Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Worldly Wagons or Sanctified Shoulders Pt.2

How many of you think 50 percent isn't enough? Amen? The Lord did not say 50 percent of you go into all of the world and preach the Gospel. It's exciting! We had a group up in Strasburg on the streets. We had young people--received a report back--we had more young people at this concert that was put on by other ministries, working the altars and ministering, than the other ministries did. Thank God for that, amen?--and able to minister the Gospel, and we thank God that we were able to share in that and be a part working with some other fellowships in ministering the Gospel. That's exciting. There's only one church, amen? Jesus is the head of it, so find your part. Find out what the Spirit of God wants you to do, and let's just get about Father's business.

Let's turn to the book of Corinthians. We want to get right into our study, redeem some of this time. We've got a large subject we're dealing with here. We left off last Sunday morning. We were talking about worldly wagons and sanctified shoulders. We want to continue along that thought because there are only two wisdoms operating on this planet, aren't there? There's the wisdom that's from above, and we know that wisdom is pure, and it's peaceable. It's easy to be entreated. We know that there's a wisdom that's working from this dimension that's earthly, sensual, and demonic. Possibly tonight we're going to get into, in detail, those two wisdoms and be able to discern that is basically the conflict man's been involved with from the beginning. Scripture makes it clear that Satan's enticement to man, to Eve, was, "Take of this fruit, for it is to be desired to make you ..." You realize then that wisdom is the whole issue. Where's the source of wisdom? What wisdom are you operating from?

You see, when we get in and marry the world's system, and we prostitute ourselves and begin to play according to their rules, we may seem to think that, "Well, you know, it's not that big a deal; we've only chosen to use wisdom." Where's that wisdom coming from? "I mean, it's wise. The world showed us that you can be successful by using these principles; it's wisdom." What is the source of that wisdom? If it's not God's wisdom, it is earthly, it is sensual, it is demonic, its root is in the temptation of Lucifer in the Garden of Eden. We've talked to you out of Colossians about the rudiments of this world, and we talked about the fact wherever anything has its source, wherever its root is, is the real truth behind that. The source behind worldly wisdom is what? Rebellion to God. Amen? Disobedience to God.

There was a wisdom to be partaken of, and God said, "The one thing I don't want you to do is partake of that source of wisdom." What did man do? We realize then that if you're going to come back to the understanding of what Colossians says when it talks about the traditions of men and the rudiments of the world, you're going to have to go back and understand where this earthly system that so many of us want to play around with where it got its origin; it is in rebellion and disobedience to God. Everything done by it, regardless of how good it is, is evil. All of the good is evil if its source is evil.

Now, the natural mind can't comprehend that. You go out and tell people that on the streets, you go out and tell people that seated in the pews of 99.9% of all churches today and tell them, "That is not good, that is evil." They'll look at you and say, "You've lost your mind." These things are spiritually discerned. The wisdom of God is foolishness to the carnal mind, and, beloved, we better be able to discern what spirit we're operating in, in these last days. Amen?

Let's take a look here in Corinthians, the first book of Corinthians, the second chapter. Apostle Paul speaking and we'll talk about some of that in detail tonight, possibly. That's just a little idea. I would encourage you to be here to find out what source you're operating in.

Now, if your wisdom tells you, "I need to stay home and rest. I need to prepare for work tomorrow; we've got other things that need to be done." I want you to understand your wisdom is earthly, sensual, and demonic because the wisdom of God says, "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is, even more as you see the day approaching." Amen?

You see, it's those simple little decisions, like that, that tell us where our mind is. Whenever you make a willful choice against the revealed will of God, you're moving in demonic wisdom. How innocent it may seem.

"It's only innocent. I mean, what's the big deal? All I did was decide to stay home from church, and get some well-needed rest." You shouldn't have stayed up so late watching television. You shouldn't have worked so hard mowing your lawn. If you did yesterday, you had to use scuba gear, but it's a--we realize that these are some of the things, that everything we do is a choice. If you're choosing to get so worldly tired that you can't serve in the Kingdom, you're making the wrong choices. That's good teaching; isn't it? Amen.

