Understanding Modern Day Idolatry - Episode 2

this program is brought to you by the partners and friends of creflo dollar ministries coming up next on changing your world the church has perfected phoniness to preserve the image that has taken god's out of first place and now their image is more important than their god now their image is what they seek after and i'm telling you if you've ever looked at the world lately and asked what's going on this is what's happening right now god is being replaced with someone or something looking for a deeper understanding of the word join us for service every sunday at 10 a.m 2 p.m 6 p.m and 10 p.m eastern standard time no matter where you are no walls no limits set your reminder invite a friend and join a worldwide audience of believers visit creflowdollarministries.org or text watch now to 51555 for more information about our services and streaming times be a part of church without walls see you online this is your world so let's vow to make it a better place [Music] we are changed look at this in the new living translation jeremiah 16 19 through 21 jeremiah 16 9 through thing 2 21. and look at the warning where god gives us to just stay away from this he says lord you are my strength and fortress you're my refuge in the day of trouble nations from around the world will come to you and say our ancestors left us a foolish heritage for they worshipped worthless idols i've never seen any nation like our nation where we worship hollywood like people in this nation do i mean actors can hardly do no wrong and if they do just make a good movie and it's all over he says can people make their own gods these are not real gods at all wow the lord says now i will show you them i will show them my power now i will show them my might at last they will know and understand that i am the lord you got to understand god's a jealous god when you when you proceed to try to crown something else as god god is determined to let you know he's the only one god is determined to let you know you think that's your god oh i'm going to show you that i am the lord and that's what a lot of people are looking at they look at things that happen in their life because they've some people have crowned themselves as god i'm my own god god said oh you really believe that i'm going to show you who the lord that boy be knocked down so deep in a ditch he'll have no choice but to scream out god help me god help me that's where we are today that's what we see throughout the entire nation today and an entire world look at exodus chapter 34 14-17 in the nlt exodus chapter 34 14-17 in the new living translation check this out the lord says the lord's yeah yeah 14. you must worship no other gods for the lord whose very name is jealous is a god who is jealous about his relationship with you lord have mercy god is jealous about his relationship with you don't you know god is concerned when you start getting something and giving it greater value and he know that that thing didn't make you that thing didn't wake you up this morning that thing didn't start you on your way that thing didn't heal you that thing didn't take your care of your provision and you trying to make it gone he says i'm a jealous god i did all of that and i need to hear you give me the glory and the praise for what i did he said you must not make a treaty of any kind with the people living in the land they lust after their gods offering sacrifices to them they will invite you to join them in their sacrificial meals and you will go with them next verse he says then you will accept their daughters who sacrifice to other gods as wives for your sons and they will seduce your sons to commit adultery against me by worshiping other gods you hear god's warning he says watch out how you relate with people who who say something is god and it's not me he says you're going to get in a relationship with them you're going to marry them you're going to have sons with and what's happening you're going to begin to build up a group of people who no longer receive me as god you must not make any gods of molten metal for yourselves this is the same attitude in the old testament do not replace me with anything or anyone don't do it don't get involved with people who have already replaced me don't marry people who already have replaced me see we just threw that out at one time we knew that we should not be unequally yoked there's so many things that the world who has made their own god has now have influence on the church and now you're doing the same thing you're born again and marrying somebody that don't know god and wondering why it ain't working because your marriage relationship one of y'all value something else more than you value god and then you value god more you value anything else but when it comes together it ain't working it's not working it's amazing to me how much idolatry the church has allowed to infiltrate its thinking by looking at tell a vision and it told you the wrong vision by by looking at social media and taking it you know as if it's the most important thing in in the whole world do you you don't even realize that men are the num the slander and the lies and the stuff that that it does there and and and and that's become some people idol you got listen you remember oh man but 80s i don't know and and in the bathroom we used to have a magazine rack and you were just going down you know and do your business and you know read me a magazine or read your bible my grandma you say read your bible it'll come out right read your bible you know uh but now just notice and everybody get caught up with this now you wake up the first thing you do is grab your phone wonder if that's one of those modern day idols look at this man this is this is serious stuff come on jeremiah chapter 51 