Post by jazzlover on Sept 4, 2006 20:55:06 GMT -5
But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. Rev 2:14
Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. Rev 2:20
In Revelation, Jesus sent seven letters to the seven churches of Asia detailing each of their strengths and weaknesses. These seven church fellowships represent the complete body of Christ in the earth. All seven are still with us today and so are the problems outlined in each letter.
Both the church in Pergamos and the church in Thyatira had similar problems. The source of the problems was different in each case but the result was the same. Much of the church today suffers from these same afflictions, fornication and eating things sacrificed to idols. Let’s first look at the church in Pergamos. Their problem was a result of faulty doctrine.
The story of Balaam is found in Numbers chapter 22. Balaam was a prophet who was hired by the king of Moab to curse the children of Israel. Ultimately Balaam found that he was unable to curse Israel but he did show the king of Moab how to get the children of Israel to bring a curse upon them selves.
The children of Israel had been instructed by God not to mix with the heathen nations around them. They were especially prohibited from taking wives from these nations. As Israel was coming into the land and expanding, the children of Moab began mixing with the children of Israel. Hebrew men took pagan wives and Hebrew women were given as wives to the men of Moab. Along with these marriages came pagan religious practices. Eventually the children of Israel were turned from worshipping the true God to worshipping idols. It was a gradual process that brought Israel into idol worship without them even realizing it. They mixed idolatry with truth to such an extent that their discernment was lost. If you’d have asked them they would have told you that they were worshiping Jehovah, the true God. But God saw it differently. He saw it as fornication, spiritual adultery.
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? 2 Cor 6:14
Much of the church today holds to doctrine that fails to require separation from the worldly culture around us. In fact many churches today are in a headlong rush to make them selves more and more like the world. The emergent, seeker sensitive, purpose driven churches are all guilty of this. They believe that by bringing unsaved people into the church, the unsaved will eventually be conformed into the image of Christ. The truth is that the opposite is happening.
Do not be deceived: evil company corrupts good habits. 1Cor 15:33 NKJV
God requires his children to separate from the culture of the world. When we fail to do that we become spiritual fornicators serving the god of this world, Satan, rather than the God of heaven.
Spiritual fornication then is pretty obvious but what does it mean to eat something sacrificed to idols? Here is what I believe God showed me.
God’s word is referred to in several places as meat.
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 1Cor 3:2
Jesus said his flesh is meat.
For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. John 6:55
And we know that Jesus himself is the word of God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1
Jesus said we must eat his flesh and drink his blood if we are to have life.
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. John 6:53
When man takes the meat of Gods word and perverts it to fit his own doctrine or agenda, he is sacrificing that meat to an idol. And since Jesus is the word what they are really doing is sacrificing Christ himself to an idol.
Having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin…………
Which have forsken the the right way and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam…… 2 Peter 2:14-15
Take for example the parable of the sower found in Mark chapter 4. We’ve written about this before. The parable of the sower has nothing to do with money. Jesus said the seed is the word of God. The parable of the sower is about what happens to you when the seed (Jesus) is sown in your heart. Every seed produces after its own kind so this parable is about the method by which the character and nature of Christ is produced in you. But wicked men have turned this parable on its ear.
Turn on just about any Christian television broadcast today and you are almost certain to hear some version of the parable of the sower perverted into a scheme to extort money from God’s people. Almost all ministries use this parable to teach you to sow a seed of money into their ministry.
What they have done is taken the meat of Gods word and sacrificed it unto their idol of covetousness. And then they turn around and feed it to you. If you believe them, you are eating things sacrificed to idols. And God says this is wicked.
It is interesting to note that in the letters to Pergamos and Thyatira the wording is reversed.
To Pergamos He says: to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication
But to Thyatira he says: to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
I believe that Gods word is very specific and these verses are no exception.
In the case of Pergamos, the faulty doctrine came first and the result was spiritual fornication. Today church leaders pervert Gods word to make worldliness a virtue. They tell us the way to win sinners is to be more like them. They then feed this to the people, causing the people in turn to to commit spiritual fornication. Just like the children of Israel they don’t even realize they are fornicating with other gods. Ask any of them and they will tell you they love Jesus and are serving God.
Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you 2Cor 6:17
In Thyatira, the order is different. First came spiritual fornication which then led to eating things sacrificed to idols. Today, church leaders who love money and serve the god of mammon pervert the scriptures to justify their own covetousness. Having sacrificed these scriptures to the idol of mammon, they then use them to lure other covetous people into their congregations. Again they claim to be worshipping the true god but are in fact joined to idols.
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you 2Peter 2:3
Is that clear enough for you?
The word here translated feigned is the Greek word plastos {plas-tos'} (from which we get our word plastic) meaning to form or to mold as if from clay. By the idol of covetousness they mold and shape words in order to make merchandise of you (to buy and sell or to use a person for gain).
Regardless of how it begins the result is the same. Either faulty doctrine will lead to idolatry or idolatry justifies faulty doctrine. God declares that we must repent of both spiritual fornication as well as eating things sacrificed unto idols.
What happens if we fail to heed this warning?
To Pergamos he says:
Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Rev 2:16
This sounds amazingly like Rev 19:15 which describes Jesus returning to earth to smite the ungodly with his sword.
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations……
Apparently those in Pergamos who fail to repent will not be saved from God’s wrath and will be appointed a place with the wicked.
To Thyatira he says:
Behold, I will cast her into a bed (of sickness), and those that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. Rev 2: 22-23
Wow! Once again it looks like failure to repent from these sins will prevent God’s protection from prevailing upon many who assume they are safe from tribulation.