Okay, here we go. Second chapter, you see, this is the practical application of this thing. We can present theory all day, and if we don't find out how to apply it to our everyday lives, it's not going to do us any good; it's just theology; it's just philosophy. That stuff doesn't get you to heaven; obedience does. "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." People can't handle that. They want you to talk about something intelligent. They want you to talk about something relative. When you come and say, "I don't know anything but Jesus and Him crucified, that's all that I'm here to share with you," people really have trouble with that, especially Christians. "I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling." It wasn't a fear of them; it was an understanding of who He was as the vessel of God. It's an awesome thing to know that you're speaking as the oracles of God. If you want to make sure that what you're speaking is pure because you're going to give an account, and people's blood will be on your hands if you're not accurate with what you're sharing. He said, "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words..." with man's wisdom--but grab hold of this now. I want you to see the distinction that he makes; he said; "I did not try to come and entice you with man's wisdom." That tells me, then, that the Gospel can be presented with man's wisdom and can entice and draw people. The Bible says that nobody can come to Jesus and be added into the church, the ecclesia, the body of Christ, except the Spirit draw them. We find right here that you can be drawn. You can draw people through enticement, through fair speeches. You can draw people. You can draw crowds. You can present a Gospel that's very acceptable to the carnal mind. Paul said, "I didn't come to bring that gospel. I didn't come to entice you with fair speeches and with words that appeal to your mind." He said, "I came to you to bring you one message. I don't know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." He said, "I came in demonstration of the Spirit and in power." Why? "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

Now, that's a key. Grab hold of this because this is a premise that we're going to be operating from in our study. Look what he says. Now, we said that men could be enticed by worldly wisdom, didn't we? He said, "But I came in demonstration and power, so that your faith would not be--in what?--man's wisdom. Now, grab hold of this thing. "So that your faith would not be [you couldn't rest and have your faith] in man's wisdom, but in the power of God." Here again, the principles of the rudiments of the world, the wisdom of origins, beginnings. Everything produces after its own kind.

If people are drawn by the wisdom of man, then what has to be preached, and taught, and implemented to keep the program going? If you drew them with wisdom, are you then going to come in and begin to introduce them to the power of God? No. What he's saying is, "I don't want your faith to stand in the wisdom of men. You weren't drawn with that; you were drawn with Spirit and power. Having begun in the Spirit, are you going to be made perfect in the flesh?" Let's reverse it. Having begun in the flesh, will you ever hear and understand the things of the Spirit? No. They're foolishness. He said, "I don't want your faith resting in the wisdom of man." Now, grab hold of this thing, and we're going to see the principles that Paul's dealing with here.

Let's go back and spend a couple of minutes in review from last week. We're talking about the worldly wagons, and the fact that there are two sources of wisdom in the world today. Which one are we operating under? We begin to look back, and we saw the dispelling of the ark, and we see that the ark was lost because of sin in the house of God. We saw Hophni and Phinehas and the fact that they were committing fornication in the house of God. Sounds like a twentieth century activity, doesn't it?--fornication in the house of God. Just heard again of a man who had ministered at one time in this church. He's been disfellowshipped, and he's out doing something right now. He's moved up into this area. I like the terminology that somebody told me. He was dismissed because of a horizontal relationship with his secretary. That's interesting vocabulary; isn't it?

What we're looking at is the sin that's in the house of God. Tragic! Another man of God begins to be enticed, drawn away of his own lust. Sin enters in. Why? Why is this happening? I'll tell you why it's happening--because minds are not being renewed with the Word of God. I'm not talking about what we know, and I'm not talking about what we preach; I'm talking about what we do. Talking about what we choose to live and what we require of those around us to live, praise God. Now, that's a different story; I don't want to get off. There was sin in the house of God, and it wasn't challenged by Eli. You want to lose the glory of God out of your house? Just let your children do what they want and don't challenge them. It will cost you. It will cost your children. The glory of God will depart, and all it will bring is death. Eli saying, "Nay, nay, my sons, this is not good." Not good, nothing! This isn't going on around here, that's all there is to it!

We know the story. We realized then, and this is one of the keys that we made last week; and I want you to get it in your notes if you didn't get it last week. The persecution then began to come upon them. The attack of the enemy came upon them. They were living in lasciviousness, and now, when hard times came, they thought they could pick up the ark, the glory of God, and run out there and God would dispel their enemies. In fact, we know what happened, don't we? They go out, and not only were they defeated, but the ark of God was taken captive. Eli hears the message, falls over, and dies. The child is born and named Ichabod, for the glory of the Lord has departed.

Now, we said that if we're living in the last days, we believe that the judgment of God is coming upon the nation. Judgment is going to begin--where, the Bible says?--in the house of the Lord. We realize that if the tribulation is going to come on this planet, and I believe it's coming real soon, I believe Jesus is coming back, then there has to be, first of all, judgment and purification in the house of God. That's where it's going to begin first.

That's what you've seen happening with our televangelists and many of these different things. God is shaking everything that can be shaken, and, beloved, if you're not built upon the rock, you're going to be shaken, amen? If you'll dig deep into the rock and not build on some haphazard doctrine or some type of trying to make Jesus an addendum of your life but will build on the rock, when the wind and the waves come and beat vehemently against it, the Scripture says, your house won't even be shaken. No falling, you won't even shake. Glory to God! Aren't you glad for that? I'm glad we have that promise, praise God. No matter how bad it gets out there, I'm not shaking. Amen. I'm not shaking. I'm not moved by this thing.

