Episode Transcript
Hosea chapter 10, Hosea chapter 10, God willing we'll be expounding the first two verses.
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The tile of the mess this morning is an empty vine, an empty vine.
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You know it's natural to desire peace and happiness and for us to dread trouble and despair.
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We're always trying to balance things out to make sure that we're not in a position of despair,
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to make sure that things are okay in life.
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They're going well whether it's our health, our finances, our relationships with people.
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And as Christians we tend to focus on overcoming our adversities, don't we?
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Devotions talk about overcoming adversity.
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But unfortunately we know very little about overcoming our prosperity.
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We think, "Well, Brother Richard, why would we want to overcome prosperity?"
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Prosperity is a great weapon of the enemy.
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Did you know that prosperity, if not handled properly, can be more harmful than adversity?
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This morning's passage addresses this very topic by telling us the story of an empty vine.
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If you'll look here in your text this morning, Israel is an empty vine.
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After preaching last night at the couple's banquet, I'm a little more hoarse, so I may have to drink a little extra.
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Israel is an empty vine. Now this is a difficult passage for translators, I've noticed.
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And the King James says it's an empty vine, the American Standard and many others,
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they say it's a luxuriant vine or a very fruitful vine, which is the very opposite of an empty vine.
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And they can't both be right, of course.
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So let me expound a little bit on here in case you were to be consulting a different translation than ours, you wouldn't be confused.
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The Hebrew word that's translated "empty" here has the idea of fruit being emptied off of a vine.
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And since fruit is coming or being emptied off of that vine,
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some of the translators believe that the vine must be putting out a lot of fruit since it's coming off of it.
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King James got it right. There are other translations that get it better.
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Every place this Hebrew word is used in the Bible, every single place is describing something
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that is either completely empty or that has been emptied. Make sense?
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Which is the case with our text this morning.
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At one time, Israel was a luxuriant vine. Israel was a healthy, fruitful vine.
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It was loaded with fruit, but the fruitful vine has been emptied of her fruit now.
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That should set it in a whole lot, plainer light.
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Listen to how the Jewish translation puts it. The Jews got their translation right on this.
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Israel was a luxuriant vine which put forth fruit freely.
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It was in the past tense. At one time in her heyday,
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Israel was really putting out fruit as a nation, a very, very productive nation.
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That's the idea of this text. At one time, she was a glorious nation, a prosperous nation,
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a powerful and a beautiful nation. That's the way Israel was at one time.
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But that time is gone now.
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You look at societies, you look at Rome,
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you still see some of those Roman roads that were built. They still exist today.
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You still see the Roman Colosseum. You hear about Alexander the Great.
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You hear about Kim Nebuchadnezzar.
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You hear about all these nations that once were very glorious, powerful world empires.
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And then it's gone. It's just remnants now or ruins, you know,
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in some places are like Rome still there today, but it's nothing like it used to be.
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Nothing. No one fears Rome anymore.
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What turns a rising nation into a fallen nation?
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What turns a luxuriant vine into an empty vine?
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What makes a nation lose its prowess and its productivity?
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It all depends on if that nation is following the sovereign plan of God.
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That's what it amounts to. Daniel chapter 2 verse 20 and 21 says this.
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Daniel answered and said, "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
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for wisdom and might are His, and He changeth the times and the seasons.
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He removeth kings and setth up kings.
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He giveth wisdom unto the wise and knowledge to them that no understanding."
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God's in control of all of that, not us.
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God's plan for Israel was for them to live according to the commandments
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He gave them from Mount Sinai.
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The commandments He handed down through Moses,
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and by living according to His law, they would bear witness of His name to all the world.
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And God would keep them productive and fruitful,
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and He would bless them as long as they followed God's plan,
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and they would remain that fruitful, luxuriant vine.
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But if they forsook their God, then they would no longer be that fruitful vine.
