In this sermon, the speaker begins by acknowledging a clear visitation of the Lord Jesus in their midst. He then draws a parallel to the story of Absalom, who stole the hearts of the Lord's people from King David. The speaker emphasizes the importance of giving our hearts fully to God and laying aside any sin or weight that hinders our relationship with Him. They encourage open communication within families and the need to identify and remove anything that has become an idol or a distraction from God. The sermon concludes with a prayer for humility, transformation, and the perfecting of God's work in their lives.

From the Lord's heart, which has wonderfully been confirmed this morning by His Holy Spirit, I want to ask you a question, and we're just going to go for a few minutes and then we're going to close up. I want to ask you a question. Everyone here sensed a definite, clear visitation of the Lord Jesus. I believe even the children sensed it. He walked in our midst. He's drawing our hearts. He's winning our hearts. He's drawing us unto Himself. There's a story in the Old Testament. Listen closely. It's the story about Absalom, the son of David. One of the dreadful things that Absalom did is he stole the hearts of the Lord's people from King David and turned them to himself. What he would do is he would sit by the entrance to the palace way where Israel would come. And as Israel came to the courts where the throne was, he would stop them before they got to the throne where King David sat. And he'd say, what business do you have? And they'd tell him, well, I'm here for this and I'm here for that. And he'd say, well, you don't need to see the king. I'll take care of it. And he gave him counsel. And so after a while, he turned the whole hearts, all the hearts of Israel away from seeing King David. Listen, he got them before they made it to the throne. He stole their hearts from King David. And the Lord visited us this morning as our great heavenly king. And I want to encourage everyone here to recognize that the Lord visited us in such a manner this morning because he is deeply jealous for our love. And he would have us to ask him, listen carefully. What has stolen your heart from him this morning? Is there a spirit of Absalom that has seduced you? And you find now that you are no longer going into his presence for his counsel and his comfort and his love. You find that it is really not him that delights you anymore. But something has gripped your heart. Something has taken your attention. Something gets you before you get to him and has stolen your heart. Now, whatever that might be this morning, the Lord Jesus, the good shepherd, would want to deliver us from that thing. And win our hearts back to him so that we're panting for him. We're desiring him. We're after him. Now, this thing might not be some dreadful sin. I want to read one scripture in Hebrews chapter 12. This might not be a dreadful thing, beloved. But if it has stolen your heart, if it's keeping you from the Lord himself, then it's time to reevaluate that thing and bring it to the Lord and get free from it. Hebrews chapter 12. Beginning in verse one, wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Let us lay aside every weight. Lay aside every distraction. A weight is something that weighs upon you and keeps you from running the race. It keeps you from coming into his presence. It keeps you from him. Whatever it is this morning, lay it aside. This is why the Lord came into our midst. This is why the Lord visited us like this. And he visited us like this very similarly last week, didn't he? What is he doing? Why is he doing this? Because he's jealous. He's after our hearts. Several times in the book of Proverbs, it says, my son, give me your heart. This is what God is saying to us. Give me your heart. Give me your affections. Give me your desires. Give me your dreams. Give me your hopes. Give me everything. Let me have you. So let's lay aside every weight. And the sin that so easily besets us. Whatever that sin might be in your life, lay it aside. Talk one to another about these things. Husbands and wives, talk. Families get together. Don't get caught in the trap of silence. Talk about these things. You should regularly be seeking the Lord and talking to husband, wife, and even family and children and saying, listen, what's holding us back? What's in our life? What's in my life that's weighing me down? What has stolen my heart from the Lord? What is it that every time I intend to go to him, I stop short and go to something else? What are you going to? It might be a sport. It might be a hobby. It might be some pleasure. It might be some dream you have. You want to get to the Lord, but you never get there. You only get as far as that thing. It's got you. It's got you. You need to get free from it this morning. This is why Jesus came into our midst. Because he is lavishing us with his love and he's saying, listen, I want you for myself. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Let's look to Jesus this morning, beloved, and let him capture our hearts and deliver us from the seducing spirit of Absalom. What's bigger to you than the Lord right now? What's bigger? That stealing your heart from him. Let's bow our hearts for a moment in prayer. I believe his presence is here and that he wants to reveal to us the Absalom spirit that is seducing us. Father, we thank you for your presence this morning. We thank you, Lord, for your incredible love. And we thank you, Lord, for the simplicity of drawing us to yourself. And Lord, we're keenly aware this morning that the spirit of Absalom lurks in our midst and that you have visited us to deliver us and free us. We recognize, Lord, that Absalom, the characteristic of this spirit is whatever it is, it steals our hearts from our king and our great shepherd. And Lord, we ask now by the power of your Holy Spirit that you would both reveal to us and free us from every form of Absalom and the spirit of Absalom that has seduced us. Anything, Lord, that has become bigger to us, anything, Lord, that is keeping us from communion with you, from your presence, from having a heart that is just after you, we pray, God, you'll shine light and deliver us by the power of your presence and the power of your Holy Spirit. Lord, I pray that you'll reveal idolatry in our life, the thing that we're worshipping, the thing that we're holding onto so tightly that the blood is not even flowing in our hands anymore. We're holding onto it so tightly. Lord, help us to realize the thing that you're holding onto so tightly this morning has become an Absalom and it's stealing your heart. Help us, Lord, by your power to let go of this thing. Let go of it and come to you. Let go of it. Stop holding so tightly. I can see a clenched fist, beloved, and I see the veins within the hands popping out. And I see the hand is white. You know what that indicates? That indicates such a tight grip that it's become too big. And I want to admonish you in the love of God this morning, ask God to show you what you have such a tight grip on and let go of it and trust God and come to him and he'll give you peace. He'll give you peace. Some have to go into your homes and you have to change things. There are fortresses in your home that have been there for years, things that are just part of home life. But you know what? Some of these things have become Absaloms and they're stealing your heart. Not only from the Lord, they're stealing your heart from your family. They're stealing your heart from getting to know your family. Come on, they're stealing your heart. It's time to do like Gideon did. Remember what Gideon did? He tore down all the high places and all the idols of the family. Family. He went in and tore up the gods that the families were worshiping in Israel. Oh, yes, brothers and sisters. When Jesus comes into our midst, as he did this morning, and loves on us, with that love comes a word, and that word is let go. Rebuke the Absalom. Turn to me with all your heart. Let the Lord search. Let the Lord search your heart. How well do you take constructive criticism? How well do you take it when somebody speaks into your life? You want to go the way of the Lord and come into a maturity that is pleasing in his eyes? You're going to have to learn to humble yourself and stop being so defensive and so arrogant and so mean when people confront you. You're going to have to realize there's going to come a day in your life when someone's going to have to look at you and say, brother, sister, whether it's your husband or wife or a brother or a sister in the body of Christ, brother, sister, you've got to change here. This is destroying you. How are you going to act? How are you going to act when someone comes and tries to correct you in love? You're holding so tight to your image of what you want people to think of you. You're holding so tight to your pride that you will not let someone speak into your life. Who are you to say that? Let me tell you, brothers and sisters, you want to go the way of the Lamb? He made himself of no reputation. He took upon himself the form of a servant. He humbled himself and became obedient to death. You want to be a profitable member in the body of Christ and grow together with other people? You're going to have to learn by love to be forbearing. And you're going to have to learn to let people speak into your life. Every time you run from a situation where you're going to have to confront an area in your life, you're just making it longer and more difficult for God to do what he wants to do in your life. There's some people here who have run for years from certain things in your life because every time God arranges a circumstance or a person or a situation that causes you to have to deal with that thing, you buck up and run. And you're just wandering in the wilderness, wandering in the wilderness, going around and around and around. And you're always looking for another place, another thing to do because you're running. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Let the Lord speak into your life. Don't run. The wounds of a friend, the Scripture says, are what? Faithful and true. The wounds of a friend. When your wife looks at you and says, stop that or don't do that or this is not right, don't jump on her back. Children, learn to receive correction from your parents. And so, let's pray the Lord deliver us, humble us, and transform us into his image. So, Father, we commit these things into your hands. We ask that you'll perfect your work in our lives. We pray in the lovely name of your Son and our Savior. Amen and amen. Praise the Lord. Don't forget to get a little...