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A Perfect Picture of The Modern Church

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• 2 Kings chapter 17. There are a number of messages that I have prepared and am preparing, and I trust that you will pray with me concerning these messages. I think a lot of them are going to be very, very applicable. So if you look in 2 Kings 17, the title of the message is "A Perfect Picture of the Modern Church."

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• Now, I'm only going to read the first four or five verses because we're going to go through this entire chapter and I hope see the applications as well. So look in 2 Kings 17, verse 1: "In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents. And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years." When I read this passage recently, the first thought that hit my mind was the modern church today is much like the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt.

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• The mixed multitude that came out of Egypt along with the Israelites were false professors. They brought with them multiculturalism, and by that I mean cultures that were contrary to the Scripture. They were idolaters. They not only worshipped the unknown God, they also worshipped a multiple group of false gods as well. Moreover, it was this mixed multitude that caused many of the problems. So if you look back in your Bibles, holding 2 Kings 17, but turn back to Numbers chapter 11 if you would, and let's begin reading there with verse 4. Numbers chapter 11, and look if you would at verse 4, and what the Word of God says. Numbers 11, verse 4, the Word of God says: "And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again." So they influenced the children of Israel and said, "Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic." Watch verse 6: "But now our soul is dried away."

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• "There is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes." So God then brought the children of Israel out of Egypt along with this mixed multitude, and He gave them the absolute perfect food. He gave them manna. And here you find this mixed multitude have influenced the Israelites, and now they're all complaining about how good they had it back in Egypt when they were slaves. And they're remembering all the onions and the leeks and the garlic. And they're wanting to go back into Egypt, and they're wanting to eat of the old food instead of that which God had sovereignly provided and given to them.

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• I'm just going to say that this is kind of a picture, much like 2 Kings 17, of the modern church as well. You see, the church of Jesus Christ is in the world, but the world is not to be in the church of Jesus Christ. He said in John chapter 15 and verse 19, "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." So the truth of the matter is, when you begin to think of the modern church and you begin to think of all the pomp and all the programs and the social life and the entertainment, if all that was taken away,

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• then the modern church would be basically empty, simply because there are very few people that really and truly desire either the milk or the meat of the Word. They don't want that. They're not interested in that. They're interested more in the onions and the leeks and the garlic and the fish.

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• Now, not only is the mixed multitude a picture of the modern church, if you look back in your Bibles to 2 Kings 17, we're going to find that this is also a picture of the modern church as well because of what happened to Israel after Israel was conquered by the Assyrians. So look if you would and see how the Assyrians now have uprooted and displaced many of the Israelites and have put them in strange places and in foreign lands. So we read in verse 4: "And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years." Now watch: "In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan,

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• and in the cities of the Medes." So he's now taken all of these people out of the land and he's put them in foreign lands. Now he did something else. He not only removed them out of the land, he now took other foreigners and other strangers and brought them into Israel. It's kind of like he not only replaced the Israelites, much like the illegal immigrants are replacing the Americans today. Now, let me mention something to you. I just read this week where most of the immigrants that are coming in are by our own government given debit cards with $5,000 credit. Moreover, they're given free airfare to wherever they want, not accounting all the medical, not accounting all the welfare or everything else they receive. In fact, the truth of the matter is most of them fare far better financially than what you and I would call the middle class in America today.

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• And so that's exactly what the king of Assyria is doing. So he wants to control the people and control the land. He doesn't want any trouble. And so, therefore, he has taken Israel out of the land and he's taking foreigners and putting them into the land. It's kind of like Klaus Schwab said that they want to get rid of the white Europeans because the Asian people are already willing to be in subjection and pretty well obey authority. Anyhow, it's just the white Europeans that they're afraid that's going to buck up and fight against them. But look at it if you would in verse 24 of 2 Kings 17, verse 24: "And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof."

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• Now the few Israelites that were left in the land by Shalmaneser either intermarried with the heathen or were overrun by the heathen. Hence the southern kingdom Judah looked upon the Samaritans as dogs since these people now had been interbred and the wicked and the heathen had taken over.

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• Now even our Lord in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 6 said this: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." So when our Lord says give not that which is holy to the dogs and cast not your pearl before swine, He was not talking about the four-legged kind. He was talking about the two-legged kind.

