Have You Tried Everything Else? Now Try Jesus (Idol Worship) (Pt.3) (348) - May 2 2026

Last week we left off talking about idols—specifically, how you cannot serve two masters, the results of worshipping idols, and removing idol worship from your life. It is important to really pay attention here. We can all overlook things that we think are not important. The key is that the things we think are not important may actually matter a great deal. We must train ourselves to see what Jesus thinks is important for us to have or not have in our lives. If we are the only ones evaluating our own lives, and we think we are perfect, we will likely never identify the issues and idols hidden there. Remember, if you want your life to follow Jesus, you need to become a disciple of Christ and do what He says. If you are not following Jesus and obeying all that the Bible says, then you are following idols. If you are not serving Jesus Christ, you are serving other idols. An idol can be anything that takes the place of God as the most important focus and priority in our life.

Topics for this week:
- You Cannot Serve Two Masters (continued)
- Finding Out Who Your God Is
- Results of Worshipping Idols
- Removing Idol Worship from Your Life

This program covers the following Scriptures from the Amplified Classic version (AMPC): 1 John 5:21, Matthew 6:24, 1 Kings 18:21, Luke 6:43–49, 1 Corinthians 10:6–11, Exodus 20:13–17, Hebrews 12:5–11, Leviticus 26:14–23.

Transcript

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) And welcome back to yet another episode of Touch of God. My name is Catrice and I'll be delivering the message for you this week. This week the name of the message is Have You Tried Everything Else Now Try Jesus, Idol Worship Continued. And this is part three of that same series and that same message. Last week on Have You Tried Everything Else Now Try Jesus Part Two, Idol Worship, we discussed the following. Many people are looking for solutions to their current challenges, trials, life situations. So many people are desperate to find a way to have things, people, opportunities, things like that, that they are willing to do evil, lie, cheat, steal, control, do witchcraft even to make things go their way. This is evil. It is coveting addictions, serving idols, even gods of their own making on godly statues, altars, shrines, graves, dead people, offering sacrifices to other gods to make force control other situations and opportunities. The truth is, if you are doing these evil things, there's always a price to pay. When you serve Jesus Christ, Matthew 10 8, it says, freely without pay you have received, freely without charge give. The topics for last week were what idols have you made your god? You cannot serve two masters, results of worshiping idols, removing idol worship from your life. This week on Have You Tried Everything Else Now Try Jesus, Idol Worship Continued Part Three, we'll be discussing the following topic. Last week we left off with talking about idols and how you cannot serve two masters, results of worshiping idols, removing idol worship from your life. It is important to really pay attention here. We can all overlook things that we think are not important. The key is things that we think are not important. We must train ourselves on what Jesus thinks is important for us to have or not have in our lives. If we are the only ones viewing our own lives, we might never find the issues and idols if we think we are perfect. Remember, if you want your life to follow Jesus, then you need to become a disciple of Christ and do what Jesus says for you to do. If you are not following Jesus, doing all that the Bible says for you to do, then you are following idols. If you are not serving Jesus Christ, you are serving other idols. An idol can be anything that takes the place of God as the most important focus and priority in your life. So in this case, we are talking about Jesus Christ, and we are not talking about any other God, but Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Spirit. Let's define idol, worshiping, and the definition of idol for those who are just listening in. Idol, definition, an object of extreme devotion, a representation or a symbol of an object of worship, a false god, a likeness of something. The Bible understands that idolatry extends beyond the worship of images and false gods. The biblical idol definition can be found in 1 John 5.21. Little children, keep yourselves from idols, false gods, from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God. From any sort of substitute for Him that would take the first place in your life. Amen? So let it be. Anything more important to you than God, an idol can be anything that takes the place of God as the most important focus and priority in your life. This week's topics are, you cannot serve two masters, and that's being continued, finding out who your God is, results of worshiping idols, removing idol worship from your life. Let's start with the continuation of you cannot serve two masters. Some might think it's really okay to simply serve everyone, every God. Serving everyone opens you up to attacks because you have not committed to serving either the Lord or the devil. Life is spiritual. No matter what you think, you're in charge of and you think that you can do. Many do not think of idols or Jesus in their daily