Proverbs-Related Topical Wisdom

When God's People Become His Enemies

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2015-01-13

Synopsis: John Weaver examines Isaiah 63:10 to show that when God's people rebel, God turns to be their enemy and fights against them. He argues that the modern church has become God's enemy by rejecting His law, offering hypocritical worship, and befriending the world. The message calls believers to obedience, true worship, and separation from the world to avoid God's opposition.

[John Weaver] Isaiah 63, and let's go ahead and have prayer, shall we? Our Father, we're thankful today for the Lord Jesus Christ and for so great salvation. We're thankful for the blessed Holy Spirit and the Word of God, ministering the saints of God. We pray that you'll teach us tonight, that you'd help us and that you'd build us up in the most holy faith. Give us grace that we may serve thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In thy name we pray. Amen. I want you to turn, hold Isaiah 63, but I want you to look at Isaiah 28 in verse 21, and then we're coming right back to Isaiah 63. I just want to read one verse, just so I can make a comment on it. Notice Isaiah chapter 28, if you would please, and verse 21. Isaiah 28, verse 21.

[John Weaver] For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work, to bring to pass his act, his strange act. I read that verse just to lay the groundwork for Isaiah 63 and verse 10. So if you'll turn there just momentarily, Isaiah 63 and verse 10. The Bible says, but they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit.

[John Weaver] Therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them." The title of the message tonight is, When God's People Become His Enemies.

[John Weaver] Now I read Isaiah 28 and verse 21 because judgment there is talking about God's strange act and God's strange work. In fact, in Job 31 and verse 3, God's judgment again is called His strange work there. So I preached the message which I entitled, God's Strange Work. And my text was actually Job 31 and verse 3, and I used Isaiah 28 and verse 21. And while I was preaching that message, and I was showing that God's judgment is called His strange work or His strange act, when He has to judge His own people. And as I was preaching that message, I said, maybe I need to consider when God's people become his enemies. And that thought just came to me as I was preaching.

[John Weaver] So I went home and I began to think and I looked and I found what I want to share with you tonight. To me, this is a very awesome message in that sense of the word because it's a very solemn and awesome thought when you can think that God's people may become his enemies. There is certainly absolutely no doubt that the professing church has fallen far below the norm of Scripture.

[John Weaver] In fact, the truth of the matter is I receive complaints and lamentations from believers all across this country that it is impossible for them to find a biblical church in the area in which they live. In fact, there have been believers that I know, good and godly men, that have confronted their pastors and their elders concerning the unbiblical conduct and the unbiblical actions in the pulpit and out of the pulpit, only to have these people dismissed as rabble-rousers, troublemakers, and even bigots. And I actually know individuals, godly individuals, that have been asked to leave churches and kicked out of churches because of their biblical stance. when the church itself was totally unbiblical. So it appears on the one hand that modern day Christianity has no desire to return to biblical Christianity.

[John Weaver] Vance Havner was a late evangelist. He died a few years back. He summed up our situation very well when he said this, Christians have been subnormal for so long that when one ever gets normal, everyone else thinks he's abnormal. And that's certainly the truth. And the truth is the church today is vastly different from the New Testament church. We've fallen away doctrinally, practically, ethically, and what we've become basically is a pragmatic church.

[John Weaver] In other words, if it works, we'll do it. It doesn't really matter if it's biblical or not, but if it works, if it'll get people in, if it'll get attention, if it'll get us publicity, that's exactly what we're going to do. In order to substantiate that statement, you just have to consider all of the extra-biblical programs, games, entertainment, and blatantly unbiblical attitudes and actions that are regularly exhibited in the average church. Let me just make this very clear tonight. The Church of Jesus Christ was never intended to be an entertainment center, a babysitting service, a psychological den, a feel-good-about-yourself society, an arm of the state or the federal government, and certainly not a political action committee. I mean, the truth of the matter is, the church of Jesus Christ was ordained by God the Father to exalt His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to proclaim His gospel, to edify His saints, and to call sinners to repentance, and to worship and praise Him alone.

[John Weaver] And the modern church not only has failed, but is failing in every one of these areas. And the truth of the matter is, we have become everything except that which we should be. And let me make this statement, and it may shock you. But the modern church has become the enemy of the one true and the living God. God's people basically have become his enemy. So let me ask this question. Is it possible for God's people to become his enemies? Is it possible for God to fight against his own people? Could that not be the reason That we're absolutely defeated, discouraged, downtrodden, and dominated by our enemies. That reason being that God Himself is fighting against us.

[John Weaver] I want you to look at the context of Isaiah 63. And let's begin reading there with verse 7. Isaiah 63 and verse 7. Then we'll read right through verse 10. Notice, if you would, we're talking about God's people now. Isaiah 63, verse 7, I will mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord. and the praises of the Lord according to all that the Lord hath bestowed upon us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses." So we're talking about God's people now, what's this? For he said, surely they are my people, children that will not lie, so he was their Savior.

[John Weaver] In all their affliction, He was afflicted. And the angel of His presence saved them. In His love and in His pity, He redeemed them. And He bared them and cared them all the days of old." We're talking about God's people. So look in verse 10. But they, that is God's people, rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit. Therefore He, God, was turned to be their enemy, and He, God, fought against them. When Israel rebelled against God, Israel became God's enemy, and God became their enemy, and God actually fought against them. You have to remember that God is immutable.

[John Weaver] That means He does not change. That's why I said in Malachi 3 and verse 6, I, the Lord, change not. God is immutable. Hebrews 13 verse 8 says, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, since God is immutable, since God does not change, if God fought against His people in the Old Testament when they rebelled against Him, certainly He will fight against His people in the New Testament era, and after that, when His people rebel against Him. Now, let me just tell you very bluntly, when we fight against God, And God fights against us.

[John Weaver] He wins and we lose. It's just that simple.

[John Weaver] Now, has God fought against His people literally? Oh, yes. I want you to look in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 21. Jeremiah 21. And let's begin reading there with verse 1. And see the answer that God gave to King Zedekiah. when King Zedekiah sent word to Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord and see if he could get Nebuchadnezzar to leave Jerusalem. Notice Jeremiah chapter 21 beginning there with verse 1, the word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur, the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maseiah, the priest, saying, Inquire, I pray thee, of the Lord for us. For Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, maketh war against us. If so be that the Lord will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us." So here's what King Zedekiah wants. Jeremiah, pray for us that Nebuchadnezzar would leave us alone, that he would leave and we would not have to fight. Now watch. Verse 3, Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall you say to Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith you fight against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans which besiege you without the walls.

[John Weaver] And I, that is God, I will assemble them in the midst of this city, and I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and in fury and in great wrath. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. And afterwards saith the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his servants, and the people as such as are left in this city, from the pestilence, and from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life. And he shall smite them with the edge of the sword.

[John Weaver] He shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy." Did God fight against them? He said, not only am I going to help Nebuchadnezzar, I'm going to turn the weapons back that are in your hands, and moreover, says God, I will fight against you personally. If you want to turn right over to the book of Lamentations, right at the end of the book of Jeremiah, You see, Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet.

[John Weaver] He is the one who saw Jerusalem fall. I wish I had time to really go over the book of Lamentations with you. There are five chapters. Actually, the five chapters are five poems. And each one of these poems views the fall of Jerusalem from a different perspective. But I want you to just look in Lamentations chapter 1 here, beginning there with verse 1. Notice, if you would, what the Scripture says.

[John Weaver] How does the city sit solitary that was full of people? How has she become as a widow? She that was great among the nations and princess among the provinces, how has she become tributary? She weepeth sorely. And her tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers, she hath none to comfort her. All of her friends have dealt treacherously with her, and they are become her enemies. Judah is going into captivity because of affliction and because of great servitude. She dwelleth among the heathen. She findeth no rest.

[John Weaver] All her persecutors overtook her between the straits. the ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feast, all her gates are desolate, her priests die, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness, her adversaries are chief, her enemies prosper, for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions, her children are gone into captivity before the enemy, and from the daughter of Zion all her beauties departed, her princes are become like hearts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer. Jerusalem remembered the days of her affliction and her miseries, and all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her. The adversaries saw her, did mock at her sabbaths. Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, therefore she is removed.

[John Weaver] All that honored her despised her, because they have seen her nakedness. She scythed and turneth backwards. Her filthiness is in her skirts. She remembereth not her left hand. Therefore she came down wonderfully. She had no comforter. O Lord, behold mine affliction, says Jeremiah, for the enemy hath magnified himself." Did God's professing people become his enemies? The answer is yes. Did God fight against them? The answer is absolutely.

[John Weaver] And it's a sad picture. But may I point out that in reality this also is a picture of the modern day church. You just stop and think that the modern day church basically has lost its power, its position, and its prominence. Once the Church of Jesus Christ was a force to be reckoned with. There was no politician Let me correct that. There were those statesmen back then that would even consider running for office without an endorsement of the church and without, of course, the sanction of the church indicating that he was indeed a good and a godly man. But the truth of the matter is today, the church now is mocked and ridiculed and is despised and disparaged as helpless and powerless and worthless.

[John Weaver] The story is told of a Catholic priest who's talking to a Baptist pastor. And the Catholic priest kind of smiled and smugly said, we no longer have to say with the Apostle Peter, silver and gold have I none. The Baptist preacher said that is true. But we can also no longer say with the Apostle Peter, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

[John Weaver] We may have the money, we may have the prestige, we may have the prominence, but we certainly do not have the power. So how then can the church become the enemy of God? How can God's people become His enemies? And my answer is the exact same way that the professing people in the Old Testament became the enemies of God. The Apostle Paul explains this really for us in Colossians 1 and verse 21.

[John Weaver] Let me just quote it. Listen to what he said. Colossians 1 verse 21,"...and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now thee reconciled." So he says before our conversion, we were enemies. We're in our minds. What does that mean? It means we thought unbiblically. We thought as lost people think. We thought and lived as the old man. And the scripture tells us that if we've been saved by the grace of God, that we're put on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness. And so, when we begin to think like the old man, and when we begin to think humanistically, we're becoming, in our minds again, the enemies of God.

[John Weaver] You have to understand that thinking and acting go together. In Proverbs 23 and verse 7, the Bible says, As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. The Apostle Paul said, in Philippians 3 and verse 18, For many walk of whom I've told you all but didn't even tell you weeping, that they're enemies of the cross of Christ. So as you think, so shall you live. So when we think and act unbiblically and unscripturally, for all practical purposes, we're fighting against God.

[John Weaver] And it doesn't really matter what our profession is. You know, I could tell my wife all day long that I love her, but as long as I'm running around with other women, it's very obvious that I don't love her. And I can tell the Lord I love Him, but as long as I'm doing absolutely contrary to Him, it's quite obvious I really don't love Him. So it doesn't really matter what our profession is, as long as we're being disobedient, we're actually fighting against God.

[John Weaver] So how do we become God's enemies? I want to give you three things tonight. I want to show them to you from the Bible. The very first way we become God's enemies is by rejection and disobedience to His law. We become God's enemies by rejection of and disobedience to His law.

[John Weaver] Now, here's a truth that you need to understand. A king rules by his law. It doesn't matter if we're talking about the king of heaven or an earthly king. He rules by his law. And the one true and living God has given His law, and His law is an expression of His will. His law tells us how we should live. Therefore, when there is a rejection of God's law, it is in reality a rejection of God Himself and His kingdom.

[John Weaver] Let me show you this. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Hosea chapter 4. Right after the book of Daniel, Daniel-Hosea, Hosea chapter 4. And let's begin reading there with verse 1. I want you to look at this. Hosea 4, verse 1. We'll read through verse 6. Notice what the Bible says. Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.

[John Weaver] So God's got an argument. God's got a controversy with the children of Israel. What is it? Because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land." Hmm. Would you like to know what the consequences and the results are when you have no knowledge of God, or truth, or mercy in the land? Well, look in verse 2. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood touches blood.

[John Weaver] Therefore shall the land mourn, and everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. Yet let no man strive, nor prove another, for the people are they that strive with the priest. Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother."

[John Weaver] Now look what he says, verse 6, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee. that thou shalt be no priest to me, seeing thou hast forgotten the law by God, I will also forget thy children."

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to listen to that. God says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have forgotten My law, I will also forget your children. I told you earlier that God's law is an expression of His will. You know what our children are? They're an expression of our will. We wanted them. God gave them to us. We had them. So God says, you reject and forget the expression of My will. I'll reject and forget the expression of your will. You want to know what's wrong with all the young people in this country? We've forgotten God and His law, and He's forgotten them. Yeah, that's exactly right. Forgetting God is the same as rejecting God, because both lead to disobedience.

[John Weaver] For instance, go back in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 8. Deuteronomy, chapter 8. And let's begin reading there with verse 10. Deuteronomy, chapter 8. Notice, if you would please, with verse 10, and we'll read through verse 14. Deuteronomy 8, verse 10, God says, When thou hast eaten and are full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, now watch this, beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments and his judgments and his statutes which I command thee this day. Lest, when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein, and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."

[John Weaver] Now, what did he say? He said, usually, when you have prosperity, and when you're unusually blessed, what most men do is forget God. They become unappreciative, they become unthankful, they become ungrateful, and they just assume that we don't really need God. Forgetting God is the same as rejecting God. I want you to turn to Isaiah chapter 5. Let me show you this. Isaiah chapter 5, then we'll go to Jeremiah chapter 5. But look in Isaiah chapter 5, and let's begin reading over verse 1. Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 1. I'm reading this just to show you that, again, we're talking about God's people. Isaiah 5 and verse 1, Now will I sing unto my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill.

[John Weaver] And he fetched it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein. And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

[John Weaver] Now who is he talking to? And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard than I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked, that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes. Now go to, I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.

[John Weaver] I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up, and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down, and I will lay it waste. It shall not be pruned, nor digged, but there shall come up briars and thorns. I also will command the clouds, that they know rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant.

