The Good Laodicean - THREE WARNINGS TO THE CHURCH

No. 17 - THREE WARNINGS TO THE CHURCH
By: John J. Blanchard
Saturday, June 08, 2002

Of late we have been studying the beautiful mind of God. His mind will always do, as we have seen, what is right and what is good. He will always think what is right and what is good. He will always do the most loving and most merciful thing possible in any given circumstance. It is beyond our imagining how loving, kind and merciful our God is.

However, His mind will also execute judgment. He has to. The beautiful thing about God is when He executes judgment it is perfectly fair and always right. You never have to worry about going up before a judge who won’t get it right. He will judge correctly and fairly. There is a principle involved with the judgment of God that I want to state at the beginning here and that is He will be less strict with the ignorant. This should be a common sense thing, but as you will see as we progress through the sermon, this is not necessarily so.

Turn to Luke chapter 12, verse 42: “And the Lord said, ‘Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, “My master is delaying his coming,” and begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.’”

This is a common sense approach to justice. Someone who has no comprehension that they are doing something wrong is treated much more lightly than someone who should have known better. This is what we are being told here. It is a very fair approach to judgment.

Now we tend to judge ourselves more lightly than the world at large. This is human nature. But I am speaking specifically to the Church. We do tend to judge ourselves more lightly than the world at large. We have set up for ourselves, in our mind, a place of safety where we are protected for being worthy of that protection. Somehow we view ourselves more righteous than the world, and we condemn the world for being unrighteous. But as we just saw, if the deceived of the world are unrighteous because they do not know any better, who has the greater fault when sinning? Obviously those who knew better.

Let’s look at a few more scriptures to really solidify this point and our approach to the world. Turn to Luke chapter 9, verse 51: “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, ‘Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?’ But He turned and rebuked them, and said, ‘You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.’” Christ realized to be rejected by deceived people is not worthy of destruction. He told the apostles you do not know what manner of spirit you are. Now we are talking about the difference between the Holy Spirit and Satan’s desire for mankind.

Turn now, if you would, to the Old Testament for a minute. I would like to turn to the very familiar story of Jonah. We are going to actually look at a couple of chapters here. Jonah chapter 3 is where we are headed and we will start in verse 1: “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.’ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.” It took three days to walk, or ride in a cart perhaps, across the city.

Verse 4: “And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’” He was warning them. You have forty days and your time is up! Verse 5: “So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.”

Verse 7 of Jonah 3: “And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, ‘Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?’ Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.”

Jonah chapter 4, verse 1: “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, and said, ‘Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, One who relents from doing harm’” Jonah is saying I am ticked off with You because I knew You were merciful! You were having me proclaim this message and I knew You loved people and were merciful. That is why I did not want to do it!

Continuing in verse 3: “‘Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!’ Then the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.”

Jonah 4, verse 8: “And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’ Then God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’ And he said, ‘It is right for me to be angry, even to death!’ But the Lord said, ‘You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, and also much livestock?’”

So God tells Jonah here you pity the plant now why wouldn’t you pity one hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left? Why aren’t you glad, Jonah, that they repented and do not have to be destroyed? Now that is a good question we should ask ourselves!

Nineveh did not know their right hand from their left but Jonah did! Jonah knew God. Jonah knew He was a loving and merciful God. Jonah knew the laws and statutes of God. He was familiar with God’s way of life. God was asking for minimal repentance. He was asking them to turn away from violence. There is no record here of Him asking them to keep all of the ten commandments, keep the Sabbath, keep the holy days and to start tithing. He just wanted them to cease the violence from the land. Violence is something most people realize is wrong. God wanted them to follow that dictate. They knew better than to kill people and be violent. They repented of it.

Look at Jonah as a type of God’s Church today. We know better. We understand God’s way of life. We keep the Sabbath, the holy days and we understand His word far better than the people of the world. Yet we judge the world harshly! We hold them to our standards and say because they are unrighteous and because they will not repent the world is going to get destroyed! We say almost virtually everybody is going to be killed! Yet the world, we understand, is in ignorance like Nineveh! You have deceived Christian faiths and you also have Hindus, Moslems and pagans of all stripes. They do not know the law of God. God is not going to destroy them until they have proper understanding. They will be given a chance to repent like Nineveh.

We tend to apply to them the standards we must attain. Because they fail to do it (without help of the Holy Spirit, by the way, or understanding of the Bible) we feel they are worthy to be destroyed and we are worthy to be protected. This is an attitude very much like Jonah’s! So I want to focus today, instead of on warning the world, I want to look at three warnings for the Church.

The first warning is to not grow cold or callous. God warns us in His word to not grow cold and callous. Turn to Matthew 24, which is often quoted as a scripture to warn the world, and the Christian nations as well, of the impending doom. Matthew chapter 24, starting in verse 6: “‘And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.’” So Christ says when you hear of these things, do not be troubled. This is not a warning of how to determine when Christ is coming.

Drop down to verse 9 of Matthew 24: “‘Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.’”