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• Albert Barnes in his commentary said this, listen carefully. "Dogs signify men who spurn, oppose, and abuse the doctrine, men of particular sourness and malignity of temper who meet it with growling and quarrelsomeness like curs. Swine denote those who would trample the precepts under feet, men of impurity of life, corrupt, polluted, profane, obscene, and sensual, who would not know the value of the gospel, and who would tread it down as swine tread down pearls."

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• So you could throw a handful of corn in a hog pen and they'll eat it. Throw a bunch of pearls in there and they'll trample it down because it's not edible. And they have absolutely no use for it. And so our Lord is talking about individuals here who hate the truth and have no use for the truth as well. Now the Apostle Paul said basically the same thing in Philippians chapter 3 in verse 2 when he said, "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision." So once again, the dogs are not the four-legged kind. They're the two-legged kind. Now obviously, the Southern Kingdom hated the Samaritans. But I want to show you, not only was there hypocrisy amongst the Israelites in the Northern Kingdom, there was also hypocrisy in the Judahites in the Southern Kingdom.

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• Now I want to read just a rather lengthy passage. I want us to be able to put this together when I finish. So let's look in verse 7 of 2 Kings chapter 17. And I want us to read through verse 20, and I want you to think with me as we read here. Look in verse 7: "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, and walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made." Now the next verse is very informative: "And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God." Now they began doing things in secret. But notice the rest of this verse. The Bible says, "And they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower

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• of the watchmen to the fenced city." So what began in private has now been made public. Watch verse 10: "And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree." Now let me just stop and repeat something that I've told you in times past. Whenever you see the word "groves" here in the book of Kings, Chronicles, and usually throughout the Bible, it does not refer to a grove of trees. About the only instance it does is in the book of Genesis when Abraham planted a grove. We talk about a grove of pecan trees or a grove of fruit trees. But here the word is the Asherah or Asherim, which was a sexual goddess, and it is an idol. So notice if you would, he said they set up images and groves in every high hill and under every green tree. "And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought

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• wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger: for they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing. Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and 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 to 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. 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 host of heaven, and served Baal.

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• And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made." Now here it is: "And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight." So all of Israel now has fallen into idolatry. For a short period of time Judah remained true and faithful, but Judah finally fell as well. That is why in verse 19, it says, "Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel, which they had made."

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• Now, the interesting thing is this. When you look at the book of Ezekiel and his chapter 16, you will find that God compares Israel and Judah and Jerusalem along with Sodom. In fact, he calls them sisters. So he even says that Israel and Judah have done worse than Sodom, their sister. Wow. So you have to remember this as well, that Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom. And so now he's taken these people out of the capital and, of course, all over Israel, and replaced them with all of these heathen. Now naturally, the heathen that were brought into the land knew absolutely nothing about God, knew nothing about His worship, knew nothing about His sacrifices, and so they just simply brought their idols in. Now look if you would at what happened in verses 24 and 25. Here it is: "And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof." Verse 25: "And so it was

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• at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord." Obviously, clearly. "Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them." So now the people are being attacked by a wild beast. And, of course, the deaths of these people got their attention. And look what they did in verses 26 through 28: "Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land." Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, "Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land." Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. Now to show you the absolute ignorance and stupidity of these

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• people: they spoke of the God of the land. In other words, the heathen had absolutely no concept of God's sovereignty. And, of course, they were polytheistic. They believed in many gods. They believed that each land had its own god. That's why the Syrians, when they attacked Israel, the captains told the king, "Well, the reason we were defeated, their god happened to be the god of the mountains. What we need to do is fight against him in the valleys because obviously he can't be the god of the valleys if he's the god of the mountains." And God sent a prophet to Ahab and said, "Look, you're going to defeat them again because they've said that I am not the god of the valleys; I'm just simply the god of the mountains." Well clearly these people did not understand God's sovereignty whatsoever. Now what Shalmaneser did was this: he then sent a priest to them to teach them the way of the god of the land. Now you have to remember something. This is Samaria.

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• It was Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made the two golden calves. It was Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who took of the lowest of the people and made them priests. So the priest that Shalmaneser has sent back is not a Levitical priest. He's not a priest of God. He happens to be a priest of the calves. That's why you read in 1 Kings 12 and verse 31, talking about Jeroboam: "And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi." So now he sent this false priest back to teach them the manner of the God of the land.

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• How in the world can truth be taught out of fiction? How in the world can truth be taught out of ignorance? How in the world can truth be taught out of falsehood? And the answer, it could not be. And the truth of the matter is this, listen carefully. It really didn't matter. Because the people weren't going to listen anyhow. I'm going to show you that from the Bible. They were not going to listen. They were not going to worship God. All they wanted was to stop the lion attacks. It's just like today: people are interested in using God, and they'll do things until they get what they want, and then they forget Him. Well, that's exactly what these people did.

