Evicting Idols __ 24Ever (Part 5)

0:00 Hey, what's up? Hey, don't click off yet. We're going to get to the sermon real quick. But I want to tell you about an exciting season we're in here at Transformation Church. We, at the end of every year, take a time to gather our faith and expectation and to give an offering so that we can see the vision of Transformation Church expanded. And this year, on December 16th, we are doing a tabernacle offering. This is going to be a house built with hearts. And this is a tabernacle for more people to meet God. And I wanted to give you an opportunity to be a part of it. There are thousands of you, like thousands of you, no, actually tens of thousands of you that write in and watch and tell us how much Transformation Church is impacting your life. And I want to give you an opportunity not just to participate, but to accelerate the vision of Transformation Church. There are many of you that have been blessed to be a blessing. And so in this season, I would ask, would you pray?

0:54 Would you pray about giving a one-time gift of whatever amount? Not what we are asking, but what God tells you to give, to help be a part of seeing transformation in so many people's lives. And maybe you want to do this on a reoccurring basis, but I know there are thousands of us that are about to sow a seed to see more people encounter God. And you know people right now that need to be touched by God. And maybe this church has a voice to be able to get into the hard places of their heart and be able to help them see. And so I don't care what state you're in, what city you're in, what country you're in. You can be a part of what God is doing. So December 16th, I want you to go to transformchurch.us and I want you to click the tab that says give. And I want you to give whatever God places on your heart. And we're going to see not what God can just do to us, but what God can do through us. Transformation Nation, I love you.

1:47 I cannot wait to see how God uses your obedience to transform other people's lives. Enjoy this sermon. Well, today we are starting part five of a series we are calling 20 Forever How to Worship a King. How many people have been helped by this sermon series so far? Okay. And if you're watching this and if you're in the building today, we're so grateful that you're here. I want to warn you, today's message is heavy. No, no, no, no, no, no. it's heavy. And the reason I say it's heavy is because when we start talking about things that move past our feelings and start messing with our spirit, start messing with the stuff that we don't like to talk about a lot of times. This past two sermon series, I've been calling it in my own time, like on my notes, I'm calling it heart surgery. The reason is because we talked about what does the heart look like last week? What does the heart look like last week? Don't ever say that again. And we were talking about the heart and most people didn't have a clear picture of a heart. And God told me, he said, Michael, I'm going to give you a picture, but the next two weeks I need you to be like a surgeon. I don't need you to be moved by the responsive people. He said because anybody that goes into surgery, they have to sedate the patient.

3:23 And some of y'all going to be sedated today. The only reason is because there can't be much moving and much talking when such intricate work is happening on the inside. And today we're going to continue. If you did not see last week's message, I'm begging you, please go watch it. The title of the message was called Watch the Throne. And we were talking about the throne of our heart because everybody has a throne and somebody's sitting on the throne of your heart. And this whole series is about worship. And what we found out is whoever is sitting on the throne of your heart, you're gonna worship, period. Like if money's sitting on the throne of your heart, you're gonna worship money. If men are sitting on the throne of your heart, you're gonna worship men. What are you saying, Pastor Mike? I'm like lifting my hands and working. No, no, no, no. What you're doing is you're expressing your love to them. And I want to give you the definition of worship before we move on so everybody can be on the same page.

4:21 But you need to see this. If you haven't written it down, write it down. If you already have it written down, I want you to highlight it. Worship is our love expressed to God as a response to his grace towards us. So I need you to understand this. It cannot be worship if it's not expressed. A lot of people are like, I worship God. he knows my heart, you better express it. What if you got married and you told your wife, like, I'm never going to express my love to you. You know my heart. you'd be single. The same thing with God. He said, I know your heart, but I need you to, what's on the inside to come to the outside. And it doesn't have to happen in the same way. Even when I'm in worship through song, because worship is more than a song, but when I'm in worship in a song, I jump, I dance. Like, I'm like, yeah, like that's, that's me because I would express my worship to that when I like that, when I was not serving God. And it's so funny how people get so tamed in their expression when they get saved. But if we were having some drinks and at the club or doing some things in college or high school, you were crazy. But now for God, We have to somehow put it together.