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The Gospel of John chapter 15 verse 5, Jesus said,
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"I am the vine, ye are the branches of that vine.
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He that abideth in me, and I in him the same,
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bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing."
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Where did Israel go wrong as a nation?
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Why wasn't she a luxuriant vine now?
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Why was she an empty vine today?
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What happened to them that made them an empty vine?
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God went on to explain, look back in your text,
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"He that is Israel bringeth forth fruit unto himself."
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Now let me clear this up as well.
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There's some wording here in the Hebrew that you've got to dig into.
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You're not going to be able to understand this.
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That word bringeth, if you want to underscore that in your Bible
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and write out in your margin, put down, write down, leveled.
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Leveled.
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He leveled fruit unto himself.
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This word bringeth means to level, like if you have something up here on a scale,
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and you have something down here on a scale,
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you keep putting more on this end until finally the scale is level.
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It's equal on both sides.
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They increased a particular sin in their nation that was equivalent
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or leveled to the amount of fruit they bore as a nation.
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That's what the Hosea is saying here.
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So however much God blessed them as a nation, they sinned accordingly.
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That's what he's saying.
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He bringeth forth or he leveleth fruit unto himself.
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He's equivocating fruit unto himself,
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specifically the more prosperous they became,
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the more their idolatry increased.
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God said, look back in your text, "According,"
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this is how he leveled the fruit up.
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"He did so according to the multitude of his fruit,
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he hath increased the altars."
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You say, well, Brother Richard, the altars, that's a great thing, man.
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They're getting more religious.
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They were getting more religious, all right.
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They were getting religious with their idolatry.
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There was only one altar that Israel could offer sacrifices at,
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and that was at the temple.
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That was it.
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No other place but the temple of God,
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the brazen altar and the golden altar,
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that's on the inside of the holy place.
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You can't offer anything else.
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Before God made the tabernacle, that was different.
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But once he established that tabernacle
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and he showed them how their law was going to work,
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any other altar they could not offer anything on,
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because God was showing them there's only one way to God
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and there's only one altar that your sins are going to be forgiven at,
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which is a picture of the cross of Jesus Christ in no other place.
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No other place.
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But if you're worshipping a false God,
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you can have all the altars you want to.
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And so God was blessing them the one true God was blessing them,
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and the more he blessed them, the more they built these altars
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unto their false gods or their false worship.
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The Jewish translation says,
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"As his fruit increased, he increased his altars."
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The more prosperous the land became,
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the more idolatrous the land became.
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And we'll repeat that again.
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The more prosperous the land became,
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the more idolatrous the land became.
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Remember, I told you that prosperity
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can be worse for a believer than adversity.
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The higher Israel rose, the lower they began to fall.
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And that can happen to us as well,
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not just as a nation, but as individuals.
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It has happened to us as a nation,
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but it happens to us as individuals too.
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At one time, Israel was a fruitful vine.
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And when a nation is prosperous,
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this nation needs to begin to ask themselves.
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Anytime a nation is prosperous,
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anytime a nation, their GDP is going out the roof,
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their military is strong and powerful,
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anytime this happens, a nation needs to ask themselves,
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and they're at a time of peace.
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They need to say, "How did we get here?
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What were the principles that brought us to this place
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right here of peace and prosperity in our land?"
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And if they don't do that,
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then they're going to be bound to forget those principles
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and forfeit their peace and prosperity in the future.
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If something caused your nation to become prosperous,
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then all you have to do is just continue
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in those principles to remain prosperous.
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But if you abandon those principles,
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then you're going to abandon the prosperity they brought you.
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Israel became a prosperous nation
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because God delivered them out of their bondage to Egypt.
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God gave them His Word,
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and God blessed them as long as they followed it.
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That's what made them the nation they were.
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That's what put fruit on the vine.
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And God knew that if Israel ever forgot where they came from,
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He ever heard people say, "Oh, I know what's wrong with him."
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He forgot where he came from.