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• So look if you would beginning in verse 29. Watch this. Let's go back to verse 28: "Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt." Hang on: "And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. So they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places." Oh, my soul.

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• I hope you see the plain and obvious and clear contradiction. How in the world can one fear the one true and living God and then turn around and serve idols? How can you supposedly submit yourself to God and then do as you please anyhow? So clearly these people made a false profession, and their fear was a false fear. When it said "so they feared the Lord," now look back in verse 30 and 31: "And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. So they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves"—not only their false gods, but men of the lowest of the order.

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• They cared nothing about truth. They were not going to listen to any priest whatsoever. It didn't matter that he was a false priest. Didn't matter that he did not know the truth. All they wanted was for the lions to stop attacking them. They lived as they had always lived. Their lives were unchanged. Their habits were unchanged. Their attitudes were unchanged. There was no obedience. There was no submission to God.

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• Their profession of faith, their professed fear of the Lord, was worthless because they were doing their own thing. Now look in verse 32: "So they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the Lord"—here it is—"and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence." So they feared the Lord and they served their own gods. Why am I saying that this is a perfect picture of the modern church? Well, obviously, there are so many people in the church today that profess to be saved. And yet look at their lives, their lives are complete contradictions to their profession. So if you look beginning again in verse—oh, let's see, verse 34. Let's go back to verse 33: "They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances,

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• or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; with whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them: but the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice. And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods. And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods. But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. Howbeit they did not hearken,

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• but they did after their former manner. So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day." In other words, you can read all through this passage. Over and over, it'll tell you they feared the Lord and served their own gods. Unto this day they do exactly the same thing.

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• They don't fear God. How do we know they do not fear God? Because they did not keep God's covenant. They did not keep God's law. They did not keep God's commandment. The truth is, they were just heathen. They were just totally, completely disobedient. They refused to keep God's law. They were what you and I would call practical atheists.

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• Now that is exactly why I'm saying that this is a perfect picture of the modern church. When you talk about atheists, you have to distinguish between what you and I would call a theoretical atheist and a practical atheist. When you look at the modern church today, you will find people who profess to be saved, who profess to be Christians, and yet at the same time, their lives are totally contrary to the Word of God. They refuse to obey the law of God. They refuse to submit to God. And their lives are full of all kinds of sins and wickedness.

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• Not just an occasional sin, but they do so many times deliberately. So, what's the difference between a theoretical atheist and a practical atheist? A theoretical atheist is a man who denies the person and the existence of God based upon his own intellect and his reasoning abilities, however deficient and depraved they are. But at least he reasons and he says, "I don't believe there's a God. I don't believe that God is a God. I don't believe the Bible is the Word of God." And he does that based on his own supposition, his own thinking. That is a theoretical atheist. A practical atheist is not like that. A practical atheist will admit that God is. A practical atheist will admit that God has spoken. A practical atheist will admit that the Bible is the Word of God. But then he turns around and lives as if there is no God or that God has not spoken. So let me put it like this: in his profession, he admits everything. But in his actions, he denies everything. Now I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Titus. Titus chapter 1, verse 16. Look in Titus chapter 1, verse 16. I could quote

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• this passage, but I want you to see it. Look in Titus 1, verse 16. The Word of God says: "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." I'll let that sink in. They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him. There's your practical atheist. Yes, God is. Yes, God has spoken. Yes, the Bible is the Word of God, but I'm going to live my life the way I want to. I'll do what I want to do. I'll make money any way I can make money. If I have to lie, if I have to defraud, that's fine. That's a practical atheist.

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• Now, turn back in your Bibles, if you would, to Luke chapter 6. I know that you know this passage, but I want you to still see it in light of what I'm teaching. Look in Luke 6, and let's begin reading there in verse 46. Luke 6, verse 46. Our Lord says in verse 46: "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" I want to remind you that the word "Lord" is kurios in the Greek, and it means boss, owner, master, sovereign. So Jesus Christ is asking, "Why are you calling me boss? Why are you calling me master? Why are you calling me sovereign? Why are you calling me owner if you're not doing what I say?"