5:46 And what I'm saying is whatever I've loved all my life, I've expressed that I've loved it. The thing is, whatever level you express your love to whatever you have in your life, it better be the same or more for God. Period. So it can't be love if it's not expressed. It cannot be worship if it's not love. And a lot of people don't worship God out of love. they worship God out of obligation. Oh, y'all know it. And that's why the worship leader usually is lift your hands. it's like a game of Simon Says. Tell God how much he means to you. You're awesome, God. You're awesome. But when I love somebody, you don't got to tell me to tell my wife I love her. You don't got to tell me to tell my wife to put my hands on her. We're going to meet in fellowship. You hear me? I don't need anybody. But why when it comes to the one who died for us, We always need an instructor to tell us how to worship him.

6:52 I'm just throwing some things out there. So it can't be worship if it's not expressed. It can't be worship if it's not love. And it can't be love if it's not in your heart. And we showed you a picture of what the heart looks like. And again, you're going to have to go back to the last week's message to get the full throttle of it. But this is what the heart looks like for me. This is the USS Enterprise. I love Star Trek as I grew up a decade or two after it actually was really hot. But thank God for Nick at night because I was able to figure out about this amazing show. But this is the bridge. And basically our lives have one of these. And this is what the Bible refers to over 800 times when he talks about the heart. It's a place you can go ahead and switch that where there's a throne of your heart and out of your heart Your emotions your thoughts your feelings your character your intellect your conscience your will all are comprised of in your heart And the question I posed to everybody last week is who's on the throne of your heart?

8:07 Because whoever sits here directs all of this and you think it's just i'm just in my feelings no no no no no no no comparisons on the throne of your heart and so when you see your friends doing well the only thing that you can think about is why it didn't happen to you because something other than god is sitting on the that's why when money is sitting on the throne of your heart or lust is sitting on the throne of your heart or even your family is sitting on the throne of your heart you will negate the blesser God for the blessing your family and this is why so many people I hate to say it in church who are saved are participating every day and every week in idol worship see because idols it's a very simple thing I told you we go and I'm cutting right now okay idols are anything that sits on the throne of your heart anything that takes the place of God so I don't know what's in your life that's taking the place of God but if it's taking the place of God it is an idol it can even be your gifting and talent like you're great at singing or you're great at doing this you can make the gift God gave you an idol and and and and the reason I say this guys is because the reason so many of us can't worship the king is because you cannot worship anything that's not on the throne and many of you god's not on the throne of your heart can i talk about myself there are days when i start to function in worry and fear and frustration and i'm like what is going on with me and the holy spirit will say check your heart and i'll be like oh i allowed fear to take a seat But I'm here today to tell you and to tell everything in me that everything that is not like God that is sitting on the throne of my house is got to go.

10:13 Now, I don't know about you. Some of y'all are comfortable with worry sitting on the throne of your heart. You're comfortable with lust and perversion sitting on the throne of your heart. But everything that's not like God has to go. So the title of today's message is Evicting Idols. I don't know how many of y'all have ever been evicted. It's not fun.

10:38 But an eviction is a notice that lets somebody know they got to go. And some of y'all have been okay with tenants sitting on the throne of your heart that do nothing but rob you. and today we are going to evict every idol that is sitting on the throne of our heart now I have to reverse engineer this because I'm going to tell you how to do that at the very end of the message but there are a lot of people listening to me right now that don't think it's a big deal you've been living with those idols on your heart anger has set in the throne of your heart for the last 15 years. And so when you get frustrated, your emotions just start acting out of anger and your feelings just start acting out of anger and your character turns off because I'm just telling you, I'm not telling you what idol you have sitting there, but I'm saying all of us at one point or another have. And that's why the Bible tells us that we have to guard our what?

11:42 Oh, this is getting good. Look at Proverbs 4.23. Because some of you don't understand that this is one of the strongest scriptures in the bible because out of this place everything else in your life is affected it says guard your heart above all else pastor above everything above everything because why for it determines the course of your life y'all this is why we have To evict every idol because if we don't whatever we allow to sit on the throne of our heart It will begin to direct our lives and that's why I tell people all the time A lot of people have faith Everybody has faith, but they have faith in the wrong things And see the bible tells us how we get the right type of faith It says faith comes by hearing and hearing what?

