DON’T OFFEND GOD–Satan Always Tempts Us To Love The 3 Things God Hates
Revelation 18:4
Look what Jesus says look at verse
four.
I heard another voice from
Heaven saying come out of her my
people.
You say isn’t this just for the
second coming?
Weren’t 100 pound hailstones
just dropping?
Why is the voice telling somebody to come out of
Babylon?
Well what’s interesting is
despite all of Satan’s power.
Despite all of the Antichrist power.
People are still getting saved.
There are unmarked people
somehow still living on Earth.
Number one:
That’s the first thing.
How do we know that?
Because the people that survive the
tribulation that don’t get incinerated at
Armageddon.
That is our Believers.
They are separated.
Jesus said Remember the sheep and the goat’s judgment.
Jesus talks about that in chapter 25 of Matthew.
He separates the sheep from the goats.
The goats are killed.
They go to wait their final judgment in Matthew 25.
He says depart from me you cursed into Everlasting
punishment.
The Sheep he says inherit my
kingdom.
Those are the people that begin
the population.
We’re going to see in The Millennium they’re
actually people that survived the
tribulation.
They get to go live in
that beautiful paradise world.
Jesus said that is for the people reading Revelation
in the 2th Century and for us living in the
21st century.
To the people alive at the
end of the tribulation.
Look what he says come out of this.
My people you’re so tempted to live for stuff.
To live for pleasure.
To live for success and money.
Now look here’s the verse James wrote.
Do you not know that friendship with the
world is enmity with God.
Whoever then wants to be the friend of the
world makes himself the enemy of God.
Satan always wants to tempt us to love
the three things that God hates.
Look at what John said do not love the world or
anything in the world. If anyone loves
the world. The love of the father is not
in them. For everything in the world the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
the pride of life comes not from the
Father but from Satan the God of this
world. The world and its desires pass
away but whoever does the will of God
lives forever.
Now there’s the key Born Again Christians.
Do the will of God that’s what Jesus said.
He said the Judgment of the people that say we were
Christians and he said you are not Christians.
He said because you never did the will
of my Father in Heaven.
Is that a gospel presentation you
use?
Do you know what salvation is?
Do you know what your offering people?
Do your own thing or do God’s
thing?
Salvation is when you
turn from how you were born going your
own way.
Now you are turn by Faith to Repentance.
Repentance is a change of mind,
You hear a voice and you say oh I believe that.
You turn toward the voice. That change of mind leads to a
completely new change of behavior.
What is the lust of the flesh?
The Cravings of our body chasing pleasure.
There are all kinds of Pleasures.
Some people are chasing eating.
Some people are chasing you know ecstatic experiences.
Some are chasing sexual experiences.
Then there’s the lust of the eyes.
That’s all bad stuff.
I mean it is so clear it’s bad, but the lust of the eyes.
This equals the temptation of our eyes chasing stuff.
It’s the better phone.
It’s a better car.
It’s the better clothes.
It’s the better house.
It’s the better tan.
It’s the better teeth.
We just Chase what we think looks better.
Then there pride of life is boasting about what we
have.
Which social media has become everyone’s practiced in in curating
their image online.
Well the question comes from verse three, if everybody is drunk with
this we need to ask ourself.
Revelation 18:3
For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,
and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and
the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of
her delicacies.
Am I a worldly person? That’s a legitimate question from
what this verse says.
What’s the difference between jealousy, envy and covetousness?
Jealousy is me not liking that you have something.
I’m jealous and there’s a good side of that
because God is jealous. So there’s a perfect form.
Envy is a cousin of that.
I am envious that you’re rich.
It’s so easy for you and you’re
so smart you.
You are so athletic.
What’s the third one?
Covetousness the Bible defines in
Colossians 3:5
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth;
fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil
concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Idolatry is when my desire for things becomes an idol.
What is an idol? It’s something
that I put on equality with God.
What does God say He deserves?
Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Seek first the kingdom of
God what did the people in Ephesus not
do?
They no longer loved him like they
used to.
So God says I want the most
attention.
The most desire. The highest and
most important place in your life.
We get saved. Boom he’s there.
We start adding and so covetousness
is idolatry where something takes God’s
place.
Now in the the Old Testament it was
idolatry.
Idolatry and they set up Idols?
Why did they set up Idols?
The gods all promised him something what did
Baal promise?
Remember Baal is Tamuz only for the Phoenicians.
Jews were always struggling with Baal.
What did Baal promise?
Baal gave two things. He was a
god of thunder and rain.
So he’d help your crops, your sheep, your herd he would
rain. They would have water and grass.
He’s also the god of fertility.
So he gave them sexual desires.
In fact all the baal worship was
going to a Grove of trees. Where there
were sacred women and men.
Where you could have any kind of sexual thing.
You wanted for free to honor
Baal.
Do you see why the Jews were always
running over to the worship of Baal.
It was free. Literal pornography. Not visual
but literal free in that Grove.
That’s what Baal offered and
so that Idol offered them
Prosperity with their business.