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• And then He goes on to explain it like this. I want you to watch. He says, verse 47: "Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings"—look now—"and doeth them." You don't only hear, but you do. "I will shew you to whom he is like: he is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock." Now watch the distinction carefully: "But he that heareth, and doeth not"—hearing doesn't help you. There must be obedience and submission. "But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great." So our Lord said it's the man that hears and does that is he who submits and obeys. Now I want you to turn to another couple of passages that I'm going to make some applications. I want you to look in your Bibles to John chapter 14. We're going to look at verse 21 and then we're going to go to verse 24. John chapter 14. I want you to see these verses are very

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• important in light of what I just read. In John 14 and verse 21, our Lord said it like this. He said, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."

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• Now look what He said: "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me."

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• Now what I'm going to show you is this. Love has nothing to do with sentimentality. It has nothing to do with feelings. It has nothing to do with some little something floating around in the atmosphere somewhere. No, no, no. Love is obedience. That's why He said, look if you would in verse 24 of John 14. He said, "He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me." So in verse 21 He said, "If you love me, you keep my commandments." In verse 24 He said, "He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings." So how can you tell whether someone's a real genuine professor? How can you tell whether someone really and truly fears the Lord? The answer is he submits and obeys. That's the answer. Turn in your Bibles if you would to 1 John chapter 2. Look at this. 1 John chapter 2, and I want you to look at verses 3 and 4. 1 John chapter 2, verses 3 and 4. I don't see how this could be made any plainer. 1 John 2, look if you would please at verse 3: "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." Now how do I

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• know that I know the Lord? The answer is He enables me by His grace to be obedient. No, not that I'm perfect and not that you're perfect, but our lives are like David. We have a life of general obedience unto Him. So He said very plainly, "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." Watch verse 4: "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." So if we really truly know Him, He said we're going to keep His commandments. If we really truly love Him, we're going to keep His commandments. If He is really and truly our Lord, we're going to submit to Him and we're going to obey Him. Now look in 1 John chapter 5 at verses 2 and 3. 1 John chapter 5, look in verse 2. The Word of God says: "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments." Now, how do I know?

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• How does Ron know that I love him? Not—I don't have to run up and hug his neck and tell him I love him. All I have to do is obey God's Word toward him. As long as I don't steal from him, I love him. As long as I respect him and his wife and his family, I love him. In other words, as long as I treat him the way God commands me to treat him, I love him. Now watch it if you would, verse 2. He said, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." Now what is the love of God? The love of God is keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous. That's what love is. Love is obedience.

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• So this is why I'm trying to tell you that when you look in 2 Kings chapter 17, you have a perfect picture of the modern church because we have people everywhere that profess to love the Lord and profess to fear the Lord, but their lives are absolutely contrary to the Lord and to His Word and to His law. So let me make some applications. Let me try to tie this together for you.

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• I want you to think with me first of all. We're living in a time when most professing Christians—don't get upset with me—when most professing Christians hate God and hate God's law. How in the world did I say that? Because they refuse to submit to Him. They refuse to obey Him. You remember what the Bible said in Romans 8, verses 7 and 8? "For the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." The carnal mind, He said, is not subject to the law of God. It is enmity against God. It can never, ever be in submission to God. It can never, ever please God.

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• You have to be converted. You have to have a new mind. You must have a spiritual mind. So the truth of the matter is this: most Christians hardly ever read their Bible—most professing Christians. Very few really truly study and apply God's Word. Very few really truly want to know the truth of God. I've said this—you may have heard me say this—but I can go to the average church, the average Baptist church, and split it with one sermon. Just one. Just one, and you'll find out who really wants the Word and who doesn't want the Word. And it's kind of like when the Apostle Paul preached. You remember there in Acts chapter 13, some got mad and some got glad. He kind of shelled the corn, and the ones who didn't like the truth, they're the ones that got mad. The ones that wanted truth, they're the ones that were made glad. You know, our Lord said this to those Jews who professed to believe in Him. He said in John 5, verse 42, "But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you." Isn't that amazing?

