Colossians
3:5b
"…fornication
(sexual and spiritual immorality), uncleanness,
inordinate affection, (affection that is not normal) evil
concupiscence (evil, long for, lust after the thing
forbidden), and covetousness (to
have more of the worlds goods in, health, wealth, and prosperity in
abundance), which is idolatry (to
worship that which God has not sanctioned or said to do or has
already put away and set aside):"
In
other words you don’t covet something unless you intend to idolize
it. And the prevalent prevailing one is religion as the seat of these
activities.
Colossians
3:6
"For
which things’ sake the wrath of God (these are the things
that bring on the wrath of God) cometh on the children of
disobedience:"
Come
back with me to Leviticus chapter 18. Even though it’s Scripture
the language is such that we're not to read it in a mixed group,
so you can read it in the privacy of your own home. We need to also
go back to Genesis chapter 15, if you will remember that in this
chapter God told Abraham that his offspring “Israel” would have
to wait 400 years before the iniquities of the Amorites would be full
so that He could destroy them, and then He'd let Israel have the
Promised Land. Do you remember that? So the Amorites lived another
400 years and then they got so wicked, and immoral that God told
Joshua to destroy every one of them regardless of their age because
of their wickedness, including their herds. All right now look at the
conclusion in Leviticus 18. After God lists all the immoral things
that we’re reading about everyday in our papers or hearing on the
News lately, and God has one word for them, "abomination."
Leviticus
18:24
"Defile
not ye yourselves in any of these things (that He’s written
in the previous verses); for in all these the
nations are defiled which I cast out before you:"
Leviticus
18:30
"Therefore
shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these
abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye
defile (pollute,
corrupt) not yourselves therein: I am the LORD
your God."
Paul
again lists the things that were indicative of a life in the flesh.
And of course you want to remember, as I’ve said this all the way
up through Paul’s Epistles, he lived in the midst of the pagan
Roman Empire. With the exception of those isolated pockets of
Hebrews and their synagogue worship, the rest of the Roman Empire
knew nothing of the God of Scripture. But we also with that must
understand that from God's point of veiw Israel itself was in gross
idolatry and religious fornication. They had become pagan and where
worshiping the things of the mythological gods and goddesses or even
the emperor of the Roman Empire. The Gentile world knew nothing of
the God of the Hebrew Scriptures, so naturally it follows that their
lifestyle was rank, it was immoral, it was filthy. As had Israel become by
this time. And into the midst of that fitly immoral world came this
one little man, and turned the Roman Empire upside down.
My
goodness, I think that if anyone of us could do just part of what
Paul did, we’d see a different country. But nevertheless he went
into that kind of thing, and this is why he’s always mentioning, "This
is what you once were." Today we do not see the same thing all around us but it is there none the less, just waiting for a trigger of some sort to explode into madness and voilence again at a moments insane notice. To day we have many people bent on destroying society by any means they deem necessary and approperate to wage their own war on what they deem as being enjustice. In the East it is a holy war which when examined is any thing but Holy. In the nation of America it is a fabricated race war, fabricated by the every ones who are of race and perpetrated against their own people. These people ensight other to madness and all kinds of mayhem, some of them proclaiming to be a religious head. These people are nothing like the one Who they profess to believe in, they exhibit their own true nature of evil by promoting mayhem.
Colossians
3:5b-6
"…(you
were in) fornication, uncleanness, evil concupiscence, and
covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things’ sake the wrath
of God cometh on the children of disobedience:"
We
are indeed in perplexing times and even more so, remember all the things that
have taken place over the last two thousands of years and indeed
throughout human history are not the wrath of God, that is still
future. The wrath of God will be poured out when the Tribulation
begins, or at least the last half of it. As it starts with the
household of God or Israel. Why? Because it rejected Him.
And Matthew chapter 22 is a reflection of
that which is yet to come upon them for the same reasons here
revealed. So the world really hasn’t tasted the wrath of God.
Of course the people who are lost, when they die they immediately
enter into their lost estate. Then I could say, that the wrath of God
is already evident. But as we normally think of God’s wrath, it is
in that future period of time. Again I’ve said this before, but it
bears repeating. People ask, "Why should this final generation
suffer such horrific events that we know are going to come to pass
during the Tribulation?" It’s numbers, is the reason and answer. There are more people
living on the planet right now, and we’re multiplying at a very
high rate each day. So today there’s more people alive on the
planet than lived in total, going at least back to Noah’s flood. So
when God pours His wrath out on this generation He will be judging
the vast majority of people who have ever lived previously. So that’s
why the world is rushing to judgment. As if with a blindfold covering
their eyes and ears almost headlong. That’s why we’re seeing a
population exploding. The wrath of God is going to be poured out on
these multitudes of Christ-rejecting people.
Hopefully
you saw, "God brought down His judgments on those tribes of
Canaan because of their immoral practices, and He called them an
abomination." Well listen, we’re not under the Law of
Leviticus, but the God that designated those things as abominable. He
has not changed, and those things are still an abomination, and don’t
you ever forget it. God is not going to put up with it forever. The
day is coming, when He finally says, "I’ve had enough!"
At that time the Age of Grace will come to an end, and then His wrath
will be poured out starting with Israel. Because they've mocked Him
and the work He has done for them. They've turned their backs towards
Him and chose to remain in their own forms and traditions. As being stronger than His Word, just as most of the worlds religions have also done, it matters not what label or brand name it claims to be under.
These
are all only a means to an appointed end, the same end as its
originator, the master of deception, the disceiver Satan, And his
mistress, mystery Babylon the mother of all harlots. For she gave
birth to the false prophets, and anti-Christs of this worlds order.
The false church fostered by mans own traditions of the elders, these
elders predate Noah's flood.
Colossians
3:7
"In
the which (that horrific lifestyle) ye also walked some
time, when ye lived in them."
Isn’t
it amazing? Where did these people come from? Out of that wicked
lifestyle. My, we had such a tremendous testimony in a gentlemen who
was a football player in years back with one of our large major
leagues, and like he says, "When you’re in that kind of
situation, big man on campus, or in the spotlight you can just about
do as you please." And he said, "I did. I did it all."
Well a few weeks ago he went back home to visit some of his family,
down the road from us a few miles and one of his brothers took him
into a sports bar, and he said, "All I could think of was,
this is what I used to be. The language and smell of the cigarette
smoke, the booze was wicked, and I couldn’t wait to get out of
there." He said when I got back out on the street, I had to stop
and think, "That’s what I was, before salvation. Thanks be to
God and you who opened my eyes, now I’m clean!" That’s the
words he used. "Now I’m clean!"
Well
that’s exactly what Paul was telling these people. "Well this
is what you were, but now they had been washed, and no longer walking
in those things." And along with the ones he listed in verse 6,
he lists some more in verse 8.
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