[John Weaver] And he looked for judgment, behold, oppression, for righteousness, but behold, a cry." Now skip down to verse 24 and 25. Look what God says He's going to do to His people. Verse 24, Therefore as the fire devoured the stubble, and the flame consumed the chap, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall grow up as dust, because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against this people, he has stretched forth his hand against them and smitten them, And the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." Why did God fight against them?

[John Weaver] The answer is very clear. Because they despised the word of the Lord, and they cast away the law of the Lord. That's what the scripture says. Look in Jeremiah chapter 5. Isaiah, Jeremiah. Let's go over to the next book, Jeremiah chapter 5. And again, let's begin there with verse 1. Jeremiah 5, verse 1. Watch carefully. Look what he says to Jeremiah. Run you to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh truth, and I will pardon it. Now God said, Jeremiah, you can run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem. If you can find one man, just one, that does what's right, I'll pardon the entire city. Look at verse 2. Look what he said in verse 2.

[John Weaver] And though they say the Lord liveth, surely they swear falsely. In other words, they had a profession, but their life was totally contrary to their profession.

[John Weaver] Now skip down to verse 7. Look what he says.

[John Weaver] Now he's still talking about his people. He says in verse 7, How shall I pardon thee for this? Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, then they committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlot's houses. They were as fed horses in the morning, every one made after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord, and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? Skip down to verse 23. He says, but this people have the revolting and rebellious heart. They're revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart. Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth rain, both the former and the latter in his season.

[John Weaver] He reserveth and does the appointed weeks of the harvest. Your iniquities have turned away these things and your sins have withholding good things for you. For among my people are found wicked men. They lay wait. As he that set up snares, they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they become great and waxen rich, they're waxen fat, they shine, they overpass the deeds of a wicked.

[John Weaver] They judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper. And the right of the needy do they not judge? Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" Now watch it. A wonderful and a horrible thing is committed in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely. The priests bear rule by their means.

[John Weaver] And my people love to have it so. But what will you do thereof in the end?"

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question. You know that the ten northern tribes, the Northern Kingdom, went into captivity into Assyria. And you know that the tribes of the southern kingdom went into captivity into Babylon. Why did God send these people into captivity?

[John Weaver] Now, I know you can say because of their sins, but let's be more specific. I want you to turn to 2 Kings chapter 17. 2 Kings chapter 17, and let's begin reading there with verse 7. 2nd Kings 17. And notice, if you would please, verse 7. 2nd Kings 17, verse 7. Watch carefully. For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and had feared other gods. Now, wait a minute. How do we know? that Israel feared other gods. How can I tell whether or not you fear other gods? Well, let's watch it. He brought them up and they feared other gods. Watch verse 8. And walked in the statutes or the laws of the heathen whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel and of the kings of Israel which they had made. In other words, they forsook God's law and walked in the laws of the heathen."

[John Weaver] And he mentions the kings of Israel. You must remember that Jeroboam, the first king of Israel, was the one who made the golden calves. The golden calves, one in Dan, one in Bethel. It was idolatry. And so what they are doing is they are rejecting God's law and they are substituting now the law of false gods and the law of a wicked, perverted man. And they're obeying man's law, and foreign God's laws, and rejecting God's law.

[John Weaver] Now, let's read in verse 9, and let me show you how this thing works out. Look in verse 9, and the children of Israel did secretly, that is originally, they did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God. But now watch openly. And they built them high places in their cities, from the tower of the watchman to the fenced city. And they set up images and groves in every high hill and under every green tree. And there they burned incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away from before them, and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger. For they served idols, where the Lord had said unto them, You shall not do this thing. Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all the prophets, by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

[John Weaver] Notwithstanding, they would not hear, but hardened their necks like unto the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them. And they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them. Watch! And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and served Baal, and caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divinations and enchantments, and sold themselves to the devil, and the Son of the Lord to provoke him to anger." Why did God send Israel into captivity, rejecting His law? refusing to obey Him.

[John Weaver] And by the way, it did not fare much better with Judah if you'll skip down to verse 19. Look at what the Bible says there. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walk in the statutes of Israel which they made. In other words, Judah did the same thing that Israel did. And God sent her into captivity into Babylon.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn over in your Bibles to the little book of Micah, right toward the end of the Bible, of the Old Testament. You'll find Micah right after the book of Jonah, and right before the book of Nahum. So, I want you to look at Micah chapter 6. Micah chapter 6. I'm trying to show you You become God's enemies when you reject His law and disobey His law. Look at Micah chapter 6 and let's begin reading there with verse 13.

[John Weaver] This is a devastating passage. God says to His people, Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied. And thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee, and thou shalt take hold, but thou shalt not deliver. And that which thou deliverest I will give up to the sword. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap. Thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil. And sweet wine, but thou shalt not drink wine. Why? Here's why.

[John Weaver] For the statutes of Omri are kept. Now Omri was the father of Ahab. He was a wicked pervert. He says for the statutes or the laws of Omri are kept and all the works of the house of Ahab and you walk in their councils, that is in their laws that I should make me a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing, therefore you shall bear the reproach of my people."

[John Weaver] What's God doing in Micah chapter 6? He's fighting against them. What was He doing in 2nd Kings chapter 17? He was fighting against them. You have to understand, folks, when people forsake and reject and forget God's law, they're fighting against God, and therefore God becomes their enemy and God fights against them. Why? Because God is going to defend His honor and His glory and His will. Can we become God's enemies? Oh, yes. Has the modern church become God's enemies? Oh, yes. I'll show you even more because we have substituted our laws for God's law. Here's the second way we become God's enemy. Now listen carefully. We become God's enemies by offering to him hypocritical and ritualistic worship. Hypocritical and ritualistic worship. John 4 verse 24 says this, God is spirit. And they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. So it's an absolute necessity, if we're going to worship God, that we worship Him in spirit and in truth.

[John Weaver] But you know what happened in the Old Testament? Israel, who had been given God's law, who had been given the offerings and the sacrifices, who had been given the tabernacle and later on the temple, they took God's worship And they turned it into mere rituals and ceremonies. It's just something that they did without thinking. It was really insignificant. They just did it. Just like modern day Christians when they just go to church.

[John Weaver] Because that's what we've always done. We go and plop down on the pew, sing a few songs, listen to a sermon, pitch a few bucks in the offering plate, walk out, and somehow think that we've worshipped God. No. You could do that all day long, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and never worship God. I want you to turn to Isaiah 29. And then to Matthew 15, because you're going to see our Lord quote Isaiah 29 in Matthew 15. So let's go to Isaiah 29 first and let's look at verses 13 and 14. Isaiah 29. Verses 13 and 14. Here we go. Isaiah 29.

[John Weaver] Notice he would verse 13.

[John Weaver] Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people," now he's talking about his own people,"...this people draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but remove their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid."

[John Weaver] Now, the Hebrew word for marvelous here is the word palah, which means something that is wonderful, something that is extraordinary, something that is surpassing, something that is distinguished by action. And when you look at the word wonder here, the Hebrew word refers to an act of God's judgment. So God is saying He's going to judge these people who utter Him with their lips, and with their mouth, but their hearts are far from him.

[John Weaver] So if you look in Matthew chapter 15, and let's begin reading there with verse 7, our Lord quotes from Isaiah 29, and by the way, he does it in Mark 7 as well, but we're looking in Matthew chapter 15. Notice verse 7, where our Lord is quoting from Isaiah 29, and look what he says. He says, You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth not unto me with their mouth, and not unto me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Now watch!

[John Weaver] But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." So it should be noted, first of all, that our Lord calls such worship hypocritical. For it was only hypocrites that offered such worship. Their hearts, their love, their affection, their spirit were elsewhere. They were not really interested in God's worship. It was a ceremony. It was a ritual. I usually say it like this.

[John Weaver] The average professing Christian runs into a church 15 minutes late with a quarter in one hand and a quarterly in the other hand and somehow thinks that he's worshiping God. Not an exaggeration. Alice and I were in Tampa, Florida. And we were visiting our daughter and her family. And we went by this Baptist church. And on their board out front said this. Come to our early service. In by 8. Out by 8.30.

[John Weaver] Now you stop and think about this. In by 8, out by 8.30. If you welcome people, if you have an opening prayer, if you sing a song or two, and you know a Baptist church is going to take an offering, and then if you have a benediction, a closing prayer, that would not leave more than five to ten minutes for anything. You know what that church was doing? They were soothing the consciences of people as they were on the way to spend the day at the beach. I've been to church. I've been through my little ritual. I've been through my little ceremony. This is it.

[John Weaver] And that's why our Lord says this is hypocritical. Only hypocrites give that kind of worship. Second, he calls such worship vain. He said, in vain do they worship me. And the word vain means it's useless. It's fruitless. It is absolutely worthless. He will not have it. He will not receive it. He will not accept it. It's totally unacceptable to him.

[John Weaver] Thirdly, he demonstrates in this passage how they have replaced God's law with man's law. I'll tell you something, whether you believe this or not, that's alright. I've been preaching for 50 years, and I know for a fact this is true, because I know churches that it's happened in. As long as you're in church Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night, and as long as you give regularly and faithfully, and maybe even attend visitation, once or twice a month. I don't really care if you're an adulterer, a fornicator, a fraud, a thief in your business, dishonest. No, you're a good Christian. You support the church. You were there. I know for a fact of individuals who were guilty of horrendous adultery, And yet still on the deacon board. Why?

[John Weaver] Because we have our laws. If you do this, this and this and this, we pronounce you a good Christian. It doesn't matter if you violate God's law. And that's exactly what our Lord is talking about in Matthew 15 and in Mark chapter 7. Let me just show you how God absolutely hates and despises this kind of worship. I want you to turn in your Bibles, first of all, to Isaiah chapter 1. Look in Isaiah chapter 1, if you would. Isaiah chapter 1, and we'll begin reading there with verse 10. Isaiah 1 and verse 10. By the way, before we read verse 10 in Isaiah chapter 1, I want you to look, if you would please, at verse 1. The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Oh, we're talking about God's people now. God's professing people. So skip down, if you would please, to verse 10.

[John Weaver] Here's what he says to them. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Give ear unto the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah. Who is he talking to? The rulers of Judah and Jerusalem. Now watch. Look what he says. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts.

[John Weaver] I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand to tread my courts? Bring no more vain, useless, worthless, unacceptable oblations, incenses and abominations unto me, the new moons and the sabbaths, the calling of assemblies. I cannot argue with it. It is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hateth.

[John Weaver] They are a trouble unto me. I am weary to bear them. And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. And yea, you may make many prayers. I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do well. Seek judgment. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead for the widow." What's he saying? You're coming to me?

[John Weaver] Going through a little ritual? Going through a ceremony? And you're disobeying me? You're refusing to obey my law and follow my statutes? And you think I'm pleased with it? I can't stand this. I hate it. I will not have it. I want you to turn right over to the book of Amos. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Look in Amos chapter 5. He says it again. Amos chapter 5, Hosea Joel Amos, and notice if you would, beginning there with verse 21, Amos 5 verse 21.

[John Weaver] I don't see how anyone can get around this passage. Here's what God told His people. I hate, I despise your feast days and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer me burnt offerings and your meal offerings, I will not accept them. Neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beast. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy vows.

[John Weaver] But let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as mighty streams." Now you have to ask yourself this question, God. Did you not appoint the feast days? Yes. Did you not appoint the new moons and the solid assemblies? Yes. Did you not appoint the singing? Yes. All of this was divine appointment. But here the people made it a ritual. They made it a ceremony. They in and out, no heart, no affection, no love, no adoration. Just pure, simple ritualism. And God said, I hate it.

[John Weaver] I will not have it." Have you ever stopped to think what David meant when he said in Psalm 103, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name and forget not all of his benefits who daily loaded thee with all of these blessings. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. How many of us, when we sit In church, listening to the preaching of the Word actually engage our hearts and our minds, and we listen and we think and we meditate and we apply and we thank God and we praise Him in our spirits.

[John Weaver] Most of the time, it's just in and out. How can we claim to be the Lord's people when we offer Him defective and worthless and useless and unacceptable worship. If we're His people, we ought to act like it. That's why He condemned the people in Isaiah 1. That's why He condemned them in Amos chapter 5. He said, you say you're My people, but you're acting like the heathen. You're not even worshiping Me. Obedience is the foundation for true worship. Where there is no obedience, there is no worship. Where there is no obedience, there is no worship.

[John Weaver] Our Lord, make it clear, if you love me, keep my commandments. I want you to turn in your Bibles to James 4. I want to show you a third way we become God's enemies. James 4 and verse 4. Hebrews, James. We'll look at the context in just a moment. James 4, verse 4. Thirdly, we become God's enemies when we befriend the world. By the way, there's really something wrong with a modern day church when the wicked feel comfortable there. I know we want sinners to be converted. I'm not denying that.

[John Weaver] But I'll tell you what, if a man is a sinner, goes to church, and the Word of God is preached, he's going to be very uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. Because that Word is going to rebuke his sins. But look what the Bible says, James 4 and verse 4. Our Lord says, You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Now, wait a minute. Look in verse four again. You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Ah, enmity with God. Now, let me tell you this. First of all, he said, friendship with the world. He's not talking about God's creation. He's not talking about enjoying Yosemite National Park, or Yosemite, or Sequoia National Park, or Glacier National Park. He's not talking about enjoying the creation outdoors. No, no, no. That's not the world he's talking about. He's talking about the world system. Everything that is opposed to God and His Word.

[John Weaver] He said, ye adulterers and adulterers, know ye not that friendship with the world, that is the world system, is enmity with God. The word enmity is a very strong word for hatred. Whosoever is a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Why? Because the world is an enmity with God. And the word enemy here is actually ekthros, and it means to be a foe, it means to be hostile, to be hateful, to oppose to, and to be hostile toward. So he says, whoever is a friend of the world is hostile toward him. He's an enemy of God.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show it to you in the context. Let's go to James 4 and verse 1. Look at it. For whence come wars and fighting among you? Come they not hence even in your lusts that warn your members? You lust and have not. You kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you have not because you ask not. You ask and receive not because you ask amiss. that you may consume it upon your own lust." In other words, you're not interested in God, you're not interested in His will, all you want to do is satisfy your own pleasure and your own lust. Verse 4,"...ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmied with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

[John Weaver] Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth in envy? but he giveth more grace. Wherefore, he said, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he'll flee from you. Draw an eye to God, and he will draw an eye to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

[John Weaver] Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to happiness. Humble yourselves in the sight of God, and the Lord shall lift you up."