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Man, it's so true.
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Israel forgot where they came from,
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and God knew if they ever forgot where they came from,
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that they would forget how they got to where they were.
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People just born in Israel, born in the Promised Land,
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they look up, "Everything's fine. Well, look here.
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I've always been here.
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Therefore, it'll always be this good.
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It's not that way."
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I was born in a prosperous nation,
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but it's not so prosperous anymore.
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It's getting hard for people to pay the bills,
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and it's getting scary, all right?
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Not scary as a believer, but you know what I'm saying.
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It's getting crazy out there,
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and I can see how if the right circumstances
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were to take place,
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someone would come in and just kick us aside.
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But He knew if they ever forgot where they came from,
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they would forget how they got to where they were.
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So you know what God did?
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God reminded them over and over and over again in His Word,
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lest they forget the principles that made them great.
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Listen to these verses, Leviticus 25, 38.
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God told them, "I am the Lord your God,
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which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt
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to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God."
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What was He saying?
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"This is where you came from.
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This is how you got here.
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Me, my love and grace for you."
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Leviticus 25, 55.
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"For unto Me, the children of Israel, are servants.
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They are My servants, whom I brought forth
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out of the land of Egypt.
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I am the Lord your God."
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Remember where you came from.
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Remember how you got here.
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Leviticus 26, 13.
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"I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth
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out of the land of Egypt,
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that you should not be their bondmen."
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In other words, this is how you became free.
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"And I have broken the bands of your yoke
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and made you go upright."
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Numbers 15, 41.
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"I am the Lord your God,
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which brought you out of the land of Egypt
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to be your God.
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I am the Lord your God."
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Over and over again in God's Word,
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they are reminded of where they came from,
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how they got to where they were,
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and how they enjoyed the prosperity and liberty
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that they had.
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It was through the Lord's grace.
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Some of the last words that Moses said
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to the nation of Israel before he left them
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were in Deuteronomy 4.23,
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before God took Moses home.
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Moses told them, "Take heed unto yourselves,
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lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God,
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which He made with you,
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and make you a graven image,
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or the likeness of anything,
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which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee."
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He says, "Take heed.
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You be careful,
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so you don't forget the covenant of God
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that He made with you,
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and in forgetting,
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you end up making you a graven image,
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or the likeness of anything,
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which God said not to make.
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So you be careful.
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Don't forget your God,
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and end up worshiping false gods."
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That's exactly what Israel has done
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in the book of Hosea.
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According to God's blessing,
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they leveled up their sin and their idolatry.
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They forgot the Lord their God,
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and they began to heap unto themselves idolatry
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according to the blessings God's given them.
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And sadly, Israel forgot where they came from.
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They grew accustomed to their prosperity.
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They forgot the godly principles
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that made them prosperous.
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God said, "Luke, back in your text,
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according to the goodness of His land,
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they have made goodly images.
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According to the goodness of His land,
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they have made goodly images."
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You know what that means?
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The nicer their land became,
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the nicer they made their idolatrous pillars of stone.
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The more God blessed them,
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the further they departed from Him.
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Here's a kingdom truth for you this morning.
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When a nation forgets God,
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their failure will be proportionate to their success.
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That's what we're seeing here.
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When God says, "The better your land was,
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the worse your idolatry became."
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What that kingdom truth we're learning is,
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when a nation forgets God,
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their failure will be in proportion to their success.
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They'll begin to credit that success to something else.
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They'll begin to wallow in their sin
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equal to the success that they have.
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In other words, however much wealth they have,
00:16:59,300 --> 00:17:01,900
that's how much they'll spend on this.
00:17:01,900 --> 00:17:03,800
However much power they have,
00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:05,400
that's how much they'll give toward their false ways.
00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:09,000
I can't help but think of the White House
00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,100
when we're taking all of this money
00:17:11,100 --> 00:17:15,000
and we're investing it on trying to educate people
00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,400
to have this diversity and inclusion stuff
00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:26,200
and make sure we don't offend anybody.
