Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Somewhat Against You Pt.3

Praise you, Father. Hallelujah! Have some interesting updates from Africa we'll be sharing with you. I got a real interesting email just the other day that kind of reminded me of the hour that we're in and the message that we've been trying to bring. The email came in and said, "Dear Pastor, You don't know me, but [I always get concerned when I see things that start that way.]" As I began to read through, it said, "I've been a Christian for so long and went to a Pentecostal church in California. My dear pastor's wife in Livermore handed me a little booklet called, "Life with Hookie." I was told that Hookie had written another book. This was written by Hookie's associate about her. So I went on the Internet, and the only thing that I could find that mentioned her was your website and some of your teachings." She was just asking about what we knew about Hookie. How this pastor's wife had said that Hookie was one of the most dedicated servants that they had known. I thought that was very interesting. I wrote back real quickly to the lady and gave her the information that I had. She wrote back, again. The pastor's wife was Sister Hatton. The Hattons, Sister Hatton--you've heard me tell the story--was the lady who kicked her shoe across the platform the first time I was in church at 17 years old. I told you they were yelling, "Praise God" and I thought they were saying, "Great Scott". As she was preaching and kicked that shoe off, it went across the platform. It was Mr. Hatton who had prayed for me that first time saying, "Separate this young man to your Kingdom and to the ministry." Small world.

Well, anyway, I went on the Internet myself and was able to find a book that Hookie had written. I didn't even know that she had written her life's story. I'm looking forward to getting it and reading that little excerpt. This one book was printed back in 1957. Also, on the Internet we found an orphanage in Brazil that was named after her. I've shared with you that she was, by faith--she never had a salary in her life, never worked a job, never asked for a dime, just lived by faith, and was supporting over 800 orphans herself at one point. They named this orphanage after her in Brazil.

I can still remember a great story she told about--actually, her associate was telling it or one of the two of them, anyway. If you remember, Hookie was at least, she was at least like five-foot nothing. If she was five-foot, it was on her tiptoes, and she was about as big around as this pulpit. She was about this big and about like that, Scottish brogue so thick you could cut it with a knife. She was loading those barrels. She prayed a minimum of eight hours a day. She was loading barrels to send to the orphanage one day. She was putting something way down inside and fell head first into the barrel and was stuck in the barrel. This little round lady--just whatever it took to give everything for the Lord!

I'm saying all that to say, "I thank God for that generation I knew." Today in the Assemblies of God if you're going to go on the mission field, you have to have a psychological profile. I don't think Hookie or I would have passed that. The faith that it takes to really go do something for God, you probably can't pass very many psychological profiles. You have to have X-number of dollars in your savings account, money raised for so many years, and money raised for tickets to and back. I can remember sitting as a young man talking to John Garlock and how they went to Africa. They barely had enough money to get there, no money to get back, just believing God. Children dying on the mission field, by faith. Children miraculously healed on the mission field, by faith. We're another generation that thinks we're better. The best I can tell, we're not worthy to tie the shoe latches of those people that went before us. What are we going to do about it?

That's what these teachings the last couple of sessions have been. What are we going to do to finish this race? A generation that's bringing glory to God, that's living by faith. I'm not talking about being presumptuous or foolish. I'm talking about striving for the mastery that Paul speaks of. I'm talking about identifying ourselves in the book of Revelation with the letter that Jesus wrote to His seven churches. I believe they are representative, not of church ages as some of the fundamentalists and dispensationalists would tell us, but are representative of the whole: all two-thousand years of Christian history. Not Romanism, but true Christendom, as there's this ebb and flow that everybody experiences. We all do. We have our ups and our downs. We have the great moments of calling fire out of heaven like Elijah did, and then we have the times when we've turned and run and sat under the tree and asked God to let us die; hopeless, helpless, discouraged. The same man, the same God, and we all have those moments.

Then, we talked about the fact that the churches are represented by individuals coming together into community. How the majority of us are, and what the leadership allows us to be, is who we are. You see, these letters are to the leadership, and the question's being asked, "Why are you in this condition? If you don't change, I'm going to remove you." The candlestick is the preachers. He's saying, "If you don't get this thing cleaned up, I'll take you out." That'll get you moving, won't it? I've been trying to ask what the Lord has to say to me. "Lord, what kind of job are we doing here? Who are we as a people?" I think these are questions that have to be answered as we continue in this study. I think some of who we are is seen in some of these letters. Let me read them real quickly to you--couple of different things.