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• He knew who loved Him and who did not love Him. You see, you can fool a lot of people. You can't even fool yourself. But the one person you can't fool is God. That's why in 2 Timothy 2, verse 19, the Bible says this: "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

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• Did you hear what I just said? "The Lord knoweth them that are his." Then he said, "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ"—what?—"depart from iniquity." If you are a child of God, depart from iniquity. You'll leave it alone. Doesn't mean you're sinless, but your life is not going to be characterized by constant sin and constant wickedness. Here's the second application: it is usually the mixed multitude in the church that creates division on biblical attitudes and stances. And you remember our Lord talked about the wheat and the tares, and that's what's in the church—the wheat and the tares. And they're there. The tares are there, the mixed multitude are in the church. And the interesting thing is the mixed multitude are the ones that always want control. Why? Because they want

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• their will. They want their flesh appeased, and they don't really care about truth. And the interesting thing is these people, the mixed multitude, they know absolutely nothing of Christian charity. They know nothing of self-sacrifice. It's not, "Well, brother, you might be entitled to your opinion and you might see things a little different, and we can still be friends and we can still love." No, no, no, no. It's not that. It's either you agree or you hit the highway.

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• I mean, we're in control here. We want this thing and we want it done the way we want it done. It's just that simple. How many churches have you ever been in that when a problem arose, the first thing the folks said was, "What does the Bible say about it? How does God say we're to resolve this? How are we supposed to respond? How are we to react?"

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• "What are we to do? What does the Word of God say?" I'm just simply pointing out the fact, usually it's the mixed multitude who want to control everything. You talking about church splits? You talking about church divisions? It's usually because of a mixed multitude. Here's the third application. I want you to think about this. Idolatry normally stems from government. I can take you all through the Bible.

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• It was Jeroboam who made the two golden calves. And the reason he made those two golden calves, he was not interested in the people. He was not interested in truth. I'll point this out later. He was interested only in himself. He wanted to control and manipulate the people. This is why Shalmaneser removed the Israelites from Samaria and replaced them with the heathen. He could control them. Here's an interesting thing.

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• I don't know if you have put two plus two together in our country, but you can ask yourself this question: Why is our government so down on Christianity and making sure there is nothing Christian about our government and driving Christianity out of education when it was Christianity who basically taught all of the founding fathers, and they had biblical principles? Have you ever asked yourself, why? Why are governments seeking to destroy Christianity? Alice and I heard on the way to church this morning, we was listening to Christian radio station, when the news came on, they said, "Christians are now the most persecuted people in the world." Why?

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• Well, I want you to think about this. If somebody knows the Lord, if they know truth, if their life is run by principle and by precept, that individual is very difficult to control. When you know what is right and you refuse to step away from what is right, you're very difficult to control. Do you realize Nebuchadnezzar, with all of his power, could not force the three Hebrew children to bow before his idol? The presidents and all of their power and their conspiracy combined against Daniel could not stop him from praying. And the only way the Roman Empire could stop the Apostle Paul from preaching was to cut off his head. So the point I'm trying to make is very, very simple. A people that know truth, and believe truth, and will stand for the truth, are not going to be easily swayed. They're not going to be easily controlled. Therefore, are you listening?

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• The churches must either be compromised or corrupted. When you get a church that's compromised, when you get a church that's corrupted, it's basically over and done with.

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• Now, I want you to go back to 2 Kings chapter 17. I want to show you two verses. Look in 2 Kings chapter 17, and I want you to look at verses 7 and 8. Here it is. 2 Kings 17, verse 7. We read it earlier: "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 they feared other gods? Well, I know God said so, and I know the Bible states so. I understand that.

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• But that's not the import of my question. How do we know they feared other gods? He reveals that. Look in verse 8: "They had feared other gods, and walked in the statutes"—that's 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." So they rejected God's law and walked in the laws of the heathen. And then he said, "and they walked in the laws of the children of Israel," that is the kings of Israel, the golden calves. In other words, when a people turn from God and God's law and refuse to walk in His statutes, the only thing left for them is the laws of the heathen. In other words, if you're not going to obey God's law, you will obey humanistic law.

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• The issue is still theonomy or autonomy. You'll either obey God or you'll obey man. It's just that simple. So the truth of the matter is this, if you and I do not wish to be controlled, tyrannized, enslaved, forcefully corrupted, we have to know the Word of God. We have to know His principles. We have to stand on those principles and do what is right in every situation. Relativism does not work. Situation ethics does not work. We have to determine we are going to do that which is right regardless. We will obey God. So that is why when the high priest said unto Peter, "You're not to preach anymore in this man's name," Peter said, "Whether is it right to obey God or man? We'll obey God." We'll do that which is right, and that should be our position. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, we pray, Lord, You would help our lives to match our profession.

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• May, Lord, we be submissive to Thee. May we be obedient to Thee. May we stand for Thee in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. May we honor Thee in all that we say and do. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

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• you you you

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T22:58:53Z