Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Denying Worldly Lusts Pt.5

Let's turn to Titus and finish up on this little study that we've been doing on preparing our hearts, opposing the spirit of the day that we're in; this last age where the spirit of antichrist is manifesting in many different areas of our lives. We're seeing it, of course, in the technology that surrounds us. As the Scripture says by the prophet, "knowledge shall be increased." We see it not only increasing, but multiplying exponentially. The information that is available to man today and the technologies that men are trusting in are just a sign of the times. I was talking to the pastors just the other day about making sure that we keep our finger on the pulse of the age that we're in. Beginning back in the forties, actually, you begin to see technology, and we saw the rise of television. Of course, many of your old time fundamentalists, whether they be Baptist or Pentecostal, preached against the evils of television. Many would say that it's amoral: "It has a dial on it. You can turn it on or off or switch the channels." That is true, and it's our responsibility to turn it on and off and to switch the channels.

Nevertheless, we have to realize what the technology is all about. It was for Antichrist, so that all of the world would be able to view his last day declaration of his deity. The signs and the wonders that would be done in the last day by the false prophet have to be viewed by the whole world. This technology was a necessity. Let's remember where it came from, why it exists, and that we need to use this world, the Bible says in Corinthians, but not, what? Not abuse it. Use it, but don't abuse it.

We need to have that balance in our lives. That's what we're talking about, the subtlety of worldliness that has crept into our lives that many of us are not aware of. The Scripture says it this way: the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things enter into our lives and choke the Word of God out. The way to find out whether worldliness has crept into your life or not, and you're not aware of it, is just to ask yourself this question: "Are all of my decisions based upon the Word of God?" Is everything I'm doing by the wisdom of the Word of God, or am I trusting in the world's wisdom and its methods? Have there been things in the world that I respond to quicker than to the Word of God as it pertains to my preservation in this life, or the goals and pursuits that I have? Am I leaning to my own understanding, or am I in all of my ways acknowledging God? If we do acknowledge Him, then the Scripture says that He will be directing our paths.

Worldliness, then, is not just blatant lasciviousness. That's one thing we have to get into our thinking. It's not just all of the immorality that we look at around us today. It's not the partaking of the homosexuality and the drugs. By the way, those are all signs of the last days that we're living in. The Scripture says that Antichrist is going to use pharmakeia, or "drugs." It is going to be one of the main ways that he brings society into a subdued state to where he can control them. We realize that all of this drug culture that surrounds us is just another sign of the times.

The homosexuality that we're looking at today and all of the movement that's behind that, is the spirit of Antichrist. It is no different than it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. All homosexuality is, is the byproduct of what was in Sodom in that day: affluence, pride, opposition to God, and a worship of the creature more than the Creator. It's the byproduct of just having the worship of man and having way too much idleness.

We're living in that kind of a society. We have to realize that we're not able to walk in this without contending and even without being vexed by it, like righteous Lot was in Sodom. As long as we are being confronted with this, it's going to have a vexation on us. So, there needs to be a continual washing of the water of the Word in our lives. In other words, the worse the world gets, the more we need to refresh ourselves in the Word of God if we are going to stand. You can't maintain; you can't just stay the same. There has to be a pressing in. There has to be a preparation for the increase of this spirit that we're dealing with in this particular age. These are all vital aspects that we've been looking at in this study.

When we talk about "worldliness, remember what we're talking about. We have to look at its origin again and understand what worldliness is. Worldliness is not just a secular humanistic philosophy. We look today and we look at all the secular humanism, which is, by the way, the religion of America today. We are not a Christian nation. We are a secular humanist nation. We live in a post-Christian era. People may not understand that clearly, but we truly live in a post-Christian era--if it ever was a Christian era that we were in. I'm not just talking about America. I am talking about western civilization as we know it.

In the midst of this, as we look at the hour that we're in and we see the religion of secular humanism, we have to understand that secular humanism isn't just a human contrived religion. It's the continued fruition of what took place in the Garden of Eden all of those ages ago. It is the necessary fruit of the partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The admonition was given by Satan at that time, when man was given this fruit. He said, "The day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods" (Genesis 3:5). That's what secular humanism is: man being a god unto himself. We trust in our own intellect. We trust in our ability to create. It's a very interesting life that men live who are truly believers in that deity that is within.

