1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,440 Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located 2 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:16,680 in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship 3 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:21,920 Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism, 4 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:27,300 discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church 5 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:31,860 and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bigford and I will be your 6 00:00:31,860 --> 00:00:36,420 host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing 7 00:00:36,420 --> 00:00:47,240 to you and bring you closer to God. 8 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:52,000 Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. My name is David Bigford. 9 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:57,800 I am the pastor of the Potter's House. For those of you who are new to joining, I basically 10 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:02,800 take the sermons that I have preached in the past few months and I upload them as a podcast 11 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:07,520 and I will be getting them eventually sorted out to be videos on YouTube. Right now they 12 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:12,360 are available on audio on YouTube as well. We are going to continue to work that out 13 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:16,860 and get broader and broader reach so we can get the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ 14 00:01:16,860 --> 00:01:19,600 out to as many people as possible. 15 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:24,480 Today's message that I put together is called toxic ideas that are polluting your mind. 16 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:29,320 The one that we are going to really focus in on today is idolatry because it is so prevalent 17 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:34,740 in our society and we all come in contact with it daily. The text we are going to be 18 00:01:34,740 --> 00:01:41,640 working off of is going to be Genesis 3 verses 1 through 7. Basically as I am putting this 19 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:48,120 message together, some ideas and ideologies came to mind that are powerfully at work in 20 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,440 our world and I wanted to kind of look at some of those and the first one I was going 21 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:58,320 to take a crack at here is idolatry. So as individuals we are impacted, shaped and motivated 22 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:03,980 in accord with weather and how we embrace these ideas. We want to examine these in light 23 00:02:03,980 --> 00:02:08,460 of the Bible and make sure we get some sort of scriptural context so that we can combat 24 00:02:08,460 --> 00:02:10,360 them in our lives. 25 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,660 So let's go ahead and jump in. The first of these ideas we are looking at as I mentioned 26 00:02:14,660 --> 00:02:21,120 is idolatry or the worship of idols. An idol can be an image, it can be any material object 27 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:26,780 that represents a person's placement of worship. Idolatry can be anything that we place above 28 00:02:26,780 --> 00:02:32,180 our God. Anything that absorbs your heart or imagination more than God. We need to guard 29 00:02:32,180 --> 00:02:37,160 our hearts against these human tendencies and this is something that is warned about 30 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,000 throughout both the Old and the New Testament. 31 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:47,760 So let's take a look at our text in Genesis chapter 3 verses 1 through 7. Now the serpent 32 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:52,920 was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said 33 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:58,960 to the woman, did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? And the 34 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:03,080 woman said to the serpent, we may eat of any fruit of the trees in the garden, but God 35 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:07,960 said you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither 36 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:13,620 shall you touch it lest you die. But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die, 37 00:03:13,620 --> 00:03:19,220 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God 38 00:03:19,220 --> 00:03:23,720 knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it 39 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:29,160 was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took 40 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:35,080 of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate. 41 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:40,020 And then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked. It's a troubling 42 00:03:40,020 --> 00:03:43,880 piece of scripture and a lot of people have a hard time dealing with this reality because 43 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:50,780 one of the things that this piece of scripture shows us is that even from the beginning man 44 00:03:50,780 --> 00:03:58,280 was marked by sin. This very act spreads down into all of our lives with the reality that 45 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:07,640 we were born into sin. So in 2022 season of the TV show, America's Got Talent, we see 46 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:12,440 many highlighted moments but one of the not the least of these moments is something that 47 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:19,720 we notice with the performance of the 11 year old Madison Taylor Baez of Yorba Linda, California. 48 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:25,080 And so I like to watch some of these golden buzzer moments and different things that come 49 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:28,600 from some of these shows on YouTube because I just I find it really interesting to hear 50 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:35,200 you know, tremendous talent, whether it's singing or whatever else, right. But rather 51 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:39,040 than having a regularly scheduled audition, Madison had been invited by the producers 52 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:43,800 to sing for the audience during one of the breaks from the scheduled audition. Only then 53 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:48,600 was she invited up on the stage to perform. She absolutely stunned the audience and the 54 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:56,440 judges alike with her extremely emotional rendition of the Christian song Amazing Grace. 