12:40 Not hearing the new meat meals album I mean your business Because what ends up happening is you're feeding yourself something that is now giving language to your And now you're wondering why you've listened to that new album and now you don't feel the same way about your wife But you start looking at your co-workers Oh, I counsel a lot of people All i'm telling you is that when you start watching those people who will do anything for money And you're just getting good leadership practices and i'm just trying to get the business savvy But there's a tinge of of greed and and and undertone of insecurity And you're listening to them because they become successful in man's eyes, but in god's eyes That's why the bible says man looks at the outward But god judges the i'm in your business the only reason i'm saying that is because many times we become okay with our idols and until we understand how horrible having an idol on the throne of our heart is we will pacify things that are killing our purpose you you'll pray like god show me give me vision for the future Take me out of this place And God said I can't do it Until they get out of my place until you move them and this is the thing he's god's not kicking anybody off your throne you have to evict them so that's why i'm saying today i don't care if it's one some of y'all got a lap of things sitting right here they they sitting on top of each other if it's one or a thousand. Today, everybody say, I'm evicting idols from my heart. All right, let's go to Ezekiel 14.

14:42 This is some big Bible right now. This is some big Bible. So stay with me and I'm going to break this whole thing down. Okay. Ezekiel 14 chapter one. It says, then some of the leaders of Israel visited me. They visited Ezekiel. He's a prophet. And he said, and while they were sitting with me, this message came to me from the Lord. Get the picture. They're at a big dinner table. it's a it's a it's a prestigious meal ezekiel is a prophet that is known throughout the bible for hearing god's voice and be able to speak on his behalf and there's some big religious leaders good christians i mean capital r righteous people okay and they're sitting down at this table and then god starts to speak to ezekiel and he says son of man ezekiel says huh these leaders have set up idols in their hearts. You playing. Go on, God. They have embraced things that will make them fall into sin. Why should I listen to their requests? Okay, what you want me to do? Tell them, this is what the sovereign Lord says. I got you, God. I got my pen and paper. What you gonna say, God? The people of Israel have set up idols in their hearts. I want you to read it. Don't miss this they have set up idols in their hearts jesus and fallen into sin and then they go to a prophet like you asking for a message doesn't this look like a lot of people who come to church like they have idols set up in their hearts but then they come and like i want the pastor to pray for me or i want the leader to pray for me or i just need a word from god i just want to paint the picture right now and god's saying they come and ask from a message for you so i the lord will give them the kind of answer that their great idolatry deserves. Dang. But don't miss the reason behind his response. Look, verse five. The only reason I'm going to do this is to capture their minds and hearts. Because all of my people have turned away from worshiping me and now they're worshiping

16:52 they're detestable idols. Like the only reason God is trying to allow some things to dry up that used to be a blessing is because he's trying to turn you back to him. Like you've forgotten who called you, who saved you, who gave you that promotion, who kept you from that horrible thing you forgot. And God says, they're just drifting away from me. So the only thing I can do to make them come back is dry up the things that is keeping them afloat right now. he said verse 6 therefore tell the people of israel this this is what the sovereign lord says and i want you to know how he keeps saying that god's saying this he keeps saying it's me the sovereign lord he says tell them repent and turn away from your idols everybody say that repent and turn away from your idols one more time repent and turn away from your idols and stop all your detestable sins I the lord will answer all of those both israelites and foreigners who reject me and set up idols in their Hearts and so fall into sin I want you to notice how idols in your heart and sin are always connected Idols in your heart and sin are always connected if you have idols in your heart You're gonna sin if you have idols that you set up financially spiritually if whatever idols you have it will cause you to sin Okay, I want you to see that those are always connected. He said verse Verse 7, I, the Lord, will answer those, both Israelites and foreigners, who reject me and set up idols in their hearts and so fall into sin and who then come to the prophet asking for advice.

18:33 This is what happens. I just want you to get the picture because I've done it several times. Know that I'm living a backwards lifestyle. And then ask God, well, speak to me through somebody. Send me a sign, God. Show me you're with me. and God's saying he's like how how dare you I've been with you the whole time and you just won't repent and turn back to me you want to get a message from me through somebody else because if you get in front of me you would have to show me who you really are and that's why I tell people God doesn't bless who you pretend to be he blesses who you really are and I'm just trying to help you because this is the deception that happens. And he says in verse eight, this is God's answers. He said, I'm gonna turn against such people and make a terrible example of them. Eliminating them from among my people, then you will know that I am the Lord, verse nine.

