come and get as close to this altar as you can right now come on and I don't care if once the altar fills up then you kneel in the aisle and we're gonna bow we
[00:21:01] don't for right now we can bow you can stand if you want to you can bow but I think we should bow and I want you to find a place and if you can't get up here in your seat you turn and you kneel
[00:21:13] say oh Jesus I submit myself today to the lordship of Christ and I I turn this thing over to you I turn these things over to you god's not angry with you just be honest with him and say god i'm sorry
[00:21:31] sorry i've been distracted i'm sorry god sorry lord that i haven't listened to your voice i'm sorry lord that i've missed time with you i'm sorry lord that my eyes have gone other places i'm sorry that my passions in my heart has gone other places than the cross lord i'm sorry i've
[00:21:59] allowed a hook in my life with something that keeps yanking me back and jesus i renounce it that's what your prayer is today it's not just jesus forgive me it is that but it's also you
[00:22:13] need to pray this you need to say i renounce this thing over my life right now in the name of jesus Now you too. I can't do your praying for you I want you to call out to the Lord right now and seek the face of God in this room
[00:22:31] Take the next few moments you talk to Jesus just as you would a person just as you would a friend you talk to Jesus And let him talk back to you. Let's call on the name of the Lord right now
[00:22:43] Come on, it's for the fire literally the fire of the Holy Spirit to do in you what it needs to be done Holy Spirit in Jesus name

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:25:20] Moses stood on the mountain Waiting for you to pass by He put your hand over his face So in your presence he wouldn't die And it shines down through the night A tear down idol, stand to your feet, lift your hands to the Lord
[00:29:16] Show me your face

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:29:19] Young men and women in this place, tear down idols in your culture right now Tear them down

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:29:35] this is a prayer this is not a song we're praying this to Jesus guys guys you have to make a decision

[00:38:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:38:45] if you're going to be like every other man every other man in this culture young man look at me for a second right now you can make a decision to say you know what I want to be so totally
[00:39:10] committed to Christ I'm not going to tolerate the idols of my own life but the idols in our culture a generation of young men and women to the foot of the cross and into the power of the gospel
[00:39:28] that shakes a region for the sake of Christ.
[00:39:32] Young ladies, you have to make a decision.
[00:39:38] Families, our families have to be more than just places where we can sleep.
[00:39:42] We have to have homes that are conscious of the presence of God.
[00:39:53] Some of us need to, some of you got stuff on your phones that don't need to be.
[00:39:57] You listen to stuff that doesn't hold you up in Jesus.
[00:40:04] You got stuff in your home, You've got stuff from your car, whatever it is.
[00:40:07] I couldn't possibly list it.
[00:40:09] It's the Holy Spirit that will talk to you about it.
[00:40:13] The presence of God is here enough that he's touched your heart with something.
[00:40:19] Whatever it is, can't we walk out of this place with a new beginning and say, Jesus, I'm coming after you.
[00:40:34] And listen, the definition of a righteous person, here's what the scripture said.
[00:40:40] The righteous man is defined.
[00:40:41] It says a righteous man will fall seven times, but he gets back up again.
[00:40:44] You want to know the definition of a righteous person?
[00:40:46] somebody that gets back up again and says, doggone it, I'm going on with Jesus.
[00:40:52] It doesn't stay in the muck and the mire of stuff and gets back up.
[00:40:56] However many times you got to get back up, get back up.
[00:40:59] Look at somebody and say, get back up.
[00:41:02] Come on, look at somebody and say, get back up.
[00:41:12] We're at a crucial moment in the body of Christ in America.
[00:41:16] I don't think we know.
[00:41:22] We're either going to get swept away in a cultural windstorm or the church is going to rise up and say, enough is enough.
[00:41:28] we believe in christ we believe in the power of god we believe in going after god like never before and make a difference i'm telling you god will empower that folks you won't do it by
[00:41:41] yourself god will empower you to do the supernatural and the impossible if you'll just make a decision that that's what you're doing