We need to see it for what it is. I'll try to finish our review with this. Second Corinthians chapter 4 says it this way: "The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ...should shine unto them [so that they couldn't receive the illumination]" (2 Corinthians 4:4). In other words, what we have is a god of a world's system whose whole purpose is to blind the eyes of humanity to the light of the glorious gospel. The world is opposing the gospel; or, as we saw in James, if you're a friend of the world, you are the enemy of God. To be a partaker of the world's system, James says, is to be at enmity, or in opposition to, God. It's not to just not believe in God. The spirit of the world opposes God.

We left off Wednesday night in our study with this. We saw that since the world is at war with us, what is it that God has called us to do? We are to be at war with the world, aren't we? Jesus says to us very clearly, "I did not come for any other purpose than this." "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil [the evil one]" (1 John 3:8). It's for destruction of the satanic works, of the satanic wiles, that Jesus came. As we're moving about this business, He sent us into all the world to preach the gospel. He said, "I give unto you power...and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

We're at war. What we were looking at Wednesday night is that we have no business, as Christians, sitting back passively. The problem is, most Christians are warring today with carnal weapons. Those that realize something needs to be done are doing the wrong thing. They are trying to move with the world's weapons, the world's wisdom, and the world's philosophy to change the world. So they go around protesting. They protest abortion clinics and they protest the wars that are going on around the world. That is exactly what Satan would have them to do. They (we) are impotent with the world's weapons. "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal...." Another word for "carnal" is "worldly." The verse continues, "But [our weapons are] mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds" (2 Corinthians 10:4).

We have to go to war, and it is not going to be through protests and boycotts. Christians want to get together--it's really kind of humorous--to protest this abortion clinic, or boycott Disney or something. That is not what God has called us to do. God has called us to do two things. He has called us to be a light to the world, and He has called us to be salt as we relate to the world. The question we have to ask is, "Are we fulfilling God's methods of opposing worldliness?" The light of the world. We are lights; Jesus is The Light. We are to be visible representatives of His earthly ministry, the salt of this world that preserves the things that are good. We have to ask ourselves, "How do we relate to the world?"

We left off Wednesday night over in Deuteronomy. Let's turn back there and we'll finish this up by reminding ourselves that with the chosen people, God's covenant children, was made an everlasting covenant. The promises that were to Abraham were not to Abraham alone, but to his Seed; not "seeds" as of many, Galatians tells us, but as one "seed," Christ. We understand that as we're dealing with the world's system, God originally showed us how we have to relate to them. To be a friend of the world is to be at enmity with God. All that is in the world, John says in his first epistle, is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These things are not of the Father, John goes on to say, but of the world. It has its own set of rules; it has its own god; it has its own goals. We asked ourselves the question Wednesday night, "What goals are we seeking?" We said that it's very simple to find out. Just begin to look and realize where your treasures are.

I think we left off as we were talking about what we're planning in relationship to the world. We showed how subtle it is. We are right now in the throes, even in this conservative State in which we live, of constantly warring with the world's system. We have established the fact that the world has made no bones about it. They say that your children belong to them, the State. Parental rights have been lost in this nation. Most of the nation isn't aware of that yet, and those who are propagating this and enforcing it have tried to do it with a soft touch so that a rebellion doesn't rise up. It's just a slow seduction.

We all know that as Americans--and I'm relating to that and not Christians right now--our rights are eroding. Individual rights are eroding. We see the philosophies that are being perpetrated upon us in the spirit of socialism. It depends on how you ask the question, but if you begin to look, most people are becoming socialistic in their thinking. They're looking to government to be the caretaker and the provider for all of us. They think that they owe it to us to educate us, to provide health care for us. We have to ask the question, "Who are 'they'?" What is this spirit that's causing individuals to look to a sociological solution? Isn't it just the precursor of the reign of Antichrist in the world? Most of the world is already under totalitarian rule. They would gladly opt for a good ruler. There is only one source that opposes the totalitarian reign and that's this nation. It's coming down.

We have to understand that and the age that we're living in. I've gotten a little bit off track in wanting to make this statement concerning our children. The State has made no bones about it: your children belong to them. What do you think about that? "No they don't, bless God!" Well, what are you going to do about it? "Well, if they come to get my kids, then bless God, I'll tell you what. I'm going to meet them with my two friends, Smith and Wesson." Well, okay, but that's the world's weapon. I would suggest that now you begin to pray. I would suggest that you begin to understand what is at stake. I would suggest that you begin to prepare your heart and your children for the age that we're living in and for what is at stake. Prepare them for the small things that are at hand.