There we see, first of all, the sign Christ gives for the end and that is the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to the world. But He also shows us something else here. He shows us a sign of what we will have to endure. He says in verse 10 that many will be offended and betray one another and hate one another. He is talking about the brethren! Verse 11: “‘Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.’” He is speaking of false teaching! Verse 12: “‘And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.’” Now this, He says in verse 13, is what we will have to endure. We will have to endure persecutions from brethren and hatred from brethren. We will have to endure false teaching. We will have to endure the love of many growing cold (a harshness).

So offenses will abound, lawlessness will abound and a harsh attitude (a cold climate) in God’s Church will abound at the end. This must be endured. Indeed, you could say this has taken place on and off since Jesus Christ died. But this has increasingly intensified at the end. So we are warned here not to become cold and callous and do not offend.

That word “offend” is interesting when you look it up in the Strong’s. It means to trip up, to entrap, to entice to sin, apostasy and displeasure. So it is not just an offense to offend someone and hurt their feelings. This is a far deeper offense. This is when we offend someone so seriously that we cause them to stumble. We cause them to be tripped up. We cause them to sin and to apostatize! These are serious offenses. This will cause a coldness and lawlessness of many to abound.

This word “offend” also comes from the primary root that means “to bend and to wear down.” So you see it is referring to offenses that cause people to bow down as if beaten, to wear down, to apostatize to sin. This is a sad situation in which the love of many grows cold and actually causes brethren to drop away from the truth! This is what we are being told here. These types of offenses will be many. It seems to indicate toward the end, before Christ returns, it is all over in God’s Church.

This makes people miserable. That is why so many in the body of Christ are unhappy and miserable today. As a matter of fact, my Bible has some margin references. Maybe yours does too? If it does not, borrow a Bible with margin references and you will look up a link there from that verse where it states “will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). That links you to II Thessalonians 2:3. My Bible did that. Other scholars saw that there is a linking there. So let’s go take a look at II Thessalonians chapter 2 and see what it says.

II Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 3: “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition...” Look at that, “Let no one deceive you by any means...” This is talking about false teaching. “...That day will not come unless the falling away...” A falling away which sometimes is called the apostasy which is in the definition of offend. “To cause to apostatize and to sin.” So these offenses are very serious because it causes what is nominally called the great apostasy, the great falling away at the end time. So that is why this is linked. It is the same concept. We are talking the same thing here.

Let’s go back to Matthew chapter 18. We are going to study into offenses just a little bit and cold heartedness. Matthew 18, starting in verse 6: “‘But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.’” Notice that. It would be better for anyone who causes offenses or causes others to sin (to apostatize) if they had a millstone tied around their neck and be thrown into the sea!

Continuing in verse 7: “‘Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by “whom the offense comes! And if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.’”

Now that is a little different twist on these verses than we have ever seen before. It is not just a matter of sinning with your own hand, it is causing offenses. If we cause someone else to sin, someone else to apostatize, someone else to be tripped up, it is a very serious matter. Christ says it would be better for you if you had a millstone hung around your neck and thrown in the sea than to do that. So we do not want to do that with our brethren ever or anyone in the world, as far as that goes.

Turn back a few pages please to Matthew 13, verse 39, speaking of the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares here: “‘The enemy who sowed them...’” (that is the tares) “‘...is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness...’” It is the same concept we just read a little bit before. Lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold and offenses will be rampant in the Church. This is a serious warning because this is saying people who cause these offenses will be rounded up. They are called “tares.” Tares cause offenses. Tares cause the brethren to sin. They pull down. They weaken and hurt the brethren. Therefore, this is a serious warning for God’s Church - to not offend.

Now let’s go to Luke chapter 17, verse 1: “Then He said to the disciples, ‘It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.’” It goes on to say do it seven times a day if necessary.

So if you are offended, forgive. Christ explains it a little differently in Luke. Do not turn around and offend back and cause a dispute that goes round and round and round. So the offenses can be given and taken but they must be dealt with properly at both ends. If we offend, we must ask for forgiveness. If we are offended, we must forgive. This would eliminate offenses in the Church. It is a very simple concept. Christ says it is incredibly important because if you do not do that, those who offend in My Church I will call tares! They will be rounded up and kicked out! Now this is not a minor warning. This is serious. Christ does not use idle words. When He says millstones around people’s neck and thrown in the sea, He is not kidding. So we do not want to offend even the least of our brethren.

Now let’s go to the Old Testament to Proverbs chapter 18, verse 19: “A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city, and contentions are like the bars of a castle.” It is like a prison. That is why Christ said I want this offense stuff stopped at both ends! If someone offends you, forgive and forget. But you don’t dare offend either! Because if we offend our brother, he is harder to win back than a fortified city! Once these arguments and contentions get going, they are hard to stop. We get bound in them like we are in prison. It is almost like the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s. We see that in the Church today. Church groups are acting like the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s.

We look at and we like to talk about how those people in Ireland cannot get along. We talk about how those people in the Middle East cannot get along or how those people in the former Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia cannot get along. We need not look any further than the Church of God to see that people cannot get along. Offending and not properly dealing with offenses is a big problem in God’s Church. He is not happy about it.