You're going to stand there, and you're going to watch houses fall all around you. They're going to just fall. Just like the three little pigs. You've got a place built where they can run and be safe if they'll choose. Amen? Aren't you glad you've built your house on the rock? When everybody around you is getting a little shaken, say, "Come on in here, we'll take care of you. We'll give you the way of escape." We saw in Proverbs 1 that if they reject it and mock God in this day of God's visitation, Proverbs 1 says, "Then when they in their good time choose to call out," it says, "God will mock them and laugh at them in their calamity." That's powerful!

Now, here we are, as we're looking at where the review session from last week--it's a very interesting thing. If we're not careful, we're almost going to think, if you're thinking with a natural mind, we're going to see this event taking place, and if we're not careful, we're going to think that the enemy won; and God has been captured. This is the way some people think. "Oh, look what happened. God's been taken captive." Do you all understand nobody's capturing God?

There's people today who think God's been captured. They look at the abortion issue. They look at the drugs. They look at the incest. They look at pornography, and they say, "Where is God?" He's where He's always been, on His throne and in charge, praise God. Most people--and I'm going to deal with this issue--most people seem to judge God's presence by the activities going on around us. Beloved, we need to understand that the activities, the incidents around us, circumstances, do not dictate whether God is in control or not. God, in His control, many times allows adverse circumstances to come to bring people back to Himself, praise God. In the time when they think He's absent is, many times, of His visitation to people, to draw them back to Himself. "Why am I in these trials?" Because God loves you and you're being drawn to Him, praise God. David said, "It was good for me that I was afflicted; caused me to remember you, Lord." Amen?

This is part of what's taking place now. Now, remember, as we looked at that, we saw that the ark was taken captive, and it was brought to the temple of Dagon. Then all of a sudden (We don't want to bog down, but you've got to get this.), we find them wake up the next morning, Dagon's on his face before the ark. Don't you like that? All the world's systems, whether you know it or not, right now are bowing down before God on a daily basis. You may not see the circumstances changing, you may not be able to discern it with the natural mind, but I want you to know, every morning, every god bows. Oh, it may not be a literal coming and bowing down, but there's no question in the mind of principalities and powers who's in charge of this operation. It's man that has the problem discerning these things.

Here we are, and we find that there's a bowing down of the god Dagon. Now, for twenty years the ark was in captivity. Finally, David now is king, and we saw that they were going to bring the ark back. Two principles I want to share with you off this, and then we're going to get into today's session. Two very important things--David was moving in the mind of the Spirit. Now, these are two of the things that we found. His heart was right, but his method was wrong. We're living in a day when everybody says, "All you need is the right heart, the right motives." Beloved, your motives can be right. Your heart can be right, but God has told us how to bring about the manifestation of His glory on this planet, amen? It's not through the flesh, it's by the spirit, praise God. It's by preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. It's by the power and the authority of the name of Jesus that no one could boast in the arm of the flesh in God's presence.

It's not going to be by demonstrations. It's not going to be by political endeavor. It's not going to be by economical prowess. It's going to be like it was in the first century by each one of us individually preaching the name of Jesus, laying hands on the sick, casting out devils; praise God. God's not going to have it any other way. Amen. It's not going to be done by televangelists. It's not going to be done by super churches. It's not going to be done by politicians who are born again. It's going to be done by each individual member of the church of Jesus Christ knowing who they are and the power that's been given to them; praise God. God's got no other methods. You can't find them in the Scripture. Yet, we would be told today, and many of the times, the reason for bringing some of this was hoping that we could be excused from it to leave it to the professionals to get the job done.

Now, watch what the Spirit of God's telling us here. David goes out, and they're going to move the ark in. They build the cart, the worldly wagon. Now, I don't know if you got this last week. I want to emphasis it again. I think we emphasized this last week, but, just in case, I want you to understand something. This is the way the world's wisdom thinks. They built this vehicle; television, radio, concerts, great edifices. Hearts are right--"We're going to use whatever is available to reach the lost." In essence, what's happening is this: the programs and the vehicles that were built, they built for the purpose of moving God. We're going to move God.

There are people today that said, "Bless God, we're going to join together, and we're going to pray, and we're going to fast; and you're going to move God." I want to tell you something; God's moving. God is light. How many of you know light is moving rapidly enough to get the job done? God is moving so fast He's not moving. God is moving so fast that He is omnipresent; time and space has no affect on Him. He is everywhere at once, praise God. I'd say He's moving.

What we're looking at is a people that say, "We're going to move God. We're going to bring God into our presence." Now, God says, "I will visit you, but there's a way that it's to be done." You remember the term that we use that we saw last week, David said, "The reason that God visited Uzzah and destroyed him and killed him was because it was not done in due order."

I want you to understand very clearly, beloved, that God does not need man to prop up His operation. God doesn't need us to steady Him in this last day. If your god's shaking, you've got the wrong God.