Here as a ministry we're already facing it. We've done pretty well here in remaining obscure as it pertains to the system, but every time you turn around there are forms coming in here. Some of you are wondering how we relate to these different things. We had a thing come in here just the other day for some of you and your children who want to drive. A form came in here to the ministry that the State says we have to fill out. We've contacted some of you and said, "We're not going to do that. That's your job as parents. You go get it done." There are other ways to do it. If you want your children to drive and they need verification, then there are other ways to do that. Go get them a passport or make other provisions; but we, as a ministry, are not going to be sucked into the system.

We're already in a very interesting situation here as a ministry and as we're training up our children in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. We've already told you how we've had to contend with the EPA. Now there's a big move in the State, another push for accreditation and all of these things, which we're going to deny. We're going to have to do that through prayer, and we're going to have to realize that there can be consequences to that. We have to understand that what they're going to begin to ask of every one of us are just small compromises to start with. I want to ask you a question as the head of your homes, as the priest of your house. Where do you stop compromising? When we are talking about ungodliness and worldly lusts, this is what we're talking about. We're not talking about all these obviously lascivious things that as Christians we don't partake in.

We saw Wednesday night in Deuteronomy how we relate to the world. In chapter 7 (you'll want to turn over there) and also in chapter 13, we saw how we relate to them. In chapter 7, verse 1 says, "When the lord thy God shall bring thee into the land...." We're in the world, but we're not what? We're not of it. We use this world, but we don't abuse it. We understand that there's a conflict that is going on. Those that befriend the world are at enmity with, or in opposition to, God. The things of God, the Scripture says, are foolishness to natural man. We saw in Corinthians that God has come to confound the wisdom of this world. We have nothing that we can relate to. We saw in John 15 that they hated Jesus first. The world hated Him; they're going to hate you. They're going to refuse the wisdom that you and I operate in.

Everything that we are to do in relationship to them we see in verse 2 of chapter 7. "[When you come into their midst] Thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them." We know that in the old covenant, God meant literally to go in and kill these people. We're not called to do that in this age. Why? When was the transition made? Why are we not physically doing this? Wouldn't it be better to just keep snuffing out people? Where was it that this transition of the literal application of this ceased? We see it most clearly in the teaching of Jesus when He establishes the kingdom of God. He says, "There's another kingdom and you've heard it said...but I say unto you...." He took it from the literal, physical realm into the spiritual; and He established in us spiritual weapons and an invisible kingdom. The kingdom prior to Jesus' redemptive work was a visible kingdom. Through Abraham, through the Davidic covenants that were made, it was a literal, physical kingdom. Everything was expressed that way. This is why there had to be this type of application. We're now living in a kingdom made without hands. We're living in an invisible kingdom. Jesus said, "If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight...but now is my kingdom not from hence." We're not of this world and our weapons are not carnal, but the spirit is the same and how we relate to the world is the same.

We see here that they are the enemy of God, and that there can be no compromise. There can be no covenant with them. That is what I want you to see in verse 2: "Thou shalt make no covenant with them." That's why Paul says it this way in the new covenant when it talks about us as Christians and how we relate to the world. Today you see so many Christians, so-called "Christians," that are marrying non-Christians. The apostle says that you can't do that." You can't marry an unbeliever. "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." Now, we know that's referring to marriage, but it also has to do with other areas.

I would encourage this: if you any of you are ever going to go into a business, you can't have unsaved partners. How are you going to be yoked together? How is God going to bless you? How are you going to work through the wisdom of God with people who are enemies of God? I am not talking about being an employee and drawing a paycheck. "Man, I'm working for Microsoft, and Gates is unsaved. I can't be yoked." Let me guarantee you that you are not yoked to him. You are a peon, a slave. That's where you're at. We're talking about partnership and understanding how we relate. God says right here that you can't make a covenant with the world. We have nothing in common with them, and in marriage especially. "Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." That is how we begin to be aware of where our heart is: what we're being drawn to.

He goes on and gives in this passage the reasoning. Deuteronomy chapter 7, verse 4 says, "For they will turn away thy son from following me." Everything the world exists for is in verse 4: to serve other gods. See it in the middle of that verse? "For they will turn away [entice] thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods." The whole spirit of the world is to defy our heavenly Father, to defy the one true God, and to worship the creature more than the Creator. There needs to become a jealousy in your heart.

"But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. For thou art an holy people...a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth" (Deuteronomy 7:4-6). We realize that we're to come out from among them and be separate. "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" (2 Corinthians 6:17).

