In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: Do you think there’s a possibility that you could have an idol in your life? That there is something you place more value on than you do God? You would say, "Well, there's nothing I place more value on than God. He’s the only one I worship, He’s the only one I pray to, and He’s the only one I praise."

But let me ask you this. Does your attitude toward anything or anybody turn you in such a direction that they become first and take priority, or that thing takes priority in your life over what you know God wants for your life? They can be very deceptive.

Guest (Male): When we hear someone talk about idols, most of us picture carved statues of some kind. But today's edition of In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, broadens that definition. When we value anything above the Lord, we bow our heart to an idol. Stay with us to learn how to deal with the hidden idols in the life of the believer. Let's listen in.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Of the ten commandments, which of those ten have you paid the least attention to? I bet I can tell you the one you've paid the least attention to. Turn to the 20th chapter of Exodus for a moment. This is not our text, but I want you to notice something. 20th chapter of Exodus. Because here are the ten commandments and we probably know them all by heart. But I'll bet if we were real honest, the one you paid the least attention to is this one right here. Do you have it? Exodus 20, verse four: "You shall not make for yourself an idol."

How many of you pay a lot of attention to that one? Probably not very much attention because we don't think in terms of being idolatrous. I'm not talking about wood, hay, and stone and jewels and so forth. But I want us to come to a passage of scripture here that most of us know pretty much probably by heart. But there's a simple truth here that I want us to examine today that I think will be helpful to us.

In the 15th chapter of the book of Genesis, he says in verse one, "After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Do not fear, Abram. I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great.' And Abram said, 'O Lord God, what wilt thou give me since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?' And Abram said, 'Since thou hast given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.'

Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 'This man will not be your heir; but one who shall come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.' And he took him outside and said, 'Now look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.' And he said to him, 'So shall your descendants be.' Then he believed in the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness." That is, what saved Abraham is the same thing that saves us, and that is his faith.

Then go to the 17th chapter. "Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.' And Abram fell on his face and God talked with him, saying, 'As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham, for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.

And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. And I will give to you and your descendants after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.'"

Now, God had a very specific plan for this man Abraham. But I want to say this to you. God not only had a plan for Abraham’s life, but He also has a plan for your life. There’s no such thing as God bringing anybody into this world with no plan. He chose this man. There was not anything in this man that made God choose him except God just chose him. He reached down in an absolute total pagan society and revealed Himself to Abraham.

And He said to him on these two occasions we just read, "Not only have I chosen you and revealed myself to you, I’m going to make you great. I’m going to make you the father of many nations." God had a very specific plan for his life, and He laid it all out to him. What Abraham did not understand was when He said that all the nations of the earth are going to be blessed through you, he didn't understand that the one person through whom God’s redemptive plan would come to fruition, the person of Jesus Christ, would eventually be traced back to Abraham.

Go with me to Matthew chapter one. In Matthew and Luke are the genealogies of Jesus. It’s interesting in the difference because you recall that Matthew wrote to Jews primarily. Notice how he begins his genealogy in Matthew chapter one, verse one: "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." To Abraham was born Isaac, and Isaac, Jacob, all the way up to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, to the Jew, the fact that Abraham, the father of their nation, God had a very specific plan for his life.

Now, that plan had many prerequisites, but the one that he had that I want us to notice here is in this 22nd chapter. Because if I were to ask you if you have any idols in your life, more than likely you’d say, "I don't have any idols in my life because I don't make things out of wood, hay, stone, jewels, and so forth. Therefore, I don't have any idols." But what is an idol? An idol is anything that I place more value on, either by my attitude or my actions or my possessions, more value than I place on God.

Whether it is my time, my gifts, whatever it might be. Idols are very deceptive things. They come in different forms. For some people, it's money. For some people, it’s a person. For other people, it’s some status in life. But idols come in many forms. Does your attitude toward anything or anybody turn you in such a direction that they become first and take priority, or that thing takes priority in your life over what you know God wants for your life? They can be very deceptive.

This is how deceptive it was to Abraham. The scripture says that God called him to be the father of the nations and the ultimate father of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. His genealogy is traced all the way back to Abraham in the genealogical line. If someone had asked Abraham, "Abraham, do you have any idols in your life?" No. And so in order for God to complete His purpose and plan for his life, He had to deal with the most precious thing in his life.

Now, remember this: first of all, He said all the nations are going to be blessed through you, and he didn't even have a son that God would use for that. Then He gave him a son. Notice he said, "Your son, your only son, the one whom you love." And then look what God did. He said, "Abraham, I want you to take Isaac, the one that you love, your only son whom you love, and I want you to take him to Mount Moriah, and I want you to offer him as a sacrifice to me."

Well, Abraham in his obedience probably did what most of us would have done. He got his servants and the wood, the fire, and the donkey, and they took off together. And then when they got to a certain point after three days, he said that he left his servants here at a certain place and he said, "Now we’re going up there to sacrifice and we’ll be back." I believe that deep down inside all the while, Abraham must have thought, "Now, God, I heard what you said, but surely you don't mean to do that."