What we have to understand, then, is that because they built the worldly wagons, they were operating in the wrong premise of moving God; it brought judgment on them instead of blessing. We see the fact that they went back to the Word of God, the house of Obed-edom was being blessed. David said, "He shouldn't get all the blessings, we need this. Let's go move that thing." They find out how it's supposed to be done. They sanctified themselves, the priesthood, and then put the staves in the ark, put it upon the shoulders of sanctified priests, and moved it the way God said to move it--Amen?--by sanctified men, sanctified man. Power driving this thing was not oxen; it was feet that were shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, shoulders that had been sanctified.

We left off with this last week, and we said the main problem is this--it's easier to build the wagons than it is to sanctify our lives. It's easier to build programs. It's easier to have committees get together and brainstorm and say, "What can we do to reach our community? Let's come up with a good idea." What can we do to reach our community? Each one of us can live a sanctified life and share the name of Jesus, praise God. Be absolutely convinced of what we believe and not be able to help but share the things that we've seen, and that we've heard, and that's what's going to get this Gospel done, praise God.

Now, with that as a little bit of review, it brings us up to where we are for today's session. I want you to see something about having to discern between the two wisdoms. Turn to Chronicles with me if you would, and I want you to see something for this morning. The book of Chronicles--I want to share a story with you. Tonight we're going to share some things, too, about Daniel. The Lord showed me a couple of things about Daniel that I want to share with you. Chronicles--I just met with a politician last week running for governor of this state, gathered together with some of the big money people of this area and politicians, the political leaders of this area and some of the ministers; and we had a luncheon. We all gathered together, and this particular individual was sharing his desire to be governor; and the fact that he was a Christian. I have--I don't doubt that he's a Christian. I'm looking for opportunity, and I know that it will be here shortly, I have only one question I want to ask this individual. My question is not, "Are you qualified?" It's "Did God ordain you?" That's the only thing I want to know from this guy. Did God ordain you? Not "Is this a good idea? I have the tools to pull this thing off. I know what the state needs. I'm a moral man. I have Biblical and religious principles that are behind me." That's not the issue. The issue is, "Are you God's man?"

The fact of the matter is God may not want a Christian to be the governor of this state. He may want the raunchiest heathen you ever saw to be the governor of this state to help expedite things and get the job of crud done so we can go home. That's what we need to begin to discern.

I don't want to get off track, but we talk about Joseph, and we talk about Daniel, and how God raised up his people; and they came to prominent places. Beloved, if you'll understand how both of them got there, they got there through adversity. They got there because of judgment, and they got there supernaturally; they were not voted in. God does not need man's methods to perform His will, because God raises kings up and God brings them down, praise God. Now, once we begin to understand that, we can rest in the Lord.

The Bible says to pray for the leaders of our land. Pray for the leaders that we could live peaceably. Amen. We're to pray for them. We're to pray for the heathen guys. Pray for the ones that are Christians. Pray for them, "God, we want peace." We want to live peaceably, but don't trust them to bring in any type of millennial reign because you're never going to know that kind of peace until Jesus comes, amen?

Chapter 14, second Chronicles, did you get there? "Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him." That's good; it's always good to bury them when they're dead. We realize then, verse 2 says, "And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord . . ." Now, we're going to deal with this same principle that we've been talking about, the two wisdoms. Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. "For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves: And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment." Here we find Asa moving in obedience to God.

It says, "As Asa," verse 7, "sought the Lord," God gave them what?--"rest on every side." So they built and prospered. How many of you like that, rest and prosperity? Can any of you handle that message? Amen. I'm for it, praise God. I'd rather enter into that kind of a life and just be able to rest in the Lord and prosper; that's great, and God wants that for us. In the cycles of life, there's these times of rest and prosperity that come upon a people and upon nations and upon people of God; and thank God for it. But nobody just continues in that realm. Paul said, "I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound." How many of you have been abased before? How many of you feel like you're that way now? You don't have to raise you hands. He said, "I know how to abound." He said, "I've been in both of them." The key is understanding the presence of God and pursuing the Lordship of Jesus and forgetting the things that are behind and pressing on toward the mark.

They find themselves in rest and prosperity here. Had a great army, 580,000 men, armed men. In this time of affluence, now, comes opposition. The Ethiopians begin to move in with a million men and three hundred chariots, and the Bible's very clear to let us know that the three hundred chariots were in existence. You've got to understand what chariots were like in those days. I mean, that's like tanks. We're talking about the fact that these foot soldiers--with three hundred chariots--didn't stand a chance. There's no way that a foot soldier can stand up under a charioteer. It was just amazing the multiplied hundreds that could be killed by one man in a chariot. He tells us that here are the Ethiopians up--million men, three hundred chariots. They're beginning to move in against Asa.