[John Weaver] Now, one is worldly in this context. When he is covetous, lustful, proud, arrogant, quick-tempered, aggressive, desirous of everything that is opposed to God, a worldly individual in this context is one that lives for his pleasures, his will, his desires. In other words, here is a man that is totally consumed with himself and getting ahead in life. And he's going to do whatever it takes for both of them to please himself and to get a hidden life. James says the remedy for this is to draw nigh to God, repent, to cleanse your hands, submit to the Lord. And unless we do, he says, we're in a state of enmity. Do you understand it's one thing to be in the world And quite another thing to be of the world. God's chosen people should never be identified with the world. Yes, we're in the world. And we're to use this world as not abusing it because it is God's world. But we're not to be tied up with the wicked.

[John Weaver] Let me just show you. I want you to turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 19. 2 Chronicles chapter 19. I can quote this, but I want you to see it. Look in 2 Chronicles chapter 19. You see, there's a man in the Bible by the name of Jehoshaphat. He was a king, king of Judah, and believe it or not, he was basically a good king and a godly king.

[John Weaver] However, he did something very stupid. He allied with King Ahab of Israel. Ahab was the wickedest king of Israel. And God, the Jehoshaphat of Judah, went to help Ahab. Watch what happens in verse 1 of 2 Chronicles 19. And Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. This is after he's coming back from the battle. And Jehu, the son of Anani, the seer, went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord." Wow. Should you help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? The answer is no. You shouldn't help them. You shouldn't love them to side with them, to identify with them. And because Jehoshaphat did, he says, therefore there's going to be wrath upon you from before the Lord. You know, our Lord made His position exceedingly clear in Matthew 12 and verse 30 when He said this, He that is not with Me is against Me, and he that gathereth not scattereth abroad.

[John Weaver] I want you to think about this tonight. I want you to think of how God's people can become His enemies. Obviously, we can. And when we are His enemies, He fights against us. I can look around in this country, and I travel all over the country. You know, it's almost impossible to get, I will just say a dozen. It's almost impossible to get a dozen pastors together.

[John Weaver] to work on anything, any one project. You know why? Because everybody wants to be the head. And if I can't be the head and if I can't get the glory, I'm not going to do it. Or if it doesn't benefit my church, I'm not going to do it. What? Christians are like that. Could it be because we basically rejected God's law Could it be because we have failed to give Him the proper, acceptable worship? And could it be because we've befriended the world?

[John Weaver] God is actually fighting against us. And therefore, we can't accomplish a thing.

[John Weaver] You remember, God broke the ships that He's Zion gave her. Because again, He joined up with the wicked. God breaks our ships. If you don't want to be an enemy of God, you not only need to be His child, you need to be His friend. In John 15 and verse 14, our Lord said this, You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Abraham was the friend of God. Abraham obeyed God. If we're going to be his friends, our lives should be lives of obedience. And our lives should be marked by obedience. And if we're not His friends, the only other alternative is to be His enemy. And when God fights against us, we lose. And He wins.

[John Weaver] Yes, God's people can become His enemies. And we don't want to be His enemies. We need to be as holy and as godly and as obedient as we can by the grace of God, and bring our lives continually and constantly in conformity to the Word of God. Let's pray. Father, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ tonight that You would help us, that You would speak our hearts, that You would help us, Lord, let us see really and truly the awesomeness and the solemnity of this truth that it is possible to be God's people and yet at the same time be his enemies. Help us, Lord, not to be your enemy, but to be your friend by obedience. Help us to give thee the honor and the glory that thou dost deserve in recognizing thy law and thy sovereign authority and power. and giving Thee, Lord, spiritual worship which is acceptable. And may we not be a friend of all that's wicked and contrary to Thee, but be Thy friend and obey Thee. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen.

When God's People Become His Enemies

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	113152128365
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs-Related Topical Wisdom
Genre	Sermon
Date	2015-01-13
Dictation Name
Book	Book 085: Proverbs-Related Topical Wisdom — Chapter 7
Source Timed Segments	90

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: God's Strange Work of Judgment

Weaver introduces the concept of God's 'strange work' of judgment from Isaiah 28:21 and Job 31:3, leading to the question of when God's people become His enemies.

Isaiah 63, and let's go ahead and have prayer, shall we? Our Father, we're thankful today for the Lord Jesus Christ and for so great salvation. We're thankful for the blessed Holy Spirit and the Word of God, ministering the saints of God. We pray that you'll teach us tonight, that you'd help us and that you'd build us up in the most holy faith. Give us grace that we may serve thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In thy name we pray. Amen. I want you to turn, hold Isaiah 63, but I want you to look at Isaiah 28 in verse 21, and then we're coming right back to Isaiah 63. I just want to read one verse, just so I can make a comment on it. Notice Isaiah chapter 28, if you would please, and verse 21. Isaiah 28, verse 21.

For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work, to bring to pass his act, his strange act. I read that verse just to lay the groundwork for Isaiah 63 and verse 10. So if you'll turn there just momentarily, Isaiah 63 and verse 10. The Bible says, but they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit.

Scripture Reading — Job 31:3

Therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them." The title of the message tonight is, When God's People Become His Enemies. Now I read Isaiah 28 and verse 21 because judgment there is talking about God's strange act and God's strange work. In fact, in Job 31 and verse 3, God's judgment again is called His strange work there. So I preached the message which I entitled, God's Strange Work. And my text was actually Job 31 and verse 3, and I used Isaiah 28 and verse 21. And while I was preaching that message, and I was showing that God's judgment is called His strange work or His strange act, when He has to judge His own people. And as I was preaching that message, I said, maybe I need to consider when God's people become his enemies. And that thought just came to me as I was preaching.

The Modern Church's Decline

The professing church has fallen below biblical standards, with believers unable to find biblical churches and being dismissed for their stance.

So I went home and I began to think and I looked and I found what I want to share with you tonight. To me, this is a very awesome message in that sense of the word because it's a very solemn and awesome thought when you can think that God's people may become his enemies. There is certainly absolutely no doubt that the professing church has fallen far below the norm of Scripture. In fact, the truth of the matter is I receive complaints and lamentations from believers all across this country that it is impossible for them to find a biblical church in the area in which they live. In fact, there have been believers that I know, good and godly men, that have confronted their pastors and their elders concerning the unbiblical conduct and the unbiblical actions in the pulpit and out of the pulpit, only to have these people dismissed as rabble-rousers, troublemakers, and even bigots. And I actually know individuals, godly individuals, that have been asked to leave churches and kicked out of churches because of their biblical stance, when the church itself was totally unbiblical. So it appears on the one hand that modern day Christianity has no desire to return to biblical Christianity.

Vance Havner was a late evangelist. He died a few years back. He summed up our situation very well when he said this, Christians have been subnormal for so long that when one ever gets normal, everyone else thinks he's abnormal. And that's certainly the truth. And the truth is the church today is vastly different from the New Testament church. We've fallen away doctrinally, practically, ethically, and what we've become basically is a pragmatic church.

The Church's Pragmatic Drift

The church has become pragmatic, adopting unbiblical programs and entertainment, and has failed in its God-ordained purposes.

In other words, if it works, we'll do it. It doesn't really matter if it's biblical or not, but if it works, if it'll get people in, if it'll get attention, if it'll get us publicity, that's exactly what we're going to do. In order to substantiate that statement, you just have to consider all of the extra-biblical programs, games, entertainment, and blatantly unbiblical attitudes and actions that are regularly exhibited in the average church. Let me just make this very clear tonight. The Church of Jesus Christ was never intended to be an entertainment center, a babysitting service, a psychological den, a feel-good-about-yourself society, an arm of the state or the federal government, and certainly not a political action committee. I mean, the truth of the matter is, the church of Jesus Christ was ordained by God the Father to exalt His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to proclaim His gospel, to edify His saints, and to call sinners to repentance, and to worship and praise Him alone.

And the modern church not only has failed, but is failing in every one of these areas. And the truth of the matter is, we have become everything except that which we should be. And let me make this statement, and it may shock you. But the modern church has become the enemy of the one true and the living God. God's people basically have become his enemy. So let me ask this question. Is it possible for God's people to become his enemies? Is it possible for God to fight against his own people? Could that not be the reason that we're absolutely defeated, discouraged, downtrodden, and dominated by our enemies? That reason being that God Himself is fighting against us.

Biblical Basis: Isaiah 63:7-10

Weaver reads Isaiah 63:7-10, showing that Israel's rebellion caused God to become their enemy and fight against them.

I want you to look at the context of Isaiah 63. And let's begin reading there with verse 7. Isaiah 63 and verse 7. Then we'll read right through verse 10. Notice, if you would, we're talking about God's people now. Isaiah 63, verse 7, I will mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord according to all that the Lord hath bestowed upon us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 63:7-9

" So we're talking about God's people now, what's this? For he said, surely they are my people, children that will not lie, so he was their Savior.

In all their affliction, He was afflicted. And the angel of His presence saved them. In His love and in His pity, He redeemed them. And He bared them and cared them all the days of old." We're talking about God's people. So look in verse 10. But they, that is God's people, rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit. Therefore He, God, was turned to be their enemy, and He, God, fought against them. When Israel rebelled against God, Israel became God's enemy, and God became their enemy, and God actually fought against them. You have to remember that God is immutable.

God's Immutability and Judgment

Because God does not change, He will fight against His New Testament people when they rebel, just as He did in the Old Testament.

That means He does not change. That's why I said in Malachi 3 and verse 6, I, the Lord, change not. God is immutable. Hebrews 13 verse 8 says, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, since God is immutable, since God does not change, if God fought against His people in the Old Testament when they rebelled against Him, certainly He will fight against His people in the New Testament era, and after that, when His people rebel against Him. Now, let me just tell you very bluntly, when we fight against God, and God fights against us. He wins and we lose. It's just that simple.

Historical Example: Jeremiah 21 and Lamentations 1

God fought against Judah by aiding Nebuchadnezzar, as seen in Jeremiah 21 and Lamentations 1, illustrating His judgment on His people.

Now, has God fought against His people literally? Oh, yes. I want you to look in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 21. Jeremiah 21. And let's begin reading there with verse 1. And see the answer that God gave to King Zedekiah, when King Zedekiah sent word to Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord and see if he could get Nebuchadnezzar to leave Jerusalem. Notice Jeremiah chapter 21 beginning there with verse 1, the word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur, the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maseiah, the priest, saying, Inquire, I pray thee, of the Lord for us. For Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, maketh war against us. If so be that the Lord will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 21:1-7

" So here's what King Zedekiah wants. Jeremiah, pray for us that Nebuchadnezzar would leave us alone, that he would leave and we would not have to fight. Now watch. Verse 3, Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall you say to Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith you fight against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans which besiege you without the walls.

And I, that is God, I will assemble them in the midst of this city, and I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and in fury and in great wrath. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. And afterwards saith the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his servants, and the people as such as are left in this city, from the pestilence, and from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life. And he shall smite them with the edge of the sword. He shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy." Did God fight against them? He said, not only am I going to help Nebuchadnezzar, I'm going to turn the weapons back that are in your hands, and moreover, says God, I will fight against you personally. If you want to turn right over to the book of Lamentations, right at the end of the book of Jeremiah, you see, Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet.

He is the one who saw Jerusalem fall. I wish I had time to really go over the book of Lamentations with you. There are five chapters. Actually, the five chapters are five poems. And each one of these poems views the fall of Jerusalem from a different perspective. But I want you to just look in Lamentations chapter 1 here, beginning there with verse 1. Notice, if you would, what the Scripture says.

How does the city sit solitary that was full of people? How has she become as a widow? She that was great among the nations and princess among the provinces, how has she become tributary? She weepeth sorely. And her tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers, she hath none to comfort her. All of her friends have dealt treacherously with her, and they are become her enemies. Judah is going into captivity because of affliction and because of great servitude. She dwelleth among the heathen. She findeth no rest.

All her persecutors overtook her between the straits. The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feast, all her gates are desolate, her priests die, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness, her adversaries are chief, her enemies prosper, for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions, her children are gone into captivity before the enemy, and from the daughter of Zion all her beauties departed, her princes are become like hearts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer. Jerusalem remembered the days of her affliction and her miseries, and all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her. The adversaries saw her, did mock at her sabbaths. Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, therefore she is removed.

All that honored her despised her, because they have seen her nakedness. She sigheth and turneth backwards. Her filthiness is in her skirts. She remembereth not her last end. Therefore she came down wonderfully. She had no comforter. O Lord, behold mine affliction, says Jeremiah, for the enemy hath magnified himself." Did God's professing people become his enemies? The answer is yes. Did God fight against them? The answer is absolutely.

The Modern Church's Powerlessness

The modern church has lost its power and influence, becoming mocked and despised, unlike the early church.

And it's a sad picture. But may I point out that in reality this also is a picture of the modern day church. You just stop and think that the modern day church basically has lost its power, its position, and its prominence. Once the Church of Jesus Christ was a force to be reckoned with. There was no politician—let me correct that. There were those statesmen back then that would even consider running for office without an endorsement of the church and without, of course, the sanction of the church indicating that he was indeed a good and a godly man. But the truth of the matter is today, the church now is mocked and ridiculed and is despised and disparaged as helpless and powerless and worthless.

The story is told of a Catholic priest who's talking to a Baptist pastor. And the Catholic priest kind of smiled and smugly said, we no longer have to say with the Apostle Peter, silver and gold have I none. The Baptist preacher said that is true. But we can also no longer say with the Apostle Peter, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. We may have the money, we may have the prestige, we may have the prominence, but we certainly do not have the power. So how then can the church become the enemy of God? How can God's people become His enemies? And my answer is the exact same way that the professing people in the Old Testament became the enemies of God. The Apostle Paul explains this really for us in Colossians 1 and verse 21.