That word “offenses” in Proverbs in the Strong’s says: to cause to break away, to trespass, apostatize and quarrel. Very similar to offense in the New Testament. It has apostasy right in it and quarreling. There is no room for that in God’s Church, or there should not be.

Now let’s go to Psalm 95, verse 8: “‘Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, and as in the day of trial in the wilderness, when your fathers tested Me; they proved Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, “It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.” So I swore in My wrath, “They shall not enter My rest.”’” Now He was talking about the hardening of the hearts of the ancient Israelites. That hardening of the hearts, that callousness, that coldness that came into the congregation of Israel, is what prevented them from entering the promised land. Interesting when we look at Hebrews the same scripture is used to talk about the Church entering the Millennium!

Go to Hebrews chapter 3, verse 7: “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, “They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.” So I swore in my wrath, “they shall not enter My rest.”’” This is the same scripture quoted in Psalm 95. We are being taught this as the New Testament Church: do not make the same mistake! Do not harden yourselves. Do not become cold and callous. Do not offend. If you want to enter into My Millennial rest, do not make the same mistake.

Continuing in verse 12 of Hebrews 3: “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’” If we want to enter into God’s rest, into the Millennium, we best not harden our hearts. You can continue to read this whole next chapter, chapter 4, it goes on to explain the seventh day is the seventh day rest when God represented the Millennium in resting on the seventh day. He says if you want to enter into that Millennial rest, do not get hard hearted. Do not offend. Do not grow cold.

So the first warning to the Church is do not get cold and callous and do not offend. There are dire consequences for anyone in the body of Christ who lives that way. We must repent. We all offend from time to time. We all get cold hearted from time to time. We need to beg God quickly for repentance, help and forgiveness; because that is a very, very serious problem.

The second warning to God’s Church is related to the first one: do not judge harshly. If you would please turn to Matthew chapter 7, starting in verse 1: “‘Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me remove the speck out of your eye;” and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.’”

So do not judge harshly and be quick to tell brothers and sisters what is wrong with them. Do not be quick to tell them what they need to change and how they have offended us. No, instead let each examine ourselves and judge ourselves harshly before we judge our brother and sister minimally. We are looking at planks in our own eye and specks in our brother’s eye. So we are not trying to find fault with our brothers and sisters all of the time.

Turn to Matthew chapter 15. Finding fault and judging harshly has a natural consequence. Verse10 of Matthew 15: “Then He called the multitude and said to them, ‘Hear and understand: not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.’ Then His disciples came and said to Him, ‘Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?’ But He answered and said, ‘Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.’” Now we just read about the wheat and the tares and the uprooting of the tares. This is very similar. He was talking to the Church at that time (the Pharisees)!

Continuing in verse 14: “‘Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.’ Then Peter answered and said to Him, ‘Explain this parable to us.’” Christ went on to explain the blindness that comes from judging harshly. What comes out of a person, the harsh things said and done towards other people, is what condemns and causes blindness.

So that blindness is a serious problem, obviously. Because if we cannot see ourselves for what we are, how can we ask God for forgiveness. We cannot because we are blind. That is why verse 12 says the Pharisees were offended. Christ was saying do not worry. It is not just them being offended, it is their offenses toward others. It is what comes out of their mouths.

Luke chapter 6 goes on to elucidate this point further. Luke chapter 6, verse 37: “‘Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.’” So here we see we are told do not judge or condemn, but also we are told not only will you be judged by the measure you use, you will be blessed to the measure you are kind and loving to other people. God is very fair when He judges.

Verse 39: “And He spoke a parable to them: ‘Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,” when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.’”

This is all about vision and being blind or not being blind, having eyesight or not having eyesight. If we judge and condemn, we are blind. The blind lead the blind. If we are loving and compassionate, we see. Then we have vision to help our brother with the speck. They are two opposite ways of life. They exist in the Church. Two opposite ways of life and they exist in the same Church and this should not be the case.

Let’s turn to I Corinthians 11 like we do every Passover and take a look at judging for a minute. Who do we judge harshly? It is ourselves that we should be judging. Let’s take the planks out of our own eyes. I Corinthians 11, verse 27: “Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”

Verse 30: “For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.” God is saying do not judge others, let’s judge ourselves. Judge ourselves harshly. Do not put up with sin in our own lives. This way, Christ will not have to judge us. But the last thing we want to do is judge others and not see our sins. How can we not examine ourselves? How can we examine ourselves if we are blind? That is how the blind end up leading the blind. It is always best to look into one’s own heart and judge one’s self first.

Now let’s look to the Old Testament. We are going to look at some scriptures that often are used to judge the world. Turn to Leviticus 26. When this is used to judge the world and the nations, the nations of Israel sometimes, as they are called, we start hearing the scriptures read in verse 16. “‘I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.’”

Verse 18: “‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.’”