55 00:04:56,440 --> 00:05:02,320 Madison sang it with authority, passion, and she believed in every word that she was celebrating 56 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:07,680 and that she was celebrating the truth that it's conveyed in those lyrics. So moving 57 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:14,260 was the performance that the judge and former Deal No Deal host, Howie Mandel, reflexively 58 00:05:14,260 --> 00:05:20,600 reached the golden buzzer, assuring the young Madison a place in the live show competitions 59 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:25,200 where they have a chance to win a million dollars. So here she is. She's just a member 60 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:31,420 of the crowd. She gets ushered on stage. She sings in this amazing thing happens to her. 61 00:05:31,420 --> 00:05:37,120 The accolades come running in from all sides, from the hosts, from the judges about how 62 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:44,120 amazing this performance was. Terry Crews is quoted as saying incredible. And then you 63 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:49,280 know, Simon Callas is, you know, he's also quoted that he mused sarcastically, I normally 64 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:54,960 leave during the break because people do sing. So this is actually the opposite. He says 65 00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:01,580 that the singing drew him back into the room. And so Mandel then proclaimed, everybody is 66 00:06:01,580 --> 00:06:07,080 going to know your name, young lady. What I find interesting about this, the strong 67 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:12,880 reactions that the judges had to this performance is their tone deafness to the reality of the 68 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:18,400 lyrics. So Crews found their performance incredible. Cal was drawn back into the room by the power 69 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:23,560 of it. Mandel exclaimed that he had wanted to be sure everybody would come to know her 70 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:29,840 name. One critical component of the performance was left utterly ignored. The very subject 71 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:37,520 of the song was not dealt with. Young Madison had a, you know, it was has a talented voice. 72 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:42,840 She was extolling the virtues of the God that created her, the God that created all of us. 73 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:50,320 And his amazing grace and how, you know, he, you know, he came to the earth to set us free 74 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:58,440 from the bondage of sin. As the words say, he saved a wretch like me. This, of course, 75 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:03,400 was not something that, you know, Simon Cowell was going to get involved with, right? It's 76 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:08,920 a talent competition. It's not a church service. But what, you know, like I mentioned, what 77 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:16,720 a picture of tone deafness and how this, this amazing song that cuts through and it's, it's 78 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:24,440 so widely known, but people will so easily ignore the power of those lyrics. How lost 79 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:33,140 is humanity to ignore the power of God's amazing grace. The fact that we're fallen creatures 80 00:07:33,140 --> 00:07:37,380 living in a fallen world, the audience, the judges should have jumped to their feet first 81 00:07:37,380 --> 00:07:44,200 and foremost to celebrate and laud and praise God's amazing grace and extol our Lord and 82 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:50,960 savior. That's what Terry Crews should have done when he said that he found it incredible. 83 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:56,580 He should have praised God. It would have been a message that, that, that it should 84 00:07:56,580 --> 00:08:02,320 have been the message that drew Simon Cowell back into the room. Should have been the name 85 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:12,100 of the most high God that Howie Mandel would want everybody to know and recognize. So while 86 00:08:12,100 --> 00:08:18,720 human talent is no left to God, a gift from our God, its purpose, like any of his other 87 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:28,080 gifts is to bring, is to draw people and focus them in on the Lord who bestowed it. They, 88 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:34,140 they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather 89 00:08:34,140 --> 00:08:39,760 than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. That comes from Romans chapter one, verse 90 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:46,560 25 and James one 17. It says every good and perfect gift gift is from above coming down 91 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:51,660 from the father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows. 92 00:08:51,660 --> 00:08:58,240 So as we think about this amazing illustration, let's dive in with my first point, which is 93 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:10,840 ideas are powerful things. Ideas have consequences. Hitler's Germany is, is a picture of one worldview. 94 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:17,360 And then you have Roosevelt or Truman's America, which is a very different worldview. Who can 95 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:27,320 lead you know, the society to wonderful development. Democracy can cure, you know, cancer and can 96 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:33,360 put man on the moon. Whereas communism, fascism, you know, these are theories of social organization 97 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:38,160 based on the holding of all property with the with communism, it's holding it all in 98 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:45,060 common with the actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or the state. 