19:30 And if a prophet is deceived into giving a message. So if a prophet, the person that did hear from God, somebody that is a pastor or a leader or somebody that's walking and they're calling and walk close to God gets deceived to give somebody like this a message from the Lord, Do y'all know how many people are out here in the name of God telling people stuff that ain't from him? Okay, I just want I want to help you see this. He's talking to you, too. He says, and if you give them a message, it's because I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet and will lift my fist up against such a prophet and cut them off from the community of Israel. Verse 10, false prophets and those who seek their guidance will be punished for their sins. Okay, I'm going to explain it all. In this way, the people of Israel will learn. This is the reason. They got to learn not to stray from me polluting themselves with sin. They will be.

20:25 This is probably the most used phrase in the Old Testament. This is the theme of the Old Testament. So they will be my people and I will be their God. That's all he wants. I, the sovereign Lord, have spoken. Okay, so this is how I'm going to do this. Okay, because the real problem is that many of us have idols on our heart Even the one who is speaking has had idols on his heart And the problem that we have to realize is god has never been threatened by a physical literal idol like oh my god There's something that's here and we can't we we don't need to to have this statue or this thing god don't care about that That's that's nothing. He can literally Throw it away Disintegrate it blow it up whatever you want to do. He's not worried about that. He's worried about our worship to it so i need everybody to hear me say this because i see christians they walk into places and there's a buddha doll we have to leave we can't eat here no i'm i've been around really super churchy people okay oh no this is chinese food that's my favorite food we eating here in the name of jesus this food is blessed. You hear me? Cue Fred Hammond. Blessed. We eating here.

21:42 the problem, the problem is not the physical thing. The problem is who worships it. And that's why the second commandment tells us in Exodus 20 verse four, it says, you must not make for yourselves an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heaven or on the earth or in the sea. Verse five, why? You must not bow down to them or worship them. that's what he wants he doesn't want you to worship them he said for the lord the lord your god i'm a jealous god who will not tolerate listen this your affection for any other god some of y'all are too deep right now your car can be an idol you wash it clean it get tune-ups on it spend thousands of dollars on it you spend hours and hours making sure it's buffed just in case it rains you built a carport for it you did all of these different things for something you're going to trade in five years from now but your spirit man you won't even give five minutes to. What I'm saying is it's not what your idol is. It's that you are worshiping it.

23:08 And God's saying, yo, I can't really take you having two relationships. Like I'm a jealous God. You can't worship whatever it is and worship me. Okay. I want to set this framework for you. So we must evict all idols through this scripture. I'm going to show you what happens when we allow idols to sit on our hearts. And hopefully by the end of this message in the next 18 minutes, you're going to be able to see that it's not an option for you to get idols out of your life. It's a necessity or you will not reach the purpose that is in your heart and in God's heart for you. Amen. Okay. So the first things I'm going to give you four things and idle sitting on the throne of your heart will cause. The first thing is spiritual deception, spiritual deception. Look where we see it in verse three. It says, son of man, these leaders, I want you to notice these were leaders. These were church leaders. These were people that was claiming to know and hear God. And he said, they set up that did not say there were idols planted in their heart. It said they set them up. So this means that we are the ones actively saying, hey, fear, come sit on the throne of my heart. Hey, hey, lust. I'm going to watch HBO and Showtime at 1230 p.m. And I hope to see good wholesome television. No, no. What you're doing at that moment is you're setting up an idol for the throne of your heart. Look at it. And he says, son of man, these leaders have set up idols in the heart. They have embraced. Everybody say embrace. They've embraced things that make them fall into sin. What this is trying to say is that when you put an idol on your heart, you begin to get in deception. So much deception that you begin to make plans for your sin.

25:05 You be you begin to cater to the thing that takes you away from God Let me let me just be honest with you I've i've been very clear and very open about having a pornography addiction Pornography set on the throne of my heart And so what I would do to express my love to pornography is I would make time for it I would go away with it I I would cater to it. I would do things make plans for my sin And the crazy thing about that is when you start making plans for your idols when you start putting And making provision for what is taking you away from god. You begin to then sin presumptuously Let me help you understand that if you've ever said anything like this. You have sinned presumptuously I know this is wrong, but god will forgive me when you start assuming on the grace of God as if it is a cheap thrill that did not have an eternal payment attached to it God's saying you are now cheapening the greatest sacrifice that was ever made in history and most people walk around and they may never say it out of their mouth, but in their heart, they say, I'm going to do this, but God will forgive me.