The Scripture says in verse 11, "And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou [art] our God; let not man prevail against thee." How many of you know Asa's going the right place here? He's doing all right, isn't he? Seeking God, he says, "Lord, this thing's beyond our ability, and we're calling on you, Lord. We know that you can save by many or by few." Praise God, he's crying out and seeking the wisdom of God.

The Word of God makes very clear then the visitation of the Spirit. Verse 13 says then, the last part of verse 13, it says, ". . . they were destroyed before the Lord, and before his host; and [Asa and the children of God, they're blessed under the ordnance of God and the promises of God] they carried away very much spoil." That's good news, isn't it? Your enemy comes against you one way and flees from you. We realize then that once we're standing in the unction of God, there's no way that our enemy can overcome us. Stand still and let God fight for you. He drives the enemy out and all we do is collect the spoil. This seems to be something that happens quite regularly in the Scriptures, if you'll read it.

Then (and here's where I want you to get some of the wisdom here), chapter 15 starts off this way, "And the spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:" He comes, and the prophet speaks these words; look at verse 2. "... The Lord [is] with you while ye be with him; [Grab hold of that.] and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, [What's the consequence?] he will forsake you. Now for a long season Israel [hath been] without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law."

Tragically, we've been in this particular situation here for a period of time in this nation. We've been without the presence of the living God. We've been dealing with man's programs. We've been without a teaching priest, someone who would share the true oracles of God. We've been like it was in the days of Jeremiah where every man was just speaking that which his neighbor was saying, just rehashing the same principles, not seeking God. Finding out what's the popular message, what will pay bills, what will draw the crowds, and let's keep that message going. Let's keep our programs going. This is what's been happening to us for a decade, and the presence of God has been gone. The power of God has been gone. The teaching priests that will bring us words of God have been gone, and we've not known God's visitation in His order. That's why we look around today and watch the domino effect as ministries begin to collapse.

I shared with you two weeks ago about some of the ministries; if I named the names, you would know them. They're some of the most famous ministries in our nation, some of the most "Word" oriented ministries that you would know, and they're the ones that are taken up with this nonsense of the woman's hands bleeding and feathers growing out. People flocking to these crowds to see the spectacle by the thousands and tens of thousands, deceived in these last days, because all they've done is run around and reinforce what their friends in the ministry have been doing and not taking time to seek God. We've had ministers crawling up in towers saying God's going to kill them.

Now, I'm not saying this to demean any of these men, it breaks my heart. I'm not trying to be critical. These men have done great things for God. They've done greater things than I'll ever do. Beloved, it's not how you start, its how you finish. God is not going to judge us based upon the good things that we did for Him somewhere along the line; we're going to be judged as to whether He's the source. Having begun in the spirit, you will not be made perfect in the flesh. If you've built your kingdom so big that God can't support it, then, bless God, let it die. Once you begin to build beyond your faith, you have to go into worldly wisdom to keep the thing alive and pumped up instead of the Word of God and the presence of God. You start compromising your message to appeal to the flesh and to the masses. What you're doing is you're worshipping the ministry and the idol of ministry instead of the presence of God. The teaching priest was gone. The one that would stand and say, "Thus saith the Lord." The law was gone. They came into grace.

It's like these two ladies that were overheard at this concert. Can you imagine two forty-year old ladies at Milan's concert with T-shirts on of rock groups, forty-year olds? Heavy metal mamas, and one of them was overheard saying they had just been at a concert, and at that particular concert, they were serving beer; and isn't it good to be free in Jesus to be able to drink a beer for Jesus? Get out of my life. No law. "Hey, we're under grace." Grace enables you to fulfill the law, praise God. We're not accepted by the law. The law's been fulfilled in Jesus, but the pastoral Epistles make it very clear that the law is for the lawless. When you choose to go contrary to the law, you put yourself back under it. When you choose to worship God and be obedient in the spirit, He graces you to live above the power of the law which is death, praise God. [That's another teaching.]

It says, however, that what they're doing with here, for a long season you've been without the true God, and without teaching priests. Now, watch what's happening here. Following the prophesy of Azariah, Asa's now motivated again to bring about even more purity. He's moving, and verse 7 says, "Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded. And when Asa heard these words, and [he went out to] put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin . . ." Here he goes, and he's ministering on this particular vein to clear up the place.

Now, remember what we were talking about last week in Matthew 10. We found that our enemies would be those of our own household, amen? Jesus said, "I've come and I'm going to divide houses right down the middle, three against two, two against three. Your enemies will be those of your own household." He said, "I'm bringing a peace that you don't know anything of."

Here's Asa, and he's out trying to minister purity, and in his own home, what's his mom doing? She's setting up idols. He's tearing them down; she's setting them up, so he fired her. Verse 16 says, "And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from [being] queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped [it], and burnt [it] at the brook Kidron." Now, she's fortunate because he could have killed her. What we're looking at right here, beloved, is when you begin to seek purity, expect opposition from those closest to you. It's a Biblical principle. There's going to be somebody close to you that's going to want you to compromise the Word of God, a husband, a wife, a child, somebody. Be ready for it, and then make the choice which way you're going to go!