This is from Daniel. Daniel has been a real blessing. He's come in to our midst as a man just kind of watching, learning. A man, who came from another generation of ease and comfort and looking for reputation, saw something different, liked it, gravitated toward it, had a heart, but didn't really understand the cost. Thought he did, joined up thinking he did, and got into it and went, "This is hard!" You know what? Dying to self daily is difficult, isn't it? That's all it's about, a daily cross. He's beginning to learn to embrace that. Not because any of us like the hardness of it, but because of the fruit that it brings. It's going to produce something that remains.

In Daniel's letter he says, "The flock is getting more stable, mature, and compacted together. The mid-week service is growing. We continue to receive visitors every Sunday. This last one, a lady who was invited by one of the members, a relative of a couple that gave their lives to the Lord in our last Sunday service, also gave her life to the Lord making a total of four born again this month, just since the missions team's departure. The ten-year-old boy, Calvin, who gave his life to the Lord through one of the team members has subsequently brought his born again mother, this Sunday brought his father and two-year-old sister. The whole family has been saved and is with us, praise God! I shared Sunday some more on Discipleship Training (DT). It seems the more I share, the more the people are getting fired up. The ground's fertile. There are obvious concerns to share with you, some of what I've alluded to in the last email, but the people are excited and want to start now; praise God." Many of these things are taking place. They were kind of dragging their feet, but they've been fired up thanks to the team that was there. Thanks to the visit, thanks to the ordination that took place. We believe there's a transference of anointing and spirit. We believe that you imbibe spirit from people. We also believe that you can be vexed by the spirit of people as we go out into the world on a continual basis.

Charles was talking here. He was just really concerned about Robert's pending marriage, and that this [other] man was going to cause all kinds of trouble. He said, "What do I do?" I said, "You go on the offensive." I kind of operate that way. I'd much rather have the ball. Christianity is offensive. If you read it, it's very clear. This is the point we've been trying to make. If we have the full armor of God on--we may think we do, but, if you are adorned in the full armor of God, you can't be passive. That armor--this is supernatural stuff. Do you know that this armor that you and I put on: the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, our loins girt about with truth, feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace (I didn't learn the little song; please forgive me), the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. The Spirit goes on to say that one thing will happen. These things are alive. The Word of God is alive and powerful. You will "set out against" is what the Greek aorist is. You will set out against the enemy. It makes you offensive, not defensive.

We're not afraid of the world. We're attacking the world. We're overcoming. We are the light. We are the salt. What we need to realize is if we're not progressing, if we're not taking ground--and I'm not just talking about winning converts. I'm talking about our overcoming the oppression of the world--if we're not moving ahead, then guess what? We're missing some parts. Some of your armor's lying around, and you think you have it on. You may have it on, and like those old long johns, your flap's open. You're going to get hit with a fiery dart. You're vulnerable. We are being called to be on the offensive, to be going ahead. The letter to Sardis--it's interesting. One of the commentators made a very, very interesting comment, again, on the language there. He said the church was one that had immobilized, was standing still, was stagnating. That's the thing we're trying to guard against. That old gospel song, "We've come this far by faith, standing on the Word." Who are we as a people? What price are we willing to pay to be masters?

Turn with me just a second and we'll look at a couple of the principles. Just look with me real quickly at 1 Corinthians 9:25. Then, we'll go through the book of Revelation and look at the church that we want to study this evening, the church of Laodicea. As we're looking, trying to take our own pulse.

Charles said, "What shall I do?" I said, "You go on the offensive." He did. He met with this man, told him what their plans were, that there was going to be this wedding and wanted to know what his position was. He said, "When I inquired of him, what his spiritual condition was, he said, 'I'm a believer.'" Charles said, "If you are, then you'll agree what I'm telling you is the truth." He told him, "We are going to conduct ourselves without tribal interference, without the traditions of men, without our African culture, because we are not Africans, we're Christians. If you're a Christian, you'll conduct yourself accordingly." Charles said, "To my amazement, the man said, 'Well, if that's what the Bible says, then that's what I want to do because I'm a Christian.' It appears as though it wasn't that he wasn't regenerated; he wasn't taught. He had no knowledge." Charles continued to share with him what the Word of God said. "In every area, the man's response was, 'If that's what the Bible says, that's what I want to do, praise God. I've never heard that before, but if that's what the Bible says, that's what I want to do.'"