00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,200
Who wants to be called a man or a woman?
00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:31,800
I saw a picture of a gay pride flag
00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:37,100
on one of our military tanks this morning.
00:17:37,100 --> 00:17:40,700
And I think, "Dear God,
00:17:40,700 --> 00:17:42,400
you're talking about just inviting the wrath of God down on us."
00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:47,600
But that's what they're doing.
00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:48,800
They're not putting the claws of this.
00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:50,100
They're saying, "We're going to put this out in the front here.
00:17:50,100 --> 00:17:52,300
According to the goodness of our nation,
00:17:52,300 --> 00:17:54,200
that's how much our sin will be.
00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:55,800
We're going to throw our weight behind it.
00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:57,500
We're going to identify our nation this way."
00:17:57,500 --> 00:18:03,700
Here's a kingdom truth for you this morning.
00:18:03,700 --> 00:18:07,200
Prosperity will result in one of two things.
00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:12,000
This is why it's so dangerous.
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:13,400
Prosperity will result in one of two things,
00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:17,200
either in forgetfulness or in thankfulness.
00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:24,300
Prosperity will result in one of two things,
00:18:24,300 --> 00:18:28,000
forgetfulness or thankfulness.
00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:32,100
Can you see that?
00:18:32,100 --> 00:18:33,500
God prospers you.
00:18:33,500 --> 00:18:34,500
You can either say, "Praise God.
00:18:34,500 --> 00:18:37,500
Thank you, Lord, for doing this for us.
00:18:37,500 --> 00:18:39,900
We give you thanks."
00:18:39,900 --> 00:18:43,000
Or God can prosper you
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,800
and you can no longer be afraid of your enemies.
00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:48,800
You can no longer be afraid of going without food
00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,300
because you have everything you need.
00:18:51,300 --> 00:18:53,000
So you just put God off to the side.
00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:54,900
You forget about Him and you run off
00:18:54,900 --> 00:18:56,400
and you serve your flesh.
00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:58,500
Prosperity will result in either forgetfulness
00:18:58,500 --> 00:19:02,400
or in thankfulness.
00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,300
When God blesses you and prospers you,
00:19:04,300 --> 00:19:06,700
that blessing will either result in your thankfulness
00:19:06,700 --> 00:19:09,500
or your forgetfulness.
00:19:09,500 --> 00:19:10,600
The flesh remembers God in times of adversity,
00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:16,600
but it forgets God in times of prosperity.
00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:20,400
I'm going to say it again.
00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:21,600
I'm talking about the flesh.
00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:23,500
This is true for any person's flesh.
00:19:23,500 --> 00:19:26,500
We all came from Adam.
00:19:26,500 --> 00:19:27,800
We all have a fallen nature.
00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:29,800
And so your flesh will forget God in times of prosperity.
00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:37,100
It will remember God in times of adversity.
00:19:37,100 --> 00:19:39,700
When you're in trouble,
00:19:39,700 --> 00:19:41,200
you'll think, "Oh, I need God.
00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,100
I'll get religious here.
00:19:44,100 --> 00:19:46,200
I'll start reading my Bible more.
00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:48,400
I'll start praying more."
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:50,600
The flesh remembers God in times of adversity.
00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:56,900
When you're in trouble, you run to God.
00:19:56,900 --> 00:20:00,400
Consequently, the flesh forgets God in times of prosperity.
00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:05,400
God removes the struggle.
00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:06,700
God removes the fear.
00:20:06,700 --> 00:20:07,900
God delivers you from the problem you were in.
00:20:07,900 --> 00:20:10,500
And that flesh will forget God in times of prosperity.
00:20:10,500 --> 00:20:14,300
That's why Moses said,
00:20:14,300 --> 00:20:16,500
"When you get there and things are going your way,
00:20:16,500 --> 00:20:20,300
you take heed lest you forget the covenant of God
00:20:20,300 --> 00:20:23,600
and you end up making you an idol to something else."