99 00:09:45,060 --> 00:09:48,480 But another definition of communism could be that this is a system of social organization, 100 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:54,960 which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated 101 00:09:54,960 --> 00:10:01,180 by a single and self perpetuating political party. Fascism is only slightly different 102 00:10:01,180 --> 00:10:07,360 about that. But let's think about some other ideas of radical ideologies before we really 103 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:15,200 dive into the difference between Germany and the US during the period of World War Two. 104 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:20,160 So these ideas of communism, the isms, stuff like that have caused the death of millions 105 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:27,900 and in many, many people in many countries. But if you think of idea of just deism itself, 106 00:10:27,900 --> 00:10:31,720 where people think God doesn't intervene, the beliefs and the existence of God on the 107 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:37,960 evidence of reason and nature only with the rejection of supernatural revelation, revelation, 108 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:43,800 this kind of idea doesn't give any morality to a Godhead because God does not intervene. 109 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:49,440 And if he's not willing to intervene and apply justice and judgment, well, then he's not 110 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:56,220 going to reward someone who lives a pure life. It's a very interesting idea that the idea 111 00:10:56,220 --> 00:11:01,000 of deism as I touched on with communism, it's got its little brother, socialism, which is 112 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:08,040 a redistribution of wealth. We can look to examples of socialism with the Occupy movements. 113 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:18,800 These are ideas that are really just Trojan horses to communism and eventually totalitarianism. 114 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:24,440 So when you think of even other faiths to a certain extent, there's a certain faith, 115 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:33,280 Mormonism, that believes that as man is, God once was and as God is, man may become. That's 116 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:39,040 one of the big tenants that separates Christianity from Mormonism is the fact that there's this 117 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:46,040 belief that you can ascend to Godhood yourself. In Islam, you have a very, very strong sense 118 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:52,840 of fatalism, which is not not rooted in Christianity. They say in Shala, which is as God wills, 119 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:58,640 which we do believe God's will be done, but we do not believe that we are without free 120 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:05,400 will. In fascism and Nazism, you can refer to these systems of government, these political 121 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:09,520 movements because they're led by a dictator. But typically what ends up happening with 122 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:17,160 these two, these ideas is you have forceful and violent suppression of dissidents, the 123 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:22,200 promotion of nationalism and often racism. Nazis more specifically refer to the principle 124 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:28,960 method of the Nazis, Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany. The thing that people miss 125 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:34,840 with fascism is that they don't understand that fascism and communism are so closely 126 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:42,280 aligned. In fascism, you have a government that is controlled by businesses fundamentally. 127 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:46,640 There's still a leader of the fascist government that basically controls the businesses, but 128 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:51,920 he manipulates the government. He organizes the government through monopolistic businesses. 129 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:59,840 And then they control everything there, but it's still a totalitarian government style. 130 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:08,080 These ideas all have something very similar in common too. They all place a man in the 131 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:16,880 place of the Godhead. They place the power of the creation above the power of God. So 132 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:21,440 when we look at the root of these worldviews, the world is attempting to provide a comprehensive 133 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:27,800 understanding of reality. It's trying to find a bias or like a mindset that's going to be 134 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:32,780 biased towards tendencies that they approve of. That's going to be using those biases 135 00:13:32,780 --> 00:13:39,040 to determine how we interpret life. And don't get me wrong, within Christianity, you have 136 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:45,920 the simple understanding that you have to accept that God is a father. Jesus is the 137 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:51,120 son of God. He came to earth. He died for our sins and he rose from the grave. Those 138 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:55,680 are the tenets of Christianity and they lead to freedom in Christ. So let's take a look 139 00:13:55,680 --> 00:14:02,500 real quickly at the background of Hitler because we want to understand how an ideology like 140 00:14:02,500 --> 00:14:12,080 his could grab ahold of a nation and lead to the death of millions. He was born in 1889 141 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:18,560 and he was born on a land that was then known as Austria-Hungary. As a young man, he fought 142 00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:22,320 in World War I and was decorated for his valor and service to his country. But after the 143 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:27,720 war, he entered politics and launched a failed coup against the leadership in Germany. For 144 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:31,380 this transgression, he was imprisoned and after his release, he wrote a book bearing 145 00:14:31,380 --> 00:14:38,160 the title Mein Kampf. That man, of course, being Hitler in his book was full of these 146 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:44,480 dreadful ideas that ended up altering the course of the entire 20th century, leading 147 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:50,960 to the millions of deaths of Jewish people and on many others as well. The power of ideology 148 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:55,280 is seen in the story of Adolf Hitler. It doesn't start or stop with Hitler, though. Through 149 00:14:55,280 --> 00:15:05,440 history, we see the rise of ungodly ideologies that have ravaged the world. Whether those 150 