Generically we know all of these principles, but practically how do we do this? We talked about some of it when we started the study. Let me ask you something. How dependent are your children upon all those stupid games we talked about? How dependent are you guys upon the Internet? You all know where that thing came from, don't you? I will categorically tell you this: the Internet is the purest, the purest expression of the spirit of antichrist in existence today. If when I say that, your first thought is, "Well, there are so many good things on it. There are so many advantages," then what is this you're trying to defend? Is there some kind of a dependency on this? What is your relationship to that thing? "It's so convenient." Really? In what way? "Well, all of the information is available." There is a lot of stuff there, and a lot of it's amoral. I'm talking about the spirit. We're talking about identifying this thing for what it is. "There's so much information on the Internet." They do still make encyclopedias. "Yeah, but who wants an encyclopedia when we can have all the knowledge of the world at our fingertips?" Do you need that much? How much about the world do you want to know?

I would really encourage you to shut down that window to the world and maybe spend a little bit more time here [Pastor lifts his Bible] in the wisdom of God. If you want to know something, you need to know this [the Bible]. How subtle is it? "Well, there are so many advantages to it." Yeah, like you can shop on it--like some of us need to do more of that. It's nice and full of pornography. That's a good way to kill a few hours. How about a nice little chat room? Who are you chatting with? What's wrong with chatting with a live human being whose beliefs you already know, someone from our midst who is not unequally yoked with the world? I just want to let you know there's nothing there that you need. It didn't even exist a few years ago; and we were not only doing fine, we were doing better. I'm not saying to get rid of it. I am saying to identify it for what it is. Be aware of its source. It exists for one reason: the establishing of the kingdom of darkness under the reign of Antichrist. It's where we are; it's where we live.

If I understand the principles here in Deuteronomy correctly, they tell us how we're to react to their gods. Can I ask you something? Would any of you consent to the statement that the Internet is the world's god? It's one of their idols. As the spirit of God speaks to us and causes us to be aware of the age that we're in, I would like to encourage you again with verse 6: "For thou art an holy people unto the lord thy God: the lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth." There is a wisdom that is from above. We need to draw on that wisdom and understand that wisdom that is from above is first of all what? Pure. It's pure. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. The wisdom of God is pure; it doesn't mingle with the world's wisdom. You can't get 20 percent Internet wisdom and the rest from the Bible. If we're going to move successfully, we're going to have to understand the war that's taking place.

Over in Deuteronomy 13, we see again this admonition that comes to us as we relate to the world. The Scripture says in chapter 13 that false prophets are going to come into our midst. We think of a false prophet as being Jim Bakker, or that false prophets are the Peter Popoffs of the world. You all remember Peter, right? Peter Popoff. They were feigning all of these great miracles. I can remember years ago when somebody came to me and first told me, "There's this guy, and under the spirit he does fantastic things." I had never seen one of his meetings at that time. They said that the Lord speaks to him and he says, "There's a George? I'm getting a one? One, five, one. Does that mean anything to you?" "Yeah, that's my address!" "Akoma Street?" "Yes, yes!" "Bakersfield, California?" "Whoa, it's God!" "It's something about cancer." Everybody goes, "Ooooh." I said, "Maybe once." I can handle that in a meeting. I have no problem believing that God can tell one of His servants anything He wants to about anybody else. I've experienced, to a degree, those exact things happening through words of knowledge and words of wisdom; but you don't just reel them off one right after another in meetings week after week. The Spirit does not operate that way. The gifts of the Spirit do not operate that way. The gifts of the Spirit are not subject to men; they are subject to God--the diversity of God and the lack of showmanship that God moves in. Immediately, by knowing the Word and knowing the presence of God, you know that this is not of God. I told people. I said, "That's not God." "Are you doubting?" I said, "I'm not doubting God. I'm telling you this isn't the method of God." "But people are getting healed!" Some did, off of their own faith. Of course, it was later revealed how he was doing this.

We think of those being the false prophets, and that is a big part of it. I want you to understand that the false prophets deal not just from a physical representative (in healing and miracles), but a philosophical also, false doctrine. The great false doctrine of this day is the amalgamating of secular humanism with Christian--not doctrine--mores. We've created a religion that is not Christianity, which is actually being portrayed as true Christianity today. Everybody that is a "fundamentalist" is considered an extremist. People look at people like you and I and they laugh at us because we believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. We believe the literal interpretation and application of the Scriptures, and we are fools in the eyes of the world and most professed Christians.