17-19 in the new living translation jeremiah 51 17-19 in the new living translation he says the whole human human race is foolish and has no knowledge he says uh the craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make for their carefully shaped works are a fraud 18 these idols have no breath or power they have no breath or power idols are worthless they are ridiculous lies that's true today when you replace god you replace them with a lie because there's a lie to think that you can replace him it's a lie to think that you can put whatever you put in god's place that's a lie you put a lie in god's place it's full of lies on the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed but the god of israel is no idol he is the creator of everything that exists including his people his own special possession the lord of heaven's armies is his name look at the attitude even in the old covenant which again gives us insight on a world that's filled with idolatry and then deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 19. in deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 19 and here's what i was was saying to you earlier when you look at your life has money replaced god i mean sometimes for some people money motivates you to do god's will quicker than god it's definitely an idol people don't believe in servanthood like they used to servanthood with selfish ending is hypocrisy but people people don't believe in service no more they've turned everything about church and servanthood into mammon driven ministry and that's not how it's supposed to be we've replaced god with something else and look what he says here deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 19 and it shall be if thou do at all forget the lord thy god and if you walk after other gods and you serve them and you worship them i testify again against you this day that you shall surely perish now when i read that scripture here's what the lord said to me you perish without god isn't that the truth you perish without god you lose without god your your life is is is is in the midst of destruction without god and maybe life has to teach some people this because they don't believe it right now i think about the amount of years that a person wastes by not listening to god life just kind of goes by because you spend all this time trying to prove to yourself that something's greater than god i don't want that to be you world changers i want you to just wake up and shake your head and say there's nothing greater than god because without him you perish well well such and so here christian they didn't perish you don't know you don't live with them that's the thing you got to understand you don't know you don't live with them you don't know when you don't know where you don't know you don't live with them they could be miserable i have met some of the phoniest people ever that can get in the pulpit and make everything look like it's flawless and they got they're miserable miserable miserable miserable and it shocks me sometimes they get in the pulpit and i know they don't like each other and they get up good morning sweetheart how are you well praise the lord and i'm like what the world me taff and i we need bill like that we we can't we can't do phony we we if listen if that's mad at me you gonna know it i'll get up there hey ted how you doing wow the church has perfected phoniness to preserve the image that has taken god's out of first place and now their image is more important than their god now their image is what they seek after and i'm telling you if you've ever looked at the world lately and asked what's going on this is what's happening right now god is being replaced with someone or something he's being replaced and it must not be so with us who are the people of god and we got to be like the apostle john we got to scream it out loud every time something good happens we got to say that's my god until everybody work no oh they they know god back up a little bit well how you doing today well this is the day the lord hath made i thought you knew but we have got to listen i am not ashamed of the gospel of jesus christ for it's the power of god i will not diminish my call for the sake of my image y'all don't understand what i'm just saying i'm not i'm not listen i've been called to be a preacher but i know people who have been called to do something they diminished their call because they didn't see it as important enough they diminished their call for the sake of their image and instead of saying they're a preacher or a pastor they say i'm a motivational speaker because that sounds better don't diminish your anointing for your image because one day people are going to look at you and they're going to wish they had your anointing they're going gonna wish they had your god don't replace god with something or someone else flee from idolatry amen now let's let's get in this with with the time we have left let's look at some modern day idols some modern day idols the first one i want to look at is what we just mentioned i want to look at how people have turned their identity into an idol your identity or image have they turned it into an idol now having good identity and having good self-image there's nothing wrong with that until you put more value on it than god you see when you don't trust god to be your provider you will steal when you don't trust god with your with who god made you you'll go and try to get remade with some kind of surgery or something you follow this you you when when you don't trust what god said about two coming together and be being one you're going to look for somebody else we place more value in who we are rather than placing value in god and in in who he has said we are so i place more value in my identity and trying to get it