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:12,340 stories or those tales are about Lenin, Stalin, Mao's communism, destroying tens of millions 151 00:15:12,340 --> 00:15:21,320 of people, even now we are seeing millions suffer because of the new secular humanist 152 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:27,440 pagan religions that cloak themselves in the pseudoscience of neo-Darwinism. They start 153 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:34,720 from a premise that's unprovable, to drag people away from a godly creator so that they 154 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:44,360 can live a life full of sin and free of judgment. We look for our answers from the atheistic 155 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:48,440 scientists, the scholars, the politicians. These are the robed men. They quite literally 156 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:55,440 wear white lab coats. They're robed men. They're the clerics of these new ideologies. Our politicians 157 00:15:55,440 --> 00:16:01,080 are the bishops and the leaders. Is there any doubt that we are worshiping ideologies 158 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:12,120 that run contrary to God's word? So much of what is posited or placed in society by politicians 159 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:18,840 is really just stuff that comes from the inside of these men that we give our lives over to. 160 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:24,400 I'm not leaning to any political party. I believe that there's a party that you can 161 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:29,880 reside in, and that's God's party. I believe that if you're a Christian, you vote according 162 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:36,160 to your conscience, and your conscience is based off the word of God and not man. Everything 163 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:43,600 comes up to you to follow through on God's word and to follow through with how you live 164 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:52,600 your life. But how do these ideas lead to idolatry? How can they lead you to idolatry? 165 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:57,680 The consequences of the fallen man can be seen by their actions. When we look back in 166 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:03,400 the garden, we see Eve deceived by the serpent, the lure of knowledge and power to become 167 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:08,640 like God, knowing good and evil. This temptation won over Adam and Eve and led them to the 168 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:16,600 sin and led to sin entering into the world and affecting all of us. In Genesis 3 verses 169 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:20,920 3 through 5, it said, But God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in 170 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:25,140 the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it lest you die. But the serpent said 171 00:17:25,140 --> 00:17:29,320 to the woman, You shall will surely not die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your 172 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:36,160 eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. The idea led to a thought 173 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:43,840 life that was unbridled and eventually idolatrous and full of sin. We have to be governed in 174 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:48,680 our own minds. We have to govern our lives and our mind and our thought life, or else 175 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:53,800 will allow our hearts to deceive us and lead us in the trap of rebellion. How often do 176 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:59,060 you sit there and think about something that you know is wrong and eventually convince 177 00:17:59,060 --> 00:18:04,120 yourself into doing it? I'll use a simple, simple example. Let's say you're on a diet, 178 00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:06,960 you're trying to eat healthier, you're trying to change your diet. You don't want to be 179 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:12,720 on a diet, but you want to eat better. But then you sit there and think, man, a Dairy 180 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:18,080 Queen Blizzard sounds really good right now. Man, does a Dairy Queen Blizzard seem really 181 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:22,860 good. I really like that Dairy Queen Blizzard, you know, the one with like the score Blizzard 182 00:18:22,860 --> 00:18:27,080 with the Reese's added to it. It's just, you know, oh, it's such a good ice cream. It's 183 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,960 so tasty. And then you keep saying that stuff into your head and before long you find yourself 184 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,720 driving down to Dairy Queen and getting the ice cream and paying over, you know, like 185 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:40,680 almost eight bucks for the darn thing for like a small. And then after you eat it, you 186 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:45,600 feel horrible because you allowed your thought life to build and build and build and build 187 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:51,200 and leading you into sin. I'm not saying ice cream sin. Don't get me wrong. I've just, 188 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:57,440 it's just an example of how your thought life can betray you. In first Samuel 15, 23, it 189 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:03,440 says for rebellion is as the sin of divination and presumption is as an equity and idolatry 190 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:08,040 because you have rejected the word of the Lord. He has also rejected you from being 191 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:14,680 king. So the God players in the, in the center of every human heart is a throne. It is always 192 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:20,800 occupied. Not a person in the world is without a throne and someone occupying that throne 193 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:28,760 at all times. The throne can only be occupied by God, the self or the prideful self, the 194 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:34,120 self centered ego. If God is in throw, the prideful egos dethrone and the human spirit 195 00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:40,120 is correctly positioned under God and with the, and with people. But when the ego is 196 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:47,200 self enthroned, God is ignored while man who is now out of position in his world plays 197 