26:27 Okay, can we be honest? How many people out loud or in your heart have sinned with the knowing before you did it that God was going to forgive you? Come on, let's be honest. I'm so glad I lead a hot church, a humble, open, and transparent church, because if I would walk into many churches today and ask that question, crickets. But at the end of the day, what you got to realize is when you start sinning presumptuously, like the grace of God will take care of that. That's what grace is for. You are on thin ice. And you're heavy. you hear what I'm saying? You big boned on thin ice.

27:12 And there are too many Christians skating around, sinning. Oh, I'm in your business talking about the grace of God doing plies and that nothing's going to happen to me. It is a matter of time because the wages of sin is you gonna fall and if you do not get in the place that God has called you to be you walk in spiritual deception let me just let me help you let me tell you what it looks like Many of you act like... Oh, I can see everything clearly. God just spoke to me. There's so many good things that God's doing. And man, no, God, glory to God.

28:06 I'm here. I'm here to do what God's called me to do. And God said, everything you're doing, you're not seeing clearly. There's a tent. Like everything that I see right now has been tinted. It is not its true color. I'm in deception right now, though you can see what I really am. I have a blue tint over what it actually is. And many people are marrying people out of deception. Oh, you can't see them because you put relationship on the throne of your heart. And I just got to get married and I just need a man. And I'm 31. And by now, oh, my God. And then and so because now relationship has been on the throne of your heart, you will look at somebody who will abuse you.

28:57 But you just see that they're a good man and he can't. I mean, God can change anybody. And I think I'm here to be able to, you know, bring him. You are in deception. you're moving the cities because you think the grass is greener on the other side but you got an idol in your heart of comparison and you are in I'm telling you some of you are making decisions for your entire life but because you have an idol on your heart you're not even seeing clearly We'll see you next week. Everything you see is colored by how you feel. Everything you see is colored by the thoughts. Everything you see has got your conscience all messed up because of what and who is sitting on the throne of your heart.

29:58 That's why the only one worthy to sit on the throne is God. Because when he sits on the throne, the Bible said he removes the veil from our eyes. We're able to see things as they really are. But instead of discernment, you're in. Deception.

30:23 Let me tell you the second thing. Okay? Second thing having an idol sitting on the throne of your heart will cause is spiritual adultery. I know that's a big word for some of y'all. But let me explain it. Look at Ezekiel 14 verse 5, okay? And I'm going to read it out of the New King James Version. I hope you have this version, but if not, I'll say it. It says that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart. because they are all estranged from me. Everybody say estranged. Okay? Estranged from me by their idols. This is what this scripture says. I look this word up, estranged, in the Hebrew and the great, look what the picture is. Because Hebrew words, a lot of times, they're very flat when we translate them to the English language, and they have a lot more meaning. And so there's a picture. Oh, y'all distracted?

31:16 By me ministering? In deception? but there are thousands of people sitting under leaders right now who are getting the word of God from people who've been deceived. Oh, let me stop. Let me stop. Let me stop. Okay. When I looked at this word, estranged, look what it means. The definite literally means a woman that is married and left her husband's house and is in relation with another in another man's home. So she's married to one, but leaves her the home of the one she's married to, to go have relations with somebody else in their house. What God is saying is it's like being in bed with God and going away and being intimate with another, whoever's sitting on the idol on the throne of your heart, and then slipping back into bed with God and hoping he didn't know where you have been and what you were doing. Y'all know that's what we do every week. When we come in here on Sundays and act like God is, he's so good. You're a good, good father, all this other stuff. And then we go out and live like we don't live with him. Like he, we didn't purchase us and play for us and we accepted him. And then we try to come back every Sunday, like nothing happened. Like, hey, hey God, what you been up to? And he's saying, where have you been? I miss my time with you. I made dinner every night. I have blessings waiting for you every day. I've been waiting to tell you some things that is on my heart. I have some, some mysteries that I want to share with you, but you never come to meet with me. You never come to express you never come to exchange and this is what happens when we begin to to to step out and worship other things and this is the thing that i want you to understand god's not mad at you because of perpetuate propitiation it's a huge theological word and it's a big word and i'm not

33:22 even going to try to spell it but what that means is that all of our sin the wrath of it god took it on the cross. So God's not mad at you. He's sad. Because every time you come back to him asking for your needs to be met, he can smell the stench of another on you. Wow.

