Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.

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this series is on american idols

one of the things that the bible makes

clear is that

when we choose competing gods we

jeopardize ourselves

our families and even our nation america

was founded

on the premise that faith in god would

have to be

a key component to the well-being of the

nation

and only to the degree that we

worshipped

the god of the bible could we experience

the freedom

that this nation so passionately

desired but we have wandered far from

that commitment we have wandered from

that

faith we have chosen competing gods

to our detriment so i hope that this

series will draw

all of us back to the one true god

so that we can have the peace and unity

that our country desperately needs at

this time

there is no other sin spoken of as much

as this one sin

in all of the bible in all of the bible

the dominant thing that is addressed

over everything else is the sin

of idolatry

idolatry

the worship of false gods other gods

non-gods

is the dominant theme of scripture

commonly spoken of and always condemned

now the first thing we’ve got to do is

define our terms

what do we mean by idol or idolatry

simply said an idol is any unauthorized

noun person place thing or

thought that you look to as your

ultimate source let me repeat that again

an idol is any unauthorized

noun a noun is a person-placed thing or

thought

any unauthorized noun person place thing

or thought

that you look to as your source

so that can be anything that becomes the

subject

of your ultimate focus

when god gave the ten commandments

in exodus 20 verses 1 to 6 the first two

commandments dealt with this thing about

idolatry

thou shalt have no other god before me

thou shalt not make any graven image

of me for i

am a jealous god

one of the reasons that god despises

idolatry

is because of his jealousy you see

he has an exclusivity clause on you

no competition allowed

no competing deities up in here up in

here

anything or anyone

that competes for your ultimate loyalty

is an idol anything

or anyone that competes

with your ultimate loyalty

is your idol

bad things that you depend on

is idolatry if you depend on drugs

that drug is an idol because it’s come

it’s become the source of your

ultimate well-being

people can become an idol

because your ultimate well-being is

locked up in them

and not in god so people can have people

addictions

an idol however doesn’t have to be

something bad

it can be something good that you make

god

so in its right place it’s good money is

good but you can make it materialism god

success is good but you can make success

god

we live in a day taken from the show

american idol

of celebrity worship

appreciating people valuing them for

their skills their abilities

huh but the moment

they become the source of how you well

you are doing

that’s become a god education can be a

god

you can put so much weight on your

degree

that it is competing with god

that’s why the bible says they are ever

learning but never coming into the

knowledge of the truth

the god of science see science has

become a god i don’t know if you knew

that or not

because science has grown to the place

where it wants to prove by science god

does not exist

so they come up with a theory of

evolution that nothing produced

something

evolution is basically fairy tales for

adults

your job can be an idol your career can

be an idol

career is a good thing we’re commanded

to work but if that has become

your source of identity that’s an idol

we’re going to talk about let’s see the

idol of your politics

because you can make being a democrat

your god you can make being a republican

your god

so that you think your answers are going

to land on air force one

and so what we’ve done is we’ve divided

our society even among christians

because they’ve begun to worship their

their political identity or racial

identity or gender identity

and thus we’re walking idolaters

have been westernized because it’s

sophisticated

it’s been painted over it looks good

smells good

you can wear a suit and be an idolater

you can drive a fancy car and be an

idolater

a dollar tree is any now that has not

been authorized

by the creator

it is a man-made representation

of the true god

now one of the reasons

that we are drawn to idols although we

don’t recognize them as idols

until the series is over

is because we have a dumbed downed

view of god we have shrunk god and made

him so small

that idols looked pretty big

we have reduced him we have made him a

sophisticated man

so let me set this because god says

at the end of verse 8 i want you to know

that i am the lord

whenever he talks about idolatry or his

jealousy

he says the reason i’m going to tell you

all about this is

because i want you to know there’s

nobody like me

i am one of a kind i’m in a class by

myself

i demand an exclusivity clause because

you can’t find nobody who can compete

with me

the idol of luck

love luck

is the most non-christian word a

christian could ever use

because and i’m not talking about when

you casually use it and you know

you’re not you’re just using it as

afraid but i’m talking about believing

in love

and the reason why it’s the most

non-christian word is you can’t have a

sovereign god

and have luck you can’t have a god who

controls the world

and have luck no the biblical concept is

providence that he orchestrates things

so the next time you attempt to say i

was lucky no i was providentially cared

for

no such thing as luck so let’s talk for

a minute about god because

if i can grow the size of our god

then we will be less needy for idols

he says i want you to know i am the lord

god he says

thus saith the lord god verse 4 that

they may know that i

am the lord verse 8. so who is this lord

because a lot of us are mixed up on the

the definition of god

so let’s start with a definition okay

the true god is the triune

creator sustainer and sovereign ruler of

all things

now why am i telling you that because

just using the name god we need to know

who you’re talking about

amen because the word god can be very

generic

the god of the bible is

transcendent now that’s a big

theological word that simply means he is

distinct from his creation

so if you want to remember transcendent

remember the word distinct

that is he is separate from what he made

now why is that important because all

idols

are determined by what has been made so

whatever an idol is

it was created so whenever you have

something created

and you worship it you have not

made it transcendent you’ve reduced it

to being

imminent imminent means he’s part of

he’s down in the mix of

god is transcendent the bible says he

sits high above the earth

he sits on the circle of the earth the

bible says in isaiah 40.

he sits over the nation and blows on

them

i am that i am translation i

am not what you want me to be

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how do you share the gospel with

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why does the old testament matter to