What do you do with the traditions of men? You tear them down! You renew your mind with the Word of God. This is what God's calling us to do, and it's some exciting stuff. There's some other information here, but I don't want it to detract from what were doing. Some good news--Cha Cha is going to be released any day now, praise God. It's official, so praise God for that, amen? Hopefully, there's going to be the supernatural intervention necessary to keep him free. That's where we are right now. Just continue to believe God. In the natural, it could get ugly later on, but we're not moving in the natural; none of it has been.

In Corinthians then, Paul is speaking, and he makes this comment. I want us to see it together. 1 Corinthians 9:25, "And every man that striveth for the mastery." This is what we've been talking about. "Every man that strives for the mastery is temperate [he goes on to say] in all things." Now, what he's saying is, he's temperate in everything else that would interfere with his striving for the mastery of this one area, which is Christlikeness. We need to ask ourselves the question then: "What are we temperate in and what are we obsessed with?"

To become a champion, a master, requires obsession--the hours that it takes. We've talked about Hookie. This is a woman that prayed eight hours a day. She lived in another realm. She lived in the spiritual realm. I've shared many stories with you of her walk in the supernatural. The lady that wrote the book, "Life with Hookie" is the one that I was sharing the story with you. When they were driving down the road and that carload of evangelists pulled up. Hookie greeted them, and they said, "What are you all doing?" She said, "We're going home to eat. Do you all have food?" Preachers back in those days didn't always have food. They said, "Well, we actually just finished this meeting, and we haven't eaten. But, the Lord blessed us; and we have a couple of nickels here." She said, "Come on over to the house, we'll have steak and potatoes." They said, "That sounds good!" Bunch of preachers ready to eat at a drop of the hat, and it wasn't chicken. They were ready! The associate turned to her and said, "We don't have steak and potatoes." You'd have to know Hookie. I could see her look. I can see her looking at her like, "Lord, open her eyes so she could see. God will provide." As they pulled up in the driveway, the carload of preachers pulled up behind them and right behind them a third car full of steak and potatoes, praise God. The lady said, "You know, I just felt led. God just spoke to me."

We can talk about how spiritual Hookie was to make that statement, but what about the lady that heard to bring the steak and potatoes? Amen? Maybe you're not the one that's going to stand up and make the proclamation. Maybe you're the one to be hearing to bring it. What are we doing in our place in the body of Christ to make sure this whole thing's working for the glory of God? What are we doing to be in a position to where you could hear that voice? That those testimonies can be a part of our life in this generation because He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, praise God! Miracles didn't end in the first century, and they didn't end in the twentieth century. Are we going to be people that live by faith, that walk in the spirit, and live in the supernatural? Or, are we going to be overtaken by our prosperity?

Revelation, Chapter 3, the church of Laodicea--we're very familiar with the Lord's words to them. "These things saith the Amen [the word amen just means "so be it"--speaks of God's sovereignty. These things said the sovereign God], the faithful and true witness [verse 14 of the third chapter], the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth." Now, if we look at ourselves, I wouldn't say that we are a lukewarm church. If we compare ourselves with most folks around us, we'd probably look pretty hot. How much cold water's pouring in here on a daily basis? Do you ever get the bathtub too hot? You start to step in that thing, and go. "Whoa!" You turn on the cold water, and the phone rings. Doesn't take much of a distraction to get this thing cooled off, little bit of cold water, little bit of time.

We want to talk about what's flowing into our midst here in abundance, because that's what we're going to end up. If we're not stirring up the gift that's in us, if we are not pressing into the fire of God's pure presence, then the fact of the matter is we will cool off. The heat of this community is based upon the heat of every individual. Where are you? Are we striving for the mastery? He said, "I want you to be cold or hot." Let's look and see what he says. He said, "If you're lukewarm, I'll spew you out. Here's your problem." Verse 17, we're going to define lukewarmness. "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and [haven't even realized] that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, [let him] open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." That's the last mention of the church in the book of Revelation.

