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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 20:16)

Idolatry is:
nMisplaced

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:
nMisplaced

service of a greater power

Even while these people were worshipping theLORD,

they were serving their idols.. (2 Kings 17:41)

Idolatry is:
nMisplaced

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 2:13)
And theLORDsaid 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

nMisplaced

trust

nMisplaced

service

nMisplaced

love

Idols capture our hearts and they

nThey

dehumanise us

They have hands, but cannot feel,feet, but cannot walknor

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 115:18)

We become what we worship (G.K. Beale)

Idols capture our hearts

nThey

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?

nMost

idols are good things that we put in

Gods place
nTrusting

them instead of God

nServing them instead of God
nLoving them instead of God

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Capturing the Heart

Diagnosing Idols

Diagnosing Idols
Diagnosing the Idols of the Heart
requires probing of the heart
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n

Thoughts
Desires
Imagination
Inclinations
Daydreams
Obsessions
Strong Emotions
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
nComfort
nSecurity
nPower
nApproval
nControl

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
Clarksons Tests- Based on Ultimate Values
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Esteem: what we most highly value, we make our

God.
Mindfulness: what we are think about the most, we
make our God.
Intention- what we most aim at, we make our God.
Resolution What we are most resolved for, we
worship as God.
Love what we most love, we worship as our God.
Trust what we most trust, we make our God.
Fear what we most fear, we worship as our God.

Idols - Diagnosis
Clarksons 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 Kellers 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 Kellers 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?

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Capturing the Heart

Idolatry and the Gospel

Gods 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
nWe

turn from our idols to Jesus instead

nWe begin to trust Jesus
nWe begin to serve Jesus
nWe 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
Gods glory displayed in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4: 6)
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplatethe Lords
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 Christs power is made perfect in our
weakness. We are able to endure
n Approval Christs 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

The Refocusing of our Desires

The Reshaping of our Minds

The Realignment of our Wills

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 dont
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 wouldnt. The
struggle didnt 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)