Let me just quote it. Listen to what he said. Colossians 1 verse 21,

Scripture Reading — Colossians 1:21

"...and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now thee reconciled."

So he says before our conversion, we were enemies. We're in our minds. What does that mean? It means we thought unbiblically. We thought as lost people think. We thought and lived as the old man. And the scripture tells us that if we've been saved by the grace of God, that we're put on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness. And so, when we begin to think like the old man, and when we begin to think humanistically, we're becoming, in our minds again, the enemies of God.

First Way: Rejection of God's Law

We become God's enemies by rejecting and disobeying His law, as seen in Hosea 4, Deuteronomy 8, Isaiah 5, Jeremiah 5, 2 Kings 17, and Micah 6.

Now, here's a truth that you need to understand. A king rules by his law. It doesn't matter if we're talking about the king of heaven or an earthly king. He rules by his law. And the one true and living God has given His law, and His law is an expression of His will. His law tells us how we should live. Therefore, when there is a rejection of God's law, it is in reality a rejection of God Himself and His kingdom.

Let me show you this. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Hosea chapter 4. Right after the book of Daniel, Daniel-Hosea, Hosea chapter 4. And let's begin reading there with verse 1. I want you to look at this. Hosea 4, verse 1. We'll read through verse 6. Notice what the Bible says. Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.

So God's got an argument. God's got a controversy with the children of Israel. What is it? Because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land." Hmm. Would you like to know what the consequences and the results are when you have no knowledge of God, or truth, or mercy in the land? Well, look in verse 2. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood touches blood.

Therefore shall the land mourn, and everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. Yet let no man strive, nor prove another, for the people are they that strive with the priest. Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother." Now look what he says, verse 6, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me, seeing thou hast forgotten the law by God, I will also forget thy children."

Now, I want you to listen to that. God says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have forgotten My law, I will also forget your children. I told you earlier that God's law is an expression of His will. You know what our children are? They're an expression of our will. We wanted them. God gave them to us. We had them. So God says, you reject and forget the expression of My will. I'll reject and forget the expression of your will. You want to know what's wrong with all the young people in this country? We've forgotten God and His law, and He's forgotten them. Yeah, that's exactly right. Forgetting God is the same as rejecting God, because both lead to disobedience.

For instance, go back in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 8. Deuteronomy, chapter 8. And let's begin reading there with verse 10. Deuteronomy, chapter 8. Notice, if you would please, with verse 10, and we'll read through verse 14. Deuteronomy 8, verse 10, God says,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 8:10-14

When thou hast eaten and are full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, now watch this, beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments and his judgments and his statutes which I command thee this day. Lest, when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein, and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."

Now, what did he say? He said, usually, when you have prosperity, and when you're unusually blessed, what most men do is forget God. They become unappreciative, they become unthankful, they become ungrateful, and they just assume that we don't really need God. Forgetting God is the same as rejecting God. I want you to turn to Isaiah chapter 5. Let me show you this. Isaiah chapter 5, then we'll go to Jeremiah chapter 5. But look in Isaiah chapter 5, and let's begin reading over verse 1. Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 1. I'm reading this just to show you that, again, we're talking about God's people. Isaiah 5 and verse 1, Now will I sing unto my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill.

And he fetched it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein. And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. Now who is he talking to? And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard than I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked, that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes. Now go to, I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.

I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up, and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down, and I will lay it waste. It shall not be pruned, nor digged, but there shall come up briars and thorns. I also will command the clouds, that they know rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant. And he looked for judgment, behold, oppression, for righteousness, but behold, a cry." Now skip down to verse 24 and 25. Look what God says He's going to do to His people. Verse 24, Therefore as the fire devoured the stubble, and the flame consumed the chap, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall grow up as dust, because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against this people, he has stretched forth his hand against them and smitten them, and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." Why did God fight against them?

The answer is very clear. Because they despised the word of the Lord, and they cast away the law of the Lord. That's what the scripture says. Look in Jeremiah chapter 5. Isaiah, Jeremiah. Let's go over to the next book, Jeremiah chapter 5. And again, let's begin there with verse 1. Jeremiah 5, verse 1. Watch carefully. Look what he says to Jeremiah. Run you to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh truth, and I will pardon it. Now God said, Jeremiah, you can run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem. If you can find one man, just one, that does what's right, I'll pardon the entire city. Look at verse 2. Look what he said in verse 2.

And though they say the Lord liveth, surely they swear falsely. In other words, they had a profession, but their life was totally contrary to their profession. Now skip down to verse 7. Look what he says.

Now he's still talking about his people. He says in verse 7, How shall I pardon thee for this? Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, then they committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlot's houses. They were as fed horses in the morning, every one made after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord, and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? Skip down to verse 23. He says, but this people have the revolting and rebellious heart. They're revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart. Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth rain, both the former and the latter in his season.

He reserveth and does the appointed weeks of the harvest. Your iniquities have turned away these things and your sins have withholding good things for you. For among my people are found wicked men. They lay wait. As he that set up snares, they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they become great and waxen rich, they're waxen fat, they shine, they overpass the deeds of a wicked.

They judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper. And the right of the needy do they not judge? Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" Now watch it. A wonderful and a horrible thing is committed in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely. The priests bear rule by their means.

And my people love to have it so. But what will you do thereof in the end?" Now, let me ask you a question. You know that the ten northern tribes, the Northern Kingdom, went into captivity into Assyria. And you know that the tribes of the southern kingdom went into captivity into Babylon. Why did God send these people into captivity?

Now, I know you can say because of their sins, but let's be more specific. I want you to turn to 2 Kings chapter 17. 2 Kings chapter 17, and let's begin reading there with verse 7. 2nd Kings 17. And notice, if you would please, verse 7. 2nd Kings 17, verse 7. Watch carefully.

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 17:7-19

For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and had feared other gods.

Now, wait a minute. How do we know that Israel feared other gods? How can I tell whether or not you fear other gods? Well, let's watch it. He brought them up and they feared other gods. Watch verse 8. And walked in the statutes or the laws of the heathen whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel and of the kings of Israel which they had made. In other words, they forsook God's law and walked in the laws of the heathen."

And he mentions the kings of Israel. You must remember that Jeroboam, the first king of Israel, was the one who made the golden calves. The golden calves, one in Dan, one in Bethel. It was idolatry. And so what they are doing is they are rejecting God's law and they are substituting now the law of false gods and the law of a wicked, perverted man. And they're obeying man's law, and foreign God's laws, and rejecting God's law.

Now, let's read in verse 9, and let me show you how this thing works out. Look in verse 9, and the children of Israel did secretly, that is originally, they did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God. But now watch openly. And they built them high places in their cities, from the tower of the watchman to the fenced city. And they set up images and groves in every high hill and under every green tree. And there they burned incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away from before them, and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger. For they served idols, where the Lord had said unto them, You shall not do this thing. Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all the prophets, by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

Notwithstanding, they would not hear, but hardened their necks like unto the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them. And they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them. Watch! And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and served Baal, and caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divinations and enchantments, and sold themselves to the devil, and the Son of the Lord to provoke him to anger." Why did God send Israel into captivity, rejecting His law? refusing to obey Him.

And by the way, it did not fare much better with Judah if you'll skip down to verse 19. Look at what the Bible says there. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walk in the statutes of Israel which they made. In other words, Judah did the same thing that Israel did. And God sent her into captivity into Babylon.

Now, I want you to turn over in your Bibles to the little book of Micah, right toward the end of the Bible, of the Old Testament. You'll find Micah right after the book of Jonah, and right before the book of Nahum. So, I want you to look at Micah chapter 6. Micah chapter 6. I'm trying to show you you become God's enemies when you reject His law and disobey His law. Look at Micah chapter 6 and let's begin reading there with verse 13. This is a devastating passage. God says to His people, Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied. And thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee, and thou shalt take hold, but thou shalt not deliver. And that which thou deliverest I will give up to the sword. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap. Thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil. And sweet wine, but thou shalt not drink wine. Why? Here's why.

For the statutes of Omri are kept. Now Omri was the father of Ahab. He was a wicked pervert. He says for the statutes or the laws of Omri are kept and all the works of the house of Ahab and you walk in their councils, that is in their laws that I should make me a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing, therefore you shall bear the reproach of my people." What's God doing in Micah chapter 6? He's fighting against them. What was He doing in 2nd Kings chapter 17? He was fighting against them. You have to understand, folks, when people forsake and reject and forget God's law, they're fighting against God, and therefore God becomes their enemy and God fights against them. Why? Because God is going to defend His honor and His glory and His will. Can we become God's enemies? Oh, yes. Has the modern church become God's enemies? Oh, yes. I'll show you even more because we have substituted our laws for God's law. Here's the second way we become God's enemy. Now listen carefully. We become God's enemies by offering to him hypocritical and ritualistic worship. Hypocritical and ritualistic worship. John 4 verse 24 says this, God is spirit. And they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. So it's an absolute necessity, if we're going to worship God, that we worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Second Way: Hypocritical Worship

Offering ritualistic, heartless worship makes us God's enemies, as condemned in Isaiah 29, Matthew 15, Isaiah 1, and Amos 5.

But you know what happened in the Old Testament? Israel, who had been given God's law, who had been given the offerings and the sacrifices, who had been given the tabernacle and later on the temple, they took God's worship and they turned it into mere rituals and ceremonies. It's just something that they did without thinking. It was really insignificant. They just did it. Just like modern day Christians when they just go to church. Because that's what we've always done. We go and plop down on the pew, sing a few songs, listen to a sermon, pitch a few bucks in the offering plate, walk out, and somehow think that we've worshipped God. No. You could do that all day long, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and never worship God. I want you to turn to Isaiah 29. And then to Matthew 15, because you're going to see our Lord quote Isaiah 29 in Matthew 15. So let's go to Isaiah 29 first and let's look at verses 13 and 14. Isaiah 29. Verses 13 and 14. Here we go. Isaiah 29.

Notice he would verse 13.

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people," now he's talking about his own people, "...this people draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but remove their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." Now, the Hebrew word for marvelous here is the word palah, which means something that is wonderful, something that is extraordinary, something that is surpassing, something that is distinguished by action. And when you look at the word wonder here, the Hebrew word refers to an act of God's judgment. So God is saying He's going to judge these people who utter Him with their lips, and with their mouth, but their hearts are far from him.

So if you look in Matthew chapter 15, and let's begin reading there with verse 7, our Lord quotes from Isaiah 29, and by the way, he does it in Mark 7 as well, but we're looking in Matthew chapter 15. Notice verse 7, where our Lord is quoting from Isaiah 29, and look what he says. He says, You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth not unto me with their mouth, and not unto me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Now watch!

But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." So it should be noted, first of all, that our Lord calls such worship hypocritical. For it was only hypocrites that offered such worship. Their hearts, their love, their affection, their spirit were elsewhere. They were not really interested in God's worship. It was a ceremony. It was a ritual. I usually say it like this.

The average professing Christian runs into a church 15 minutes late with a quarter in one hand and a quarterly in the other hand and somehow thinks that he's worshiping God. Not an exaggeration. Alice and I were in Tampa, Florida. And we were visiting our daughter and her family. And we went by this Baptist church. And on their board out front said this. Come to our early service. In by 8. Out by 8.30.

Now you stop and think about this. In by 8, out by 8.30. If you welcome people, if you have an opening prayer, if you sing a song or two, and you know a Baptist church is going to take an offering, and then if you have a benediction, a closing prayer, that would not leave more than five to ten minutes for anything. You know what that church was doing? They were soothing the consciences of people as they were on the way to spend the day at the beach. I've been to church. I've been through my little ritual. I've been through my little ceremony. This is it.

And that's why our Lord says this is hypocritical. Only hypocrites give that kind of worship. Second, he calls such worship vain. He said, in vain do they worship me. And the word vain means it's useless. It's fruitless. It is absolutely worthless. He will not have it. He will not receive it. He will not accept it. It's totally unacceptable to him.

Thirdly, he demonstrates in this passage how they have replaced God's law with man's law. I'll tell you something, whether you believe this or not, that's alright. I've been preaching for 50 years, and I know for a fact this is true, because I know churches that it's happened in. As long as you're in church Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night, and as long as you give regularly and faithfully, and maybe even attend visitation, once or twice a month. I don't really care if you're an adulterer, a fornicator, a fraud, a thief in your business, dishonest. No, you're a good Christian. You support the church. You were there. I know for a fact of individuals who were guilty of horrendous adultery, and yet still on the deacon board. Why?

Because we have our laws. If you do this, this and this and this, we pronounce you a good Christian. It doesn't matter if you violate God's law. And that's exactly what our Lord is talking about in Matthew 15 and in Mark chapter 7. Let me just show you how God absolutely hates and despises this kind of worship. I want you to turn in your Bibles, first of all, to Isaiah chapter 1. Look in Isaiah chapter 1, if you would. Isaiah chapter 1, and we'll begin reading there with verse 10. Isaiah 1 and verse 10. By the way, before we read verse 10 in Isaiah chapter 1, I want you to look, if you would please, at verse 1. The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Oh, we're talking about God's people now. God's professing people. So skip down, if you would please, to verse 10.

Here's what he says to them. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Give ear unto the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah. Who is he talking to? The rulers of Judah and Jerusalem. Now watch. Look what he says. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts.

I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand to tread my courts? Bring no more vain, useless, worthless, unacceptable oblations, incenses and abominations unto me, the new moons and the sabbaths, the calling of assemblies. I cannot argue with it. It is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hateth. They are a trouble unto me. I am weary to bear them. And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. And yea, you may make many prayers. I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do well. Seek judgment. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead for the widow." What's he saying? You're coming to me?

