5. Friendship with the world. Very few saints realize that one of the enemies of God is the spirit of the world! Yet this is essentially what the pseudo-Kingdom and its senior brother and predecessor, the prosperity gospel peddles as truth. The spirit of the world is the key instrument Satan uses to entice humanity away from the plans, purposes and programme of God for His creation. Satan tried it with Adam and Eve at Eden (Genesis 3: 1-7). Satan also tried it with the second Adam, Jesus but failed (See Matthew 4:1-11). That is the same principle which he uses daily to cause saints to stumble. Today, the enemy has caused many ministers to be so ashamed of Christ that they re-package the gospel in worldly robes in other to attract sinners. Sinners come and seeing no difference between what they are offered and what they are used to soon settle into the "church" building and its worldly ways. In some places, Youth night meetings are nothing better than night clubbing! Genuine repentance becomes more difficult.
1 John 2:15-17 describes the three principles of worldliness projected by satanic wisdom:
- Lust of the flesh: Satan wants saints to desire what gratifies the flesh (soul and physical body). Whether it is to make you wear particular dresses, spray particular perfumes, live in particular types of houses, drive particular brands of cars or hold only certain types of jobs, the goal is the same: make saints to come off true spirituality. True spirituality is based on worshipping God in spirit and truth, making no room for the flesh. The spirit man is where we should make the principal investments and pay more attention. Unfortunately, Satan reverses this and sets believers on a wild goose chase lusting after the things which gratify the flesh! John 4:23, 24; Philippians 3:3.
Just as Israel did in the wilderness and desired the cucumber, onion and garlic of Egypt, there are many saints whose hearts are strongly latched to the very things they used to live for. This kind of mixed loyalty is unacceptable to God.
This does not mean God does not give good things to His children. He actually does but He does not want us to lust after such things or set our hearts on them. Singleness of eye is required in the Kingdom and Jesus alone, not self should be Lord of your life. God wants us to be totally immersed in Him as Lord of our lives, seek first His Kingdom and that we trust Him to provide all that we need on earth! Matthew 6:25-34; Matthew 16:24-26; James 1: 17, 18; 2 Peter 1:3.
- Lust of the eyes: Satan wants saints to take their eyes off eternal things and focus rather on temporal things. Once this switch of sight is made, spiritual glaucoma ensures! The saint becomes blinded by the fancies of this world to the extent that he/she cannot hear or stand sound truth. Such people end up becoming like the foolish virgins and will certainly not be able to hear the sound of the Trumpet when Jesus will appear to take His elect out of the world ahead of the Great Tribulation. Such saints are busy marrying, dating, giving in marriage, breaking up and starting all over and literally mirror the people of the time of Noah and Lot. Matthew 24; Matthew 25. God has designed the new creation to walk by faith and live by faith, not by sight or by their own abilities. 2 Corinthians 5:7.
- Pride of Life. Pride of life comes about when saints become puffed up because of anything the Lord blesses them with. Pride is a function of ascribing the glory to one self and refusing to acknowledge that one is a mere steward of the grace of God. Whenever any saint is puffed up over any asset or possession, that person is functioning in pride of life. This dangerous leaven can be seen in the blatantly worldly language many leaders use to advertise their gifts and ministries. When ministers look at their airbrushed photographs and feel on top of the world, the spirit of pride of life lurks! When saints make loud claims of their abilities to heal, save and deliver, they are giving space to the spirit of pride. When saints allow themselves to copyright every gift and revelation for the purpose of making money, the spirit of pride is near. When any minister insists on charging for an “appearance” in the name of preaching or teaching, pride of life is at work. When a senior minister can no longer carry his/her bible but needs some page boys or ushers to do so, pride is at the door! If you flaunt your degrees, school attended, job, beauty, possessions with intention to attract attention, you are functioning in pride. If you are in ministry and want to be known, famous and receive invitations from every one, you are in the throes of the spirit of pride! Beware!!! God actively resists pride. James 4:6
The spirit of the world is enmity against God! James God hates it with a perfect hatred because it activates the old man which was crucified at Calvary James 4:4, 5.
The plan of God is that His saints will be simple and unassuming. Even when He lifts us up, God does not want us to carry the achievements on our shoulders and be puffed up. God wants us to emulate Jesus. He came to show us the way to live acceptable lives to God on planet earth. That is the life of simplicity, accessibility and ability to mingle with others of lesser fortune. Consider this truth: on the night He was arrested, the adversaries needed a mercenary, Judas, to positively identify Him out of just 12 men! This means there was nothing about His external features which marked Jesus out from His followers! Matthew 26: 47-50. Since the blessings of God make rich and add no sorrow, it is necessary to check up if the success you are seeking is a God kind or Satan type of success?
Any preacher who is not preparing the saints for the Day of the Lord is guilty of High Treason! Such persons are unfit for the Kingdom but are actually in rebellion and building personal empires of which those they have confused are their subjects. The Day will declare it and the judgement of God for deceiving saints will be harsh! Saints who yield their will to fellow humans to take out the truth of the word and plant error in them have no excuse!
Saints, as the year 2010 is coming to an end, allow the Holy Spirit to search you thoroughly and convict you of any act of treasonable felony which the enemy may have tried to trick you into. It may not be too late to obtain the mercy of God – if your heart is still real and tender towards Him!
...to be continued shortly
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