It says, However, ". . . nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days." In other words, he was the best thing going. He wasn't perfect. He wasn't doing everything right, but he was doing the best job going at that time, in that leadership. Here he is and he's seeking God, just fires his mom, and then, all of a sudden, I want you to see what's taking place here. He brings, now, into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, vessels of silver and gold into the house of God.

Then all of a sudden, Asa, now, is faced with another trial. Now, check this thing out, and it's important for us to see. Israel begins to put pressure on Judah. They begin to put pressure on them. They build Ramah outside the city, and they're going to keep any supplies from coming in and out; and they're going to starve them out.

Remember what Asa did when the Ethiopians were coming? What was it that he did? He went to God, and he sought the Lord. He said, "Lord, there's no way that we can defend against these people. Oh, God, visit us, Lord, and bring judgment upon these people!" And He did. Now, the opposition comes, and I want you to see what's taking place. Asa had compromised in this thing with his mother. What he did appeared to be real good. I mean, he broke the idols up, stamped them down, and fired his mom. That's not what the Scripture said to do. Once you begin to compromise in your life somewhere, now, comes opposition, and instead of seeking God, he looks to the Syrians.

Now, what had just happened in the last verse of the previous chapter? What had Asa just done? [Or the eighteenth verse, excuse me.] He had brought all of the dedicated vessels into the house of God to offer God; didn't he? Now, trials and tribulations are coming upon him. The pressure's upon him now, and verse 2 of the next chapter says, "Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord to give to heathens to protect him." Took what was God's and gave it to the world for the world's protection. Interesting, isn't it, what's happening here? You begin to see that once there's a life of compromise that starts, there's no end to this thing.

Now, all of God's visitation, the glory that had come, and the restoration of the things of God being glorified, the house of the Lord being exalted, the house of God and the glory of God is now being robbed and given to men. I think there's something else that's interesting here. Look at the two different things. Isn't it interesting that Asa was able to stand against the Ethiopians? Worldliness, in itself, wasn't able to bring him down to compromise but it's when he was opposed by the religious people, Israel. The obvious worldly attack he was able to handle and seek God; but the carnal, spiritual attack, he went to the world's system.

The compromise was on, and he forgot what the prophet had said in verse 2 of the fifteenth chapter, "While you be with Him, He'll be with you. If you seek Him, He'll be found of you, but if you forsake Him" What's going to happen? How many of you think Asa's in trouble here? He's in trouble. Yet, because there wasn't immediate judgment, I'm sure they rejoiced in God's deliverance because the Syrians came and drove out Israel.

The prophet comes in verse 7 of the sixteenth chapter, And Hanani the seer, the prophet, came to Asa, and said, "Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of your hand." Isn't that interesting? God not only was going to deliver them from Israel, He was going to take out Syria.

Isn't it interesting how in us being overly anxious to move God on our programs, that we miss the program of God, the big program? We want out of this one little trial, and don't realize that by us taking a worldly method out of that one trial, we've made ourselves slaves to the world's system, when God wanted to deliver us not only from the trial but from the bondage of the world's system, too; Syria. Yet, we make these choices contrary to the will of God to get out of the immediate pressure and bring ourselves into the bondage of the spirit of the world; slick devil, isn't he?

The whole thing is we don't understand the program of God. You see, most of us here, though we know all kinds of Scriptures on prosperity and victory, we don't really believe God wants us victorious and prosperous. If we did believe that God wanted us victorious and prosperous, then we would let Him make us victorious and prosperous, and not try to do it in our own strength, but we don't believe that. We believe we got to move God along and build Him wagons and hurry Him up on this program. "God, you said you wanted it for me; I'll take it." God hasn't called us to take anything. He's called us to be obedient and walk in the statutes that He's set before us, and He will give it to us, praise God. The blessings, then, will overtake us, the Scripture says. Let's get this story down; I want you to see something here that's important. Because you relied on Syria, they've escaped from your hand. "Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? . . ."

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of [them] whose heart is perfect toward him . . .." Contextually, what is this saying? Who is God going to show Himself mighty and powerful to?--those that are walking in obedience. He's looking for a people who are walking in obedience, a people that are absolutely trusting God.