Sexual desire.
Covetousness though in the 10
commandments.
It is where you have something better than me.
I don’t like it that you have it.
I don’t have it. So I want it so badly in fact
there’s a form of covetousness.
That I don’t even want you to have it.
We’re starting to see this with the the whole
equality movement.
Financial equality.
Do you know where our culture is going?
What they’re saying?
You know why they’re not punishing people
in major cities?
Prosecuting them. They won’t prosecute
you for less than $1,000 infraction in
San Francisco.
That means you go and in you
break the window. You steal $995 worth of
stuff. The police stand there and
say as long as it’s under a thousand.
There’s nothing they will do to you.
Why are they doing that? Because they
believe there are rich people and poor
people.
And we want the poor people to
take as much as they want until they
have equality with the
rich.
That’s just a form of covetousness.
It’s a form of jealousy.
It’s enshrined in our culture
but the difference between envy
and jealousy and Covetousness is.
They’re all interrelated but if you want
to do a word study. It’s even more
fascinating than that.
So the question is?
What is a worldly person number one thing they want?
Worldly person’s identity is
found in this world not in heaven.
What did Paul say to the Christians?
Your citizenship is in Heaven.
You should be looking for Christ from Heaven.
Secondly a worldly person want?
They use Amusement. Entertainment and
pleasure seeking to escape real life.
You ever met people like that?
They never get around to doing
what they’re supposed to.
Do you know they’re just a mess.
Their life is falling apart.
Their house is falling apart.
Everything is falling apart
They’re always amused.
They’re kind of the basement Gamers.
That the roof is leaking.
They never do anything.
They put a bucket there and let it leak into it.
They’re worldly and they escape the
responsibilities of real life.
Beyond that a worldly person will use their
work.
Now you’ll see this in church.
Their career and even daily life as a way out
of spiritual responsibilities.
They say I can’t go to that Bible study.
I’ve got to work.
Well let me ask a question.
Why you’re working? Are you working for food and
rainment to be content or are you working
to have a brand new car?
A much nicer house?
Did you know what the American
Dream is?
That we should all have
Financial Security and financial success.
We should all have the best house.
We should all have the best car.
We should all have the best education.
We should do anything for our children to
go to an Ivy League school.
We have everything.
Do you know what worldliness
is allowing the pursuit of the American
Dream to push out our spiritual
responsibilities.
I have a responsibility to the God of Heaven.
To share his word in this world.
I have a responsibility to the God in heaven.
To read his word. I have a responsibility to pray
without ceasing to him.
I have a responsibility to share his word.
To disciple my family and nurture my wife.
To serve him all my days.
I work a job to earn money.
To keep doing that.
That’s a Christian who is a worldly person says I can’t get
involved in church.
I can’t help in the nursery.
I can’t help in youth group.
I can’t start a small group for Bible Study.
I’ve got to work.
They just have one story after another as an excuse
for not Servicing the Lord God Almighty.
John Wesley was interviewed in 18th century England.
He said that he earned 100 British pounds a
year. That was his salary. He lived on
like 60 or 80 of it and gave away 20.
So he lived on less than he earned and
gave away to poor people in the church
20%.
He wasn’t a legalistic.
He didn’t give 10. He gave 20.
Later in his life after he wrote thousands of hymns.
He became globally known.
Someone interviewed him. They said how much do
you earn. Now he says’ oh I earn a 1000
pounds a year 10 times more than I used
to he said. I still live on 60 to 80
pounds a year. He said’ I give away
the rest. You know what we would say
about that. You’re crazy.
You should be socking it away.
So that you can live on a golf course in
Florida. Have a boat with a dock
right up to your house. Did you know
there’s nothing wrong with golf courses
or Florida docks or boats. But if it’s a
way out of spiritual responsibility.
What he is saying is if I have more money.
I’ll have more houses. I’ll have more stuff.
He said I won’t be able to do my
responsibilities to God.
That’s why everyone’s heard of
him because he gave up what he couldn’t
keep.
Remember what Jim Elliot said to
gain what he’ll never lose.
Is that where you guys are?
Because boy what you’re deciding at
18 and 19. Is going to stay with
you.
Number four:
A worldly person
schedule is tied to their social life.
Their party life.
Their personal calendar.
Their Recreations.
Not to God.
You know all Christians have responsibilities
to God.
Our goal should be to please God.
You’re going to serve him a worldly
person’s life.
Which is tied to their finances.
Their wealth.
Their possessions.
But not to God.
In this world of ours. You ask people
what their goals are? Most of them are
tied to financial things.
Well they want to be independent.
They want to have enough money.
They want to have it’s all
Financially.
You ask them where does servicing God fit in?
They look at you funny.
They ask what do you mean??
“Only one life to live and soon is past
Only what’s done for Christ will last!”
Hoping to make the time I have left count for the glory of God.
DON’T OFFEND GOD–Satan Always Tempts Us To Love The 3 Things God Hates Revelation 18:4