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:54,560 God. How much of what is going on in society today is man playing God? Everything that 198 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:59,360 the government says they're going to do to save you. It's amazing how they use those 199 00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:02,480 words. We're going to help people do this. We're going to help you live a life that's 200 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:09,080 full and we're going to help you to do this and help you do that. Yet when a Christian 201 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:14,480 comes and offers you freedom in Christ, you say, I don't believe in that stuff. Why would 202 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:20,080 I want to follow some rules that God has? Then as soon as you're done blowing that guy 203 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:24,640 off, you go and you say, Oh, I really like this politician. Of course I'm going to follow 204 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:28,880 their rules and wear a mask and stay however many feet away from it because they've got 205 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:34,360 my best interest at heart and they only want to do what's right for society and the greater 206 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:42,640 good. So you're so willing to accept the, the tenants of faith demanded by a political 207 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:47,600 party or by an organization that she, that allows you to live your life in sin. As long 208 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:51,840 as they're not touching your sacred cow, you're along the allowed to, you're, you're more 209 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:59,200 than happy to go along. But how wicked of an idea is that when you, when you tell the, 210 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:03,920 the one true living God, I don't have time for you and your rules, but I will gladly 211 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:12,560 put myself under the bondage of that man, that creations rules. So ideas that are contrary 212 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:17,480 to a God centered view rooted in the power in a powerful spiritual. So we can begin to 213 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:23,880 make ourselves the idol, right? Our identity might be one of the biggest idols worship 214 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:29,600 today. We have largely abandoned who we are in Christ and placed our identity in other 215 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:34,720 things, whether it be our social media following or our position at work, our abilities, our 216 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:39,600 skills, the achievements we are after many have their identity wrapped up in the wrong 217 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:44,760 thing. I've fallen victim to this where I, for you know, for a long time chased, you 218 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:48,880 have certain positions of work, certain positions of work that would have taken me away from 219 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:54,240 my family and would have taken me away from my church and my responsibilities at the time, 220 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:58,720 all for thinking that I was doing, you know, what God might want me to do, which is move 221 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:04,520 up, but in reality always led me away from his will and his purpose for my life. And 222 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:09,240 Ephesians two, two, it says in which you once walked following the course of this world, 223 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:13,480 following the Prince of the power of air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons 224 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:19,160 of disobedience for some, their identity has become an idol. It may not be a physical object. 225 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:25,060 We tend to associate with idol worship, but this subtle form of idolatry is often worshiped. 226 00:22:25,060 --> 00:22:30,200 Many have placed more value on who they are rather than in God, who they are meant to 227 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:36,320 be in Christ. We see that today, you know, God's not trying to take away your, you know, 228 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:43,720 your individuality, but yet we are all supposed to move closer to be more like Christ according 229 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:49,280 to the word of God. So if we're supposed to be continually moving closer to Christ through 230 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:54,360 the Holy spirit in the, in, in the divine nature of our Lord, then that means that on 231 00:22:54,360 --> 00:22:58,680 the edges you're becoming more and more like Christ. And yes, you are changing as a person. 232 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:03,180 It's called sanctification. You become more and more Christlike. You're more concerned 233 00:23:03,180 --> 00:23:07,600 with the loss. You're more concerned, concerned with helping the hungry. You're more concerned 234 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:14,960 with seeing people get her, sorry, seeing people get saved and turning from a life of 235 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:24,400 sin. People tend to twist, distort, seduce, and deceive themselves when they're dealing 236 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:29,880 with idolatry with the advent of social media. Almost anyone has the opportunity to become 237 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:36,040 a famous or gain influence, even if it's only like 300 followers or less or something like 238 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:41,580 that. All it takes is one viral video or one hot take. And suddenly you can have thousands 239 00:23:41,580 --> 00:23:46,200 and thousands of followers. Past generations tend to idolize their jobs and their social 240 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:51,220 status. Younger generations are more drawn towards fame and influence. This has led to 241 00:23:51,220 --> 00:23:58,720 many endless chases, thus creating another modern day idol. Rather than pursuing God 242 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:05,760 and Christ, we are wrapped up in a pursuit of fame, status, power, identity. These are 243 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:12,040 tools that the devil can use to twist, distort, seduce, and deceive you into a life away from 244 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:19,400 God and one headed directly towards God's judgment. John 8.44 says, you are of your 245 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:24,380 father the devil and you will do as your father desires. He was a murderer from the beginning 246 00:24:24,380 --> 00:24:30,120 and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in them. When he lies, he speaks 247 00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:36,200 out of his own character for he is a liar and the father of lies. Genesis 3.1 says, 248 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:41,720 now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. 