Going through a little ritual? Going through a ceremony? And you're disobeying me? You're refusing to obey my law and follow my statutes? And you think I'm pleased with it? I can't stand this. I hate it. I will not have it. I want you to turn right over to the book of Amos. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Look in Amos chapter 5. He says it again. Amos chapter 5, Hosea Joel Amos, and notice if you would, beginning there with verse 21, Amos 5 verse 21.

I don't see how anyone can get around this passage. Here's what God told His people. I hate, I despise your feast days and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer me burnt offerings and your meal offerings, I will not accept them. Neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beast. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy vows.

But let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as mighty streams." Now you have to ask yourself this question, God. Did you not appoint the feast days? Yes. Did you not appoint the new moons and the solid assemblies? Yes. Did you not appoint the singing? Yes. All of this was divine appointment. But here the people made it a ritual. They made it a ceremony. They in and out, no heart, no affection, no love, no adoration. Just pure, simple ritualism. And God said, I hate it.

I will not have it." Have you ever stopped to think what David meant when he said in Psalm 103, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name and forget not all of his benefits who daily loaded thee with all of these blessings. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. How many of us, when we sit in church, listening to the preaching of the Word actually engage our hearts and our minds, and we listen and we think and we meditate and we apply and we thank God and we praise Him in our spirits. Most of the time, it's just in and out. How can we claim to be the Lord's people when we offer Him defective and worthless and useless and unacceptable worship. If we're His people, we ought to act like it. That's why He condemned the people in Isaiah 1. That's why He condemned them in Amos chapter 5. He said, you say you're My people, but you're acting like the heathen. You're not even worshiping Me. Obedience is the foundation for true worship. Where there is no obedience, there is no worship. Where there is no obedience, there is no worship.

Third Way: Befriending the World

Friendship with the world system is enmity with God, as taught in James 4 and illustrated by Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 19.

Our Lord, make it clear, if you love me, keep my commandments. I want you to turn in your Bibles to James 4. I want to show you a third way we become God's enemies. James 4 and verse 4. Hebrews, James. We'll look at the context in just a moment. James 4, verse 4. Thirdly, we become God's enemies when we befriend the world. By the way, there's really something wrong with a modern day church when the wicked feel comfortable there. I know we want sinners to be converted. I'm not denying that.

But I'll tell you what, if a man is a sinner, goes to church, and the Word of God is preached, he's going to be very uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. Because that Word is going to rebuke his sins. But look what the Bible says, James 4 and verse 4. Our Lord says, You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Now, wait a minute. Look in verse four again. You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Ah, enmity with God. Now, let me tell you this. First of all, he said, friendship with the world. He's not talking about God's creation. He's not talking about enjoying Yosemite National Park, or Yosemite, or Sequoia National Park, or Glacier National Park. He's not talking about enjoying the creation outdoors. No, no, no. That's not the world he's talking about. He's talking about the world system. Everything that is opposed to God and His Word.

He said, ye adulterers and adulterers, know ye not that friendship with the world, that is the world system, is enmity with God. The word enmity is a very strong word for hatred. Whosoever is a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Why? Because the world is an enmity with God. And the word enemy here is actually echthros, and it means to be a foe, it means to be hostile, to be hateful, to oppose to, and to be hostile toward. So he says, whoever is a friend of the world is hostile toward him. He's an enemy of God.

Now, let me show it to you in the context. Let's go to James 4 and verse 1. Look at it. For whence come wars and fighting among you? Come they not hence even in your lusts that warn your members? You lust and have not. You kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you have not because you ask not. You ask and receive not because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your own lust." In other words, you're not interested in God, you're not interested in His will, all you want to do is satisfy your own pleasure and your own lust. Verse 4, "...ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmied with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth in envy? but he giveth more grace. Wherefore, he said, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he'll flee from you. Draw an eye to God, and he will draw an eye to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to happiness. Humble yourselves in the sight of God, and the Lord shall lift you up."

Now, one is worldly in this context. When he is covetous, lustful, proud, arrogant, quick-tempered, aggressive, desirous of everything that is opposed to God, a worldly individual in this context is one that lives for his pleasures, his will, his desires. In other words, here is a man that is totally consumed with himself and getting ahead in life. And he's going to do whatever it takes for both of them to please himself and to get a hidden life. James says the remedy for this is to draw nigh to God, repent, to cleanse your hands, submit to the Lord. And unless we do, he says, we're in a state of enmity. Do you understand it's one thing to be in the world and quite another thing to be of the world. God's chosen people should never be identified with the world. Yes, we're in the world. And we're to use this world as not abusing it because it is God's world. But we're not to be tied up with the wicked.

Let me just show you. I want you to turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 19. 2 Chronicles chapter 19. I can quote this, but I want you to see it. Look in 2 Chronicles chapter 19. You see, there's a man in the Bible by the name of Jehoshaphat. He was a king, king of Judah, and believe it or not, he was basically a good king and a godly king.

However, he did something very stupid. He allied with King Ahab of Israel. Ahab was the wickedest king of Israel. And God, the Jehoshaphat of Judah, went to help Ahab. Watch what happens in verse 1 of 2 Chronicles 19. And Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. This is after he's coming back from the battle. And Jehu, the son of Anani, the seer, went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord." Wow. Should you help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? The answer is no. You shouldn't help them. You shouldn't love them to side with them, to identify with them. And because Jehoshaphat did, he says, therefore there's going to be wrath upon you from before the Lord. You know, our Lord made His position exceedingly clear in Matthew 12 and verse 30 when He said this, He that is not with Me is against Me, and he that gathereth not scattereth abroad.

Conclusion: Call to Friendship with God

Weaver urges believers to be God's friends through obedience, true worship, and separation from the world, lest God fight against them.

I want you to think about this tonight. I want you to think of how God's people can become His enemies. Obviously, we can. And when we are His enemies, He fights against us. I can look around in this country, and I travel all over the country. You know, it's almost impossible to get, I will just say a dozen. It's almost impossible to get a dozen pastors together.

to work on anything, any one project. You know why? Because everybody wants to be the head. And if I can't be the head and if I can't get the glory, I'm not going to do it. Or if it doesn't benefit my church, I'm not going to do it. What? Christians are like that. Could it be because we basically rejected God's law? Could it be because we have failed to give Him the proper, acceptable worship? And could it be because we've befriended the world?

God is actually fighting against us. And therefore, we can't accomplish a thing.

You remember, God broke the ships that He's Zion gave her. Because again, He joined up with the wicked. God breaks our ships. If you don't want to be an enemy of God, you not only need to be His child, you need to be His friend. In John 15 and verse 14, our Lord said this, You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Abraham was the friend of God. Abraham obeyed God. If we're going to be his friends, our lives should be lives of obedience. And our lives should be marked by obedience. And if we're not His friends, the only other alternative is to be His enemy. And when God fights against us, we lose. And He wins.

Yes, God's people can become His enemies. And we don't want to be His enemies. We need to be as holy and as godly and as obedient as we can by the grace of God, and bring our lives continually and constantly in conformity to the Word of God. Let's pray. Father, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ tonight that You would help us, that You would speak our hearts, that You would help us, Lord, let us see really and truly the awesomeness and the solemnity of this truth that it is possible to be God's people and yet at the same time be his enemies. Help us, Lord, not to be your enemy, but to be your friend by obedience. Help us to give thee the honor and the glory that thou dost deserve in recognizing thy law and thy sovereign authority and power, and giving Thee, Lord, spiritual worship which is acceptable. And may we not be a friend of all that's wicked and contrary to Thee, but be Thy friend and obey Thee. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

God's Judgment on His People

Summary: When God's people rebel, He becomes their enemy and fights against them, a 'strange work' of judgment.

Evidence: Isaiah 63:10: 'Therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.'

Rejection of God's Law

Summary: Disobedience to God's law is a primary way His people become His enemies, leading to destruction.

Evidence: Hosea 4:6: 'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee.'

Hypocritical Worship

Summary: Ritualistic worship without heart is vain and hated by God, making worshipers His enemies.

Evidence: Isaiah 1:13-15: 'Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me... I will not hear.'

Worldliness as Enmity with God

Summary: Friendship with the world system is hatred toward God, making one His enemy.

Evidence: James 4:4: 'Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.'

The Modern Church's Decline

Summary: The contemporary church has fallen from biblical standards, becoming pragmatic and powerless.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'the modern church has become the enemy of the one true and the living God.'

Obedience as Friendship with God

Summary: True friendship with God is demonstrated by obedience to His commands.

Evidence: John 15:14: 'Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.'

Key Arguments

God's immutability means He judges His people today as in the Old Testament.

Summary: Since God does not change, His judgment on rebellious Israel applies to the New Testament church.

Evidence: Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8 are cited to show God's unchanging nature.

Rejecting God's law is rejecting God Himself.

Summary: God's law expresses His will; to reject it is to reject His rule and become His enemy.

Evidence: Isaiah 5:24: 'They have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.'

Hypocritical worship is useless and provokes God's judgment.

Summary: Worship without heart, replaced by man's traditions, is vain and makes one a hypocrite.

Evidence: Matthew 15:8-9: 'This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth... but in vain they do worship me.'

Worldliness is spiritual adultery against God.

Summary: Loving the world system is enmity with God, making believers His enemies.

Evidence: James 4:4: 'Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?'

The modern church has substituted man's laws for God's law.

Summary: Churches often prioritize attendance and giving over obedience to God's moral commands.

Evidence: Weaver gives examples of churches ignoring adultery while maintaining deacons.

God actively fights against His rebellious people.

Summary: God personally opposed Israel, as in Jeremiah 21:5, and does the same today.

Evidence: Jeremiah 21:5: 'I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm.'

Scripture References

Isaiah 63:10

Context: The key text: Israel rebelled and vexed the Holy Spirit, so God became their enemy and fought against them.

Isaiah 28:21

Context: God's judgment is called His 'strange work' and 'strange act.'

Job 31:3

Context: God's judgment is referred to as His 'strange work.'

Isaiah 63:7-9

Context: God's lovingkindness to Israel, showing they were His people before they rebelled.

Malachi 3:6

Context: God's immutability: 'I the Lord change not.'

Hebrews 13:8

Context: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Jeremiah 21:1-7

Context: God tells Zedekiah He will fight against Judah and deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar.

Lamentations 1:1-9

Context: Jerusalem's desolation because the Lord afflicted her for her transgressions.

Colossians 1:21

Context: Before conversion, we were enemies in our minds by wicked works.

Proverbs 23:7

Context: As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

Philippians 3:18

Context: Many walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Hosea 4:1-6

Context: God's controversy with Israel for lack of knowledge; they rejected His law, so He rejected them.

Deuteronomy 8:10-14

Context: Warning not to forget God by not keeping His commandments in prosperity.

Isaiah 5:1-7, 24-25

Context: God's vineyard (Israel) brought forth wild grapes; He will lay it waste for casting away His law.

Jeremiah 5:1-2, 7-9, 23-31

Context: God seeks one righteous man; Israel's sins and rejection of His law lead to judgment.

2 Kings 17:7-19

Context: Israel's captivity because they walked in the statutes of the heathen and rejected God's law.

Micah 6:13-16

Context: God's judgment on His people for keeping the statutes of Omri and walking in the counsels of Ahab.

John 4:24

Context: God is spirit, and worshipers must worship in spirit and truth.

Isaiah 29:13-14

Context: People honor God with lips but hearts are far; God will do a marvelous work of judgment.

Matthew 15:7-9

Context: Jesus quotes Isaiah 29, calling hypocritical worship vain and teaching man's commandments.

Historical References

Vance Havner

Context: Late evangelist quoted: 'Christians have been subnormal for so long that when one ever gets normal, everyone else thinks he's abnormal.'

King Zedekiah

Context: King of Judah who sought Jeremiah's intercession against Nebuchadnezzar; God declared He would fight against Judah.

Nebuchadnezzar

Context: King of Babylon used by God to judge Judah.

Jeroboam

Context: First king of Israel who made golden calves, leading Israel into idolatry.

Omri

Context: Father of Ahab, a wicked king whose statutes Israel kept, provoking God's judgment.

Ahab

Context: Wicked king of Israel; his house's works were followed by Israel.

Jehoshaphat

Context: King of Judah who allied with Ahab and was rebuked for helping the ungodly.

Jehu son of Anani

Context: Seer who rebuked Jehoshaphat for loving those who hate the Lord.

Important Quotes

Christians have been subnormal for so long that when one ever gets normal, everyone else thinks he's abnormal.

Significance: Summarizes the state of the modern church where biblical faithfulness is seen as abnormal.

The Church of Jesus Christ was never intended to be an entertainment center, a babysitting service, a psychological den, a feel-good-about-yourself society, an arm of the state or the federal government, and certainly not a political action committee.

Significance: Defines the true purpose of the church in contrast to modern distortions.

Therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

Significance: The central verse of the message, showing God's response to rebellion.

I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and in fury and in great wrath.

Significance: God's direct declaration of fighting against His people in Jeremiah 21.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee.

Significance: Shows the consequence of rejecting God's law.

I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

Significance: God's strong rejection of hypocritical worship in Amos 5.

Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Significance: Key verse on worldliness as enmity with God.

Discussion Questions

In what ways might the modern church be guilty of rejecting God's law, and how can we return to biblical obedience?

Context: Weaver argues that the church has substituted man's laws for God's law, leading to God's opposition.

How can we ensure our worship is in spirit and truth, not merely ritualistic?

Context: Weaver condemns hypocritical worship that honors God with lips but not the heart.

What does it mean to be a friend of the world, and how can we avoid this while still engaging with the world?

Context: James 4:4 is cited to show that worldliness is enmity with God.

How should the immutability of God affect our understanding of His judgment on the church today?

Context: Weaver uses Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8 to argue God's judgment is consistent.

What are some practical signs that God might be fighting against a church or individual believer?

Context: Weaver suggests that defeat and powerlessness may indicate God's opposition.

How can we cultivate a friendship with God through obedience, as described in John 15:14?

Context: The conclusion calls for obedience as the mark of friendship with God.