Lukewarmness: I have need of nothing. Now, we know this is talking about natural abundance. As we study the Scriptures and we see the sins of Sodom, the idleness, the wealth. Jesus said very clearly, "The cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, the lust of other things, will come and choke the Word of God out of our lives." Things: Do we want more things? If we're honest, every one of us, in our natural man, the flesh will say, "Yes, I not only want more things, I want everything." Some of you say, "Pastor, I'm not nearly as covetous as you are. I don't want everything." Get a little more; you'll want it. It's a law. It's who we are as Adam's children. It's what's in our members. It's what's fitting a god. "You shall be as gods; your eyes will be opened." Everything in the natural, that spirit of independence that we talked about for so long, that false value that we put upon self that man is, natural man. That thing that kills us is insatiable. Daily, we're crucifying that old man. Daily, we're counting him dead, reckoning him dead. Daily, we're saying, "For me to live is Christ. For me to live is Christ." Is that what's driving you, or is it, "For me to live is things. For me to live is comfort. For me to live is ease. For me to live is to prepare for the future"? The Scripture says, "Live for the moment. Jesus could come at any moment. Live for the eternal." But, because you say you're rich and have need of nothing--not only in natural richness, but many of us are thinking we don't need more spiritually. "This is sufficient. This is adequate. This will get me through." It's not necessarily the case. "I'm rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing."

You see, what he's talking about here is the trust in uncertain riches. What he's contrasting with this--he's not saying, "Look, get rid of this stuff." He's saying, "Put the proper value on it. You've overvalued this stuff. You don't realize that if that is all you have, you're poor. Buy of me gold tried in the fire." Is there a pearl of great price still in your life? Is there something that you would give anything to obtain? Are you satisfied, or is there more of God that you want? What value is knowing Him? Now, the thing that I want to encourage you in this evening is you haven't exhausted Him yet. You don't even have a clue. You don't know God. You don't know what it means to walk in the spirit. You don't have a clue what it means to walk by faith. How badly do you want it? There's a life of contentment. There's a life in the spirit. There's a life in the presence of God that none of us have a clue of. Do you know what? If we pursue God with all of our hearts, and He tarries for another thirty years, and for thirty years, every day you pursue Him with all of your heart, you still won't even be close! How far are we going to get at the rate we're going? What are we robbing from His glory at this pace when He says, "Strive for the mastery. Fully extend yourself. Be temperate in everything that is not the pursuit of God. As it pertains to the pursuit of God, be a fanatic; be obsessed!"

That contrast is what we were talking about as we met with the young adults. That's why we talked about the schedule. Some of the people were saying, "Do we have to? How come we're up here so much? How come so many..." It's really a no-brainer, isn't it? I mean, the most basic commandment, "Love God with all of your heart." If we love Him with all of our hearts, then what's left over for the other stuff? "Well, I mean, I have to go to work." Your Father knows what you have need of. He's the one that made the mandate that you're to live by the sweat of your brow. He knows that you've got to go to work. But, what are you doing at work? Everything we do, we're to do (Say it!) as unto the Lord. That's your life. That's your ministry. That's where you share Jesus. That's where you let your light shine.

As we're pursuing God, as we're pressing toward the mark, the prize, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, the thing that we have to do in evaluating ourselves is ask these very simple questions: "Am I pursuing? Am I buying gold tried in the fire? What is my treasure? What am I after? What satisfies me? How much have I really been seduced by the world and vexed?" We've talked about that, not just in recreational-type things. It's not just movies. It's not just leisure time. It's in the philosophy.

How do we approach life as it pertains to the training up of our children? We talked the other day about DT here, and some people that had left the church. They reported us. We had Child Services come in here, the county. They came in here and said, "We hear that this and this and this took place. Is that true?" I said, "Yes." I think they were just surprised at that, "Yes, these things took place, and we're not changing it for you." Are we to obey God or man? The state's not going to come in here and tell us how to train our children! Psychologists aren't going to come in here and tell us that we're going to warp their little personalities. We're going to whup their little rear ends because the rod drives foolishness far from them. The rod and reproof delivers their souls from hell. If you spare it, you hate your child. Now, you tell me who's right?!! These are the decisions we make.