00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:27,300
When King David committed adultery with Bathsheba,
00:20:27,300 --> 00:20:31,500
when was that?
00:20:31,500 --> 00:20:33,600
It was when he was home resting instead of fighting.
00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:38,000
You think he would have been worried about
00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,500
sleeping around with some other woman
00:20:40,500 --> 00:20:42,100
and daydreaming about something like that
00:20:42,100 --> 00:20:44,000
if a man's coming at him with a sword?
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,900
No.
00:20:46,900 --> 00:20:48,300
He'd be saying, "Oh, dear God, you know,
00:20:48,300 --> 00:20:51,600
I praise thee, O God.
00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:53,100
I love thee, O God.
00:20:53,100 --> 00:20:54,300
Lord, deliver us, O God, for your great namesake."
00:20:54,300 --> 00:20:58,100
The flesh remembers God in times of adversity,
00:20:58,100 --> 00:21:01,900
but in times of prosperity,
00:21:01,900 --> 00:21:04,800
when you're sitting up there in your palace
00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,200
and everything's fine, the flesh forgot God.
00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:11,500
And he went in unto Bathsheba.
00:21:11,500 --> 00:21:13,500
When did Israel depart from God?
00:21:13,500 --> 00:21:16,500
Israel departed from God
00:21:16,500 --> 00:21:17,800
when they were prospering,
00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:19,300
not when they were struggling.
00:21:19,300 --> 00:21:21,400
When they began to struggle,
00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:22,500
you look there in the times of the Judges,
00:21:22,500 --> 00:21:24,700
man, whenever they began to struggle,
00:21:24,700 --> 00:21:26,300
"Oh, Lord, you know, Lord, deliver us,"
00:21:26,300 --> 00:21:30,300
things start going right, they forgot God.
00:21:30,300 --> 00:21:34,200
God said, "Look, if you would," in verse 2,
00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,200
"their heart is divided."
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:39,800
Their heart is divided.
00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:41,600
Now, don't think that their heart was divided
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:44,500
in the sense that it was split into two halves.
00:21:44,500 --> 00:21:47,500
The idea here in the Hebrew language
00:21:47,500 --> 00:21:50,700
is of a smooth stone,
00:21:50,700 --> 00:21:53,700
and I'll show you what I mean.
00:21:53,700 --> 00:21:58,700
Back then, they would--
00:21:58,700 --> 00:22:02,300
let's say that we had land,
00:22:02,300 --> 00:22:07,200
and I'm going to give a little land to Brother Andy,
00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,000
I'm going to give a little land to Brother Doug,
00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:10,900
I'm going to give a little land to Brother James,
00:22:10,900 --> 00:22:14,100
and what I'm going to do,
00:22:14,100 --> 00:22:15,900
I'm going to be dividing that land up to them, you see.
00:22:15,900 --> 00:22:20,300
So this dividing here, when it says their heart's divided,
00:22:20,300 --> 00:22:23,800
it has the idea of it being given out to something.
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:28,300
Like you would hand a lot to someone
00:22:28,300 --> 00:22:30,700
with the smooth stones.
00:22:30,700 --> 00:22:31,800
Well, here, this is your lot, this is your stone,
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,100
this is whatever, and this is what you get.
00:22:34,100 --> 00:22:37,500
And so when God says their heart's divided,
00:22:37,500 --> 00:22:41,700
it means they had given their heart over to these idols.
00:22:41,700 --> 00:22:45,900
Instead of giving their heart to God,
00:22:45,900 --> 00:22:47,500
their heart just like me handed that land to Brother James,
00:22:47,500 --> 00:22:49,700
and here's your lot, here's your lot,
00:22:49,700 --> 00:22:51,900
I'm going to divide this up,
00:22:51,900 --> 00:22:53,100
they divide their heart out and they gave it to false gods.