Applications

Examine obedience to God's law

Summary: Believers should evaluate whether they are rejecting or forgetting God's commandments in their lives.

Evidence: Hosea 4:6: 'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.'

Offer wholehearted worship

Summary: Worship must be in spirit and truth, not mere ritual; engage heart and mind in praising God.

Evidence: Isaiah 29:13: 'This people draw near me with their mouth... but have removed their heart far from me.'

Separate from worldliness

Summary: Avoid friendship with the world system; do not love or identify with what is opposed to God.

Evidence: James 4:4: 'Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.'

Repent of hypocrisy

Summary: Confess and turn from hypocritical worship and disobedience, seeking cleansing and humility.

Evidence: James 4:8-10: 'Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.'

Pursue friendship with God through obedience

Summary: Obey God's commands as the path to being His friend, not His enemy.

Evidence: John 15:14: 'Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T00:43:26Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T15:05:46Z

Clean Transcript

When God's People Become His Enemies

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Isaiah 63, and let's go ahead and have prayer, shall we? Our Father, we're thankful today for the Lord Jesus Christ and for so great salvation. We're thankful for the blessed Holy Spirit and the Word of God, ministering the saints of God. We pray that you'll teach us tonight, that you'd help us and that you'd build us up in the most holy faith. Give us grace that we may serve thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In thy name we pray. Amen. I want you to turn, hold Isaiah 63, but I want you to look at Isaiah 28 in verse 21, and then we're coming right back to Isaiah 63. I just want to read one verse, just so I can make a comment on it. Notice Isaiah chapter 28, if you would please, and verse 21. Isaiah 28, verse 21.
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For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work, to bring to pass his act, his strange act. I read that verse just to lay the groundwork for Isaiah 63 and verse 10. So if you'll turn there just momentarily, Isaiah 63 and verse 10. The Bible says, but they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit.
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Therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them." The title of the message tonight is, When God's People Become His Enemies.
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Now I read Isaiah 28 and verse 21 because judgment there is talking about God's strange act and God's strange work. In fact, in Job 31 and verse 3, God's judgment again is called His strange work there. So I preached the message which I entitled, God's Strange Work. And my text was actually Job 31 and verse 3, and I used Isaiah 28 and verse 21. And while I was preaching that message, and I was showing that God's judgment is called His strange work or His strange act, when He has to judge His own people. And as I was preaching that message, I said, maybe I need to consider when God's people become his enemies. And that thought just came to me as I was preaching.
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So I went home and I began to think and I looked and I found what I want to share with you tonight. To me, this is a very awesome message in that sense of the word because it's a very solemn and awesome thought when you can think that God's people may become his enemies. There is certainly absolutely no doubt that the professing church has fallen far below the norm of Scripture.
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In fact, the truth of the matter is I receive complaints and lamentations from believers all across this country that it is impossible for them to find a biblical church in the area in which they live. In fact, there have been believers that I know, good and godly men, that have confronted their pastors and their elders concerning the unbiblical conduct and the unbiblical actions in the pulpit and out of the pulpit, only to have these people dismissed as rabble-rousers, troublemakers, and even bigots. And I actually know individuals, godly individuals, that have been asked to leave churches and kicked out of churches because of their biblical stance, when the church itself was totally unbiblical. So it appears on the one hand that modern day Christianity has no desire to return to biblical Christianity.
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Vance Havner was a late evangelist. He died a few years back. He summed up our situation very well when he said this, Christians have been subnormal for so long that when one ever gets normal, everyone else thinks he's abnormal. And that's certainly the truth. And the truth is the church today is vastly different from the New Testament church. We've fallen away doctrinally, practically, ethically, and what we've become basically is a pragmatic church.
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In other words, if it works, we'll do it. It doesn't really matter if it's biblical or not, but if it works, if it'll get people in, if it'll get attention, if it'll get us publicity, that's exactly what we're going to do. In order to substantiate that statement, you just have to consider all of the extra-biblical programs, games, entertainment, and blatantly unbiblical attitudes and actions that are regularly exhibited in the average church. Let me just make this very clear tonight. The Church of Jesus Christ was never intended to be an entertainment center, a babysitting service, a psychological den, a feel-good-about-yourself society, an arm of the state or the federal government, and certainly not a political action committee. I mean, the truth of the matter is, the church of Jesus Christ was ordained by God the Father to exalt His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to proclaim His gospel, to edify His saints, and to call sinners to repentance, and to worship and praise Him alone.
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And the modern church not only has failed, but is failing in every one of these areas. And the truth of the matter is, we have become everything except that which we should be. And let me make this statement, and it may shock you. But the modern church has become the enemy of the one true and the living God. God's people basically have become his enemy. So let me ask this question. Is it possible for God's people to become his enemies? Is it possible for God to fight against his own people? Could that not be the reason that we're absolutely defeated, discouraged, downtrodden, and dominated by our enemies? That reason being that God Himself is fighting against us.
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I want you to look at the context of Isaiah 63. And let's begin reading there with verse 7. Isaiah 63 and verse 7. Then we'll read right through verse 10. Notice, if you would, we're talking about God's people now. Isaiah 63, verse 7, I will mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord according to all that the Lord hath bestowed upon us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses." So we're talking about God's people now, what's this? For he said, surely they are my people, children that will not lie, so he was their Savior.
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In all their affliction, He was afflicted. And the angel of His presence saved them. In His love and in His pity, He redeemed them. And He bared them and cared them all the days of old." We're talking about God's people. So look in verse 10. But they, that is God's people, rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit. Therefore He, God, was turned to be their enemy, and He, God, fought against them. When Israel rebelled against God, Israel became God's enemy, and God became their enemy, and God actually fought against them. You have to remember that God is immutable.
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That means He does not change. That's why I said in Malachi 3 and verse 6, I, the Lord, change not. God is immutable. Hebrews 13 verse 8 says, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, since God is immutable, since God does not change, if God fought against His people in the Old Testament when they rebelled against Him, certainly He will fight against His people in the New Testament era, and after that, when His people rebel against Him. Now, let me just tell you very bluntly, when we fight against God, and God fights against us.
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He wins and we lose. It's just that simple.
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Now, has God fought against His people literally? Oh, yes. I want you to look in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 21. Jeremiah 21. And let's begin reading there with verse 1. And see the answer that God gave to King Zedekiah, when King Zedekiah sent word to Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord and see if he could get Nebuchadnezzar to leave Jerusalem. Notice Jeremiah chapter 21 beginning there with verse 1, the word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur, the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maseiah, the priest, saying, Inquire, I pray thee, of the Lord for us. For Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, maketh war against us. If so be that the Lord will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us." So here's what King Zedekiah wants. Jeremiah, pray for us that Nebuchadnezzar would leave us alone, that he would leave and we would not have to fight. Now watch. Verse 3, Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall you say to Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith you fight against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans which besiege you without the walls.
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And I, that is God, I will assemble them in the midst of this city, and I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and in fury and in great wrath. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. And afterwards saith the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his servants, and the people as such as are left in this city, from the pestilence, and from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life. And he shall smite them with the edge of the sword.
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He shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy." Did God fight against them? He said, not only am I going to help Nebuchadnezzar, I'm going to turn the weapons back that are in your hands, and moreover, says God, I will fight against you personally. If you want to turn right over to the book of Lamentations, right at the end of the book of Jeremiah, you see, Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet.
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He is the one who saw Jerusalem fall. I wish I had time to really go over the book of Lamentations with you. There are five chapters. Actually, the five chapters are five poems. And each one of these poems views the fall of Jerusalem from a different perspective. But I want you to just look in Lamentations chapter 1 here, beginning there with verse 1. Notice, if you would, what the Scripture says.
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How does the city sit solitary that was full of people? How has she become as a widow? She that was great among the nations and princess among the provinces, how has she become tributary? She weepeth sorely. And her tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers, she hath none to comfort her. All of her friends have dealt treacherously with her, and they are become her enemies. Judah is going into captivity because of affliction and because of great servitude. She dwelleth among the heathen. She findeth no rest.
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All her persecutors overtook her between the straits. The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feast, all her gates are desolate, her priests die, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness, her adversaries are chief, her enemies prosper, for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions, her children are gone into captivity before the enemy, and from the daughter of Zion all her beauties departed, her princes are become like hearts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer. Jerusalem remembered the days of her affliction and her miseries, and all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her. The adversaries saw her, did mock at her sabbaths. Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, therefore she is removed.
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All that honored her despised her, because they have seen her nakedness. She sigheth and turneth backwards. Her filthiness is in her skirts. She remembereth not her last end. Therefore she came down wonderfully. She had no comforter. O Lord, behold mine affliction, says Jeremiah, for the enemy hath magnified himself." Did God's professing people become his enemies? The answer is yes. Did God fight against them? The answer is absolutely.
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And it's a sad picture. But may I point out that in reality this also is a picture of the modern day church. You just stop and think that the modern day church basically has lost its power, its position, and its prominence. Once the Church of Jesus Christ was a force to be reckoned with. There was no politician—let me correct that. There were those statesmen back then that would even consider running for office without an endorsement of the church and without, of course, the sanction of the church indicating that he was indeed a good and a godly man. But the truth of the matter is today, the church now is mocked and ridiculed and is despised and disparaged as helpless and powerless and worthless.
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The story is told of a Catholic priest who's talking to a Baptist pastor. And the Catholic priest kind of smiled and smugly said, we no longer have to say with the Apostle Peter, silver and gold have I none. The Baptist preacher said that is true. But we can also no longer say with the Apostle Peter, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.
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We may have the money, we may have the prestige, we may have the prominence, but we certainly do not have the power. So how then can the church become the enemy of God? How can God's people become His enemies? And my answer is the exact same way that the professing people in the Old Testament became the enemies of God. The Apostle Paul explains this really for us in Colossians 1 and verse 21.
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Let me just quote it. Listen to what he said. Colossians 1 verse 21, "...and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now thee reconciled." So he says before our conversion, we were enemies. We're in our minds. What does that mean? It means we thought unbiblically. We thought as lost people think. We thought and lived as the old man. And the scripture tells us that if we've been saved by the grace of God, that we're put on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness. And so, when we begin to think like the old man, and when we begin to think humanistically, we're becoming, in our minds again, the enemies of God.
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You have to understand that thinking and acting go together. In Proverbs 23 and verse 7, the Bible says, As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. The Apostle Paul said, in Philippians 3 and verse 18, For many walk of whom I've told you all but didn't even tell you weeping, that they're enemies of the cross of Christ. So as you think, so shall you live. So when we think and act unbiblically and unscripturally, for all practical purposes, we're fighting against God.
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And it doesn't really matter what our profession is. You know, I could tell my wife all day long that I love her, but as long as I'm running around with other women, it's very obvious that I don't love her. And I can tell the Lord I love Him, but as long as I'm doing absolutely contrary to Him, it's quite obvious I really don't love Him. So it doesn't really matter what our profession is, as long as we're being disobedient, we're actually fighting against God.
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So how do we become God's enemies? I want to give you three things tonight. I want to show them to you from the Bible. The very first way we become God's enemies is by rejection and disobedience to His law. We become God's enemies by rejection of and disobedience to His law.
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Now, here's a truth that you need to understand. A king rules by his law. It doesn't matter if we're talking about the king of heaven or an earthly king. He rules by his law. And the one true and living God has given His law, and His law is an expression of His will. His law tells us how we should live. Therefore, when there is a rejection of God's law, it is in reality a rejection of God Himself and His kingdom.
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Let me show you this. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Hosea chapter 4. Right after the book of Daniel, Daniel-Hosea, Hosea chapter 4. And let's begin reading there with verse 1. I want you to look at this. Hosea 4, verse 1. We'll read through verse 6. Notice what the Bible says. Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
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So God's got an argument. God's got a controversy with the children of Israel. What is it? Because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land." Hmm. Would you like to know what the consequences and the results are when you have no knowledge of God, or truth, or mercy in the land? Well, look in verse 2. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood touches blood.
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Therefore shall the land mourn, and everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. Yet let no man strive, nor prove another, for the people are they that strive with the priest. Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother."
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Now look what he says, verse 6, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me, seeing thou hast forgotten the law by God, I will also forget thy children."
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Now, I want you to listen to that. God says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have forgotten My law, I will also forget your children. I told you earlier that God's law is an expression of His will. You know what our children are? They're an expression of our will. We wanted them. God gave them to us. We had them. So God says, you reject and forget the expression of My will. I'll reject and forget the expression of your will. You want to know what's wrong with all the young people in this country? We've forgotten God and His law, and He's forgotten them. Yeah, that's exactly right. Forgetting God is the same as rejecting God, because both lead to disobedience.
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For instance, go back in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 8. Deuteronomy, chapter 8. And let's begin reading there with verse 10. Deuteronomy, chapter 8. Notice, if you would please, with verse 10, and we'll read through verse 14. Deuteronomy 8, verse 10, God says, When thou hast eaten and are full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, now watch this, beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments and his judgments and his statutes which I command thee this day. Lest, when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein, and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."
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Now, what did he say? He said, usually, when you have prosperity, and when you're unusually blessed, what most men do is forget God. They become unappreciative, they become unthankful, they become ungrateful, and they just assume that we don't really need God. Forgetting God is the same as rejecting God. I want you to turn to Isaiah chapter 5. Let me show you this. Isaiah chapter 5, then we'll go to Jeremiah chapter 5. But look in Isaiah chapter 5, and let's begin reading over verse 1. Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 1. I'm reading this just to show you that, again, we're talking about God's people. Isaiah 5 and verse 1, Now will I sing unto my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill.
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And he fetched it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein. And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
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Now who is he talking to? And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard than I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked, that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes. Now go to, I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.
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I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up, and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down, and I will lay it waste. It shall not be pruned, nor digged, but there shall come up briars and thorns. I also will command the clouds, that they know rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant.
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And he looked for judgment, behold, oppression, for righteousness, but behold, a cry." Now skip down to verse 24 and 25. Look what God says He's going to do to His people. Verse 24, Therefore as the fire devoured the stubble, and the flame consumed the chap, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall grow up as dust, because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against this people, he has stretched forth his hand against them and smitten them, and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." Why did God fight against them?
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The answer is very clear. Because they despised the word of the Lord, and they cast away the law of the Lord. That's what the scripture says. Look in Jeremiah chapter 5. Isaiah, Jeremiah. Let's go over to the next book, Jeremiah chapter 5. And again, let's begin there with verse 1. Jeremiah 5, verse 1. Watch carefully. Look what he says to Jeremiah. Run you to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh truth, and I will pardon it. Now God said, Jeremiah, you can run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem. If you can find one man, just one, that does what's right, I'll pardon the entire city. Look at verse 2. Look what he said in verse 2.
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And though they say the Lord liveth, surely they swear falsely. In other words, they had a profession, but their life was totally contrary to their profession.
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Now skip down to verse 7. Look what he says.
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Now he's still talking about his people. He says in verse 7, How shall I pardon thee for this? Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, then they committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlot's houses. They were as fed horses in the morning, every one made after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord, and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? Skip down to verse 23. He says, but this people have the revolting and rebellious heart. They're revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart. Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth rain, both the former and the latter in his season.
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He reserveth and does the appointed weeks of the harvest. Your iniquities have turned away these things and your sins have withholding good things for you. For among my people are found wicked men. They lay wait. As he that set up snares, they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they become great and waxen rich, they're waxen fat, they shine, they overpass the deeds of a wicked.