249 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:46,200 And he said to the woman, did God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the 250 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:52,060 garden? Second Corinthians 11.3 says, but I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve 251 00:24:52,060 --> 00:24:58,000 by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to 252 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:03,920 Christ. And finally, in second Corinthians 4.4 it says, in their case, the God of this 253 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:08,720 world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the 254 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:18,000 gospel of the glory of Christ, who is in the image of God. We have to be able to identify 255 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:23,840 that the devil will use these tactics. The devil will use whatever is distracting you 256 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:29,360 to take you away from God, hopefully to take you away from God up to the point where you 257 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:36,240 can't come back. We also know that he is shrewd, cunning and manipulative. Satan masquerades 258 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:41,220 as an angel of light. This reminds me of the allure of the shining city lights, the lights 259 00:25:41,220 --> 00:25:45,880 that block out the majesty of the heavens and trap many to only look at the glitz and 260 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:53,160 glamour of man's creation. So we just recently all got to enjoy, if you live in the Northern 261 00:25:53,160 --> 00:26:01,400 hemisphere, we got to enjoy a tremendous aurora borealis event. There was a solar event that 262 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:07,040 was quite amazing. Many people got to see the Northern lights in areas where they typically 263 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:11,300 don't get to see the Northern lights. And I remember looking at it and I only got to 264 00:26:11,300 --> 00:26:15,440 barely see it because I go to bed early and I wasn't going to stay up late enough to 265 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:23,800 see it apparently. But what I saw was fairly limited, veiled lights. Really kind of looked 266 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:31,440 like slightly green, misty smoke. And I remember thinking about, man, if I would have gone 267 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:37,360 to a darker area, if I would have gotten away from the city, we call them dark sky areas 268 00:26:37,360 --> 00:26:43,940 because we've polluted our cities with light all through the night. And that light just 269 00:26:43,940 --> 00:26:50,960 takes away the majesty of the sky. But we're so happy to live in these self-contained little 270 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:57,040 bubbles away from the presence of God and the stars, just the majesty of the stars. 271 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:01,180 I just think it's a very interesting thing how we hide ourselves in the glitz and glamour 272 00:27:01,180 --> 00:27:07,080 of our own creation. In 2 Corinthians 11, 14 it says, and no wonder for even Satan disguises 273 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:13,120 himself as an angel of light, because reality is the battlefield is in our mind. In Ephesians 274 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:18,400 2, 3 it says, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out 275 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:23,440 the desires of the body, the mind, we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest 276 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:29,920 of mankind. We want to hide ourselves from the light of God. We want to allow ourselves 277 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:35,080 to live according to our own will. In Ephesians 4, 17 it says, now this I say and testify 278 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:41,280 in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds. 279 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:46,840 And then in 2 Timothy 2, 26 it says, and then they may come to their senses and escape from 280 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:53,920 the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will. We need to escape the 281 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:59,240 world and the world's idolatry, whether that be your social media, whether that be your 282 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:04,680 job, whether that be your hobbies that take you away from church or take you away from 283 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:12,240 what you know to be right. We have to look at our attitude, our morals, our addictions 284 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:21,040 that are enslaving us to the God of this world, to the devil. But we also have to remember, 285 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:26,960 especially us as Christians, the whole point of everything is the redemption of God. And 286 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:32,760 Jesus Christ can deliver anybody who comes to him, just like he delivered us as we gave 287 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:40,800 our lives to him. This is a legal and comprehensive action, the deliverance that comes from Christ. 