These scriptures are used to show us how America, Britain and other English-speaking countries will go down and then eventually the whole world will be punished for not obeying God. Terrorism, disease epidemics, starvation, all those cases are built off of these scriptures here and the following scriptures as well. Now there was an early fulfillment in the Old Testament that was physical on ancient Israel. We love to say, in the Church of God, that these verses will be repeated in the New Testament era. The same calamities will happen to the nations of Israel.

When we read this and we apply this to the nations of the world and to the Israelitish nations (the English-speaking nations), are we not being somewhat like Jonah. I say we are! We are making the same mistake that Jonah made! We want to judge harshly and judge ourselves lightly. I say that using these same scriptures because I want to back up. I want to start at the beginning of Leviticus 26.

Back up to Leviticus chapter 26, verse 1. God is talking here. “‘You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God. You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord. If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid...’”

Drop down to verse 14: “‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant...’” Then it says in verse 16 I will do this to you... I will appoint terror over you, wasting disease and all of those things that we just read.

Now let’s ask ourselves some very pertinent questions at this point. Who understands God’s Sabbath day? That is mentioned in verse 2. It says Sabbaths, the high Sabbaths and the low Sabbaths. Who understands that God’s Sabbaths must be kept? Who understands the concept of God’s sanctuary and His temple mentioned in verse 2 and verse 11? Who understands what God’s statutes are, for instance tithing, mentioned in verse 15? In verse 15, who on this earth today has made a covenant with God? Who is baptized and has received the Holy Spirit? Is it the Hindus? I am not picking on them. Is it other Christian groups and not the Church of God? I am not picking on them. Or is it those with the truth of God who have received the Holy Spirit and received understanding?

Are we not the ones who should comprehend these things? As we just saw earlier when we talked about judging, God holds those who understand the most, the most accountable. Those who are the ignorant ones, He holds the least accountable. So why don’t we apply that principle to ourselves? We are the ones who know, so these scriptures apply mostly to us! When we look at these scriptures in that way, it changes our view point quite a bit. We are the ones who should comprehend what it means to be accountable. We are the ones who should comprehend the warnings from Jesus Christ for not paying heed to the commandments, statutes and covenants we make with God.

Now when you talk about lack of food, lack of water, lack of rain, terror and tyrants ruling over you, let’s apply it to the Church. Have tyrants broken the Church up into many pieces? Is there a lack of good spiritual food on the planet today? Is God’s rain lacking (the truth of God) as we studied in the sermon “Let Your Garden Grow?” Yes, it is! So we see this applies to the Church in a spiritual sense far more than it ever did in a physical sense to the world!

So the former fulfillment, as is often the case, was physical. The latter fulfillment is by far mostly spiritual and far more important. Just look at the condition the Church is in today. It is easy to see that Leviticus 26 has happened to us right while we point to the world and tell them they are all going to be destroyed because they are in rebellion and they do not obey God! Here we are, we do not even see that we are the guilty ones! We are the guilty party. So that is the second warning.

The third warning I want to talk about is do not defile God’s temple. Do not defile God’s temple. We just read Leviticus 26. It mentioned the Sabbath days and the statutes, but it also mentioned the sanctuary and the tabernacle. Those are in the temple of God. Now we have studied a lot about the temple of God. We understand that the Church is the temple of God. But let’s take a minute and review that concept, because it is very important at this point to be able to understand God’s warning to not defile the temple.

Let’s take a moment and look at the scriptures about the temple. I Corinthians chapter 3, starting in verse 9. Scriptures we have read many times and scriptures we should memorize. “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become manifest; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.”

Verse 14: “If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” It is an irrevocable fact that we are the temple of God. The people who have the Holy Spirit are God’s temple.

Now turn, if you would, to Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19: “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.” We are the temple and we are where He dwells, in our minds, in our hearts.

Now let’s take a look at Hebrews chapter 3, verse 1. We just read a little bit of this before but I want to start back a little further this time. “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house.”

Verse 4: “For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” Then it goes on to say, as we just said, do not harden your hearts. If you want to be the house of God, do not harden your hearts. It is a warning. But we are without a doubt the temple, the household of God, the body of Christ.

Now that Old Testament ecclesia that we were talking about in Leviticus 26, ancient Israel, was the chosen people of God. They were the chosen nation, the chosen people, “the called out ones.” The New Testament ecclesia, “the called out ones” are the Church of God - those who have received the Holy Spirit and are part of the body of Christ (the temple of God). We are the people of God in the New Testament era.

In the Old Testament example Israel had within it the temple of God, Solomon’s temple and later Zerubbabel’s physical temple. We have within the body of Christ God’s temple. This time instead of dwelling in a physical temple, He is dwelling in our minds and hearts. So He is here, with us, in our home, His home. We have covenanted with Him at baptism. That covenant is our agreement to let Him dwell here with His Holy Spirit. We said you can use our body as Your body. We are dead, we say. In baptism we die with Christ and we are given life through the Holy Spirit. He can have our body, our mind, our heart and dwell here.