There are going to be false prophets that come and tell you that you are an extremist, that you need to realize that God uses these other resources as His methods. We get statements from people like Oral Roberts years ago when he was building his hospital there in Tulsa. I was there and saw it as they just finished it. What a beautiful complex, one of the nicest in the world at that time. Their university was one of the finest in the world. It all started from tents and sawdust floors. It all started with an uncompromised proclamation of the gospel of Jesus, and then it deteriorated to him talking on the Larry King show. Larry King looked him dead in the eye and asked, "Are you telling me that, as a Jew, I will go to hell if I do not accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior?" He replied, "I can just tell you this: that God is a God of love." Wrong answer. The answer to that is, "Yes." There is only one name under heaven whereby men can be saved, and that's the name of Jesus.

Where does that compromise come in? Where do statements come from like this: "God appeared to me. Now I want to build a seventy-story hospital. God appeared to me and said that I am to put these two big hands in front of this building." If you've ever seen them, they were huge. "God told me that it was the joining of medicine and the laying on of hands as God's method to heal." I don't find that anywhere. In the Bible, you don't find a seventy-story hospital. You do find seventy who were sent out to lay hands on the sick and to cast out devils. How subtle is this spirit?

I know in your thinking--you wouldn't verbalize this--but I know in your thinking you are more spiritual than Oral Roberts. In our thinking, we look around us and we think we can handle the situation. "After all, I'm more spiritual than David is. I don't have to go to war. I can stay home, take it easy, and walk around on my balcony. I happen to see some maiden over here taking a bath and she's a foxy looking thing, but that won't affect me." When I should have been at war, I wouldn't have been seeing this. If I was at war, I wouldn't be watching the television and seeing that. If I was at war, I wouldn't be on the Internet. If I was at war, it wouldn't be those particular magazines. But we are more spiritual than David; the world doesn't really affect us. We're more spiritual than Samson: "I've never known a time when I couldn't shake myself and just come back. I know that I've been off course a little bit, but I'll just shake myself and get back on course." He didn't realize that the Spirit of God had left him. We're so bound by our own cunning devices that, like Jacob the deceiver and supplanter, we didn't even know God was in the place. Thank God for the transformation that comes when you take hold of the Spirit of God and say, "I won't turn You loose until You've blessed me." Thank God for the final course that he followed, but, beloved, what was it that took him into that position of warfare? Do you understand the spirit of the age that we're battling and the men--many of greater material than us--that haven't finished this course because of this very spirit we're talking about? If your brother, son, daughter, wife, or best friend entices you and says, "Let's go check out these false prophets. Why don't we check out these ministries that are growing by leaps and bounds? They seem to be very successful."

I just received an invitation to a pastors-only meeting up here in Maryland. It's a big church, Evangel Temple, the Mears family, and they're having speakers come in. One of them is T.D. Jakes. It's about how to get low mortgages, how to make 40,000 dollars in one day. There's no blushing; it's all on the brochure. There wasn't one thing on there about preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. They're building these huge complexes and people are coming by the tens of thousands to many of these "ministries". Tragically, somebody who's close to them needs to walk up and let them know that if they continue to entice that way, they're going to kill them. I'm not talking about offing them, really. But those who are going to come and say, "Let's serve other gods," then you (see verse 8), "Do not consent. Do not listen. Do not have pity upon them. Do not spare them." "Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him." Who are we talking about? We're talking about your brother, your sister, your wife, your best friend. "But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people" (verse 9). That's the spirit and jealousy that we should have for the purity of the gospel of Jesus Christ: that anything that the world does, anything that smacks of the world, should be so offensive to us that we want to respond exactly in that way. Can you say that's the case, or is our response more like, "Well, that's too bad they believe that"? The god of this world has blinded their eyes. Somebody needs to come in and begin to see the captives set free. Somebody needs to stand up and say, "That's not the truth. This is the way; walk in it."

With that in mind, as we begin to understand this, we see some of the practical applications over in Chronicles. Turn over there for just a second. Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about in 2 Chronicles. If you want to read something kind of cool, get here in the Chronicles and read a little bit again. You see the conflicts that were back in the days of Asa and Jehoshaphat, as they were opposing Ahab, Jeroboam, and some of those that had been seduced, and the kingdom of Israel. You remember the separation that took place after Solomon when the kingdom was divided. The ten tribes went to the north and set up their false religion with the golden calf theology that came from the days of Moses, the bulls that were made. Jeroboam went to find the people that were the most defiled among them and made them the priests. The true Levites of that day begin to filter down into the southern kingdom. It was a kingdom that was built primarily because of jealousy.

