"AMERICA: PORTRAIT OF PAGANISM"
I Kings 16:30-33
July 10, 1999
Preached August 1, 1993, morning service
Today we will continue our sermon series entitled "Chariots of Fire" which is based on the life and ministry of Elijah, who was taken into heaven in a chariot of fire. Last week the sermon was "Close Encounters of a 4th Kind", it was a Bible description of the soon coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in an event called the Rapture of the Church.
Today we continue with "America: Portrait of Paganism". Fire. Our Bible says our God is a consuming fire. The Bible said the Lord talked to Moses in a burning bush. In the Book of Revelation He chained Satan and his angels in the Lake of Fire forever, and forever. Fire is the symbol of judgment. I want you to know that God is the Judge of all the earth. Secular Humanist are advancing the idea to our youth that you live this life and that's all there is to it.
I want you to understand that it is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment. With the eyes that you see me, you will see God and with the ears that you hear me, you will hear the Lord. You will stand before God some day and give an account for every thought, for every word and for every deed. You will not be judged according to the opinions of the secular humanist or the ACLU, or the People for the American Way, or the World Council of Churches. You are going to be judged according to the dictates of the Word of God.
Today, America: Portrait of Paganism. What is Paganism? What is the evidence of paganism in America? The Bible said, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord". Does that really describe America? Or has the spirit of Jezebel, the spirit of witchcraft, invaded the home, the marriages and the churches of America until we are no longer capable of recognizing truth.
Read with me, I Kings chapter 16 and the 30th verse and following-(read)
There is a shocking parallel about the political administration of King Ahab and Jezebel and what we have in Washington today. And I want you to hear it. A portrait of paganism in Israel and a portrait of paganism in America, that the church of Jesus Christ may arise and speak up, that this nation, under God, may survive.
Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus let Your Word reach out today with power, anointing and clarity. In Jesus name we pray and all of God's children said, praise the Lord.
What does the word "pagan" mean? Webster defines pagan thusly; "A nation or person that does not recognize the God of the Bible." That is not a politically correct definition, but it is the gospel truth. There is an amazing parallel between the nation of Israel during the administration of King Ahab and Jezebel and the present administration we have in Washington D.C..
King Ahab was a weak willed, vacillating, milk toast leader. His wife, Jezebel, ruled by manipulation, by domination, as a cruel, vindictive and vicious woman who had absolute control over the government. Jezebel is called in Scripture, "that hated woman". We fear people who have raw power and who will use that raw power to control our lives and to crush our dreams.
Jezebel used her husbands office to control and kill anyone who resisted her. She became the government. Israel did not elect her. But they suffered forever because of her. Jezebel brought baal worship to Israel. Follow me with your thoughts. Baal worship was not just one god, it was a pantheon of gods. Baal was a pagan Canaanite god who was driven by the spirit, Baalzebub. Do you get the connection there? Baalzebub is identified in the New Testament as the prince of demons. It is also known as the spirit of witchcraft.
Jezebel brought with Baal worship the female goddess, Anath, who was the god of abortion and euthanasia to Israel.
In America, 4,000 babies every day die under the banner of pro-choice. After 8 weeks the baby has a complete genetic code, a heart beat, brain waves, arms and legs and everyone of their vital organs. According to the law of America, what there is left of it, no one has ever had full control of their body. You cannot take illegal drugs, just because you choose to. You cannot scream fire in a crowded theater, just because you choose to. And I tell you on the authority of God's Word, you cannot snuff out the life of a baby, just because you choose to. It's wrong, it's cold blooded murder according to the Word of God.
Jezebel finally got around to attacking the church. She murdered the prophets and she tried to kill Elijah. Her cowardly husband, Ahab was killed in war by the spoken word of the prophet Elijah. And God raised up a leader Jehu, who rode unto the capital rotunda and had righteous people throw her, Jezebel, out of the White House. And the horse trampled Jezebel under their hoofs and when he pulled the horses back, a pack of wild dogs came and ate her body, leaving the skull and the hands untouched.
God is the Judge of all the earth. And no one is beyond the reach of Almighty God. And God still has a heart burn for this woman as is evident in Rev. 2:20 ""Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols." (Rev 2:20)
The portrait of pagan Israel is sadly the portrait of pagan America. If you think that is too harsh, let me offer the following as evidence of that premise. The Supreme Court has thrown out the 10 commandments, as given by Moses. They said if a child reads them, they may have a moral impact on their lives. Certainly God knows we need some moral impact on their lives. A teacher in America can now teach a 9 year old homosexuality thru the Rainbow curriculum, that's paganism, ladies and gentlemen. That's Baal worship and it is certainly not edifying the Lord Jesus Christ.
When our children at Christmas time cannot sing "Oh come let us adore Him" under the separation of church and state. They must sing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Frosty the Snow Man, that's paganism. Jesus said, "He that is not for Me, is against Me." There is no neutral zone, you are either for the Lord or James said, "A friend of the world is an enemy of God" Moses said, "Thou shall have no other gods before Me." Elijah stood before Israel and said, "You will either serve Jehovah God or you will serve Baal and turn you back on God. Now WHO are you going to serve?"
I say to you today, and to America thru you, "Who are you going to serve? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or the gods of secular humanism and the gods of hedonism" It is time for the church of Jesus Christ to stand up and to hold the blood stained banner of Jesus Christ that the world man see Him as the answer. He is the way, the truth and the life for all of the world.
Jezebel brought witchcraft to Israel thru Baal worship. Certainly the spirit of witchcraft rules Washington, DC. Many think that witchcraft is something demonized people use to get even. That's not true. Witchcraft is the power thru which Satan carries out his will on the earth. There are only 2 kinds of power, righteous authority and unrighteous authority.
