+ Capturing the Heart Ezekiel 14: 1-6 Understanding Idols and Idolatry
+ Idolatry is False worship of substitutes for the living God You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,. (Exodus 20:1 6)
+ Idolatry is: n Misplaced trust in a greater power But those who trust in idols, who say to images, You are our gods, will be turned back in utter shame. (Isaiah 42:17)
+ Idolatry is: n Misplaced service of a greater power Even while these people were worshipping the LORD, they were serving their idols.. (2 Kings 17:41)
+ Idolatry is: n Misplaced love as for a Spouse I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown. (Jeremiah 2:1 3) And the LORD said to Moses: You are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. (Deuteronomy 31:16)
+ Idols capture our hearts in n Misplaced trust n Misplaced service n Misplaced love
+ Idols capture our hearts and they n They dehumanise us They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. (Psalm 115:1 8) We become what we worship (G.K. Beale)
+ Idols capture our hearts n They deceive and ensnare us They worshipped their idols, which became a snare to them. (Psalm 106:36)
+ Capturing the heart What are our Idols?
+ Idolatry as a metaphor n No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. (Matthew 6:24) n Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5) n For of this you can be sure: no immoral, impure or greedy person such a person is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (Ephesians 5:5) n Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21)
+ What are our idols? n Most idols are good things that we put in God s place n Trusting them instead of God n Serving them instead of God n Loving them instead of God
+ Capturing the Heart Diagnosing Idols
+ Diagnosing Idols Diagnosing the Idols of the Heart requires probing of the heart n Thoughts n Desires n Imagination n Inclinations n Daydreams n Obsessions n Strong Emotions n Strong Reactions
+ Idols - Diagnosis Surface Idol = what I must have Deep Idol = what I hope to get from it
+ Idols - Diagnosis The main types of deep Idol n Comfort n Security n Power n Approval n Control
+ Idol Diagnosis Surface Idol Expensive Car New clothes Church Attendance Exotic summer holidays Tidy home, smiling wife Climbing up career ladder A boyfriend Well behaved kids
+ Idol Diagnosis Surface Idol Expensive Car New clothes Church Attendance Exotic summer holidays Tidy home, smiling wife Climbing up career ladder A boyfriend Well behaved kids Deep Idol
+ Idol Diagnosis Surface Idol Deep Idol Expensive Car Approval? Comfort? New clothes Approval? Comfort? Church Attendance Approval? Security? Exotic summer holidays Comfort? Approval? Tidy home, smiling wife Control? Comfort Climbing up career ladder Power? Control? Approval? A boyfriend Security? Comfort? Well behaved kids Control? Approval?
+ Idols - Diagnosis David Clarkson (1622-86) Soul Idolatry Excludes Men out of Heaven
+ Idols - Diagnosis Clarkson s Tests - Based on Ultimate Values 1. Esteem: what we most highly value, we make our God. 2. Mindfulness: what we are think about the most, we make our God. 3. Intention- what we most aim at, we make our God. 4. Resolution What we are most resolved for, we worship as God. 5. Love what we most love, we worship as our God. 6. Trust what we most trust, we make our God. 7. Fear what we most fear, we worship as our God.
+ Idols - Diagnosis Clarkson s Tests II 8. Hope what we most make our hope we worship as our God. 9. Desire what we most desire we worship as our God 10. Delight what we most delight and rejoice in that we worship as God. 11. Zeal what we are most zealous for, we worship as God. 12. Gratitude what we are most grateful for, that we worship as God. 13. When our care and industry is more for other things than for God this is idolatrous.
+ Idol Diagnosis Keller s Sentence Completion Tests Life only has meaning and/or I only have worth. if I have a position of influence over others in work/school/church etc (Power Idolatry) if am loved and respected by (Approval Idolatry) if I have a certain kind of quality of life. (Comfort Idolatry) if I have particular kind of image or look (Image Idolatry)
+ Idol Diagnosis Keller s Sentence Completion Test Life only has meaning and/or I only have worth. if people are dependent on me and need me (Helping Idolatry) if there is someone there to keep me safe (Dependence Idolatry) if I am completely free from obligations to or dependence on others (Independence Idolatry) if I my accomplishments are being recognised (Achievement Idolatry)
+ Idol Diagnosis Simple Questions Why am I so mad about this? Why am I so sad about this? Why am I so determined to get this? Why am I so determined that will not happen? Why can I not stop doing this?
+ Capturing the Heart Idolatry and the Gospel
+ God s response to the Idols in our hearts This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the LORD will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols. Therefore say to the people of Israel, This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices! Ezekiel 14: 4-6
+ Recapturing our Hearts through the Gospel of Jesus Christ Jesus the image of the invisible God Jesus the Living God who gives up his Life Jesus the Crucified God is Alive again
+ Recapturing our Hearts through the Gospel of Jesus Christ We turn from idols to the Living God Therefore say to the people of Israel, This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices! Ezekiel 14: 4-6 They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. 1 Thessalonians 1: 9b
+ Recapturing our Hearts through the Gospel of Jesus Christ n We turn from our idols to Jesus instead n We begin to trust Jesus n We begin to serve Jesus n We begin to love and prize Jesus
+ Recapturing our Hearts through the Gospel of Jesus Christ Idol hearts transformed For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God s glory displayed in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4: 6) And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord s glory, are being transformed into his image with everincreasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3: 18)
+ Recapturing our Hearts through the Gospel of Jesus Christ n Whatever we wanted from Idols we can find in the Gospel but it will need redefinition n Comfort Christ is our Prize and the Source of all we need n Security Christ will never leave us or forsake us. Eternal life. Salvation n Power Christ s power is made perfect in our weakness. We are able to endure n Approval Christ s death brings us justification in the sight of God n Control Christ is in control of all History so we do not need to be.
+ Recapturing our Hearts through the Gospel of Jesus Christ n The Reigniting of our Imagination n The Refocusing of our Desires n The Reshaping of our Minds n The Realignment of our Wills n The Re-training of our Habits
+ Recapturing our Hearts through the Gospel of Jesus Christ from pornography However much I tried it, the will-power of just don t look at it never worked for me. I could go for a few days, and then the hole left just had to be filled. But then God made me realize that my choice was not simply between looking at porn and not. It was between desiring Jesus, who would satisfy, or desiring something else, which wouldn t. The struggle didn t become easy then, but it did become winnable, because I realized I had to choose not just to walk away from something, but to walk towards someone. (Cambridge Student)
+ Recapturing our Hearts through the Gospel of Jesus Christ Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. (I John 5:21)