THE LIFE OF FAITH AND THE GLORIOUS CHURCH - 2009
january 11th
THE
"SPIRIT OF IDOLATRY"
Numbers 16:1-3 NASB
Through the
actions of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, On and the rest of the leaders we can see
that they had not "wholly" submitted themselves to the Lord and
therefore, when God sent His prophet to deliver His message concerning the
holiness of the congregation, they were "offended" - and, thus, they
"took action" and rebelled against Moses and Aaron. The same
"evil spirits" that worked in the midst of the people of Israel when
Moses first fellowshipped with God on the mount [the spirit of idolatry and the
spirit of rebellion which drove the people to formulate their worship in the
golden calf] - was now working again in the midst of Korah and the leaders. The
"spirit of idolatry" will always be "allowed" entrance on
the ground of one's desire to serve "anything" or "anyone"
[including one's self through the pursuit of self-glory] before the Most High
God. In other words, if we are not prepared to give our hearts wholly to God
then we will surely allow "ground" [the ground of self-desire] for
this spirit to deceive us and, in deceiving us, influence us to worship
"idols" - that will, in turn, take us further and further apart from
our God and His Will for our life and ministry. The deepest motivation of those
who participated in Korah's rebellion was not only the fact that they
themselves desired to have a more prominent role in the leadership, but also
that they reserved the right, in their own thinking, to worship God as
"they" chose - with no regard to God's "divine requirement"
[Luke
10:27]. In other words, when God spoke His message through Moses,
commanding the people of Israel to remember ALL of His commandments, to do them
and not to follow after their own heart and their own eyes, after which they
had played the harlot, Korah and the leaders became offended. Why? Because the
Word of God spoken through His prophet had cut them to the quick and exposed
the deepest thoughts and intentions of their heart and, so, to
"justify" their own actions, they were "compelled" to
downgrade both the servant of God and the words that were spoken through him.
TAKING
"OFFENSE " - THE SURE SIGN OF A
REBELLIOUS HEART-ATTITUDE
It is a rebellious
["religious"] people who become offended at the "revealed"
Word of God. Yet God continues to send "His delegated authorities"
forth to minister the deepest thoughts and intentions of His heart, and to
expose the wickedness [inquity] and the sinfulness [fear and pride] that have
kept the multitudes from the "pure" worship and fellowship that the
Father desires. The Father is calling "all" of His children to
forsake their idols [and the sin which can so easily beset them - if they allow
it to] - and humble themselves before Him. For it is only as the children of God
truly submit themselves to the authority of God [Word of God] that they shall
come into the place where they are able to receive the wondrous inheritance
that He has provided for them in Christ. Many times, through the foolishness
and the hard-heartedness of the people of God, they leave Him on the outside
looking in and, yet, He desires to deal in a most personal way with each one of
His children. Up until this time - in the church - many have rejected God's
"true delegated authorities" for exactly the same reasons that the
leaders of Israel did as they "maintained" their desire to worship
God as they chose instead of how God ordained. They have come to view
"anything" or "anyone" outside of their own preconceived
notions and mental ascensions [error and false doctrine] as not being from God!
Let each and every one of us "allow" the Word of God and the Holy
Spirit to do Their work in our hearts on a daily basis so that we might
"always" be found humbly considering the will of God for our lives in
ALL that we do and say. For it is in this way, alone, that one will continually
rise above the deceptive [lying] practices of the Evil One and his forces in
this most critical hour.
Related
Scriptures:
Hebrews 12:1; 1 Peter 5:5b-8; Romans 14:23b;
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