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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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