your faith today

those are just a few of the questions

you’ll get answered when you enroll in

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with dr tony evans

where you can grow in your knowledge of

god’s word and learn to advance his

kingdom agenda in your life

visit tonyevinstraining.org to get

started today

that’s tonyevinstraining.org he says i

am that i am he’s not

only self-defined he is also

self-sufficient i am

because i am in other words

i exist because i exist

translation i don’t have to go outside

of me to be me

everything i need to be me is already in

me

because i am that i am so he’s

self-defined

he’s self-existent he’s self-sufficient

and he is eternal

because i am is present tense

present tense let me explain god has no

past and he has no future

there’s no past or future with god he

always exists in his i

am-ness that is present tense

he’s personal i so he’s a personal god

he’s not a force

you know this is not star wars he’s a

personal god

but he’s a personal god in the present

and only in the present

so he has no past no future he talks to

us in past present and future because we

live linearly

he does not live linearly he doesn’t

live from yesterday to tomorrow

everything with god is now

it’s affections you see when people have

an idol it’s because they like it

or they want something from it see you

you don’t just build a night or build an

idol people build idols because they

want the idol to do something for them

to bless them in the bible that idols of

fertility they had

they had idols for the weather they had

idols for this those idols weren’t just

stuff in never never land these are

idols i need to do something for me

so it owned their affections for which

they sought benefit

god is saying

they have idols in their heart in other

words their affection is not for me

their pursuit is not of me

i am not the pleasure that they seek

i am not the priority that they pursue

they don’t beat here for me they beat

here

to get something from me

but not for me

and so they they have idols from the

heart

their affection is not for me their love

is not for me that’s why the great

commandment is thou shalt

love the lord thy god with all the heart

mind might soul

in other words all of you there is to be

no part

of your psyche your physiology of your

emotions that are to be extricated

from a passionate pursuit of a person

as we go through this series you’re

going to discover things that you didn’t

think were idols

but you’re going to discover oh yeah i

guess

i’ve been giving that a little bit more

worship than i thought

so the right view of god is critical

god is transcendent he’s he’s outside of

time and space

and that’s why he is the unfiguratable

god my thoughts are not your thoughts my

ways are not your ways

as high as the heavens are above the

earth that’s how i am so don’t start

with you don’t start with y’all and

don’t start with your peeps

start with me let me define

who you are

here is why people want idols let me

tell you why we

we why we want idols

because we want something we can control

see i can’t control god

he gonna tell me what he thinks whether

i like it or not he i can’t control him

so i need an idol who gonna say yes when

i want him to

who gonna say no when i want him to who

gonna agree with me when i want him to

i want an idol that will adjust to me i

don’t want to be accountable to a god

i want to use his name but i don’t want

to have to answer to him

i don’t want to have to do what he says

see our culture wants a god that’s

cafeteria style

i like this part of god i’ll take it i

don’t want that part of god i won’t take

it

so we want to we want to chop god up

and turn him into our cafeteria

experience rather than the god of god

who owns our hearts and who informs our

decisions

until there is a decision to

passionately pursue

a person that’s that’s the test god gave

moses he said moses y’all going to the

promised land but i’m not going with you

just y’all go ahead land flowing with

milk and honey y’all go ahead have a

good time

moses said now if you don’t go i’m not

going i don’t care how nice it is over

there

god was testing him who do you want more

the blessing or the blesser

who do you want more see we live in a

world today where folk want the blessing

i’ll take the blessor until i get the

blessing

i’ll placate him enough

until i get the blessing that i want

but when the nature of man defines the

nature of god

romans 1 verses 18 to 25 says because

they no longer wanted to hold the truth

of god in their hearts

they built idols to themselves they

didn’t want god telling them what to do

anymore

they didn’t want god their passion for

god was lost so they created idols after

themselves

and then he talks about

the cost of idolatry

he says in ezekiel 14

they have idols in their heart and then

he asked in the verse 3

should i be consulted by them they

really want to have a conversation with

me

they have idols of the heart

he says at the end of verse 4 the lord

will be brought to give him an

answer in the matter in view

of the multitude of his idols oh

it says when you pray to me