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They judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper. And the right of the needy do they not judge? Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" Now watch it. A wonderful and a horrible thing is committed in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely. The priests bear rule by their means.
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And my people love to have it so. But what will you do thereof in the end?"
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Now, let me ask you a question. You know that the ten northern tribes, the Northern Kingdom, went into captivity into Assyria. And you know that the tribes of the southern kingdom went into captivity into Babylon. Why did God send these people into captivity?
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Now, I know you can say because of their sins, but let's be more specific. I want you to turn to 2 Kings chapter 17. 2 Kings chapter 17, and let's begin reading there with verse 7. 2nd Kings 17. And notice, if you would please, verse 7. 2nd Kings 17, verse 7. Watch carefully. For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and had feared other gods. Now, wait a minute. How do we know that Israel feared other gods? How can I tell whether or not you fear other gods? Well, let's watch it. He brought them up and they feared other gods. Watch verse 8. And walked in the statutes or the laws of the heathen whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel and of the kings of Israel which they had made. In other words, they forsook God's law and walked in the laws of the heathen."
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And he mentions the kings of Israel. You must remember that Jeroboam, the first king of Israel, was the one who made the golden calves. The golden calves, one in Dan, one in Bethel. It was idolatry. And so what they are doing is they are rejecting God's law and they are substituting now the law of false gods and the law of a wicked, perverted man. And they're obeying man's law, and foreign God's laws, and rejecting God's law.
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Now, let's read in verse 9, and let me show you how this thing works out. Look in verse 9, and the children of Israel did secretly, that is originally, they did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God. But now watch openly. And they built them high places in their cities, from the tower of the watchman to the fenced city. And they set up images and groves in every high hill and under every green tree. And there they burned incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away from before them, and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger. For they served idols, where the Lord had said unto them, You shall not do this thing. Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all the prophets, by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.
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Notwithstanding, they would not hear, but hardened their necks like unto the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them. And they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them. Watch! And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and served Baal, and caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divinations and enchantments, and sold themselves to the devil, and the Son of the Lord to provoke him to anger." Why did God send Israel into captivity, rejecting His law? refusing to obey Him.
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And by the way, it did not fare much better with Judah if you'll skip down to verse 19. Look at what the Bible says there. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walk in the statutes of Israel which they made. In other words, Judah did the same thing that Israel did. And God sent her into captivity into Babylon.
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Now, I want you to turn over in your Bibles to the little book of Micah, right toward the end of the Bible, of the Old Testament. You'll find Micah right after the book of Jonah, and right before the book of Nahum. So, I want you to look at Micah chapter 6. Micah chapter 6. I'm trying to show you you become God's enemies when you reject His law and disobey His law. Look at Micah chapter 6 and let's begin reading there with verse 13.
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This is a devastating passage. God says to His people, Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied. And thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee, and thou shalt take hold, but thou shalt not deliver. And that which thou deliverest I will give up to the sword. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap. Thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil. And sweet wine, but thou shalt not drink wine. Why? Here's why.
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For the statutes of Omri are kept. Now Omri was the father of Ahab. He was a wicked pervert. He says for the statutes or the laws of Omri are kept and all the works of the house of Ahab and you walk in their councils, that is in their laws that I should make me a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing, therefore you shall bear the reproach of my people."
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What's God doing in Micah chapter 6? He's fighting against them. What was He doing in 2nd Kings chapter 17? He was fighting against them. You have to understand, folks, when people forsake and reject and forget God's law, they're fighting against God, and therefore God becomes their enemy and God fights against them. Why? Because God is going to defend His honor and His glory and His will. Can we become God's enemies? Oh, yes. Has the modern church become God's enemies? Oh, yes. I'll show you even more because we have substituted our laws for God's law. Here's the second way we become God's enemy. Now listen carefully. We become God's enemies by offering to him hypocritical and ritualistic worship. Hypocritical and ritualistic worship. John 4 verse 24 says this, God is spirit. And they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. So it's an absolute necessity, if we're going to worship God, that we worship Him in spirit and in truth.
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But you know what happened in the Old Testament? Israel, who had been given God's law, who had been given the offerings and the sacrifices, who had been given the tabernacle and later on the temple, they took God's worship and they turned it into mere rituals and ceremonies. It's just something that they did without thinking. It was really insignificant. They just did it. Just like modern day Christians when they just go to church.
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Because that's what we've always done. We go and plop down on the pew, sing a few songs, listen to a sermon, pitch a few bucks in the offering plate, walk out, and somehow think that we've worshipped God. No. You could do that all day long, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and never worship God. I want you to turn to Isaiah 29. And then to Matthew 15, because you're going to see our Lord quote Isaiah 29 in Matthew 15. So let's go to Isaiah 29 first and let's look at verses 13 and 14. Isaiah 29. Verses 13 and 14. Here we go. Isaiah 29.
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Notice he would verse 13.
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Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people," now he's talking about his own people, "...this people draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but remove their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid."
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Now, the Hebrew word for marvelous here is the word palah, which means something that is wonderful, something that is extraordinary, something that is surpassing, something that is distinguished by action. And when you look at the word wonder here, the Hebrew word refers to an act of God's judgment. So God is saying He's going to judge these people who utter Him with their lips, and with their mouth, but their hearts are far from him.
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So if you look in Matthew chapter 15, and let's begin reading there with verse 7, our Lord quotes from Isaiah 29, and by the way, he does it in Mark 7 as well, but we're looking in Matthew chapter 15. Notice verse 7, where our Lord is quoting from Isaiah 29, and look what he says. He says, You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth not unto me with their mouth, and not unto me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Now watch!
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But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." So it should be noted, first of all, that our Lord calls such worship hypocritical. For it was only hypocrites that offered such worship. Their hearts, their love, their affection, their spirit were elsewhere. They were not really interested in God's worship. It was a ceremony. It was a ritual. I usually say it like this.
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The average professing Christian runs into a church 15 minutes late with a quarter in one hand and a quarterly in the other hand and somehow thinks that he's worshiping God. Not an exaggeration. Alice and I were in Tampa, Florida. And we were visiting our daughter and her family. And we went by this Baptist church. And on their board out front said this. Come to our early service. In by 8. Out by 8.30.
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Now you stop and think about this. In by 8, out by 8.30. If you welcome people, if you have an opening prayer, if you sing a song or two, and you know a Baptist church is going to take an offering, and then if you have a benediction, a closing prayer, that would not leave more than five to ten minutes for anything. You know what that church was doing? They were soothing the consciences of people as they were on the way to spend the day at the beach. I've been to church. I've been through my little ritual. I've been through my little ceremony. This is it.
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And that's why our Lord says this is hypocritical. Only hypocrites give that kind of worship. Second, he calls such worship vain. He said, in vain do they worship me. And the word vain means it's useless. It's fruitless. It is absolutely worthless. He will not have it. He will not receive it. He will not accept it. It's totally unacceptable to him.
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Thirdly, he demonstrates in this passage how they have replaced God's law with man's law. I'll tell you something, whether you believe this or not, that's alright. I've been preaching for 50 years, and I know for a fact this is true, because I know churches that it's happened in. As long as you're in church Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night, and as long as you give regularly and faithfully, and maybe even attend visitation, once or twice a month. I don't really care if you're an adulterer, a fornicator, a fraud, a thief in your business, dishonest. No, you're a good Christian. You support the church. You were there. I know for a fact of individuals who were guilty of horrendous adultery, and yet still on the deacon board. Why?
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Because we have our laws. If you do this, this and this and this, we pronounce you a good Christian. It doesn't matter if you violate God's law. And that's exactly what our Lord is talking about in Matthew 15 and in Mark chapter 7. Let me just show you how God absolutely hates and despises this kind of worship. I want you to turn in your Bibles, first of all, to Isaiah chapter 1. Look in Isaiah chapter 1, if you would. Isaiah chapter 1, and we'll begin reading there with verse 10. Isaiah 1 and verse 10. By the way, before we read verse 10 in Isaiah chapter 1, I want you to look, if you would please, at verse 1. The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Oh, we're talking about God's people now. God's professing people. So skip down, if you would please, to verse 10.
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Here's what he says to them. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Give ear unto the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah. Who is he talking to? The rulers of Judah and Jerusalem. Now watch. Look what he says. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts.
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I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand to tread my courts? Bring no more vain, useless, worthless, unacceptable oblations, incenses and abominations unto me, the new moons and the sabbaths, the calling of assemblies. I cannot argue with it. It is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hateth.
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They are a trouble unto me. I am weary to bear them. And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. And yea, you may make many prayers. I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do well. Seek judgment. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead for the widow." What's he saying? You're coming to me?
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Going through a little ritual? Going through a ceremony? And you're disobeying me? You're refusing to obey my law and follow my statutes? And you think I'm pleased with it? I can't stand this. I hate it. I will not have it. I want you to turn right over to the book of Amos. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Look in Amos chapter 5. He says it again. Amos chapter 5, Hosea Joel Amos, and notice if you would, beginning there with verse 21, Amos 5 verse 21.
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I don't see how anyone can get around this passage. Here's what God told His people. I hate, I despise your feast days and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer me burnt offerings and your meal offerings, I will not accept them. Neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beast. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy vows.
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But let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as mighty streams." Now you have to ask yourself this question, God. Did you not appoint the feast days? Yes. Did you not appoint the new moons and the solid assemblies? Yes. Did you not appoint the singing? Yes. All of this was divine appointment. But here the people made it a ritual. They made it a ceremony. They in and out, no heart, no affection, no love, no adoration. Just pure, simple ritualism. And God said, I hate it.
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I will not have it." Have you ever stopped to think what David meant when he said in Psalm 103, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name and forget not all of his benefits who daily loaded thee with all of these blessings. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. How many of us, when we sit in church, listening to the preaching of the Word actually engage our hearts and our minds, and we listen and we think and we meditate and we apply and we thank God and we praise Him in our spirits.
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Most of the time, it's just in and out. How can we claim to be the Lord's people when we offer Him defective and worthless and useless and unacceptable worship. If we're His people, we ought to act like it. That's why He condemned the people in Isaiah 1. That's why He condemned them in Amos chapter 5. He said, you say you're My people, but you're acting like the heathen. You're not even worshiping Me. Obedience is the foundation for true worship. Where there is no obedience, there is no worship. Where there is no obedience, there is no worship.
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Our Lord, make it clear, if you love me, keep my commandments. I want you to turn in your Bibles to James 4. I want to show you a third way we become God's enemies. James 4 and verse 4. Hebrews, James. We'll look at the context in just a moment. James 4, verse 4. Thirdly, we become God's enemies when we befriend the world. By the way, there's really something wrong with a modern day church when the wicked feel comfortable there. I know we want sinners to be converted. I'm not denying that.
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But I'll tell you what, if a man is a sinner, goes to church, and the Word of God is preached, he's going to be very uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. Because that Word is going to rebuke his sins. But look what the Bible says, James 4 and verse 4. Our Lord says, You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Now, wait a minute. Look in verse four again. You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Ah, enmity with God. Now, let me tell you this. First of all, he said, friendship with the world. He's not talking about God's creation. He's not talking about enjoying Yosemite National Park, or Yosemite, or Sequoia National Park, or Glacier National Park. He's not talking about enjoying the creation outdoors. No, no, no. That's not the world he's talking about. He's talking about the world system. Everything that is opposed to God and His Word.
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He said, ye adulterers and adulterers, know ye not that friendship with the world, that is the world system, is enmity with God. The word enmity is a very strong word for hatred. Whosoever is a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Why? Because the world is an enmity with God. And the word enemy here is actually echthros, and it means to be a foe, it means to be hostile, to be hateful, to oppose to, and to be hostile toward. So he says, whoever is a friend of the world is hostile toward him. He's an enemy of God.
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Now, let me show it to you in the context. Let's go to James 4 and verse 1. Look at it. For whence come wars and fighting among you? Come they not hence even in your lusts that warn your members? You lust and have not. You kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you have not because you ask not. You ask and receive not because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your own lust." In other words, you're not interested in God, you're not interested in His will, all you want to do is satisfy your own pleasure and your own lust. Verse 4, "...ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmied with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
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Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth in envy? but he giveth more grace. Wherefore, he said, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he'll flee from you. Draw an eye to God, and he will draw an eye to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
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Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to happiness. Humble yourselves in the sight of God, and the Lord shall lift you up."
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Now, one is worldly in this context. When he is covetous, lustful, proud, arrogant, quick-tempered, aggressive, desirous of everything that is opposed to God, a worldly individual in this context is one that lives for his pleasures, his will, his desires. In other words, here is a man that is totally consumed with himself and getting ahead in life. And he's going to do whatever it takes for both of them to please himself and to get a hidden life. James says the remedy for this is to draw nigh to God, repent, to cleanse your hands, submit to the Lord. And unless we do, he says, we're in a state of enmity. Do you understand it's one thing to be in the world and quite another thing to be of the world. God's chosen people should never be identified with the world. Yes, we're in the world. And we're to use this world as not abusing it because it is God's world. But we're not to be tied up with the wicked.
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Let me just show you. I want you to turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 19. 2 Chronicles chapter 19. I can quote this, but I want you to see it. Look in 2 Chronicles chapter 19. You see, there's a man in the Bible by the name of Jehoshaphat. He was a king, king of Judah, and believe it or not, he was basically a good king and a godly king.
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However, he did something very stupid. He allied with King Ahab of Israel. Ahab was the wickedest king of Israel. And God, the Jehoshaphat of Judah, went to help Ahab. Watch what happens in verse 1 of 2 Chronicles 19. And Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. This is after he's coming back from the battle. And Jehu, the son of Anani, the seer, went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord." Wow. Should you help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? The answer is no. You shouldn't help them. You shouldn't love them to side with them, to identify with them. And because Jehoshaphat did, he says, therefore there's going to be wrath upon you from before the Lord. You know, our Lord made His position exceedingly clear in Matthew 12 and verse 30 when He said this, He that is not with Me is against Me, and he that gathereth not scattereth abroad.
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I want you to think about this tonight. I want you to think of how God's people can become His enemies. Obviously, we can. And when we are His enemies, He fights against us. I can look around in this country, and I travel all over the country. You know, it's almost impossible to get, I will just say a dozen. It's almost impossible to get a dozen pastors together.
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to work on anything, any one project. You know why? Because everybody wants to be the head. And if I can't be the head and if I can't get the glory, I'm not going to do it. Or if it doesn't benefit my church, I'm not going to do it. What? Christians are like that. Could it be because we basically rejected God's law? Could it be because we have failed to give Him the proper, acceptable worship? And could it be because we've befriended the world?
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God is actually fighting against us. And therefore, we can't accomplish a thing.
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You remember, God broke the ships that He's Zion gave her. Because again, He joined up with the wicked. God breaks our ships. If you don't want to be an enemy of God, you not only need to be His child, you need to be His friend. In John 15 and verse 14, our Lord said this, You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Abraham was the friend of God. Abraham obeyed God. If we're going to be his friends, our lives should be lives of obedience. And our lives should be marked by obedience. And if we're not His friends, the only other alternative is to be His enemy. And when God fights against us, we lose. And He wins.
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Yes, God's people can become His enemies. And we don't want to be His enemies. We need to be as holy and as godly and as obedient as we can by the grace of God, and bring our lives continually and constantly in conformity to the Word of God. Let's pray. Father, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ tonight that You would help us, that You would speak our hearts, that You would help us, Lord, let us see really and truly the awesomeness and the solemnity of this truth that it is possible to be God's people and yet at the same time be his enemies. Help us, Lord, not to be your enemy, but to be your friend by obedience. Help us to give thee the honor and the glory that thou dost deserve in recognizing thy law and thy sovereign authority and power, and giving Thee, Lord, spiritual worship which is acceptable. And may we not be a friend of all that's wicked and contrary to Thee, but be Thy friend and obey Thee. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T00:43:26Z