So, why did God say to Abraham, through whom He was going to bless all the nations of the earth, why did He say to him, "I want you to take your only son, the one whom you love, and I want you to put him on the altar and I want you to sacrifice him for me"? There was only one thing in Abraham’s life that was giving God a challenge, that was competing with his absolute and total devotion and worship to the Father. Just one thing.

Now, you and I probably wouldn't have chosen this one. We would have said, "He’s just too rich. He’s just got too much money and he needs to get rid of it and this stuff’s becoming an idol in his life." Remember this: you and I cannot look in anyone else’s life and determine what their idols are. We can’t do that. Idols are subtle kind of things. All shapes and forms and sizes, animate, inanimate. And sometimes they slip in and we're not even aware they’re in there.

They’re just there. And they have more effect upon us. They compete with God in our life. And the way you can identify one is when it influences you or you are influenced by it or that person to do what you would not do if that person were not there, if you did not own and possess that thing. That thing is an idol in our life. Now, nobody can tell you what the idol is in your life. You just have to identify that for yourself.

And so I just simply ask you: is there anything that influences, challenges, that is anything that competes with our devotion to Christ? And it is amazing how things can creep into our lives. Anything that competes with our absolute loyalty and allegiance and obedience to Him. Whatever it is, I believe that sooner or later God has to say to us, "I want you to lay that down for me. I want you to give that to me."

Now, I don't think God’s going to come to somebody and say, "I want you to kill your son or daughter." He’s not into that business. But there are other ways to sacrifice, and that is to give up, to surrender, to yield. And that’s what sacrifice is. When He says, "Present your body a living sacrifice," here’s what that means: that I surrender myself to Him. And with the surrender of myself to Him goes also my anticipation and my expectation of the future. And that’s what makes it tough to give a sacrifice.

If I’m finagling and manipulating, working out how I can get it back, that’s not a sacrifice. I haven't given it up. I haven't given it up until my heart lets go. When my heart lets go, I know I’ve given it up to Him. With Abraham, it was his only son. And the scripture says he took him up there and I’m sure a three days’ journey they had to have some rest, and more than likely he probably spent the night.

And while Isaac slept well, Abraham must have been saying, "God, are you sure? God, is this a mistake? Have I heard you right? Don't I recall you telling me you were going to make my descendants like the stars and I remember looking up at the stars and there were so many of them I couldn't even begin to count them, and now you’re telling me to kill this boy, to sacrifice him, to offer him on a sacrificial altar here and kill my own son? God, are you sure you’re telling me this?"

Well, I’m telling you, Abraham. Why would you say this to me, Father? There’s only one answer. Because I want to reign supreme in your life and I will accept no challenges and no competitors for my lordship. The only way to keep idols out of your life is to keep up to date of what the influence in your life is. Is it really Christ? Is it really just pure old obedience to Him?

Or are there things that influence us, that challenge us, that we have to say, "Well, God, yes, but..." When God says no competition, no challenges, no competitors to your devotion and love to me, we have to lay it down. And here’s the wonderful thing about offering anything to God. It may not always happen this way, but it is amazing to me how often it does happen this way.

Abraham wrestled with this through the night, bound his son, and so here he is lying there on that altar. And here's his father who’s told him how much he loved him, told him one of these days when he passed on everything he has is going to belong to him, all these promises he’d made him, all those hugs, the times they’d walked together, all those conversations, all those nights they’d spent out there looking at the stars and talking and fellowship and growing together.

And here’s his father with a dagger going to plunge it through his heart to make it quick. And then God stopped him. And God said, "Abraham." Listen to this. God didn't challenge Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to find out what Abraham would do, or God’s not omniscient. If God’s omniscient, He knows everything, past, present, future. What Abraham didn't know was how much he loved God.

And the only way you and I will know how to deal with idols in our life is to ask ourselves the question: am I willing to lay it down with no anticipation and no promise of the future return, but I’m willing to give it no matter what? That’s hard. That’s difficult. That’s tough. And depends upon our value of that thing or relationship or whatever it might be is to whether we’re able to say, "Yes, Lord. Yes, whatever you want in my life, you’re welcome to it."

It’s easy to say that. It’s difficult to give it up. And so what happened? Here’s the wonderful promise. God says, "I’ve got a plan for your life." Here’s the prerequisite for this plan to come to pass: no challenges, no competitors. I must sit as supreme. I must reign absolute without competition in your life. And if that be true, here’s what you’ll be provided. This 22nd chapter, turn over if you will to these last couple of verses there, 16 and 17.

"By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." Let me ask you a question: what did Abraham lose by giving everything? What did he lose? Nothing.

What did he have? He had his wife, he had his son, all of his possessions, all of his cattle, everything. But what is the most important thing he had? The most important thing he had was this intimate, awesome relationship with God because if you’ll turn to James chapter two, turn there for just a moment. James chapter two and look at this simple but profound verse. Don't you wish this could be said of you and me? Listen to this.