00:22:53,100 --> 00:22:56,700
It didn't belong to God anymore,
00:22:56,700 --> 00:22:59,400
and that was the problem.
00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:00,500
That's how come they were forgetting
00:23:00,500 --> 00:23:02,300
instead of blessing.
00:23:02,300 --> 00:23:05,100
Israel's heart was divided from the one true God
00:23:05,100 --> 00:23:07,500
and given away to the false gods they created.
00:23:07,500 --> 00:23:11,500
That's why their false altars increased
00:23:11,500 --> 00:23:13,700
with their prosperity.
00:23:13,700 --> 00:23:15,700
Jesus said, "Where your treasure is,
00:23:15,700 --> 00:23:17,900
there will your heart be also."
00:23:17,900 --> 00:23:20,500
And so as God gave them treasure,
00:23:20,500 --> 00:23:22,900
they invested in their false gods,
00:23:22,900 --> 00:23:25,600
and because that's where their heart was,
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:27,400
and sure enough, where their treasure was,
00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,700
their heart was also.
00:23:29,700 --> 00:23:31,100
They had given their heart to their false gods,
00:23:31,100 --> 00:23:33,000
look back in your text,
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:34,100
"Now shall they be found faulty."
00:23:34,100 --> 00:23:37,200
There was God found a fault with them.
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:39,500
They were wrong.
00:23:39,500 --> 00:23:40,400
When their nation fell,
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,800
it would not be God's fault,
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:45,900
it would be their fault.
00:23:45,900 --> 00:23:47,800
They'll be found faulty.
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:49,300
They're the ones that made this nation fall.
00:23:49,300 --> 00:23:51,600
They're accountable for their own destruction.
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:58,500
Hosea said, look back in your text,
00:23:58,500 --> 00:24:00,400
"He that is God shall break down their altars."
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:05,600
How would God break their altars down?
00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,500
He would break them down in times of war.
00:24:08,500 --> 00:24:11,400
He'd break them down with adversity
00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:14,800
by their enemies.
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:16,200
Isn't that something they were enjoying prosperity?
00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:19,000
Their flesh forgot God in times of prosperity,
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,300
and now their altars will be broken
00:24:22,300 --> 00:24:24,500
in times of adversity.
00:24:24,500 --> 00:24:25,800
Here's the kingdom of truth for you this morning,
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:28,800
and this will apply in so many ways in our lives.
00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:33,100
Altars that are raised in prosperity will be broken in adversity.
00:24:33,100 --> 00:24:39,800
Altars that are raised in prosperity will be broken in adversity.
00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:46,900
When God blesses your life,
00:24:46,900 --> 00:24:51,400
when God makes you a fruitful vine,
00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:55,200
when your health is good,
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:58,400
that's not the time to be playing around and sowing wild oats.
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:03,200
That's the time to be investing in the kingdom of God
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,800
and serving Him like never before.
00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:10,100
There's a lot of people with worn-out bodies
00:25:10,100 --> 00:25:14,200
that would love to have good bodies
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:15,600
so they could serve the Lord more.
00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:19,300
You know what would happen if God gave them good bodies?
00:25:19,300 --> 00:25:23,500
Some of them, they'd forget God and their prosperity.
00:25:23,500 --> 00:25:29,600
You know, that's why Paul gave...
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:31,300
I'm sorry, God gave Paul a thorn in his flesh.
00:25:31,300 --> 00:25:35,100
He didn't want Paul to be exalted above measure.
00:25:35,100 --> 00:25:37,200
He didn't want him to get the big head.
00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,300
He didn't want him to become proud.
00:25:39,300 --> 00:25:42,400
He kept a mumble.
00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,500
But altars that are raised in prosperity
00:25:45,500 --> 00:25:47,600
shall be broken in adversity.
00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:49,000
You can mark this down.