288 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:46,280 And Hebrews 2, 14-15 it says, Since therefore the children share in the flesh and the blood, 289 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:51,280 he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one 290 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:56,040 who has power over death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who were through fear 291 00:28:56,040 --> 00:29:02,040 of death were subject to his lifelong slavery. There's no fear in death because in Christ 292 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:07,840 death has been beaten. In Colossians 1, 12-14 it says, Giving thanks to the Father who 293 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:13,280 has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints and the light, he has delivered 294 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:19,080 us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom 295 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:23,360 we have redemption in the forgiveness of sin. The sin has been covered. When you come to 296 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:29,960 Christ all your transgressions are covered, just like the song Amazing Grace. You're washed 297 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:34,960 clean by the blood of the Lamb and you can have forgiveness of your sins. In Romans 4, 298 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:41,160 25, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justifications? Jesus was 299 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:47,520 lifted up on the cross. He was the perfect sacrifice as sinless man, the Son of God who 300 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:55,280 died so that we might be able to in him be set free from the bondage of sin and accept 301 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:59,920 that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. In Romans 12, 2 it says, Do not be conformed to this 302 00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:04,840 world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, by the testing that you may discern 303 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:11,000 what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Now you must, you 304 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:15,480 might think, wow, there's been a lot of Bible verses in this message and that's true. There's 305 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:20,320 been a ton because the reality is, how are you ever going to discern if you don't read 306 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:26,560 the word of God? And I challenge you, if you're unsaved, give first, give your life to Christ. 307 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:32,380 If this isn't convincing enough to you, though, read the Bible, read the word of God and let 308 00:30:32,380 --> 00:30:38,520 the Holy Spirit convict your heart and lead you to Christ. We must claim this by faith 309 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:44,240 though. Faith is taking God at his word. In Ephesians 4, 17, Now this I say and testify 310 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:49,800 the Lord, you must no longer walk in the Gentiles as the Gentiles do in the futility of their 311 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:57,240 minds. I already read that. And the reality of it is, is that when you come to Christ, 312 00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:02,680 you can't just think the way the world thinks. You can't just think this politician is going 313 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:07,360 to save the day. This leader is going to save the day. That singer has really got it all 314 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:13,720 figured out. That movie star really knows what's going on. You need to look to God for 315 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:19,040 your answers, not to men, not to pastors, not to preachers, to the word of God and allow 316 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:25,240 the Holy Spirit to deal with you. And then, you know, the whole purpose of the church 317 00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:29,280 is to allow the fellowship, the brethren to sharp, you know, iron sharpening iron. We 318 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:36,000 all come together in the word to challenge each other so that we can grow towards God 319 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:41,580 in our grow in Christ likeness and sanctification. In Second Corinthians 10, five, it says we 320 00:31:41,580 --> 00:31:46,160 destroy arguments in every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every 321 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:52,120 thought captive to obey Christ. And First Corinthians 2 16, it says, for who has understood 322 00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:59,100 the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. So as we come 323 00:31:59,100 --> 00:32:04,960 to an end, we want to remember to get that it's important that we work towards deliverance 324 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,840 in our mind. And we only get that through the remission of sin. We get that through 325 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:15,320 repentance, accepting Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and praying that God will continue 326 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:21,560 to help us in our mind and that battle of our mind. We have to stand against false teaching 327 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:27,320 in Second Timothy three eight. It says, just as jam, James and Jambres opposed Moses. So 328 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:33,440 these men also oppose the truth. Men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 329 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:40,360 You can see those who are corrupted by the fruit that their life is creating. First Timothy 330 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:45,680 six five, it says in the constant friction among the people who are depraved in mind and deprived 331 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:51,880 of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. There will be people who are 332 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:57,600 striving to use the gospel message just simply for gain. There are people who will dabble 333 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:02,680 on the edges. They're rock stars who will get saved. And then you'll start seeing that. 334 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:07,320 Are they really saved? Are they really living for Christ? So we have to avail ourselves 335 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:12,400 to God's truth in Colossians one twenty one through twenty two. It says, and you who were 336 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:20,120 once alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds has now reconciled in his body of flesh 337 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:27,800 by his death in order to present you wholly and blameless above reproach before him. And 338 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:33,480 Ephesians four twenty three and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. So in the end, 339 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:40,360 we have satanic programs that are striving to cause mankind to embrace his worldview. 