life. They are just serving their own needs and desires. These are the multiple gods you are serving. Your lusts of the flesh, needs and wants become idols. They cause you to place these desires above God, above everything. For example, people addicted to drinking alcohol, taking drugs, these are idols that that person was not able to say no to. Every drink and drug was a sacrifice to that God they serve. That spirit of alcohol desires to take their life. That spirit entices and tempts them to continue to depend on alcohol until they feel they can't live without it. The alcohol has become their idol, the God they serve above Jesus Christ and Lord. Needs and desires often have spirits attached to them. Why? Because when they are fully functional and you are addicted, you are out of control and they are in control. This is when deliverance is needed because you are not able to stop and now need deliverance intervention. Why is that idol in control? Because you have served it at its altar, feeding it from your life. When you are out of control, for example, sex can be an idol. When you have sex outside of marriage, it invites the spirit of lust, spirit, spouses, perversion and every demon that that person that you are sleeping with has. Jesus, God, put marriage in place because it spiritually protects you so you are only with that one person with Jesus protecting and approving of godly marriage, which he set in place. Sex outside of marriage brings spirits and the action of idol worship. The person wants sex, the demon wants their soul, control of their mind, will and emotions, their worship, anything to pull worship away from God, Jesus. That demon wants to be worshipped and get you addicted so more and more of you belongs to that idol. Let's look at Matthew 6 24. No one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon, deceitful riches, money, possessions, or whatever you are trusting in. That really puts a highlight on what we were just talking about. So if a person is trying to serve God and they're having sex outside of marriage, they can't, they can't serve two because if they're having sex outside of marriage, then they're going, they know that they are not serving God. And if they're trying to appear as if they're serving God, when they remember that they're having sex, they know that they're not serving God. And so there will be a constant conflict because both will be tugging, right? God, God is going to want that person saved. And so God is going to be directing, trying to direct his path, trying to send messages through the word of God and through people to deter them from having sex. But also the enemy, the God of this world is blinding them, trying to cause them to be deaf to all the signals that God is sending. And so there's a fight over their soul and it's a spiritual fight. Even though we're walking about and we're trying to just fulfill the desires of the flesh and we're not aware that Jesus desires for us to be safe and to be saved, it is still a spiritual war and the devil is not going on vacation. Let's look at first Kings 18, 21, Elijah came near to all the people and said, how long will you hold the limp between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word. Let's take a look at finding out who your God is. When we find out who our God is, we find out what idols we are serving in our lives and what we're not serving. There is no shame for searching for the truth in order to be set free. There is however, no truth in those who appear to search for idols and do not remove them from their lives. We can say all the things we want to say. We can appear to look like angels, but that does not fool God and those who are in him. The truth is, you know, a man by his fruit, biblical fruit is the action that people do daily and live by. When no one is looking, that's a man's true actions. When there is an opening to take money and you don't take it. When there is an opening to abuse a person who is weaker and you don't abuse them. When a helpless child is abused in front of others and nothing is done, that is who those people are who see it and do nothing. That is what they believe in. When you talk to a pastor and he says, oh, the girls just continue to get pregnant in our church, that's what they do. They tell you who they are by their actions and what they do. Their actions show the God they serve in their lives. A person can even say they are Christian and yet what comes out of their mouth is nothing about Jesus, but all about money and power. This is some Christians. It's not every Christians, but we're focusing on their fruit. One Christian's belief is not another Christian's belief. What I'm saying is, is that you have to look at the fruit, what that person is producing, not what they're saying and advertising. This is the God they serve according to their fruit. They produce in their lives daily. We all may not realize what fruit we have in our lives. This is an opportunity to get right with Jesus. This is not judging you. But bringing correction to us all so we do not continue to go in the direction we are going. If there is a snake coming in the field, should you not warn others as to what is there, looking to kill them, looking to steal from them or looking to destroy them? There is a belief that everybody wants to be saved and you must know that it is God's