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:50,200
If God blesses you and you take that blessing
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:54,700
and instead of being thankful to God,
00:25:54,700 --> 00:25:57,700
you end up being forgetful toward God,
00:25:57,700 --> 00:26:00,000
and you take that blessing
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:01,300
and you run off the wrong direction with it,
00:26:01,300 --> 00:26:03,800
God will say, "Okay. Okay, I blessed you.
00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:08,600
I see how you handled that prosperity."
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:12,100
And now the altars you built with the prosperity I gave you,
00:26:12,100 --> 00:26:17,500
they're going to be destroyed with adversity.
00:26:17,500 --> 00:26:19,400
I'm about to give you.
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,200
That needs to be a warning to each and every one of us.
00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:23,700
If God's blessed you and you're in a time of health and peace
00:26:23,700 --> 00:26:27,600
and joy in your home,
00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:29,700
this is the time to be getting into your Bible,
00:26:29,700 --> 00:26:32,700
learning God's Word.
00:26:32,700 --> 00:26:33,700
This is the time to be serving God.
00:26:33,700 --> 00:26:35,600
This is the time to be sowing seeds of righteousness
00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:39,200
that you can reap in the kingdom of God when He comes again.
00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:45,200
If you don't, you may lose that health.
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,100
You may lose that peace.
00:26:48,100 --> 00:26:50,300
You may lose that prosperity.
00:26:50,300 --> 00:26:53,900
And your altars that you built in times of prosperity
00:26:53,900 --> 00:26:58,200
will be torn down in times of adversity.
00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:01,100
Christian, don't let the blessing of God
00:27:01,100 --> 00:27:03,100
cause you to forget the God of the blessing.
00:27:03,100 --> 00:27:08,100
In times of prosperity,
00:27:08,100 --> 00:27:09,400
instead of raising idolatrous altars in your life,
00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,300
raise your hands and humble thanksgiving to God.
00:27:12,300 --> 00:27:16,500
Psalm 103, verse 2, Psalm 103, verse 2,
00:27:16,500 --> 00:27:20,500
tells us the attitude that we should have
00:27:20,500 --> 00:27:22,800
in time of prosperity.
00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:25,200
In time of prosperity, say this,
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,900
"Bless the Lord, O my soul,
00:27:28,900 --> 00:27:31,900
and forget not all His benefits."
00:27:31,900 --> 00:27:38,600
Have the attitude of thankfulness
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:41,400
instead of forgetfulness is basically what the psalmist is saying.
00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,700
I'm going to bless God and I don't want to forget His benefits.
00:27:44,700 --> 00:27:48,700
I don't want to be forgetful.
00:27:48,700 --> 00:27:50,700
God will tear down altars,
00:27:50,700 --> 00:27:53,100
but He will never tear down a grateful heart.
00:27:53,100 --> 00:27:56,800
If you have the heart of that psalmist right there,
00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:59,700
Lord, thank You for the blessings You've given me.
00:27:59,700 --> 00:28:04,000
I'm going to acknowledge You for the time of peace
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,200
and prosperity that I have in my life
00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:09,500
and my family is enjoying right now.
00:28:09,500 --> 00:28:12,300
I bless You, I praise Your name,
00:28:12,300 --> 00:28:15,100
and help me to not forget the benefits You've given me.
00:28:15,100 --> 00:28:18,500
Show me the path to walk and help me to do so
00:28:18,500 --> 00:28:21,600
with the blessings You've given me,
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:23,500
and if adversity does come my way,
00:28:23,500 --> 00:28:25,700
help me to continue to be faithful therein
00:28:25,700 --> 00:28:29,600
because God will tear down altars.
00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:31,300
He'll never tear down a grateful heart.
00:28:31,300 --> 00:28:33,300
Look back in your text.
00:28:33,300 --> 00:28:34,400
He shall spoil their images.
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,100
It is their graven images that they made to worship
00:28:37,100 --> 00:28:40,400
false gods during their time of prosperity.