where other people will accept it we place more value in who we are and there's nothing wrong with that until you place more value in who you are and no little to no value in who god says we are so i'm not looking at who i am or who people think i am or what folks say about me i'm looking at what god has said about me god said i'm the righteousness of god i place value in what god says god says i'm righteous god says i'm redeemed see you've got to be careful not to allow the shame of other people to cause you to look at yourself based on how they look at you this entire nation is filled with shaming you hear the phrase you should be ashamed of yourself and it becomes very difficult for you to to stay focused on the identity that that god has given you versus the identity that somebody else is trying to give you you know the church is still trying to give us the identity that we're sinners i'm born again i am no longer a sinner i am not going to take the identity because bishop or archbishop such and so said that i am the righteousness of god the day i got born again the day i made jesus the lord of my life i am righteous well if you was righteous you wouldn't have did that i am righteous anyway now that was a stupid thing but because i believe i'm righteous eventually my behavior is going to line up with who i am but if i start being if i start believing who you say i am then i'm actually start acting like that so i value the identity that god has given me and i will not be uh pressured into accepting an identity that didn't come from god i'm not going to be shamed into accepting an identity that doesn't come from god i'm not going to be condemned into accepting an identity that comes from god and then i replace my righteous identity with this shameful identity i'm not going to do it and you know what you'll take it take a a mature christian to do this taff and i were talking about this yesterday maturity is based solely on who you've decided will be your source that's what maturity is maturity says no matter what's going on in my life i reach for jesus every time immaturity is is when you're you've made something else your source or yourself your source when something happens you don't go for jesus but since it happens you don't reach for him he's my source that's a mature christian you're not mature because you've been saved a long time you're not mature because you can pretend to be spiritually mature because every time you get around somebody you you act you know kind of a fake fake spiritual you know hey brother how are you oh hallelujah that don't do nothing to me i don't care how you act at church and i don't care all that little jerking around you do they ain't done that do nothing for me i want to know when hell breaks out in your life who do you reach for you reach for him when you're broke blessed and disgusted you reach for him when they diagnose you with a disease you reach for him when you've been hurt when you've been broken you reach for him that's the sign of a mature christian not this little religious pray church stuff we get around and you know i can't i'm getting to the point where i can't stand that so i'll tell you what happened to me in the in the middle of the pandemic i can't i can't stand a bunch of phony the kind of coolest now ask the holy ghost what i said with your deep self [Applause] no no no not that you don't have problems not that you don't have issues now don't you not not that you don't stand in bad circumstances but when you do you reach for him as your source you reach for him it says so lord i shouldn't have said what i said i help me lord you reach for him lord i don't know where the money coming from but i trust you lord i ain't got but two pennies but i'm gonna show i'm gonna show some of these two pennies i reach for you god i reach for you lord my marriage is a wreck but i gotta go to you show me myself i reach for you jesus lord i'm depressed but i don't want to tell no christians because you tell christians that you're struggling with depression then they're going to condemn you if you tell christians that you're having a rough time mentally they're going to condemn you but i'm telling you it's all right that you go through what you go through because you have a god that sits high and looks low and he's ready to bring you up out of your situation who do you go to that determines your maturity that determines your maturity now how much of the bible you know well i know all 66 books ma'am hush i know all 66 books praise the lord hallelujah i thank you lord i operated nine of spiritual gifts see i can see stuff right now i'm a dirt ain't nobody i don't want all see you you are spooking something matter with you you you actually probably have replaced god with yourself no no no that's the sign of maturity that we go to god god help me not to hurt myself lord help me to refrain my tongue from from speaking gow and slander and and make sure that i don't speak evil against somebody you know that's serious right here the bible says if you want to see good days and live a long life refrain your tongue from speaking evil and for speaking deceit and lies i want to see good days i'm off the subject a little bit but i want to see good days and i want to live a long time which means i am not going to be opening my mouth and speaking stuff don't never need to come out my mouth somebody told me about what somebody was going through the other day and i said oh god bless him in the name of jesus bless him well what did he do well how did he do it uh lord bless them because i want to see good days and i want to i want to i want to i want to live a long time see good days glory be to god glory be to god at home wherever you are right now lift your hands up just give god some praise right now lord i give you