Let’s study this concept a little bit and lock it in with the Old Testament before we go any further with this last warning. Turn back to Romans, chapter 9. It is a little bit complicated so later if you would like to go back and read all of Romans 8 through Romans 11. We are going to read parts of it here and put this idea together. We are going to go over the fact that we are just like ancient Israel was, the special called out ones. Only we are the spiritual nation, the spiritual house, and we have made a serious covenant with God. So the warnings that applied to them, apply ten fold, a hundred fold to us. As Leviticus 26 was a warning to them, it is a far more serious warning today for God’s people.

Romans 9, starting in verse 1: “‘I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites...’” He says I would rather be accursed to help them. I would like to help the Israelites. Continuing in verse 4: “‘...to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises...’” So he is saying here in verse 4 Israel received all of these promises, I would love to help them understand what they were offered because now we are offered these things, spiritually. Verse 5: “‘of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.’”

Verse 6 of Romans 9: “‘But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac...”’” He is speaking of the Old Testament saying the children of Abraham are not the only seed. There are more seed to come. We call Abraham the Father of the Faithful.

Rereading verse 8: “‘That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.’” The children of the promise in the New Testament are us - those who have received the Holy Spirit. Those are the true seed of God.

Let’s continue this thought now in Romans 10, verse 8: “‘But what does it say? “The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.’” You are the seed. We who have the Holy Spirit are of the seed. He dwells in our hearts and our minds, as we read in Hebrews and Ephesians (we are the temple of God and he dwells in His house).

Verse 10: “‘For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation. For the scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”’” We are the house of God. Those with the Holy Spirit are being saved and are the true seed. It will be opened to all Jews as well. We are the seed, not the physical seed of Israel.

Romans 11, verse 11: “‘I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall...’” (speaking of ancient Israel) “‘...to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.’” The Jews, that part of ancient Israel, rejected Jesus Christ. Verse 12: “Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?’”

Verse 16: “‘For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.’”

Let’s pause there for a moment. The olive tree is a symbol of ancient Israel and the Jews. We are part of Israel. The olive tree had amongst it some with the Holy Spirit and it was the natural tree, the first tree. In that tree there were the prophets and the apostles because they came actually before Christ died. The prophets like King David, Jeremiah and Isaiah had the Holy Spirit. They in the natural olive tree were the first to be seed of the promise. Now he says you, since Christ, the non-Jew (the Gentile) are grafted in. Because of the Jews being there first and these prophets having received the Holy Spirit first, they are the ones attached to the first ecclesia (the first “called out ones”). The second ecclesia (“called out ones”) is the modern Church, since Jesus Christ. But it is the same Holy Spirit. It is the same Holy Spirit that David, Isaiah and Jeremiah had and that is the same Holy Spirit that is offered to the Gentiles and eventually the whole world - anybody that God calls.

So before we think too much of ourselves and say the Jews are the ones who rejected Christ, let’s realize that Jews and many ancient Israelites who had the Holy Spirit were there first. Yes, when Christ came the first time His people rejected Him but not all of them. The apostles were all Jewish. From that point forward, the Holy Spirit has been opened up to far more people, Gentiles included.

I think we left off in verse 21 so let’s continue in verse 22 of Romans 11: “‘Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more will these, who are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.’”

Now this is very sobering. Because he says do not get too haughty and self-righteous and say God rejected ancient Israel and the Jews and He has replaced them with His Church today; aren’t we wonderful? He is saying, hey, do not get too big in your own mind because if He, being God, was willing to cut them off, He will be much more willing to cut us off as the wild branches grafted in. We are not part of the original tree, for instance. So he is saying do not think too much of yourselves and do not look at them as being the people God rejected. He can very well reject us as well! That is what we read in Hebrews and Ephesians and in the other warnings. Christ can throw us into the sea as it were with a millstone if we do not take these warnings seriously.

Do we think only ancient Israel and ancient Judah could be punished but we are some how set free in a miraculous way and we are not held accountable to anything? This is the warning here that Paul is saying. Do not make the same mistake. That is what it said in Hebrews. Do not make the same mistake. We can literally repeat the error by being blind, by causing offenses, by judging, by not taking the warnings from God’s scriptures and by defiling His temple! We just saw that in I Corinthians 3:16 and 17. If we can defile the temple, we can be destroyed! So we need to look at that temple for a minute in this last warning because that warning in the Old Testament is very valid for today. That is that exercise I just went through in Romans. It is very appropriate for us to pay attention to.

Now I would like to look at the Old Testament warnings, or at least a few of them, for the temple. Let’s go back to Ezekiel chapter 10, verse 17. Ezekiel was looking at the portable throne of God. “‘When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still, and when one was lifted up, the other lifted itself up, for the spirit of the living creature was in them. Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.’” You are witnessing here God withdrawing His glory from the temple, the physical temple of Solomon. Now we just said we are the temple. Lest we think He would not dare withdraw His glory. Let us be very careful. We were just warned in Hebrews that we could make the same mistake. We were just warned in Romans that we could make the same mistake. So let’s take this seriously.