33:46 So this is what we look like when we come into the house of God. Oh, God, no, I've just been praying. I've been serving you. I've been loving you, God. You're so faithful. You're so faithful. And we fake. And we put on the stains of being with our idol. And we come in here and we try to act like nobody can see it. But God says, I see it all over you. You don't pray because you love me. You pray because you need me. you you don't you don't you don't worship me from your heart you worship me because this is what you think i need for this business arrangement to keep going and god's saying to so many of us that because we've stepped out do you know he calls us the bride of christ and we come to him the thing that's supposed to be white and spotless we come to him dirty but we don't tell him what we did we don't repent we act like this is normal that's why God says I need my people to evict the idols so that when they come to me it really is white. It is really is pure. It really is holy because of what I've done. And so many people today are worshiping idols and it's causing them to have spiritual deception and commit spiritual adultery. Let me tell you the third thing that happens. My God today, when you have idols sitting on the throne of your heart, no matter if it's money, no matter if it's your family, no matter if it's comparison, if it's sitting on the throne of your heart, it will cause spiritual deafness.

35:34 You won't be able to hear god And and and these are leaders these are elders in the church They shouldn't have to be looking to a prophet to hear from god They're supposed to be the people hearing from god And and I want to make this clear that as we progress in our relationship with god You're going to progress in your ability to hear god So i'm not saying if you can't hear god right now that you got all types of sin in your life But I am saying if you can't hear god right now, you may have all types of sin in your life because if you've been in in church and walking with god for many years and you still can't hear him the bible talks about that he's a good father he speaks to his people he said my sheep know my voice and a stranger they won't listen to and the problem is when you put an idol on the throne of your heart let me just let me just show you the scripture because some of y'all don't believe me i want you to understand when you put an idol on the throne of your heart you allow god to be muffled. Let me show you the example first. This is what most of us look like. Got these noise canceling headphones and we're walking around and we're like, God spoke to me.

36:44 What he say? And because we haven't heard from him, because we've had him canceled out, then we listen to whoever's on the throne of our heart. See what you don't understand behind every idol there's a spirit and it's a demonic spirit There's a spirit that's trying to draw you away from god And I don't want you to get scared by anything, but I need to let you know what's really happening There is a war going on for your life Between light and darkness and that's why you always say I want to do good, but evil's always right there I want to change my life, but it's so easy to keep doing there is a war going on externally and internally for you. And when you begin to worship idols, what you do is put the noise, or let me say it like this, the God-canceling headphones on. And now you're making decisions about your future and God's speaking, but you can't hear him.

37:39 God never stopped speaking. We stopped hearing. Oh, that was worth everything. God never, it says he's talked to us in a still, small voice. Charles, start whispering. I can't hear him. Why? Because at the level he's talking and with the deception, the stain of what I'm doing and canceling out God's voice, I will never be able to make decisions based on the person who's instructing me. So when I get frustrated because I can't hear, I start to make my own decisions that I think is best. And I end up in a place that never was intended for me because I have not gotten instructions from the one who prepared my steps. That's why Isaiah 59 2 says But your iniquities your sins have separated you from your God And your sins have hidden his face from you So that you will not what?

38:44 Hear I know you think I'm crazy right now And yes I am hot For everybody to ask me And very hot But do you see how crazy I look right now in the natural? Could this be how you look in your heart? Deceived, stained, deaf, and we're trying to tell other people how to live their life? and we're trying to say God spoke to me and here's the word of the Lord for you and what it's because we have idols sitting on the this is why they have to be evicted y'all because most Christians look stupid and you want the world to listen to us but we're acting like we have it all together but we have not acknowledge that God's not even sitting on the throne of our hearts and so we don't get wisdom about our business and our family do y'all know the divorce weight for Christians is almost the same as people who don't believe why would they think that you need to be married man to man or not be married man to man or woman to woman because what we're doing is not working it's because we're in deception we still are carrying our stains and we're not hearing God yeah I don't I don't care that the glasses are messed up.

40:13 Because this is how we look. And you know the crazy thing about it is I'm getting used to seeing everything in this tent. I'm getting used to seeing everything through a lens of lust. I'm getting used to seeing everything through the filter of selfishness. I'm getting used to seeing it. And eventually I'll try to convince you that what you have on is not actually what it is. Because I truly believe that what I see is reality. Oh my God. And now I'm walking around telling people that no, no, no, no, no, no. You got to realize you got to realize that this actually is blue. Like this water right here is blue. I'm telling you is blue. And you're like, no, I promise. And if you don't have anything as a standard in you, what you will start to do is believe the lies of somebody who is. And this is why we have celebrities that who have the most followers And people that don't is because so many people do not have a standard or might I add the standard of God So they allow people with tents and views of deception to convince them that what they're literally seeing in front of them Is not what it is And that's why now marriage is under attack at an all-time high because you don't need to be married It's the design that God created for humanity to procreate and be fruitful and multiply.