praise just just praise him right now just praise him say lord you're going to always be my number one i just praise you right now lord i just praise you right now you're going to always be my my number one praise the lord you see the search for meaning the search for value and the search for validation from others makes you if you get it but it breaks you if you don't yeah when somebody validates you and values you and and you and it shows you mean oh it makes you but it breaks you when you don't see disappointment comes when you expect something and you don't get it then you're disappointed and there's too many people that are putting their identity on the line are you serious you're trusting the comment session of social media are you kidding me you don't even know these people you can get 20 good comments in just that one i'm messing with you the whole time you're ready to fight for that one meet me down the street i bet you won't meet me down the street you yeah you bad behind that comment section but come on down the street you take a picture of yourself thinking you look good and somebody says something nasty about you how you looking everything you it start messing with you why would you do that why would you let that why would you let it mess with you well pastor you again i'm not against social media i ain't got it on my my phone so i i i don't have it on my phone cause i don't want to know what somebody's saying about me why would i want to sit there and look on my phone to see what people said about me and then i carry it all day that's so dumb i ain't doing that and i don't want nobody else coming to me tonight you know what i saw on social media about you i don't care i ain't got on my phone i hire you to give me no report keep it to yourself because i've already decided that i value my identity in god more than anything else are you listening to me and then what happens you are willing to serve anything but god for reputation's sake willing to serve and do anything but god won't serve him because your reputation and and and uh the series i just finished on servanthood jesus was of no reputation he took on the form of a servant and he was of no reputation you can't take on the form of a servant and be concerned about your reputation you can't you can't god is the one that i trust look at this scripture here second peter chapter 2 18-19 in the new living translation i've never met so many people that are so concerned about what people think about them so concerned about your image i know leaders who are more concerned about their image than they are the people they serve we know that golden calves and carved statues can be idols but are there idols that we're worshiping today without even realizing that we are creflo dollar examines the characteristics of present-day idols and uncovers the way that christians can keep from falling prey to idolatry in his series understanding modern-day idolatry idolatry is the value that you give to a thing more than god see the thing may not be wrong until you give it greater value than god i can promise you it ain't never going to be right with something or someone in god's place because you would desire for god to take care of you all three messages in this series can be yours today for a love gift of just 20 us dollars or more plus shipping and handling don't miss out call the number on your screen or go to creflowdollarministries.org and click e-store to get this timely series and make sure you stay safe from the influence of idolatry creflo dollar ministries tv app brings you live church services direct to your smart tv and much more don't miss a service and catch up on the latest messages from creflo and taffy dollar like no more worries overcoming uncertainty and countless other life-changing series streaming on the creflo dollar ministries tv app you'll also get access to changing your world network streaming grace messages and exclusive content 24 hours a day right in the app it is now possible because of jesus for man to be reconciled back to god it is god's desire it is his plan that we walk in truth not be deceived so consequently we won't deceive other people get unlimited streaming through roku amazon and apple tv absolutely free visit your app store search creflo dollar ministries and download the creflo dollar ministries tv app now to start streaming for more information visit preflow.ministries.org we want to be sure we are living according to what god has taught us about giving and we understand that giving and receiving is a spiritual law it's a reflex of god's love and i'm so glad that taff and i began to understand how to walk in this principle but we give not out of necessity we give out of a cheerful heart we give because we're grateful and we're thankful to what god has done you know i i want you to pray about uh becoming a giver into creflo dollar ministries today and if this ministry has blessed you in any way consider sowing a seed of any amount and we will greatly appreciate it thank you in advance for your support and god bless you your financial donations into this ministry work all over the world to change countless lives if you'd like to support our efforts to save the lost you may call in or visit creflowdollarministries.org today god bless you thank you partners and friends your love and financial support makes it possible to bring this message into millions of homes all across the globe [Music] you

Channel: Creflo Dollar Ministries

Views: 7,793

Rating: 4.9705882 out of 5

Keywords: creflo, creflodollar, worldchangers, taffi, taffidollar, grace, megachurch, collegepark, atlantachurch, sermon, gracelife, tbn, pastors, church, pastordollar, drdollar

Id: wmNHiwyIFwE

Length: 28min 34sec (1714 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 06 2021