will that all should be saved. So when God gives these warnings, it's so he can save us from ourselves and the things that we're involved in, the idols that we are worshiping, the evil path that we might be on. Let's look at Luke 6 verses 43 to 49. For there is no good, healthy tree that bears decay, worthless, stale fruit. Nor on the other hand, does a decayed, worthless, sickly tree bear good fruit. For each tree is known and identified by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor is a cluster of grapes picked from a bramble bush. The upright, honorable, intrinsically good man out of the good treasure stored in his heart produces what is upright, honorable, and intrinsically good. And the evil man out of the evil storehouse brings forth that which is depraved, wicked, and intrinsically evil. For out of the abundance overflow of the heart, his mouth speaks. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not practice what I tell you for everyone who comes to me and listens to my word in order to heed their teaching and does them, I will show you what he is like. He is like a man building a house who dug and went down deep and laid a foundation upon the rock. And when a flood arose, the torrent broke against that house and could not shake or move it because it had been securely built or founded on a rock, but he who merely hears and does not practice doing my words is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation against which the torrent burst and immediately it collapsed and fell. And the breaking and ruin of that house was great. God is trying to show you that when you listen to his word, you have a solid foundation, but for those who appear to just be listening, there is no solid foundation and what they think that they're building, it will be destroyed because it's not rooted and literally grounded in God. Let's look at results of worshiping idols. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 11. Now, these things are examples, warnings, and admonitions for us not to desire or crave or covet or lust after evil and carnal things as they did. Do not be worshipers of false gods as some of them were, as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink the sacrifices offered to golden calf of Herib and rose to sport, to dance and give way to justing and hilarity. We must not gratify evil desire and indulge in immorality as some of them did, and 23,000 suddenly fell dead in a single day, we should not tempt the Lord, try his patience, become a trial to him, critically appraise him and exploit his goodness as some of them did and were killed by poisonous serpents. Nor discontentedly complain as some of them did and were put out of the way entirely by the destroyer of death. Now, these things befell them by way of a figure as an example and a warning to us. They were written to admonish and to fit us for right action by good instruction. We, in whose days the ages have reached their climax, their consummation and concluding period. God, even in the scripture is trying to send a warning and show examples of people who were disobedient, who were complaining and who were doing things that they knew they weren't supposed to do because they were worshiping idols. And so, like he's saying, he's trying to give us good instruction. Results of serving other idols and gods, some things that other gods might have you do that Jesus does not want you to do. Let's look at Exodus 20 verses 13 to 17. You shall not commit murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not witness falsely against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house, your neighbor's wife, or his manservant. Or his maidservant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbors. Please note, although this may seem like a lot of correction to us all, it is necessary, it is necessary because God loves each and every one of you and does not want you to go off the path of correction. When you allow the Lord to correct you, you can remain hidden in Christ and do what he is showing you to fix. Let's look at Hebrews 12 verses six to seven. And have you completely forgotten the divine word to appeal and encouragement in which you are reasoned with and addressed as sons, my son, do not think lightly or scorn to submit to the correction and discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage and give up and faint when you are reproved or corrected by him. For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom he loves and he punishes, even scourges every son who he accepts and welcomes to his heart and cherishes. You must submit and endure correction for discipline. God is dealing with you as with sons. For what son there whom his father does not thus train and correct and discipline. If you are exempt from correction and left without discipline in which all of God's children share, then you are illegitimate offspring and not true sons at all. Moreover, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we yielded to them and respected them for training us, shall we not much more cheerfully submit to the father of spirits and so truly live for our earthly fathers disciplined us for only a short period of time and chastise us as seemed proper and good to them, but he disciplines us, he is God disciplines us for our certain good, that we may become sharers in his own