41:41 But now we've allowed people that have been deceived to control the narrative. And now we got whole generations of people seeing what God called pure. I am preaching up here. Y'all, all I'm saying to you is behind every idol, there's a demonic spirit. Behind money, if you put money on there, there's the spirit of mammon. Go look it up. Or it's the spirit of lack. So you didn't have enough, and so that spirit always comes to come and tell you, even when God's provided for you, that you'll never have enough. But behind the spirit of worry, guess what there's a spirit of? Fear. And the Bible clearly tells God has not given us a spirit of what? Fear. But a power, love and a sound. But because worry is on the throne of our heart, there's a demonic spirit of fear that's powering that.

42:43 Even fashion. I'm coming to you. If you put fashion on the throne of your heart, there's a demonic spirit behind it of comparison. Do you know that I watched this documentary that about 60 years ago, there were only four seasons of clothes? Like so fall, winter, spring, summer. Do you know there's over 300 fashion seasons now? Because what they're trying to do is make you feel like what you bought yesterday is not good enough for tomorrow. and that's why we've bought the same thick shirts over and over in different seasons it's because there's a spirit and it's so subtle it's so little but there's a spirit of comparison that is fueling all all i'm trying to say is god wants your worship and he doesn't want you to worship anything that's demonic and bad for you the last thing that i'm gonna tell you that having an idol on the throne of your heart will cause, listen to this, it will cause spiritual consequences.

43:54 And nobody likes to talk about this stuff because we act like our actions, because of grace. No, no, no, because of grace, you will be saved. Like, but that doesn't mean that what you did doesn't leave damage and have consequences here on this earth. And I want you to see what the consequences were for these people in Ezekiel chapter 14 verse 10 it says the false prophets and those who seek their guidance will all be punished for their sins it's and I want you to get this picture if I begin to tell you if I was a false prophet I begin to tell you that hey what you're doing is not that bad like I know you're committing let me just tell you the story there was a story that I heard that there was a guy who was in such deception such deafness such adultery sin that he started um telling this pastor he said yeah i know i committed adultery with my wife he said but the new woman that i'm with we're we're i mean we're doing so good and um we're reading the bible together we're praying together we fasted together and i really believe god's speaking to us about our future and this pastor looked at that man and said this is the height of deception.

45:09 And many of us are walking in this. And the only reason, if I was a false prophet or if there was a false prophet counseling that man, and he would say, yeah, that's not that bad. Yeah, we know that God's going to take, you know, everything and put it together without correcting what's wrong. God said the person that's in delusion and the prophet or the leader or the person who told them that was OK, both of them are going to get consequences. That's why I don't get up here and just say anything to y'all the bible tells it that there's a stricter judgment For those who teach the word of god. I ain't having fun up here Because if I mess this up and I leave thousands of people on the wrong thing It ain't gonna be like well god I told him they should have studied their bible. He gonna be like but I brought them to you So that's why I study so hard and that's why i'm teaching with this much passion Because I want you to get if there's an idol on the throne of your heart you are going to be messed up and kept from the real relationship that you need.

46:09 And that's the one where you express your love to God through worship. And so there's consequences. So what do consequences look like? Consequences look like weights. This is a weighted blanket. It is so heavy. I can't even describe to you how heavy this blanket is. But what we do when we sin,

46:34 It's that we walk around our life. We come into church. We build families. And we've built them all with deception, sin, not hearing, and weights. And that we try to run the race that God has set before us. how fast and how far can you actually go when you can't see, when you can't hear, and when you are weighed down?

47:12 And this is what most believers look like. This is what most believers look like every day. I'd have messed up my mic. But when you have weights on, it'll mess up the way you talk. I can use everything.

47:34 It'll mess up the way people perceive what you say. Leave it in. I'm telling you is, so what do I do, Pastor? You have to evict every idol on the throne of your heart. How do I do this? Very simple. One point. put God back on the throne of your heart. And if you've never put him on the throne before, put him on for the first time. Pastor Mike, how do we do that? So simple. It was found in verse 6. It was in the middle of it. And I want you not to miss this. Verse 6, look what it says. It says, therefore, tell the people of Israel, this is what the sovereign Lord says. He told them the solution. I need everybody to see this. Ezekiel 14, verse 6. He says, repent.