Now Rehoboam, the young man that had come to be the king before the separation, before the split of the kingdom, received some poor counsel. You remember what it was. The people came to him and said, "You need to lighten up on us a little bit. Your father taxed us so bad and worked so hard to build his kingdoms and you just need to lighten up." He went to get the counsel from the older men and the older men said, "Just tell them that you've heard what they're saying and you're going to be just. Tell them you're going to be fair and you're going to work to see that God blesses the whole nation." Then he went to his younger counselors, the young men and they said, "Man, tell these people that you're in charge now, and that they're going to do it your way. If they don't like it, tough!" They came back and said, "How are you going to handle this thing?" He said, "I'll tell you how I'm going to handle it. My dad used whips upon you; I'm going to use scorpions." That wasn't a good answer, because you see it didn't have anything to do with defending the truth or righteousness. It just had to do with his own ego, the natural kingdom. Solomon, we all know, didn't finish the course well, did he? So, Rehoboam as he was coming in here, spoke that way and it caused a schism. Now that doesn't give any right to the divisiveness.

If you read in here you'll see what the spirit was behind the divisions of the kingdoms: it was self-will. You actually see that as carnal as Rehoboam was, he was able to put his finger upon this thing when they were getting ready to have conflict between the brethren, between the tribes of the north and Judah and Benjamin of the south, and as they were going to come together. It was interesting. He said, "Look, we're getting ready to go to war here, but I want to tell you something. Since you're my brothers...." They were literally brothers. We all know of the twelve tribes, and now they're divided. He said, "Since you're my brothers, I want to tell you something: you guys don't stand a chance. Don't you understand what Jeroboam has done to you? Look who you have as priests. They're the criminals; they're the drug addicts; they're the pushers. They're the most decadent in your midst. Yet now they're overseeing the priesthood. Did you know how they become priests? They just brought in some offerings and money and bought the position; and now they're ruling over you. Do you understand what's going on down here in our kingdom? The Levites have come down, who you guys ran off, and they are offering up offerings to the Lord day and night. We have reestablished worship. The shewbread is there and all of the artifacts that God had spoken to us concerning the tabernacle. God is in our midst, and you don't stand a chance."

If you read the story, you'll see what the whole conflict is. It's a conflict between the spirit of the world and the spirit of God: man's wisdom, man's methods versus the presence of God. Read those. Begin to go in and read those. You might take a little time this afternoon. It's only about four chapters you can read and get this understanding. It all starts off in chapter 13 of 2 Chronicles. If you want to, go over to the Kings parallel passages. The book of Kings was written for a different reason than Chronicles. When you see parallel passages, it won't bring you the same information because they're emphasizing two different aspects. Chronicles usually has a little more detail as it pertains to the personalities and the actual events. Kings has to do with the distinction of the personalities and how they related to the chronological good and evil that God was establishing through the generations. It shows His justice in bringing about judgment upon the rebellious in both of these kingdoms, primarily the northern kingdom.

Back to chapter 13, let's finish with this for this morning. Abijah is setting up his group. He is the king now of the southern kingdom and he had about 4,000 people. Jeroboam had 800,000. So they have them outnumbered two to one. Now the guy with the fewest, Abijah, he's saying to Jeroboam (the guy with 800,000), "You guys don't stand a chance." "Ought ye not to know that the lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt [through an immutable covenant, contract that was made]? Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord." (2 Chronicles 13:5-6).

He's the "servant of Solomon," not a son. He has taken this upon himself. He has become too familiar with the things of the household of God. He got too close to power and now he thinks that he has a right. Sound familiar? Like the devil? Too close to power? Wanting to take this thing into his own hands: "I will ascend above the throne. Why? Just because I'm me, and my opinion is as good as anybody else's. Who do these people think they are that are over us?" "Moses, you take too much upon yourself." It's like children who look at their parents as they get a little older and say, "Who do you think you are telling me what to do? I have rights." They start younger, of course. Unfortunately, in our society, they rule most homes. It's the same spirit.

Listen to how we deal with the spirit of the world. "I see your 800,000 people. I hear your philosophical arguments; but the fact is, God chose David. God chose a different kingdom, a different method." Now the fact of the matter is this: "Jeroboam...hath rebelled against his lord. And there are gathered unto him vain men." You can it see even in the church. It's very interesting to watch who gravitates to whom. It's the same in the world, of course. You'll see that when this spirit begins to emerge, words don't even have to be spoken. People are just drawn that are of that same rebellious nature. Korah and Dathan and those that were drawn to them.