The few chapters right around this are very sobering warnings to the temple. Let’s go to Ezekiel 11, starting in verse 1: “‘Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s house, which faces eastward...’” Now in the old days the Lord’s house was Solomon’s temple but we just read who is the Lord’s house in the New Testament era, it is us. So let’s look at this with that kind of eyesight. “‘...and there at the door of the gate were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. And He said to me: “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city, who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses; this city is the caldron, and we are the meat.’ Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man!”’”

So we have people in the temple saying this is not time to build houses. We saw we are houses to God. This is not far fetched, you will see as we go through this. Verse 4: “‘“Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man!” Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said to me, “Speak! Thus says the Lord: ‘Thus you have said, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind. You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain.’ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the meat, and this city is the caldron; but I shall bring you out of the midst of it. You have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you,’ says the Lord God.”’”

Think “the Church.” When you look up sword, you will find that a sword is a drought in the Old Testament. That is like a cutting instrument of God’s. It is actually the first definition for the sword here. So there can be punishment from God for defiling His temple with a drought.

Keep your finger or a marker in there and go back to Amos chapter 8, verse 11: “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord God, ‘That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.’” This is often applied to the last days. This is a famine of the word. We saw in Leviticus 26 that famine and hunger are part of the punishments for not observing our covenant with God, keeping the commandments and the statutes, revering the sanctuary and the tabernacle.

Now go back to Amos chapter 5, verse 1: “‘Hear this word which I take up against you, this lamentation, O house of Israel: The virgin of Israel has fallen; she will rise no more. She lies forsaken on her land; there is no one to raise her up. For thus says the Lord God: “The city that goes out by a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which goes out by a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”’” Now look at what has happened to the Church today. Are we not decimated just as the scripture says?

Now let’s go back to chapter 4 of Amos. Let’s drive this point home. Verse 6 of Amos 4: “‘Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities.’” Many times I have heard this applied to the physical nations of Israel as a lack of food, bread. But we just read in Amos 8, I will send you a famine of the word. Think spiritually here. “‘Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities. And lack of bread in all your places; yet you have not returned to Me,’ says the Lord.” Who has left Him in the last days? The people of the covenant.

Verse 7: “‘I also withheld rain from you, when there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city. I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, and where it did not rain the part withered. So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, but they were not satisfied; yet you have not returned to Me,’ says the Lord. ‘I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, the locust devoured them; yet you have not returned to Me,’ says the Lord.” What are we being told here? Let’s not be so physical. This is spiritual. This is a spiritual famine of the word.

What has happened to the Church of God in the last days? There are many places on earth where two or three or four Church areas of twenty years ago wander unto one for food and water! The food is scarce and the brethren are wandering for food and for water! That is what God said He would send in the last days to wake us up and turn ourselves back to Him! Let’s stop applying these things physically to the world and judge ourselves first. Let’s ask God for eyesight so we can see our spiritual condition and the spiritual condition of the temple that we have offered Him to dwell in.

Go back to Ezekiel. I would like to start reading in Ezekiel 13. Let’s think spiritual here again. Starting in verse 1: “‘And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’” Thus says the Lord God: “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord.”’” What is the day of the Lord? We know that is not what took place in the Old Testament. This house is the spiritual house of God. This is the temple of God.

Verse 6: “‘They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, “Thus says the Lord!” But the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed. Have you not seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You say, “The Lord says,” but I have not spoken. Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,” says the Lord God. “My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord God.”’”

The prophets being spoken of here are teachers and it is talking about their futility. I was reading to you out of the New King James. What I want to do for you right now is read this out of the Old King James. I am going to go back to the Old King James because it is even clearer in the Old King James.

Ezekiel 13, verse 9: “‘And Mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of My people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God.”’ God is saying that the vanity and the falsehood that these teachers are speaking is not from Him. He does not want vanity spoken of here. If you look up “futility” and “vanity” in your Strong’s you will find the numbers are 7722 and 7723. That means “destruction and devastation.” So we are being told here that those prophets who envision futility, that can be translated destruction and devastation. That is what that term “vanity” in the King James means, or futility in the New King James.

Let’s continue reading in verse 10: “‘Because , indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, “Peace!” when there is no peace - and one builds a boundary wall, and they plaster it with untempered mortar - say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, and you, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it down. Surely, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, “Where is the mortar with which you plastered it?”’”

Verse 13: “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in My fury; and there shall be a flooding rain in My anger, and great hailstones in fury to consume it. So I will break down the wall you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. Thus will I accomplish My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it with untempered mortar; and I will say to you. “The wall is no more, nor those who plastered it, that is, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,” says the Lord God.’”

We are getting a portrayal here of teachers preaching devastation and destruction for the world and peace for themselves. Peace here means exactly that, safe and secure. So they are saying, do not worry, we within the wall (temple, within the Church) are safe and secure. We are going to go to a place of safety in other words. The world will get destroyed - all of those bad people out there. God is saying that is not My message! Do not say that I sent you to say that!

I would like to tie in some New Testament scriptures to this that will broaden our concept of the house, the wall and the destruction. Keep your finger in Ezekiel and turn to Matthew 7, verse 21: “‘Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.’”