holiness for the time being, no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful, but afterwards it yields a peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it, a harvest of fruit, which consists in righteousness in conformity to God's will in purpose, thought and action resulting in right living and right standing with God. Let's take a look at Leviticus 26 verses 14 to 23. Now this is the old Testament and so this is for us to remember as an example, but we have been saved and we do have Jesus Christ who has paid for our sins, but we are still not to commit sins in the eyes of the Lord. Leviticus 26, 14 to 23, but if you will not hearken to me and that's to God and will not do all of these commandments and if you spurn and despise my statutes and if your soul despises and rejects my ordinance so that will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, I will do this. I will appoint over you sudden terror, trembling, trouble, even consumption and fever that consume and waste the eyes and make the physical life pine away. You shall sow your seed in vain for your enemies shall eat it. I, the Lord will set my face against you and you shall be defeated and slain before your enemies. They who hate you shall rule over you. You shall flee when no one pursues you. And if in spite of all this, you still will not listen to me and be obedient to me, then I will chastise and discipline you seven times more for your sins and I will break and humble your pride in your power and I will make your heavens as iron yielding no answer, no blessing, no rain and your earth as sterile as brass and your strength shall be spent in vain for your land shall not yield its increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. If you walk contrary to me and will not heed me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. I will loose the wild beast of the field among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock and make you few so that your roads shall be deserted and desolate. If by these means you are turned to me, but determined to walk contrary to me. When we go to any other things besides Jesus Christ, things do not work. When you go to something else other than Jesus, you have placed that thing, person, action, that place, that idol in your life, anything taking the place of Jesus Christ is an idol. And it's very important that we don't allow these idols in our lives because we think that we can control a little bit of this and a little bit of that before we know it, it gets out of control. And when things get out of control, it becomes an addiction to that idol. And every single time that spirit is celebrating, when you come to that spirit, instead of God, when you're going to trouble, when you're going through things in your life and you decide to drink, you're serving that idol. When you're going through things in your life and you decide to get with a friend and maybe have sex, you're serving that idol, you're serving that spirit. And that spirit desires to have you. In Genesis, when God is speaking to Cain, because Cain killed his brother, God said to Cain, if you do good, will not good things happen to you? When we take it about ourselves to do something, because we desire money, riches, fame, sex, or whatever it is more than God, we place that idol above the Lord and that idol can cause us to do things, to commit sin, to steal, to kill, to destroy, to lie, to cheat, just to get money, just to get sex. You allow people to pay you off so that you will do anything. That means you are serving the devil. You are serving that idol. And every single time you do those things, you're placing those things on the altar of that demon, that witch, that warlord, whoever it is that you are serving, and they slowly get another piece in your life. They get another place in your life as you worship them, as you look to them as your answer, but even now, you can still cry out to Jesus Christ. You can still ask him to come into your life. You can still repent and turn from your sins because God has made a way for you. Even now, while we were still sinners, the Lord sent his son, Jesus Christ, so that we can be saved. And it's for all who believe. It's not just for certain people. It's for everyone. While we were still sinners. So if you look around and you feel condemned and you feel like that you're in sin, God right now wants to meet you right where you're at. And all you have to say is, dear Lord Jesus, come and save me, heal me, set me free. God, I repent of my sins. I turn away from the things that I have done. And you begin to tell the Lord what you have done right where you are. And you ask the Lord to come and save you. And you say, Lord, I make you my Lord and my savior over my life. Lord, I just commit myself unto you. Come into my heart. Come into my life. He will meet you right where you're at. There is no sin too deep that you cannot return from, that you can repent and you can say, dear Lord Jesus, save me from what I have done. And I repent of my sins. And then you just have to stay and not do any more sin. You have to fully turn away. And what that means is you are turning completely from sin and darkness and evil, and you're turning to Jesus Christ and you're turning to the light. And that means you've been translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Amen. Amen.