What do you think? Have you been eating things sacrificed to idols? Maybe it’s time for you to go on a diet!
Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. Rev 2:20
In Revelation, Jesus sent seven letters to the seven churches of Asia detailing each of their strengths and weaknesses. These seven church fellowships represent the complete body of Christ in the earth. All seven are still with us today and so are the problems outlined in each letter.
Both the church in Pergamos and the church in Thyatira had similar problems. The source of the problems was different in each case but the result was the same. Much of the church today suffers from these same afflictions, fornication and eating things sacrificed to idols. Let’s first look at the church in Pergamos. Their problem was a result of faulty doctrine.
The story of Balaam is found in Numbers chapter 22. Balaam was a prophet who was hired by the king of Moab to curse the children of Israel. Ultimately Balaam found that he was unable to curse Israel but he did show the king of Moab how to get the children of Israel to bring a curse upon them selves.
The children of Israel had been instructed by God not to mix with the heathen nations around them. They were especially prohibited from taking wives from these nations. As Israel was coming into the land and expanding, the children of Moab began mixing with the children of Israel. Hebrew men took pagan wives and Hebrew women were given as wives to the men of Moab. Along with these marriages came pagan religious practices. Eventually the children of Israel were turned from worshipping the true God to worshipping idols. It was a gradual process that brought Israel into idol worship without them even realizing it. They mixed idolatry with truth to such an extent that their discernment was lost. If you’d have asked them they would have told you that they were worshiping Jehovah, the true God. But God saw it differently. He saw it as fornication, spiritual adultery.
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? 2 Cor 6:14
Much of the church today holds to doctrine that fails to require separation from the worldly culture around us. In fact many churches today are in a headlong rush to make them selves more and more like the world. The emergent, seeker sensitive, purpose driven churches are all guilty of this. They believe that by bringing unsaved people into the church, the unsaved will eventually be conformed into the image of Christ. The truth is that the opposite is happening.
Do not be deceived: evil company corrupts good habits. 1Cor 15:33 NKJV
God requires his children to separate from the culture of the world. When we fail to do that we become spiritual fornicators serving the god of this world, Satan, rather than the God of heaven.
Spiritual fornication then is pretty obvious but what does it mean to eat something sacrificed to idols? Here is what I believe God showed me.
God’s word is referred to in several places as meat.
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 1Cor 3:2
Jesus said his flesh is meat.
For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. John 6:55
And we know that Jesus himself is the word of God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1
Jesus said we must eat his flesh and drink his blood if we are to have life.
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. John 6:53
When man takes the meat of Gods word and perverts it to fit his own doctrine or agenda, he is sacrificing that meat to an idol. And since Jesus is the word what they are really doing is sacrificing Christ himself to an idol.
Having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin…………
Which have forsken the the right way and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam…… 2 Peter 2:14-15
Take for example the parable of the sower found in Mark chapter 4. We’ve written about this before. The parable of the sower has nothing to do with money. Jesus said the seed is the word of God. The parable of the sower is about what happens to you when the seed (Jesus) is sown in your heart. Every seed produces after its own kind so this parable is about the method by which the character and nature of Christ is produced in you. But wicked men have turned this parable on its ear.
Turn on just about any Christian television broadcast today and you are almost certain to hear some version of the parable of the sower perverted into a scheme to extort money from God’s people. Almost all ministries use this parable to teach you to sow a seed of money into their ministry.
What they have done is taken the meat of Gods word and sacrificed it unto their idol of covetousness. And then they turn around and feed it to you. If you believe them, you are eating things sacrificed to idols. And God says this is wicked.
It is interesting to note that in the letters to Pergamos and Thyatira the wording is reversed.
To Pergamos He says: to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication
But to Thyatira he says: to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
I believe that Gods word is very specific and these verses are no exception.
In the case of Pergamos, the faulty doctrine came first and the result was spiritual fornication. Today church leaders pervert Gods word to make worldliness a virtue. They tell us the way to win sinners is to be more like them. They then feed this to the people, causing the people in turn to to commit spiritual fornication. Just like the children of Israel they don’t even realize they are fornicating with other gods. Ask any of them and they will tell you they love Jesus and are serving God.
Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you 2Cor 6:17
In Thyatira, the order is different. First came spiritual fornication which then led to eating things sacrificed to idols. Today, church leaders who love money and serve the god of mammon pervert the scriptures to justify their own covetousness. Having sacrificed these scriptures to the idol of mammon, they then use them to lure other covetous people into their congregations. Again they claim to be worshipping the true god but are in fact joined to idols.
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you 2Peter 2:3
Is that clear enough for you?
The word here translated feigned is the Greek word plastos {plas-tos'} (from which we get our word plastic) meaning to form or to mold as if from clay. By the idol of covetousness they mold and shape words in order to make merchandise of you (to buy and sell or to use a person for gain).
Regardless of how it begins the result is the same. Either faulty doctrine will lead to idolatry or idolatry justifies faulty doctrine. God declares that we must repent of both spiritual fornication as well as eating things sacrificed unto idols.
What happens if we fail to heed this warning?
To Pergamos he says:
Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Rev 2:16
This sounds amazingly like Rev 19:15 which describes Jesus returning to earth to smite the ungodly with his sword.
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations……
Apparently those in Pergamos who fail to repent will not be saved from God’s wrath and will be appointed a place with the wicked.
To Thyatira he says:
Behold, I will cast her into a bed (of sickness), and those that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. Rev 2: 22-23
Wow! Once again it looks like failure to repent from these sins will prevent God’s protection from prevailing upon many who assume they are safe from tribulation.
What do you think? Have you been eating things sacrificed to idols? Maybe it’s time for you to go on a diet!