Verse 23 says in James 2, "And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called' what? 'The friend of God.'" What did he lose by laying down everything? Nothing. What did he gain? He gained every single thing God had promised him. Now listen. I don't know what God’s plan is for anybody else’s life.

And God’s plan for our life sometimes changes. That is His ultimate plan doesn't, but the steps in that plan don't always fit the steps that we think will be next. The question is, as best you know tonight, are you walking in the plan of God for your life? Second question: is there anything in your life that moves you in such a fashion that you choose it above God?

And thirdly, would you agree that whatever you give up, you always get more in return? There is no way to lay down anything without getting God’s best in return. Sometimes it’s what you lay down. In fact, it’s amazing to me how often it is that what you lay down you get back. Be careful you don't rationalize what God puts His finger on. It’s real easy to say, "Oh, well, God, you wouldn't be interested in that. I mean, that’s not important." Only God knows what the idol is.

So if He puts His finger on it, I have to deal with it. But one thing I’m certain about: I’ll never lay down anything for Him that I don't either get back better or more or later, richer by far than what you and I give because you see, you can’t outgive Him. Remember this. God had a plan for Abraham’s life. The prerequisite was no competitors, full reign, absolute obedience. Here’s the blessing.

Suppose Abraham had said, "God, you can have everything I’ve got, but not Isaac. No way. God, he’s the only one." God knows more than you and I know. So when He says lay that down, you know what? He knows exactly how to bless us with what we give Him and He knows how to get it back to us in a way that we’ll never be able to figure it out. No way to be able to figure it out.

The wisest thing to do is lay it down and let God decide whether it’s best for me to have it back or whether it’s best for Him to give something else in return. So wherever you are in your life, I don't know what His plan is and what He’s doing in your life, but I can tell you this: it’s always wisest to obey Him and watch the exciting work that God does in your heart, no matter what.

So ask you three questions. Are you in His plan as best you know? Has He identified something in your life that’s more influential in your life than God in certain situations and circumstances? And thirdly, are you willing to lay it down and trust Him for His very, very best?

Guest (Male): God demands our total allegiance. If any person or thing competes with His place in your heart, He'll require you to give it up. But the reward is always worth the sacrifice. If you have questions about how to live a consistent Christian life, stop by intouch.org for many resources to encourage your faith. To listen to this message again, click on the link to Today on Radio.

Go to our bookstore page if you’d like to order a copy of today’s complete message, "Idols in the Life of the Believer." Again, that’s intouch.org. You can also call or text 1-800-IN-TOUCH. If you prefer to write, address your letter to In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia, 30357.

Do you have doubts about someone's theology? Learn some key factors for identifying faulty teaching, coming up in today's Moment with Charles Stanley.

Have you ever forgotten something God taught you when you were reading the Bible? When we take note of what God reveals to us, it helps us to apply it to our lives. With the Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Journal, you can keep track of your spiritual journey and be transformed by God's truth. This journal features artwork of Dr. Stanley's 30 life principles, lined pages for writing, a prayer journaling section, and more. To order, call 1-800-IN-TOUCH or go to intouch.org/journal.

"From the Pastor's Heart" is an in-depth teaching letter inspired by the teachings of Dr. Charles Stanley. To receive In Touch's "From the Pastor's Heart" letter, call 1-800-IN-TOUCH or visit intouch.org/pastorsheart.

In Touch Plus is streaming on Local Now. Featuring all the best of Dr. Charles Stanley.

Dr. Charles Stanley: It's great to have strong convictions based on the word of God. He's working out things that you and I would never know about in our future.

Guest (Male): In Touch Plus, your streaming network for quality Christian programming 24/7. Now watch this. In Touch Plus, streaming free on Local Now.

You're listening to In Touch. The Bible tells us to be aware of false teachers. Hear about a few ways to spot them in a moment with Charles Stanley.

Dr. Charles Stanley: I think there are two or three things. First of all, watch how they live. Their character, their conversation, their conduct, their behavior, always a very important point. Secondly, what do they say that is very clear? And thirdly, what do they say that leaves you not quite sure where all that is? And next, is what they’re saying a contradiction to God's word?

In other words, there are some things we all sort of know as Christians. And when you hear these people who usually are very charismatic in their presentation, very convincing, ask yourself the question: are they dogmatic? Are they a little bit overbearing? What's their attitude toward me on a one-to-one basis? Do I feel them subtly leading me in a direction? Do I feel something enticing going on inside of me that I'm wondering, or is there some conflict in my spirit?

When a true believer hears erroneous doctrine, remember that they’re indwelt with the Holy Spirit. That spirit of God is going to send like a current of static in their heart that there's something wrong with this.

Guest (Male): You'll find resources that can help you be well-grounded in your faith at intouch.org. Don't keep your faith to yourself. Share what you learned today and start by telling us. Next week on In Touch: Are you feeling stressed and worn out? Find a secure place to run, coming soon on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley.

This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.