They're going to tell you at work that you can't share Jesus, and they can tell their dirty jokes. I don't think so! It's not just the fact of my rights as an American. "If you can cuss and blaspheme the name of Jesus, then I should be able to witness the name of Jesus." The fact of the matter is we are salt. We are light. We go into all of the world. We proclaim the gospel. The decree comes that you can't pray to any other gods and like Daniel, you throw the windows open and you pray. Have you already made that decision, or are you going to wait until the pressure comes on you? What do you have to make that decision when it comes? It's coming. What's in you? We talked about that Samson syndrome. "Well, when it really comes, I'll be ready. I'll shake myself because I love God with all my heart. I'll do what's right; I always have in the past." What are you doing to prepare? "If the footmen have wearied you, if you're tired now, if you can't handle what we're in now, how are you going to contend with the horses and chariots?" the Scripture says. That's why we keep making it harder!

Five pounds isn't going to get it done. "Man, I've been working out for seven years at five pounds." You better go to six, or you're not progressing. People are going to think that's a pimple on your arm. You're going to build that thing up. You're going to have to put some kind of resistance in there. You're going to have to increase. "Been working on my cardio; I jog from the couch to the fridge every day for two years now, once. The rest of the time, I say, "Can you bring me something?" What are you doing? It's in the physical man. Aught plus aught is aught. You better go beyond that. We have to do it academically. As you train the mind, as little kids, and we start learning all of our multiplication tables, and we have to memorize all the different aspects of the historical documents, it's training the mind. "Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man." It's the whole man. "Well, it's so hard. It's so hard on our kids to have all of the religious and spiritual things we're doing plus the academics." Okay, it's hard. Guess what? It should get harder! The question is, "Do we still need to grow?" The question is, "What's the enemy doing? Is iniquity abounding?" Do we understand that when Satan is loosed after the millennial reign that those that will be deceived will be as the sand of the sea? Man will live under the lordship of Jesus ruling with a rod of iron. Nobody can resist his will. He is visibly seen. His laws are obeyed one hundred percent with the rod of God. He rules for a thousand years. The moment Satan's loose, the people following Satan are as the sand of the sea. And we're doing what? Do we understand who this enemy is that's after our souls? Do we have any clue how vulnerable we are?

"Well, I'll tell you what. I think it's a little bit overboard, the way as adults, you say, "Watch it when you go on these retreats that you don't get alone over here, or over there." Do you have any idea? Do you not know who you are? Do you not understand the flesh? Do you not understand the principalities and powers? You mean to tell me you're a better man than David? You mean to tell me that you don't have to use the same principles of Joseph? You mean the laws of shunning the appearance of evil, fleeing youthful lusts, doesn't apply to you? Who are you? We think we're beyond these laws that apply to a whole body of Christ? That's why all of the disciplines. It's not legalism. It's spiritual discipline. It's the denying of the flesh. It's pursuit of God. Its buying gold tried in the fire that the generations that have gone before us, the patriarchs, those that have been in our generation that have gone on. It's the way they've made it, praise God, and we've got a better way? We want to call it disputable matters, liberty, or whatever else?

I heard something different here in our midst. We've got people in our midst that come here all the time, every service, making beer in their bathtubs. "Well, that's a disputable matter. A beer won't send you to hell." No, a beer won't send you to hell. I wonder how much of the time spent doing that--I wonder what that time contrasts with serving others, praying, seeking God. What are we doing? We're living in a society--we look at this seeker-friendly thing like it's something new. It's not new, it's Catholicism. Dear God, if ever a church included everybody! All you've got to do is go up to a man, say, "Guess what I did?" The guy says, "Don't do that anymore. Say three Hail Marys, four Our Fathers; see you next week." What ever happened to the Corinthian repentance of carefulness, of a hatred for sin, of a clearing of ourselves? Are those things that are wooing you and holding you; do you hate that stuff? Are you doing whatever it takes to destroy it? Do you see the things that are calling you to embrace them as enemies of your soul, or things that the big bad pastors and deacons won't let you do?

"I would that you be cold or hot. Buy gold tried in the fire, [he says,] so that you could be rich; and put on some white raiment because you don't realize that you're naked. Anoint your eyes with eye salve that you might see." The eye salve of godly sorrow, the eye salve of a jealousy for truth and righteousness and holiness; where are we? The different things as we're evolving--our separation from the world. I think this is what is causing a little bit (of something) in some minds of folks. I don't know if you realize it; this thing is getting exponential. The world that's drawing us, that's anti-Christ, is becoming so much more vile. What's in the church today, this spirit of tolerance--read through these epistles to the seven churches, and listen to the common theme of worldly compromise.