Doesn’t that sound a lot like what we just read in Ezekiel? Someone has a house that falls because of preaching destruction to the world and safety to themselves and God says some will have a house that remains strong when it is built upon Christ.

Verse 26 of Matthew 7: “‘Now everyone who hears these saying of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.’ And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Do not take your finger out of Ezekiel yet, but I want to go to Matthew 5 where there is a little more discussion of these houses.

Matthew 5 - first let’s read a little sampling of the beatitudes. Verse 3: “‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’” Verse 5: “‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.’” Verse 6: “‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.’” Verse 7: “‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.’”

Verse 8: “‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.’”

Continuing in verse 13 of Matthew 5, he says this right after He gives us blessings for following the beatitudes: “‘You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.’”

The attitudes expressed in the beatitudes are the light we use to illuminate the whole house of God so it can be seen on a hill. When we go back to the beginning of the sermon, we grow cold and callous, harsh and cruel. When we judge harshly, we cover the light with a basket. Why does God give these warnings and why is He so angry? The world is to know the Church by their love for one another. The condition the Church is in right now hides the view of the Church from the world! They cannot find us. They cannot see us. Indeed, we cannot see ourselves! We cannot discern the body of Christ because we are blind. This is a very, very serious problem. That is why these warnings are in the Bible.

So in God’s house, this house, are many mansions, as we will see in a minute, which are our individual mansions. When we judge harshly, we are cruel and we do not exhibit the beatitudes, we hide the light of the house from the world. They cannot find the truth. When we exhibit these beatitudes, we are the light that they can then find. It is very simple. But God is very angry when His house, His temple where He dwells cannot be found because it has been defiled. It is complicated yet very, very simple.

Keep your finger in Ezekiel still and go to John chapter 14, verse 1: “‘Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My father’s house...’” (the house we were just reading about) “‘...are many mansions...’” (our individual mansions) “‘...if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.’” Our individual house will be given immortality. “‘And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.’”

We are the house of God (Ephesians), we are the house of God (Hebrews) and we are the temple of God (I Corinthians and Ephesians). This building where God dwells is His home and we are individually His temples. We are collectively His house. He wants it seen. He wants the world to know where the truth is. When we judge and offend, when we cause apostasy, when we cause the little ones to leave the faith because of harshness and cruelty in the Church, we obscure the light of God’s house! We are warned do not do that! Do not defile God’s temple. We are to be a light on a hill for the whole world.

Now let’s go back to Ezekiel. This time we are going to back up and go to Ezekiel chapter 8. If your Bible is like mine it has little headings above chapter 8. Mine says “Abominations in the Temple.” Now we can get something out of this. Is God concerned today with the abominations that took place in Solomon’s temple or Zerubbabel’s temple? Of course not! He is concerned with the abominations that are taking place in His temple where He dwells, that is in our minds and our hearts.

So now let’s go to Ezekiel 8 briefly, starting in verse 3: “‘He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court...’” (this is the temple) “‘...where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain. Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance.’”

Why is this the image of jealousy? It makes God jealous because it is sitting in His temple. He does not like it there. Keep your finger in Ezekiel and go to II Thessalonians. II Thessalonians chapter 2, starting in verse 3: “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

He shows himself he is God, why? Because he has the temple of God doing his will! When we offend, when we judge, when we persecute, when we hate each other, when we cause apostasy in the Church, we have Satan laughing. That makes God very jealous! Satan can actually be calling the tune in the temple of God, the Church of God! This is what is being spoken of here.

Now let’s go back to Ezekiel 8, staring in verse 6: “‘Furthermore He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing...”’” (he is talking about His temple) “‘“the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary?”’” (remember in chapter 10 He left there) “‘“Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.”’” So what makes Him leave His temple? Abominations in the temple.

Continuing in verse 7: “‘So he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall. Then He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall,” and when I dug into the wall, there was a door. And He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there.”’” Look what they are doing in My temple!

Verse 10: “‘So I went in and saw, and there - every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls. And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan.’” What is being spoken of here is carved and printed images. Do you know how many of the brethren have gone back to worshipping in buildings of carved and printed images? That is taking the temple of God where God dwelt and go back where there is pagan worship! We go back, and we take the temple of God into pagan surroundings! Maybe we never thought about it that way before.

Continuing in verse 12 of Ezekiel chapter 8: “‘Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols?” For they say, “The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.”’” I want to read verse 12 in the Old King James because it is clearer there. I will read to you Ezekiel 8, verse 12 in the Old King James. “‘Then said he unto me, Son of man, has thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? For they say, the Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.’”

Chamber of his imagery - what is in your mind’s eye, in your mind, in the imaginations? When I looked up “chamber of imagery,” imagery is from #4906. It is a figure or object of the imagination. Imagery, a picture or a wish. It comes from #7906 which means an observatory. Now think of this for a minute. When we sit down in a dark movie house and we let into our minds the imaginations of people who fill the screen with violence, lewdness, all manner of putrid, horrifying and awful things, are we not allowing from an observatory, our chair where we sit, visions of someone else’s evil imaginings to come into our mind? This is the same mind where we imagine things and where Christ dwells in our temple! You tell me if we have not defiled the temple of God! We certainly have. We do this in the dark at movie theaters. We do this in our homes when we watch television. We do this when we look at the wrong things on the Internet. We can do this when we listen to bad music. The imaginations of people moved by Satan to write, film and sing evil things we let into the temple of God. We are defiling God’s temple!