Now, watch. ". . . Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars." Now, watch what's taking place here. The point that I want you to see in Asa is the gradual decline because of compromise in his ability to hear and be obedient to God. We saw that he was perfect. Just a few verses ago, the guy was perfect. The next trial comes, and he chooses to trust the arm of the flesh. When the prophet came to him in the fifteenth chapter--look back again at verse 2--Azariah prophesied and told him, "While you seek the Lord, the Lord is with you while you're with Him, and if you seek Him, He will be found of you. If you forsake Him, He will forsake you." He received that rebuke at this time--didn't he?--and begin to clean up the idols and even dealt with his mom in his way. Now, the prophet of God comes, the Word of the Lord comes to him again for one purpose. Why does God bring reproof to us? For restoration, doesn't He? The correction, the reproof, the rebuke, is to restore us into fellowship with Him, and, now, the Word of the Lord comes to him; "He was wroth with the prophet of God and was in a rage," verse 10 says. Not only that he oppressed the people or the counselors that were in agreement with what the Spirit of God was saying.

Here's the final outcome of the life of Asa. Now, Asa becomes sick--and what a tragic commentary--and sought not the Lord, but the physicians, and died. That's a bad ending for a good start, isn't it? This time around when trials came, he didn't even seek God, didn't look to Him at all. He had become so engrained, his mind, now, so dependent upon worldly wisdom, that he never even gave God a chance. He just sought the physicians, because, after all, they can fix us. We've got all this great technology. The Syrians have all this military might. The progressiveness of the decline of Asa because he chose a world's wisdom and forgot that God's eyes were searching to and fro for someone that He could show Himself strong on their behalf--if their hearts would be perfect toward Him.

The question we have to ask ourselves this morning then is, "Where's our heart?" Is it perfect toward God? Is it one that's obedient, now, and saying, "Lord, it doesn't look feasible to me. I don't understand it. It's not logical. It's definitely not what I want to do in the natural, but, Lord, my eyes are upon you." Praise God, we look to the mountains from which comes our help. Amen?

Here we are, and Asa's being dealt with by the power of God. The question is, "What are we doing now?" Can we, like the Apostle Paul in Romans, say, "I'm not ashamed of the Gospel; it's the power of God unto salvation. I'm not trusting in man's wisdom, praise God, but in the Spirit and power, the demonstration of what God can do in the life of an individual." Or have we become so indoctrinated that we're going to take man's methods, apply those to our trials, and then give God the glory? That's what's going on in most Christians' lives and in most ministries today. We've set up our wagons, and we build our little wagons, and we bring the ark in on them and worship Him, but what's being worshipped is the wagon, and not the ark. Until we can come to that understanding, we're going to stay in bondage.

Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for the life of God that's manifested itself to us. Father, in the days of your visitation, these last days that we're living in, you're looking for a people that you can show yourself strong on their behalf. A people, Father, whose hearts are perfect before you. Don't let us be foolish as Asa, having begun in the spirit think that we're going to be made perfect in the flesh. Father, there's people right now that have financial problems, and they think the solution is the world's institutions and not God. After running around to twenty or thirty different lending institutions and paying twice as much as they should in interest, we'll stand and say, "God's good; He met my need." You aren't the source of that, Father. We run around through political programs and manipulating circumstances through the arm of the flesh until they're agreeable with our ideas, and then come and say, "Look what God's done for me; praise His name!" But we're never taking time to seek the will of God and asking what you want to accomplish in our midst and having the capacity to lay our hearts before you and say, "Not my will, but thy will be done." The message of the cross, us crucified with you, Jesus, isn't what men want to hear today. Dying daily is not the message that people are interested in, but it's the only message that's going to get us to heaven. You said that if we deny you before men, then you will deny us before Father. We will not deny you before this world's system as our only source and our only hope of victory. We'll stand boldly and proclaim that if God doesn't do it, it won't be done. "King, we won't bow down to your idol even if God doesn't deliver us. Oh, He's able, but even if He doesn't, we're not doing it your way, period." Give us that integrity, Father, and that faith and that relationship with you to walk in the spirit. Now, Father, I know that these things cannot be received by the natural mind; they're foolishness. You've said you've brought them to us in the spiritual realm and have hid them from the princes of this world because if they had known this system, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. They moved in operation of oppression and said, "If we can kill Him, we can stop Him." But your law says when we die, we multiply. Jesus fell into the ground and died, that seed planted, but He's risen again, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, ten million strong. As each one of us die to ourselves, the life of Jesus is multiplied again through us and the power of God. Father, we ask that it become a reality in Jesus' name. Not doctrine, not theology. Reality to empower us in this last day, to seek the mind of God and the Spirit of God and to know that those that you've set free are free indeed. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.