The Epistle when it talks about Jezebel, do you know who that Jezebel is? If you read that, you can see it in the Greek. The Greek terminology is talking--that's the pastor's wife. What it's basically saying is the pastor's wife is running the show. She's propagating fornication. Not just natural fornication, which the Gnostics believed was acceptable. They believed that you could go out and experience all types of physical pleasure. You could be sexually promiscuous because your bodies--as we've shared with you many times--the thought of Gnosticism, your body was just matter. "That's evil anyway. It's how you really are in your heart that counts." I'll tell you what the fornication is that the Spirit's addressing there in this Jezebel. It's the fornication of the world philosophy. Today we would call it feminism. What it is, is broken order. It's not only being promoted but defended. It's seen in so many different ways. I don't want to get off course on this. But, of the most perverted ministries today--you want to know what one of the primary things is in most of the perverted ministries today? Co-pastor--Mr. and Mrs. Pastor--she's not the pastor because she's married to the pastor. She's the pastor's wife. In these churches, you see this position that's coming, and the prominence and the manipulation and the control. (I'm in the wrong church right now as we're talking about Laodicea.) But, the thing that I'm talking about is the ability to embrace these things. The further we move toward purity, the more uncommon we are. You know what? It gets kind of scary being out there alone. We're not alone. I'm not talking about us as just a local fellowship; I'm talking about the true church. The people that when they're shown the Word of God will say, "Yes, that's it. That's what we're going to do." Now, we'll do it differently. We all have different applications and emphasis many times in what we're doing, but as a fellowship we're trying to keep ourselves free from the spirit of antichrist, the wisdom of the world, that calls the faith that we have foolishness. We make decisions that have to do with coming together more as you see the day approaching. We make decisions not to bring paganism and idolatry into our services.

One of the things that we have seen just recently as I've spent time. I thought, "What's the big deal with these weddings? We always run into some kind of a problem with these weddings." I spent some time. I thought, "What's the big deal?" The first thing I have to do, and I do this with everything, I want you to know how I try to approach things. It's always by the Word of God, but the first thing I have to do is get self out of it. The first thing I do is I step back and go, "You're a guy." Immediately, everything that has to do with frou-frou and glass slippers and coaches and Cinderella and the dreams that all little American girls are brought up to believe a wedding's supposed to be, I've got to go, "Okay. That, in and of itself isn't what's offending me. What is it that's not right? Something's not right. Now, help me, Lord. I want to see where we are and how to get our finger on this." As I shared with you, this is the thing that we dealt with in Africa. It's the same thing here. It's cross-cultural. "Why is this--why now in the evolution of our pursuit of God as a people; my own personal responsibility to Father as an overseer--why now? What's going on, Father, with all this stuff? How does this fit into this message that we're talking about? The Lord began to share some different things with me. I began to see it for what it is. I began to see what's really bothering me. It's that spirit of paganism that is so readily addressed and so heartily defended among those of us that say we want to be free from the world, as we spent some time meditating on it. (I'm off course, but since I am, let me finish it.)

In Hermeneutics, there's the law of first occurrence. When you study something in the Scriptures, the first time you see a subject occur usually sets a foundational principle in the Bible. First marriage--who was there? How much of the family got invited? First marriage--who was there? Who? God and who? (Small wedding. Good idea, probably cost you less than 40 grand that way. That's me. I got a cousin, spent $60,000 on his last two weddings; just to make the point of America.) What is this principle? Here it is. What God has joined together--say it! [Let no man put asunder.] Okay, so what's marriage all about? God joining together, that's what it is! It is not a social event. It is not secular. It is God joining two people together, very basic start on this thing. "Well, isn't marriage universal? I mean, hasn't God recognized all marriages? Isn't government universal? God established government, doesn't He recognize it?" The fact of the matter is, yes. Marriages are cross-cultural. They are diverse. They are allowed by God, not ordained of God. But, let me give you the Biblical principle. How's this marriage conducted? "What we do in this marriage, we all stand on one foot. We do the tribe ugga-ugga-ugga thing. We pour pigeon blood over our heads. We spit on each other, and we're married." Now, are they married? As humans, as mankind, and we look upon them and culture and culture and culture and culture, are they married? Yes, they're married because they said they're married. These people are married because it was a common law marriage, and these people are married because, whatever. Paul, 1 Corinthians, one of them gets saved. Are they married? Have things changed? The Christian always is the non-compromising entity, always is the instrument of truth. The children are sanctified by the believing party. If the unbelieving party wants to leave Christendom, the lordship of Jesus, let them depart. You're not any longer married; you're not obligated to that "having spit upon one another." It's as though you were never married because, now, you are married to the Head of the Church. In Ephesians; two people being married, the visible type of the union between Jesus and His church. I think that's why this is such a big deal. I think because for centuries, paganism, the diluting, the hypocrisy, the despising, the polluting of this type, that is the purest physical expression of the union of Jesus and His church, the born-again experience, the church of Jesus Christ, the headship of Jesus. We've got people coming up in the church, getting married, white dresses, veil on, eight months pregnant, three kids by two other men as flower children. We lift the veil; "You may kiss the bride." Yeah, like he's hasn't done that before!