How do you respond to the heroes of the world that are being raised up? Are you drawn toward these people? They may be those who are raised up through the business world and their great success, athletes or entertainers. These people are raised up as deities, and those that are of the same spirit are drawn toward them. People feel so sorry for those that are in these churches we were just talking about, that are being deceived by these evil men, these false prophets. The Scripture says, "And the people love to have it so." The Scripture says, "They heap to themselves these teachers." They are of the same spirit; they're not being deceived. "My sheep know My voice and another they will not follow," the Scripture says. The spirit of the age that we're in! This is interesting. As you read these chapters, it's just phenomenal the applications that you can make.

Here he is a rebel, surrounded by "vain men," according to verse 7. Now listen to his analysis. Verse 8 is cool: "And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the lord." He is trying to help his brother out. He says, "Look, you guys are deceived. You're building this kingdom. You've created these bulls, these golden calves. You've adopted the ways of the people that we've driven out." We talked about that as we looked at Deuteronomy, how foolish that is. "Now you're going to worship their gods and think you're going to defy the living God? Listen you guys, come to your senses."

"There are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. Have ye not cast out the priests of the lord , the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods. [They come and buy their positions.] But as for us, the lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister to unto the lord, are the sons of Aaron" (2 Chronicles 13:8-10). They have the right to the priesthood. "We're doing things orderly." He describes their worship in verse 11. Then verse 12 says it all: "And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain." The captain of the Lord's hosts. "You need to understand something, brothers. If you chose the world's methods, [look at what verse 12 says] you shall not prosper." This is the message that we are to be bringing to brothers and sisters who are embracing the world. They call themselves our brothers, but they're in another kingdom. They're in the northern kingdom. We can't just leave these people out there without bringing them this type of an admonition, "You're following and worshipping false gods." There's a remnant out there to be saved. There's a remnant that needs to be set free whom the god of this world has blinded their eyes. Keep your ears open when you go out on the job tomorrow. Listen to brothers who are worshipping other gods and tell them, "There's no way to win over there. You need to come home. You need to come back to the wisdom of God."

As all of this is going on, and he is trying to solicit these children, Jeroboam is setting up an ambush against them. Listening, talking, but setting up an ambush. He surrounds them. Judah realizes that as he is trying to help them, they're trying to destroy them. Verse 14 says, "And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets." The trumpets had to do with the presence of God: that God had come into their midst, and that they were going to receive their marching orders at His declaration. "Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted...." They shouted because they're not trusting in the arm of the flesh. They realize that they're defeated. They're outnumbered two to one. They've now been ambushed. They're surrounded. There is no hope. What do you do when there is no hope? You give glory to God. You recognize who you are as this peculiar people.

In the midst of all of that, the Scripture makes it very clear that when the children of Israel worshipped the Lord, they prevailed. Look at verse 18, "The children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the lord God of their fathers." They prevailed because they relied upon God. That's the big distinction between us and the world.

As you read the rest of these chapters, it begins to get more defined. This becomes now the spirit of this kingdom. Then Asa begins to rule instead of Abijah. Of Asa it says, "And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the lord his God: For he took away the altars of the strange gods.... And commanded Judah to seek the lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images" (2 Chronicles 14:2-4).

There's one thing that is very interesting here that I want you to see in the time of Asa and also in the time of Jehoshaphat. Get this principle down. It's very important that you understand this principle. You'll see it both under Asa and Jehoshaphat. They dealt with the apparent idolatry, the obvious idolatry that that was easiest to access; but the Scripture talks about the high places that were not dealt with, the more obscure areas. We learn something very clearly here. As God begins to purify our hearts and as we begin to trust solely on Him, don't think you're done when you've just dealt with the big areas in your life, the obvious. What about some of those things that are deep, hidden, that no one else is aware of? What about the things that are the little foxes, the things that you don't think are that big of a deal? As you begin these next couple of chapters, we're going to see what true revival is all about, what a true building of the kingdom of God is all about.

It says that Asa cleaned out those things that were within the cities. Verse 6 says, "And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest." God had given them a time. They're building now and fortifying their lives because they know that there is going to be a time when the enemy is going to oppose them. Let me ask you a question. What do we do in the time of peace? Party or build fences? What do you do when you're not having trials? What do we do when there is not the obvious war of the enemy upon our lives? Most of us just want to relax and party. The wisdom of God is to begin to fortify, because the enemy will come again. The Scripture says that there was no war and so they began to build fenced cities and fortified themselves.

"Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us [while we have opportunity]; because we have sought the lord our God, we have sought him and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered" (verse 7). They didn't use their time and their energy just for ease. They prospered in that they built themselves and prepared themselves for the next war that was coming; because God has blessed us. Sure enough, in verse 9 here comes Zerah of the Ethiopians. A host of a million people, three hundred chariots, and they begin to come against the kingdoms of Judah.