340 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:48,960 And these present us a problem. For the people who live in Western society primarily, because 341 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:54,300 we are we were founded on godly foundations and so much of the world is trying to push 342 00:33:54,300 --> 00:34:02,360 against those. Here's a quick excerpt that I found from John M. Perkins from a from a 343 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:08,420 book called Dream With Me, and it's entitled Bail in Canada. I know most Canadians today 344 00:34:08,420 --> 00:34:14,000 do not worship bail, but when I look at the church in Canada, I fear that we have our 345 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:19,960 own bales that demand our worship. I see so many people bowing down before prosperity 346 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:25,640 theology and the idea that God wants to make us wealthy and happy. I see people entrapped 347 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:31,600 by this by the isms, racism, sexism, ageism, classism and so many others that divide our 348 00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:37,840 church, choosing first to obey and revere these divisive systems rather than the God 349 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:43,080 who has called us all to be reconciled to one another and to be one in Christ Jesus. 350 00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:48,520 We surround ourselves with people who are like us and value like mindedness over genuine 351 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:53,760 love and care for our neighbor. So as we close, if I could have every head bowed, every eye 352 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:58,360 closed, if you're driving, keep your eyes on the road. It's a stupid joke. I say every 353 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:07,240 week. The reality is, is that we need to fight against the idolatry that's within our hearts. 354 00:35:07,240 --> 00:35:13,280 We're constantly looking for something to fill our hearts, to give us understanding 355 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:20,320 that allows us to live a life away from God, away from the judgment of God. And it's so 356 00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:27,560 interesting that in that fight, we're so willing to put our faith into men, into women who 357 00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:33,200 are just creations like we are, but we'll put our faith in them, expecting them to save 358 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:41,840 us. And then when they fail us, we become depressed. We become isolated. Turn to Christ, 359 00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:49,680 turn to Jesus, submit to the will of the Father. Give your life over to him. If God is dealing 360 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:54,240 with you right now and you know you're not saved, you're not right with God, I want to 361 00:35:54,240 --> 00:35:58,440 lead you in a quick sinner's prayer. And it's just something like that. I've had to you 362 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:02,320 if you've risen your hand, then you want to signify that wherever you are, I can't see 363 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:06,680 it. God can see it. But if you want to raise your hand and signify that you want to change 364 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:11,680 in your life, God sees that hand. And I want you to repeat this prayer with me. Dear Lord 365 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:15,600 God, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you sent your son, Jesus Christ, and 366 00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:22,040 that he died for me on the cross. I repent of my sin. I accept him as my Lord and Savior. 367 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:28,680 I thank you for God's grace in Jesus name. Amen. That simple prayer is all it takes. 368 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:34,360 Now, of course, there's always the next step. It's a journey. It's a path. It's the less 369 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:40,560 traveled path. It says in the Bible, you need to find a church to lock into the purpose 370 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:46,240 of the church is so you can hear preaching. It's so you can have fellowship with other 371 00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:51,240 brethren so that you can grow together and grow towards sanctification and Christ likeness 372 00:36:51,240 --> 00:36:56,560 and so that you can have impact in your town for Jesus. If you're in Sam and are please 373 00:36:56,560 --> 00:37:01,240 reach out. We have service 1030 on Sundays. We have Bible study on Wednesdays, and I'd 374 00:37:01,240 --> 00:37:07,720 love to have you join us. All the contact information is in the show notes. If not, 375 00:37:07,720 --> 00:37:12,080 we have 3500 plus churches globally, and I'd love for you to go to one of our fellowship 376 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:19,140 churches and just really serve God. Let him change your life. Let him change your heart. 377 00:37:19,140 --> 00:37:23,760 With that, the last thing I want to ask is that if this message has impacted you, if 378 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:29,920 you've seen value in it, I'd appreciate if you'd share the this podcast or this video. 379 00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:36,640 I asked that you'd like it. Subscribe. It really does help us to get the word out. We 380 00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:40,520 pay for this as a church so that we can get the gospel message out to as many people as 381 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:45,940 possible. It's just part of our outreaching tools to just to get the gospel message out 382 00:37:45,940 --> 00:37:52,560 to anyone who who hasn't heard it yet. So send it. Send it out. Don't be afraid. The 383 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:57,820 Bible tells us that God's word will not go and return void. And so I just pray that God 384 00:37:57,820 --> 00:38:01,240 will help you this week. And I'm just going to close in prayer real quick. Dear Lord, 385 00:38:01,240 --> 00:38:05,560 I thank you for everything that you do. Even with this little podcast Lord God, I pray 386 00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:10,800 that you would work in people's hearts and lives this week. Bless them in Jesus name. 387 00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:14,800 Amen. Thank you for joining me this week. Can't wait for you to come back next time. 388 00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:15,800 God bless.