Continuing in verse 13 of Ezekiel chapter 8: “‘And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.” So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.’” Tammuz is the ancient goddess where we get Easter and Astarte and those concepts. God says look My people, the temple are going back to worship pagan gods and goddesses, which happens when we go back to false doctrines. Brethren are keeping Easter again and Christmas. Is this not defiling God’s temple?

Verse 15: “‘Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.” So He brought me into the inner court...’” (the very inner part, the sanctuary) “‘...of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshipping the sun toward the east.’” I have heard of the Church of God and different groups going back to keeping Easter and having Easter sunrise services, keeping Sunday, worshipping on the day of the Sun! Is this not defiling God’s temple?

So those of us who say, hey, at least I never gave up the Sabbath, and I never went back to church on Sunday. I never put up a Christmas tree. But my favorite movie was and is (you fill in the blank), or my favorite television program is (you fill in the blank). Do we think we are any better? God’s temple is a mess right now. It is one terrible mess. So we have to take these scriptures and apply them spiritually, for too many of us have been effected once again by Babylon and have gone back into captivity.

Now chapter 10 in my Bible here has a little heading above it that says, “God’s Glory Departs From the Temple.” I read you that verse where God’s glory left the threshold of the temple so we are not going to reread that, but I can certainly now appreciate why God had to leave His Church and why He had to turn His back on us. If you think He has not, think back to the glory of the Church.

God said in Leviticus 26 I will break the pride of your power. In chapter 10 of Ezekiel where it says God’s glory is leaving His temple, we can certainly see why God’s glory would want to turn His back on the temple. Twenty years ago when the world was awash with the truth and the Church was respected, I can remember when there was 8.5 million Plain Truth magazines going out. I can remember Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong being the first religious leader allowed into China. I remember when Mr. Armstrong had the only plane on the planet, that includes the President of the United States, who could fly between Egypt and Israel airspace without having to go into a foreign country first. He could fly directly. He was well known by 70 or 80 world leaders. The Church had pride in its power. There was plenty of food for everyone. The truth was all over the world. There were over l50,000 people attending God’s Church. It was a force to be reckoned with, a force for truth and for good.

Where are we today? You tell me, has God turned His back on His Church? Of course, He had to for the temple was getting terribly defiled. He cannot dwell when there is this much evil there. The flames were going out. The oil was not coming back in. The fruits of disobedience were clear and the warnings to God’s Church are also very clear. But this is not a downer sermon.

Turn to Revelation chapter 3. Yes, there is a glum side, but God is not a glum god. He knew that this would happen. He has taken account of it in His plan. Everything is accounted for, and He will win. Revelation 3, verse 14: “‘And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, “These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: ‘I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” - and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked...”’”’ Sometimes we talk about blindness in the Church, but we are also miserable and wretched. The condition this Church is in is a mess! We are wretched and miserable! There is very little joy in the Church of God. I can see why.

When we look at ourselves the way we should, we have nothing to rejoice over. We treat each other horribly, we speak harshly towards one another, we judge each other (the Church) harshly. We judge the world very harshly, giving them no hope! God says do not give that message! I am not going to let the world be destroyed!

If we had followed what the Elijah, Mr. Armstrong, had taught in Malachi 4:6, once the assembly of the temple was there and the truths restored, the curse of Malachi 4:6 is no longer applicable to the world! The world will not get destroyed. They will be tested and tried. They will come through a tribulation of the mind in which they must make a choice between good and evil and accept the Holy Spirit just like we had to. That is what we should be telling the world. They are not going to end up the way Hollywood portrays!

Where do you think Hollywood gets its inspiration? Is it from Jesus Christ? Movies like “Armageddon” and “Dante’s Peak” where do they come from? I have never seen either of them but I hear they are pretty horrific in the advertisements I saw. Look how many movies dealing with destruction and the end of the world. Do you think Jesus Christ is inspiring those men in Hollywood? That is Satan’s message! We have a message of hope that God is going to win! We are the salt of the earth that help preserve the earth. As we saw in Luke 9:51 to 56, to desire the earth to be smitten with fires and plagues and all manner of calamity is not what God wants to do. So we need to get with the program and give hope.

Continuing in Revelation 3, starting in verse 18: “‘I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.’” So we can repent just like anybody else.

Verse 20: “‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.’” To sit on the throne of God, is that a bad reward for a Laodicean? No, that is a very, very fine reward! All we need to do is repent, stop judging and do not let ourselves grow cold. We need to exhibit the beatitudes. We will have vision to see ourselves for what we are and to judge ourselves correctly so that Christ does not need to judge us harshly. Then we will have heeded the three warnings to the Church!