When God's People Become His Enemies

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver examines Isaiah 63:10 to show that when God's people rebel, God turns to be their enemy and fights against them. He argues that the modern church has become God's enemy by rejecting His law, offering hypocritical worship, and befriending the world. The message calls believers to obedience, true worship, and separation from the world to avoid God's opposition.

Introduction: God's Strange Work of Judgment

Weaver introduces the concept of God's 'strange work' of judgment from Isaiah 28:21 and Job 31:3, leading to the question of when God's people become His enemies.

Scripture Reading — Job 31:3

Therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them." The title of the message tonight is, When God's People Become His Enemies. Now I read Isaiah 28 and verse 21 because judgment there is talking about God's strange act and God's strange work. In fact, in Job 31 and verse 3, God's judgment again is called His strange work there. So I preached the message which I entitled, God's Strange Work. And my text was actually Job 31 and verse 3, and I used Isaiah 28 and verse 21. And while I was preaching that message, and I was showing that God's judgment is called His strange work or His strange act, when He has to judge His own people. And as I was preaching that message, I said, maybe I need to consider when God's people become his enemies. And that thought just came to me as I was preaching.

The Modern Church's Decline

The professing church has fallen below biblical standards, with believers unable to find biblical churches and being dismissed for their stance.

The Church's Pragmatic Drift

The church has become pragmatic, adopting unbiblical programs and entertainment, and has failed in its God-ordained purposes.

Biblical Basis: Isaiah 63:7-10

Weaver reads Isaiah 63:7-10, showing that Israel's rebellion caused God to become their enemy and fight against them.

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 63:7-9

" So we're talking about God's people now, what's this? For he said, surely they are my people, children that will not lie, so he was their Savior.

God's Immutability and Judgment

Because God does not change, He will fight against His New Testament people when they rebel, just as He did in the Old Testament.

Historical Example: Jeremiah 21 and Lamentations 1

God fought against Judah by aiding Nebuchadnezzar, as seen in Jeremiah 21 and Lamentations 1, illustrating His judgment on His people.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 21:1-7

" So here's what King Zedekiah wants. Jeremiah, pray for us that Nebuchadnezzar would leave us alone, that he would leave and we would not have to fight. Now watch. Verse 3, Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall you say to Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith you fight against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans which besiege you without the walls.

The Modern Church's Powerlessness

The modern church has lost its power and influence, becoming mocked and despised, unlike the early church.

Let me just quote it. Listen to what he said. Colossians 1 verse 21,

Scripture Reading — Colossians 1:21

"...and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now thee reconciled."

First Way: Rejection of God's Law

We become God's enemies by rejecting and disobeying His law, as seen in Hosea 4, Deuteronomy 8, Isaiah 5, Jeremiah 5, 2 Kings 17, and Micah 6.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 8:10-14

When thou hast eaten and are full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, now watch this, beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments and his judgments and his statutes which I command thee this day. Lest, when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein, and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 17:7-19

For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and had feared other gods.

Second Way: Hypocritical Worship

Offering ritualistic, heartless worship makes us God's enemies, as condemned in Isaiah 29, Matthew 15, Isaiah 1, and Amos 5.

Notice he would verse 13.

Third Way: Befriending the World

Friendship with the world system is enmity with God, as taught in James 4 and illustrated by Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 19.

Conclusion: Call to Friendship with God

Weaver urges believers to be God's friends through obedience, true worship, and separation from the world, lest God fight against them.

God is actually fighting against us. And therefore, we can't accomplish a thing.

When God's People Become His Enemies

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	113152128365
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs-Related Topical Wisdom
Genre	Sermon
Date	2015-01-13
Dictation Name
Book	Book 085: Proverbs-Related Topical Wisdom — Chapter 7
Source Timed Segments	90

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: God's Strange Work of Judgment: Weaver introduces the concept of God's 'strange work' of judgment from Isaiah 28:21 and Job 31:3, leading to the question of when God's people become His enemies.
The Modern Church's Decline: The professing church has fallen below biblical standards, with believers unable to find biblical churches and being dismissed for their stance.
The Church's Pragmatic Drift: The church has become pragmatic, adopting unbiblical programs and entertainment, and has failed in its God-ordained purposes.
Biblical Basis: Isaiah 63:7-10: Weaver reads Isaiah 63:7-10, showing that Israel's rebellion caused God to become their enemy and fight against them.
God's Immutability and Judgment: Because God does not change, He will fight against His New Testament people when they rebel, just as He did in the Old Testament.
Historical Example: Jeremiah 21 and Lamentations 1: God fought against Judah by aiding Nebuchadnezzar, as seen in Jeremiah 21 and Lamentations 1, illustrating His judgment on His people.
The Modern Church's Powerlessness: The modern church has lost its power and influence, becoming mocked and despised, unlike the early church.
First Way: Rejection of God's Law: We become God's enemies by rejecting and disobeying His law, as seen in Hosea 4, Deuteronomy 8, Isaiah 5, Jeremiah 5, 2 Kings 17, and Micah 6.
Second Way: Hypocritical Worship: Offering ritualistic, heartless worship makes us God's enemies, as condemned in Isaiah 29, Matthew 15, Isaiah 1, and Amos 5.
Third Way: Befriending the World: Friendship with the world system is enmity with God, as taught in James 4 and illustrated by Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 19.
Conclusion: Call to Friendship with God: Weaver urges believers to be God's friends through obedience, true worship, and separation from the world, lest God fight against them.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

God's immutability means He judges His people today as in the Old Testament.

Since God does not change, His judgment on rebellious Israel applies to the New Testament church.

Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8 are cited to show God's unchanging nature.

Rejecting God's law is rejecting God Himself.

God's law expresses His will; to reject it is to reject His rule and become His enemy.

Isaiah 5:24: 'They have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.'

Hypocritical worship is useless and provokes God's judgment.

Worship without heart, replaced by man's traditions, is vain and makes one a hypocrite.

Matthew 15:8-9: 'This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth... but in vain they do worship me.'

Worldliness is spiritual adultery against God.

Loving the world system is enmity with God, making believers His enemies.

James 4:4: 'Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?'

The modern church has substituted man's laws for God's law.

Churches often prioritize attendance and giving over obedience to God's moral commands.

Weaver gives examples of churches ignoring adultery while maintaining deacons.

God actively fights against His rebellious people.

God personally opposed Israel, as in Jeremiah 21:5, and does the same today.

Jeremiah 21:5: 'I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm.'

Scripture References

Isaiah 63:10: The key text: Israel rebelled and vexed the Holy Spirit, so God became their enemy and fought against them.
Isaiah 28:21: God's judgment is called His 'strange work' and 'strange act.'
Job 31:3: God's judgment is referred to as His 'strange work.'
Isaiah 63:7-9: God's lovingkindness to Israel, showing they were His people before they rebelled.
Malachi 3:6: God's immutability: 'I the Lord change not.'
Hebrews 13:8: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Jeremiah 21:1-7: God tells Zedekiah He will fight against Judah and deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar.
Lamentations 1:1-9: Jerusalem's desolation because the Lord afflicted her for her transgressions.
Colossians 1:21: Before conversion, we were enemies in our minds by wicked works.
Proverbs 23:7: As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
Philippians 3:18: Many walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Hosea 4:1-6: God's controversy with Israel for lack of knowledge; they rejected His law, so He rejected them.
Deuteronomy 8:10-14: Warning not to forget God by not keeping His commandments in prosperity.
Isaiah 5:1-7, 24-25: God's vineyard (Israel) brought forth wild grapes; He will lay it waste for casting away His law.
Jeremiah 5:1-2, 7-9, 23-31: God seeks one righteous man; Israel's sins and rejection of His law lead to judgment.
2 Kings 17:7-19: Israel's captivity because they walked in the statutes of the heathen and rejected God's law.
Micah 6:13-16: God's judgment on His people for keeping the statutes of Omri and walking in the counsels of Ahab.
John 4:24: God is spirit, and worshipers must worship in spirit and truth.
Isaiah 29:13-14: People honor God with lips but hearts are far; God will do a marvelous work of judgment.
Matthew 15:7-9: Jesus quotes Isaiah 29, calling hypocritical worship vain and teaching man's commandments.

Historical References

Vance Havner: Late evangelist quoted: 'Christians have been subnormal for so long that when one ever gets normal, everyone else thinks he's abnormal.'
King Zedekiah: King of Judah who sought Jeremiah's intercession against Nebuchadnezzar; God declared He would fight against Judah.
Nebuchadnezzar: King of Babylon used by God to judge Judah.
Jeroboam: First king of Israel who made golden calves, leading Israel into idolatry.
Omri: Father of Ahab, a wicked king whose statutes Israel kept, provoking God's judgment.
Ahab: Wicked king of Israel; his house's works were followed by Israel.
Jehoshaphat: King of Judah who allied with Ahab and was rebuked for helping the ungodly.
Jehu son of Anani: Seer who rebuked Jehoshaphat for loving those who hate the Lord.

Important Quotes

Christians have been subnormal for so long that when one ever gets normal, everyone else thinks he's abnormal.

Summarizes the state of the modern church where biblical faithfulness is seen as abnormal.

The Church of Jesus Christ was never intended to be an entertainment center, a babysitting service, a psychological den, a feel-good-about-yourself society, an arm of the state or the federal government, and certainly not a political action committee.

Defines the true purpose of the church in contrast to modern distortions.

Therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

The central verse of the message, showing God's response to rebellion.

I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and in fury and in great wrath.

God's direct declaration of fighting against His people in Jeremiah 21.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee.

Shows the consequence of rejecting God's law.

I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

God's strong rejection of hypocritical worship in Amos 5.

Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Key verse on worldliness as enmity with God.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

In what ways might the modern church be guilty of rejecting God's law, and how can we return to biblical obedience?

[Context]

Weaver argues that the church has substituted man's laws for God's law, leading to God's opposition.

[Question]

How can we ensure our worship is in spirit and truth, not merely ritualistic?

[Context]

Weaver condemns hypocritical worship that honors God with lips but not the heart.

[Question]

What does it mean to be a friend of the world, and how can we avoid this while still engaging with the world?

[Context]

James 4:4 is cited to show that worldliness is enmity with God.

[Question]

How should the immutability of God affect our understanding of His judgment on the church today?

[Context]

Weaver uses Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8 to argue God's judgment is consistent.

[Question]

What are some practical signs that God might be fighting against a church or individual believer?

[Context]

Weaver suggests that defeat and powerlessness may indicate God's opposition.

[Question]

How can we cultivate a friendship with God through obedience, as described in John 15:14?

[Context]

The conclusion calls for obedience as the mark of friendship with God.

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