Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell delivers a powerful message at VUCON 2025, urging believers to awaken their faith and confront the idols in their lives. He emphasizes the urgency of spiritual vision and the need for a genuine relationship with Christ, calling for a radical transformation in the church and society.
Hey, it's Dakota. Welcome to VU Friends and Family, a place for leaders just like you to grow, develop, and be encouraged. Today, we're going to be hearing a life-changing message from Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell from meeting two of VUCON 2025. I can't wait for you to hear it. But I'm also excited that we're going to be back in the Watskco Arena for VUCON 2026, June 10th through the 14th. You need to be there. Go to vukon.com to get signed up. But for right now, let's dive into this word together.
Before I jump into this word, I want you to hear my heart carefully. Everywhere I go around the nation, I'm trying to warn as many followers as possible that time is running out on us. No, hear me. I'm serious. Just like there's a clock in this room counting backwards somewhere, God has set a clock on humanity. It is counting backwards to the end of the age, and it will strike zero. The only question that matters is, when that clock hits zero, will you be found faithful?
We must stop playing around with our Christian walk. We can't keep coming into rooms like this and running out unchanged. Whether you're young or old, now is the hour to run after Christ with your whole heart. This is more than a conference; it's a cataclysmic moment in history. We can shake the nation together if we leave here alive and on fire for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Father, in the name of the Holy One, I pray that as your word goes forward, it would do great work in the hearts of your sons and daughters. I pray you would move up and down these aisles, arresting the attention of my brothers and sisters. Drive away every distraction and every thought that does not matter. We come against every demonic force that stands against this conference and this ministry. We speak your protection over this great ministry and pray that this word would not fall on deaf ears but on good hearts that will bear a harvest.
This morning in my hotel room, I rose long before the sun came up and laid out on the floor, crying out to the Lord Jesus Christ. I shed tears over every single person in this room, thinking about the brokenness and the idols present. Many are living their Christian lives blinded from what God has truly called them to do. Helen Keller once said that the only thing worse than being born blind is being born with sight and having no vision. This speaks prophetically to the Christian church today.
We are doing conferences without vision, building ministries without vision, and pursuing relationships without vision. We have spiritual leaders on platforms without vision, and people sitting in chairs listening to doctrines of demons because they lack the discernment to tell truth from lies. We need vision now more than ever.
As I speak to you, God is moving the pieces of global events, preparing the world for the coming of the Antichrist and the return of His Son. The headlines of the news are reading right out of the pages of scripture, yet believers are not paying attention. We keep playing church while God is trying to prepare us for the end. We need to be awakened, confronted, and filled with the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
I know some of you want entertainment and to be told every Sunday that you're awesome. But what we need is to be awakened. We need to see clearly, just as Isaiah did. In Isaiah 6:1, he wrote, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple." This moment changed Isaiah's life.
King Uzziah was a godly man until pride led him astray. Isaiah had only known this voice of leadership, and when Uzziah died, he saw the real King. There is a correlation between death and sight; sometimes things must die for us to see. Many of us lack vision because there are things alive in us that need to die.
There are pastors in this room with delusions of grandeur that must die for you to see. Some of you dream of fame and status, and because of that, you feel jealousy towards others. You need to get free from that. We have idols all over this room—things we think about more than Christ. We need to crucify these idols to see Christ more clearly.
The writer of Psalm 24 asks, "Who can ascend the hill of the Lord?" The answer is he who has clean hands and a pure heart. Purity is not just about sexuality; it’s about cleanliness. When Christ came, He moved purity from the outside to the inside. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
We have seen church but not Christ. We have seen conferences but not Christ. We need to exalt Christ above everything in our lives. Is there anything you love more than Him? If you want to protect your relationship and ministry, you must lay down every idol.
When you place Christ where He belongs, above everything else, you will find satisfaction in Him alone. You can get everything you think you want, but it will betray you. The only thing that will satisfy the deepest longings of your heart is when Christ is firmly placed on the altar of your heart.
I encourage you to build an altar at your house, a prayer room, and develop intimacy with Christ. When you see Him high and exalted, you will be set on fire. The closer you get to Him, the more He will ignite your soul.
Isaiah saw the seraphim, angelic beings on fire, and they cried, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." This is the only triple announcement of any character trait of Christ. We need to restore honor and reverence for the Lord in our hearts and churches.
When Isaiah saw the true nature of God, his first response was not to ask for things but to recognize his own sinfulness. He said, "Woe is me, for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips." The closer you get to Christ, the more you will hate the garbage inside you. We need to be grieved over our own sin and the state of our society. How can we do Christianity and not care about the brokenness around us?
Something will change in our churches and homes when we start being grieved over sin. We need to shed tears for the state of our nation and the church. When you start loving what He loves and hating what He hates, you will take a stand for Christ.
Isaiah was broken over his sin and the sins of the nation. The Lord asked, "Who will go for us?" The only fitting response to the mercy and grace of God is, "Here I am, send me."
I pray for every hand lifted in humility that God would topple every idol in our hearts. I pray you would open our eyes to see Christ exalted. May we be a dangerous remnant, ready to disrupt and tear down principalities for the glory of Christ. If you receive this, let us praise Him together!