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:43,000
And as their images were according
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:46,500
to the abundance of their fruitfulness,
00:28:46,500 --> 00:28:49,700
now their fruitfulness would be according
00:28:49,700 --> 00:28:51,800
to the destruction of their images.
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:53,700
See how that works?
00:28:53,700 --> 00:28:55,500
At one time, they leveled up their altars
00:28:55,500 --> 00:28:58,600
according to their prosperity.
00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,500
Now God was going to level their prosperity
00:29:01,500 --> 00:29:04,100
according to their altars.
00:29:04,100 --> 00:29:06,700
I'm going to destroy their altars,
00:29:06,700 --> 00:29:09,100
and as their altars is,
00:29:09,100 --> 00:29:10,800
so their prosperity shall be destroyed.
00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,800
I'm going to level it down
00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:15,800
when they had been leveling it up.
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:18,700
As their altars fell,
00:29:18,700 --> 00:29:20,800
so would their nation fall.
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:22,100
Here's a kingdom truth.
00:29:22,100 --> 00:29:24,600
Images raised in prosperity
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,600
shall fall in poverty.
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,600
That's how come we're looking at all these nations
00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:33,100
of days gone by that we mentioned earlier,
00:29:33,100 --> 00:29:37,300
like King Nebuchadnezzar,
00:29:37,300 --> 00:29:39,000
like Babylon, like Assyria,
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:40,900
like Rome, like Greece.
00:29:40,900 --> 00:29:44,000
And you look at those nations,
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,600
and what happened to those nations?
00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,700
They were raised in prosperity.
00:29:49,700 --> 00:29:51,700
They had images that were raised in prosperity,
00:29:51,700 --> 00:29:54,100
and they fell in poverty.
00:29:54,100 --> 00:29:57,300
And America is not too far away from that.
00:29:57,300 --> 00:30:00,600
God has blessed this nation like,
00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:04,700
I can't say like none other.
00:30:04,700 --> 00:30:06,600
I mean, He blessed Israel,
00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:09,100
but My has He blessed this nation
00:30:09,100 --> 00:30:11,000
on account of our godly heritage.
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:14,800
And in turn, when we got the blessing,
00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:17,700
we started building the altars.
00:30:17,700 --> 00:30:21,400
And it's sad.
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:22,600
And if we continue this route,
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:26,600
that our images that were raised in prosperity
00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:29,000
will fall in poverty.
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:31,100
Never invest your wealth
00:30:31,100 --> 00:30:34,100
in something that God condemns.
00:30:34,100 --> 00:30:38,400
And with that, I'll close with a poem that I wrote.
00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:43,700
"An empty vine in trouble
00:30:43,700 --> 00:30:46,400
wants a fruitful vine in peace.
00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:49,300
The more God blessed the nation,
00:30:49,300 --> 00:30:51,700
the more their sins increased.
00:30:51,700 --> 00:30:54,100
Prosperity can make us forget.
00:30:54,100 --> 00:30:56,800
We were in bondage to that land.
00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,500
Blessings can make us raise altars
00:30:59,500 --> 00:31:02,000
when we should be raising hands.
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:04,700
Father, we thank You so much for Your precious Word.
00:31:04,700 --> 00:31:07,800
Thank You, Father, for teaching us, Father,
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,600
the need to overcome prosperity,
00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:14,000
not just adversity,
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,300
that You have called us to be faithful in both blessing,
00:31:16,300 --> 00:31:20,500
in both the good times,
00:31:20,500 --> 00:31:22,800
as well as the difficult, hard times.
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:27,400
And Father, we pray
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:29,700
that as You bless us,
00:31:29,700 --> 00:31:32,000
that our altars will not be according to Your blessings,
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:35,300
but our thanksgiving will.
00:31:35,300 --> 00:31:37,200
In Jesus' precious name, amen.
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:40,200