The Spirit of God's ministering to us this morning. Where are you in this walk? It's interesting, as you study that thing out. The second time they went to get the ark, the oxen were not pulling a wagon; the oxen were offered up as sacrifices to God. Hallelujah! What man had trusted in before, the power that man had trusted in before, the ox, when the priests took that ark upon their shoulders, the oxen were offered up to God burnt offerings. What are you doing with the natural power that you trusted in? It needs to be offered up. Do you have the glory on your shoulder this morning? If you do, the Jordan River will open up before you, and you'll cross over into the Promised Land. There was no crossing that Jordan until the priests took the glory of God and stepped in. The army engineers couldn't have gone and built a dam at that flood time, but God stood that water in a heap, and His people went over into promise. Which power are you going to trust in? Which power are you going to trust in this morning? God will drive the Ethiopians out from before you. He'll give the Syrians into your hands if your heart's perfect toward Him, but there's a spirit and there's a voice in you that's saying, "It won't work. It won't work. You've got to have something to fall back on." I'd suggest you fall back this morning, too. I'd suggest you just lay right back on the cross and enjoy crucifixion, because if you die with Him you'll be raised with Him. If you're raised with Him, Romans says, you'll be like Him. Father, that's our desire this morning.

If you're here this morning and you don't know Jesus as your personal savior, you don't know that your sins are forgiven and that you're in right standing with Father, God's Holy Spirit is here this morning to draw you and make you aware of eternal life that's available to you if you'll accept the lordship of Jesus Christ for your life. Not accept that He is Lord, not accept that He is the Son of God, but accept that He is your Lord; and that He'll make all of the decisions in your life from this day on. If that's not the life that you're living right now, but you want that life, you want to know the life of God ruling in you, you want to know that Jesus truly is your Lord and that your sins are forgiven and you're in right relationship with God, you just stand to your feet right now, and we'll pray with you and believe God to minister to you His love and His power to set you free from sin. Stand right where you are in the name of Jesus; we'll believe God with you. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Father, thank You for the love of God. Father, thank You for the free gift of salvation. Thank You for the blood of Jesus. Lord, we rejoice in that, and we partake of that for ourselves, Father; our delight and our hope is in you. Glory to God!

If you're here this morning and you've been under the pressure of the enemy attacking you, the Ethiopians are coming strong, the chariots are moving in on you, the financial pressure, the physical affliction, the emotional pressures that you're under right now, and they're just closing in on you, make your heart perfect before God. If that's where you are right now, I want you to just stand if you're going to believe that God's going to be your source. You believe that God is going to be your source in this thing for your healing and your financial situation and your emotional pressure, the domestic pressures that you're under. You say, "I'm looking to God alone; He's my source. I will not look to the arm of the flesh, in the name of Jesus." If that's where you are, stand to your feet right now in the name of Jesus. We're going to believe God with you in just a moment. Whatever the need is, His eyes are searching to and fro over this earth looking for someone that He can show Himself mighty on His behalf, those whose hearts are perfect toward Him. In other words, God's looking for people to help. You don't have to try to roust Him out; He's aware of your needs. His eyes are searching. He's very, very cognizant of your situation this morning. He wants to move in and touch you right now with His power if you're seeking Him. Don't expect to have something in the background for when God fails; He will not visit you. If you'll seek Him this morning, you'll find Him in Jesus name, in Jesus' name. Glory to God!

Hallelujah! As we sing this, you come right now; we're going to pray and believe God with you. Lord, You alone are our source. You're our strength, Lord. Glory to God! Brethren, come. It's you alone, Father, that we're looking to. He delights in helping you this morning. He's here to show Himself mighty on your behalf. God loves you and has made the provision for you this morning; He will not forsake you. He will not leave you comfortless. We've got a God--Hallelujah!--who delights in showing His power. You're His child, and He loves you. As your heart's perfect before Him this morning, He's going to visit you.

Jesus, I look to You. Father, I look to You. Glory to God! Each one of you, now, just extend your hands toward these that have come. Let's do warfare right now with principalities and powers. We're going to pray in the name of Jesus that these needs are going to be met to the glory of God. Let's pray. Let's believe God and use the weapons that have been given to us. Brethren, let's pray.

Glory to God! Glory to God! Lord, because Your name is above every name, we rest, Father, that every knee will bow. Every knee will bow. Fear, oppression, terror bows in the name of Jesus. Glory to God! Glory to God! Father, bring deliverance to the captives. Lord, our trust is in you. Our trust is in You. Oh, Lord, we rest in Your presence. Glory to God! Glory to God! Glory to God! Father, we thank You for deliverance. Father, we thank You for restoring the mind in the name of Jesus. Father, bringing deliverance, glory to God! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Glory to God!

Let's stand before the Lord and just worship Him for what He's done. Just lift your hands up and say, "Thank You, Lord, for bringing deliverance to the body of Christ. Thank You, Jesus, for showing yourself mighty on behalf of your people. Thank You for your love, Lord that you've demonstrated to us. Thank You, Lord that you're aware of our needs and you're present to help, that you alone are our source. We delight in You, Lord. We boast in You, Lord. We boast in you, Lord." Glory to God! Lord, God of Hosts, you're our present help, Jesus, glory to God! Glory to God! Amen. It's good to be in His presence. Before you go, turn to somebody and say, "God saw you this morning." Amen. Go in peace; God's love go with you in Jesus' name.

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