In Germany, not that many years ago, the people rejected God and what did they get in return? Adolph Hitler for 12 years of ruthless rule. America's now rejecting the Lord. We have open rebellion against God. We have opened our arms to every element of Baal worship and we have embraced paganism. It is time for the church of Jesus Christ to stand up and to speak up and to take America back. Back to the Bible, back to the family, back to traditional work ethics, back to morality, back to integrity. Back to sanity, let God arise and let His enemies be scattered, in Jesus name.
I Kings 21:25 says, "there never was a man like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord" controlled, really a puppet controlled by Jezebel, his wife.
You say, "Pastor, you have to be more tolerant in this politically correct generation." I'm going to take my lead from Elijah. Jezebel hired 400 prophets of baal to be her personal spiritual advisors. So Elijah called a pastor's conference at Mt. Carmel and said, "Let the god that answers by fire, let him be god." And so they came there and this was the premise.
We are going to offer a sacrifice and the god that sends fire from heaven, He's the real God. And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "You're first" So they went into their indian war chant around the sacrifice, they cut themselves, they screamed, they rolled on the ground. Elijah didn't sit there and say, "That's nice" He mocked them. He made fun. He said, "SCREAM LOUDER, YOUR GOD'S DEAF" When they cut themselves, he said, "Obviously your god's on vacation, so yell a little longer".
The Bible says, "when they were thoroughly exhausted, then Elijah poured 12 barrels of water on his sacrifice. One barrel for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. He prayed and a blazing ball of crimson fire, fell from a blue sky. It licked up the water, it licked up the sacrifice, it eliminated the stones and Elijah took up his sword and hacked 400 false prophets to death.
The Bible says, "Let the righteous hate the evil things" Say that with me, "let the righteous hate the evil things." You say "that's intolerant" You bet it is. Jesus Christ is tolerant of sin. His grace is not the acceptance of sin. The fact that He doesn't kill every sinner Friday night, does not mean that He endorses sin, it means that His grace is giving you time to make up your mind and come to the Lord Jesus Christ and if you do not, then there is eternal judgment without God. A surgeon is intolerant of cancer. When he opens your body and he sees cancer, he goes after every element of it.
Sin is a cancer. You either get the cancer or the cancer gets you. Satanism is a cancer on the soul of America. Paganism is a cancer on the soul of America. There can be no tolerance with it, not now, not ever. There must be absolute victory over it, forever for our children's sake.
Consider manipulation in your home. Children manipulate their parents. God gave your children 2 parents, so that between the two of you your child has one good parent. The first thing a rebellious child will try to do is to divide the father from the mother and vice versa. That's sin. When your child gets older and that's not broken, they threaten to run away from home if they don't get their way. I tried that approach once and I want you to know that I was raised in a very strict German home. And when I say strict, I mean, pardoner, it was strict.
And one day I got the idea that "I'm leaving here". I'm 17 years old, bright as the noon day sun. I'm leaving. And I walked in and announced that to my mother. She grabbed my suitcase out of the closet and started throwing my clothes in it and started telling me goodbye. I got a brand new revelation of who I was around there. It suddenly dawned on me that I wasn't going to be around there to eat supper that night. I started eating humble pie immediately.
I repented and got to stay. But it took repentance, I guarantee you that. I want the youth to listen. Your parents do not owe you a perpetual good time. If you are bored, get up and get off your back side and go wash the dishes, dust the furniture, vacuum the rugs, make the beds, cut the grass, wash the clothes, clean the windows and before you try to straighten out the world, go straighten out your room, for heaven sakes.
The Bible premise of personal problems being resolved is that if you have something against your brother or your sister, you go to that person, person to person, and straighten it out. You see, witchcraft seeks to control without confutation. God wants you to come together in the unity of the faith.
But it cannot happen in the home, church, or the nation until the spirit of Jezebel, the spirit of witchcraft, driven by Baalzebub is driven out of the church, out of the home and Christ is Lord indeed and His Word is the foundation upon which we stand. Give the Lord a praise.
Can we stand. Heads bowed. While the organist is playing, how many of you in this room, can say, "Pastor, I know there is sin in my life and that I am contributing to the environment of paganism, because I am lost in my sin and I am certainly not sold out to the Lord. And I am asking the Lord today, in a very special way, just to come into my heart and cause me to follow Him, with a passion a purity. Can I see your hands right where you are. God bless you.
The Bible says that if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If you're in this room and you know there is unconfessed sin in your life, that you are contributing to a pagan environment in the nation, say "Pastor, today I want to confess my sin and I want to be saved in Jesus name." Can I see your hand, right where you are. God bless you.
How many of you can say there are areas in my home, my life, my marriage that suffer from manipulation, from intimidation. The wife refuses the authority of the husband. The children refuse the authority of the parents. Our home is divided. It's become a cold war zone. And I want the Lord Jesus Christ to bring us together in blessed unity. Can I see your hand, right where you are. Raise it please. Be honest before the Lord.
As we sing, #150, chorus only, I want each one of you who raised your hand to meet me right here in front. And we are going to experience the break thru. The God that answers by fire is going to meet you and you'll never be the same. As we sing, I want you to come. Ready.
Pray this prayer with me, "Lord Jesus Christ,..I ask you to forgive me of all my sin....cleanse me from all unrighteousness ... let everything that is within me...that's displeasing to You....be removed...Lord Jesus Christ... deliver me from every kind of manipulation...from every kind of domination...from every kind of guilt and control...Lord Jesus...from this moment forward, I will serve you and you alone, heart, soul, mind and body...I'm Your's...I will read Your Word...I will obey it...from this day forward...until Jesus comes in the air...or I pass from this life.. In Jesus Name---Amen Now, just thank God for new beginnings, thank God for healing, thank God for deliverance. We receive it Lord Jesus Christ
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