What is a wedding? What is this all about? Now, you have two people that are totally committed to the Lord, worshipping God with all of their hearts, all their souls. You got some unsaved part of a family over here. The church is going to come together. What God is about to join together, two that have been raised to worship God, to honor God, are going to come and make this union and this profession of faith. Two are going to come and say, "We come together for the purpose of bringing about godly seed, promoting the Kingdom of God, honoring Jesus with our purity." When that veil is lifted, it's because they have never been kissed, and this is going to be the first kiss. Their dress is white because they're pure. It's a type of the union of Christ and His church and the promotion of a holy seed. This relative who could possibly be there every week at their side, sitting in church, worshipping God, is a God-hater, refuses to bow their knee, would not be allowed to take communion if they came, refuses to baptized in water because they deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and want nothing to do with a public profession of Him, but want to tell us how to worship God, and that they have a right to be there. No, you don't. The whole fact is, "Who is my mother and my brother? Who are my family but those that do the will?" That's the whole spirit. It's that spirit of paganism. The influence of the polluting of what this thing is, and the pagan thought, that says, "I have a right" that the church has bowed to. That's what I believe is offensive to the lordship of Jesus and the precious blood that He shed for us, and the price that was paid.

What do you do with those folks? You be kind to them. You be as nice as you can, but you just very frankly say, "Look, you don't want to come worship God every other service we have, what makes this so special?" "Well, its little Billy Bob." "Oh, so you want to come in here and worship Billy Bob? We have no idols in this church. We are not pagans. We don't worship our children, we worship God." That's the thing that I believe has caused some of the course that we've gone.

Now, I want to finish with this for tonight. That's the danger. Here we are. We've been told by Romanism that's how you have to do it. We've been told--we don't call it that here, but it's the exact same thing--we've been told by tribalism, blood. So, we realize that we're in a place, I believe, of God saying, "Do you know who you are? I've called you out to call you in." Have we left? What is it that we might still be holding onto that we thought died to us? "I would that you be cold or hot." Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church in this age of secularism, humanism, so dominating the professed Christian church, that to do anything different seems strange. What they're doing should seem strange to us.

Father, we thank you for your Word tonight. We seek your presence in our lives. We seek to know you more. You've said that those, in this case, very people that we're trying to include are going to be the ones that will have us killed and think they're doing God's service. Who is this chaste virgin called the church? The church, the chaste, white raiment to cover our nakedness, gold tried in the fire, no impurities; white raiment, no impurities, no compromise, no amalgamation, philosophy, psychology, humanism, secularism, no ancestral worship, no other gods before me. How do we get there? By works; by making a list of what we will and won't do? No, just buying gold tried in the fire. Getting to know You more. Doing more of what we know to do, and delighting in it. Not doing it because we have to, but because we're privileged to. The grace is sufficient. It's present to enable us, and where it's not, we pray, "Father, more grace, because I don't want to stay like I am. I want to be more like you. I am not satisfied with who I am. I want to be more like you. I don't want to lose the ground that's been taken, as we stand having done all."

Every time I pray, I become offensive. Every time I study your Word and faith rises in my heart, I become offensive. Every time I rejoice in my salvation, I become offensive. Every time I choose righteousness, I become offensive. Every time the truth is revealed to me, I become offensive. Every time I share the gospel, I become offensive. Every time I quench a temptation, a seduction, it causes me to move forward, temperate in all things but my pursuit. Make it real, Father, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Turn to somebody next to you and say, "Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church." Amen. Go in peace; God's love go with you.

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