48:29 Everybody say repent. First thing you have to do is repent to God. Just ask him for forgiveness. He's a father that's looking for you to just come to him and say, God, I got all these weights, man, I'm hot. I hate looking like this. I hate faking. I hate putting on filters for everybody to feel like it's okay.

48:53 I hate living with this shame and this anger and this guilt. I need you. Look what Psalms 86.5 said, and this should be encouragement to somebody. Oh, Lord, you are so good. Look at this. So ready to forgive. Like God right now is so ready. Like he's sitting at the edge of your seat at this service right now. And he's like, oh, I think they're almost there. I think they're almost there. Mike's done a good job, and he's lost two pounds sweating up here trying to convince him. I think their heart's about to turn to me. He's so ready to forgive you. Well, Pastor, you don't know what I did. He said, it doesn't matter. I'm so ready to forgive you. He says he's so full of unfailing love for all who ask for his help. So the first thing it tells us to do is everybody say repent to God Say it one more time repent to God The second thing it tells you to do it says turn away from idols So it's not enough to just say God forgive me and then stay in the same place Because if you say God forgive me and stay in the same place That idol is gonna be like oh we know where to find him But turn means to actually do something So if I've been watching these websites on my computer maybe I don't need a computer.

50:15 Oh, you can't live without it, huh? Maybe because I've been getting trapped by all these things on my cell phone in comparison, maybe I need to go back to a brick phone for a season. And see, how desperate are you for transformation? Because you'll spend 30 years catering to the thing that's killing you. You can't get from around those people, move to the other side of town. Well, I'm comfortable here. Well, you'll be comfortable with all of this. But turn. Everybody say turn. That means to actually set a different direction. And all God is asking us to do is turn away from idols. But he wants us to turn to him. Look at Acts 3.19. It says, now repent. Everybody say repent. Repent of your sins. And turn to God. it says so that your sins may be wiped away see when we turn to God all of this stuff he takes it like all of this stuff do you know I've been yelling this whole time haven't I it's crazy because I can hear for the first time I can see when you ask Jesus into your life, it'll be the first time.

51:41 Wow, I didn't even know your shirt was red and your eyes were blue. I didn't even know the carpet was green. Don't look down. All I'm saying to you Is for the first time when you ask God in You can see clearly And this is what he does He removes The shame And the pain Of yesterday Like like like And something in you wants to keep it on Because this is what I've known so long And this keeps me warm Thank you. and this is this is what keeps me cozy and God said let me give you a brand new a brand new let me give you a brand new identity I look so much better now I feel better now And I'm free.

52:47 I'm free I'm free of the past I'm free of the pain oh I feel this thing I'm free of the guilt I'm free of the shame I'm free and whom the son sets free is free that's why I lift holy hands that's why I worship God Somebody shout I'm free. Say it again. I'm free. So all I'm saying is. Allow God. allow God to do the work on the inside of you and the only way he can do that is you say hey today I'm evicting every idol come on somebody say every idol every idol that sits on the throne of my heart don't go talk to the idols see what our tendency is to fear get off the throne of my heart you've been here too long no no no the only way an idol gets up if it's another king comes to sit down and that's why we say the name jesus everybody say jesus because whatever sitting here when jesus comes they're an imposter and they know it And that's why at the name of Jesus, every knee will.

54:29 And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is. I dare you to worship God in this place. I dare you to worship the King of Kings. The Lord of Lords. God, we honor you. standing all over this place psalms 24 it makes so sense it makes so much sense now it says who may ascend to the hill of the lord or who may stand in his holy place he who has clean hands and a pure now i've never seen this connection before but but look at it the very next verse it's talked about the heart and then it talks about idols it says who has not lifted up his soul to and who didn't let anything other than god sit on the throne of your heart if you're in this room and you're ready to evict every idol in the room raise your hand right now father i pray for this church who has made the decision that nobody else will sit on the throne.

55:42 Not money, not our family, not our pain, not our frustration, not our hurts, not our wounds, not success, not nothing, not a relationship, not the American dream. Nothing will sit on the throne of our heart another day. Today, we evict it by allowing the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords to take your seat. Everybody say, God, take your seat in my heart. Never get up in Jesus' name. Let somebody give God a praise in this place.