i’ma answer you based on how many idols

you got

because when you come to me and i’m not

in your heart

and i’m not your god and you’re bringing

all these other gods in here

with me well i’ma answer your prayer

according to all in god you got

one of the reasons more of our prayers

are not being unanswered

is we bring idols into the prayer

meeting

america it has a theological and

spiritual problem

see all this division you’re seeing

across race across genders across

political part all that is symptoms

of what it happens in a culture when it

abandons the true god

when a culture abandons the true god

a vacuum is set where chaos

enters in second chronicles chapter 15

verses 3 to 6

because they abandoned god it says there

was no peace

so the further you get away from god

then now man wants to decide what’s life

and what’s not life and who dies

and who doesn’t die and how we deal with

older people and how we don’t and

man wants to decide that because when

you get rid of the true god

now you become god government becomes

god

man becomes god and they come up with

all these new definitions

that become political fights political

fights this is a theological issue

it’s a biblical issue related to the

true god

but if you’re more democrat than

christian if you’re more republican than

christian

then you’re going to go with the party

you’re not going to go with the king

i had i had a friend of mine tell me he

said well you know i vote the same way

every year

and he said because i’m a company man i

said you ought to be a kingdom man you

ought to be voting

you ought to be taken from the word of

god as the basis

you say well all this is in the old

testament no no no no no first

john 5 21 says my children

keep yourselves from idols but now i

want to tell you

the main reason why you want to get rid

of your idols and and we all have them

we all have them i

you know there’s no big eyes and little

hues we all we all have them sometimes

we just don’t know we have them

but but let me give you the whopping

reason

why you want to identify and

destroy in the idol

that god his holy spirit reveals to you

and it’s found in first corinthians

chapter 10.

he writes the new testament church

and this is what he says to the new

testament christians

in first corinthians chapter

10. paul writes verse 19

what do i mean then that a thing

sacrificed to idols is anything

or that an idol is anything so he’s

talking about idols

no but i say that the things which the

gentiles sacrifice

they sacrifice to demons

and not to god and i do not want you to

become

sharers in demons you cannot drink the

cup of the lord

and the cup of demons you cannot partake

of the table of

the lord and the table of demons verse

22

or do we provoke the lord to here it is

jealousy we are not stronger

than he are we oh no you didn’t

guess what god just said every time

you go to an idol you attract demons

so a lot of us are walking around here

demon controlled

you think it’s an emotional problem no

it’s demonic

you think it’s a bad attitude no it’s

demonic

you think it’s you think you think well

well i just got issues yeah you do

demons because he says

if you are with an idol like garbage

attracts

roaches idols attract demons

and i don’t want you see that’s why a

lot of the problems and addictions

we can’t get over and the reason we

can’t get over

it’s that it’s been deemified in other

words whatever the problem started out

to be

demons got in there amped up the issue

so you’re trying to get rid of a problem

when really the problem are the demons

you can’t get rid of

because you haven’t gotten rid of the

idols that controls the demons

controlling you

he says i do not want you to become

a sharer in demons

so you must make a decision

loving an idol

is like a wife loving the wedding ring

more than the bridegroom

she likes what the bridegroom gave her

but doesn’t necessarily care for the one

who gave it

see everybody wants what god can give

without a heart that wants the god who

gave it

god is looking for some foul folk who

not trying to be a gold digger

but they want him and because they want

him

and love him and get rid of their idols

he gives them himself and when they get

him

they get what he has to offer

in this series on american idols we want

to look at

the eyes through which you view

god because when you see god

the true god of the bible incorrectly

and your eyes begin to wonder

to false gods then

everything in your life will be out of

focus

if you want the right focus on life

on liberty on your life

and our nation then you’re going to see

god as he really is

not merely as you want him to be

and if we will take a clear look at the

god of the bible and turn away

from anything viewed as god that’s not

consistent with

who he is as the one true god

then we can begin to experience him

and we can begin to be transformed by

him

it is time for us to wander aggressively

away

from false gods and run into

the arms of the true god because we are

seeing him

more clearly than we’ve ever seen him

before

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so

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you