As we end with this for this morning, I want you to ask yourself where you are in the midst of this scenario that we're talking about. At what stage do you find yourself here? They look out and they see this host of a million people. Asa's army, the Scripture says in verse 8, is about 580,000. They just keep showing up short, don't they? They're always outnumbered. It's always going to be that way in our lives. Verse 11 says, "And Asa cried unto the lord his God, and said [Beloved, get this as your battle cry the hour that we're in!] 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." It's not personal. It's about the kingdom, about the glory of God, "That no flesh should glory in his presence" (1 Corinthians 1:29). Is that what motivates you this morning? I trust that it is.

Father, we want to do it Your way that no flesh would glory in Your presence. We don't want to do it by the wisdom or the power of the world, but by the things that the world calls weak and foolish so that no flesh could glory in Your presence.

That is the spirit, beloved, that needs to motivate us now. We need to hate the world. We need to see that it boasts against God and glories in the arm of the flesh. As you read on into these stories. It's never clearer than as you read and you begin to see the battles that Jehoshaphat prepares as the Assyrians stand and mock God.

As I was reading and just studying these chapters (2 Chronicles 14-20) yesterday, reading it over and over, one thing was just humorous. An army that was invincible was defeated when God delivered His people. The army is trying to regroup, and they're licking their wounds. They're saying, "What in the world happened?" His counselors came and said, "Well you see, the problem is, their god is the god of the mountains and we got whupped in the mountains. If we can get them to come down here in the plains, we can take them down here. Let's set it up so we can fight them in the plains." Listen to what God says, "Because they have said that I'm only the god of the mountains, I'm going to whup them in the plains." Do you understand where our strength is, when you see that God will defend His own name and His glory? When they say there is no help for him in God, we respond and say, "Lord, they've said there is no help for me. But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice and He heard me out of His holy hill. I found the rest of God for He sustained me."

Have we mingled the wisdom of this world? Have we put any trust or hope in it at all? I understand we're in the world and I understand we can use the world and not abuse it. I'm asking where your heart is. I'm asking whether you've been deceived, and whether you are truly using the world or it is using you. How do we know? Read the next three chapters. We'll find out tonight.

Let's stand before the Lord. We'll finish this study tonight. As you read these chapters this afternoon, one thing is going to be very obvious to you. You'll find out whether your trust is in the Lord or not by whether you sell all out. Are you selling what God has given you to bless you with, in order to try to establish covenant with the nations? Are we making those compromises in trying to sustain our lives; or is there a jealousy for the methods of God, that no flesh would glory in his presence? "It'll never be said that any man made Abraham rich." Do you want to be whole? Just go dip in the Jordan. Do you want to be victorious? Just march in silence around the walls of the city; and don't do anything until God tells you to shout. Just keep your mouth shut until God tells you to shout. Stop trying to wine and dine, con, and manipulate. Just keep your mouth shut until God tells you to shout. When God tells you to roll back the stone, don't argue about whether he stinks or not.

There is a way that seems right to man, but the carnal mind is death. The spiritual mind is life and peace. There's a pure wisdom that is from above and it's peaceable. It brings a peace. When your wisdom is pure, you will be at peace; but the double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways. Have you labored to enter into the rest? Can you sleep in the back of the boat when everyone else is in terror? What a treasure. What an inheritance. Our faith is the victory. Praise God!

Let's sing this together and just rejoice in the presence of God. Hallelujah! We do thank You, Lord. "Create in me a clean heart, O God/And renew a right spirit within me...." As the Holy Spirit now just speaks to your heart this morning, which kingdom are you comfortable in? Which weapons have you perfected? Like David, do you say, "No I can't use your armor, Saul. I've not been proven in it. Here's what I've been proven in. I've been proven in hours and hours and hours of praise and worship in the wilderness. All I know to do is sing praises to God and take this sling. All I know is to move when that anointing comes upon me. I'll take that bear by the whiskers of the chin, and I'll take that lion. This is all I know. I see the shiny armor and I see the sword, but I am not proven in that. I'm not comfortable over there. How dare you, Goliath, defy the living God? I'm not coming against you with the world's methods. I don't have their armor. I'm coming against you in the name of the Lord God of hosts. I've got some bad news for you. He is delivering you into my hands today." Then you take one of those smooth stones. You put it in a sling and you run at him. If God is for us, nobody can be against us. Father, we thank You for that in Jesus' name. Amen. Before you go, turn to somebody and say, "If God's for us, nobody can be against us." Go in peace; God's love go with you.

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