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In this blog, I provide encouragement and biblical teaching on seeking the Lord with all your heart, loving Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and living a life of holiness, righteousness, and truth.

As the Scripture says:

'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jer 29:13)

And "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Mat 7:13-14)

Some of the topics covered include seeking the Lord, prayer, worship, tithing, inquiring of the Lord, hearing His voice, obedience, grace, godly attire and adornment, sanctification, consecration, backsliding, repentance, brokenness, suffering, humility, the fear of the Lord, the role of the commandments for the disciple of Christ, and the conditions of the New Covenant.  I hope this will be an edifying and encouraging experience for you that will help you to grow in your walk with the Lord.

Seeking the Lord	Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God	Holy Fire Baptism
Lifting Your Face in Prayer	Lifting Hands in Prayer	Crying Out to God Loudly
Pressing on Toward the Goal	Taking Heaven by Force	God Exalts the Humble and Brings Down the Proud
Whom Are You Seeking?	Should you fear the Lord?	Is a Woman's Hair Her Head Covering?
Aim for Perfection	Obedience by the Spirit	Is Obedience Optional?
Salvation with Fear and Trembling	Holy Living in a Perverted World	Drifting Away
The Cost of Discipleship	Deleted Scriptures in the Bible?	Is Tithing Required?
Where Should You Give Your Tithe?	Walking in the Perfect Will of God	Avoid Becoming a Corrupted Christian
The Obedience of Faith	Did Jesus Nail the Law to the Cross?	Law of Love in the New Testament
The New Covenant	Law of Love in the New Testament	The Law Fulfilled in Us
The Law Established Through Faith	Costly Grace	The Law of Christ
The Eyes of the Lord	Garments of Godliness	The Three Elijahs
The Burning Ones	The End Has Come	Now, But Not Yet
The Happy Hunters on Fire	You're Better Off Following Jesus	God Chooses the Weak Things
The Beauty of Brokenness	Seeing Jesus, Loving Him, Character and Glory	Hearing the Lord's Voice
	Inquiring of the Lord	Praise the Lord!
The Loving God Who Bids Us to Come	One thing	Righteousness, Peace, and Joy
Is the the Self-Help and Actualization Movement a Sham?	From Self-confidence to Confidence in the Lord	The Self-Help Gospel
Checklist for Revival	God Has Not Rejected His Jewish People, Has He?	The Fiery Sufferings of the Believer
The Flaming Sword	Clean Hands and a Pure Heart	The Spirit of the Law
Keeping Your Body Pure and Holy	An Open Mind that Loves the Truth	Carrying Your Cross or Cross Dressing?
Is Practical Righteousness a Lost Truth?	The Apostasy Parables	The Top Ten Things Jesus Taught
The Disciples’ Prayer	Is Tolerance a Virtue?	Righteousness by Faith not Law
Life is Short. Eternity is Not.	Noah's Ark a Type of Christ	Grace, Mercy, and Peace
Ultimate Accountability	Separation from the World	The Knowledge of the Holy
The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness	Ask for the Ancient Paths	Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven
The Straight and Narrow Path	Unhealthy Competition	A Peculiar People
Listen to Jesus, Who Upholds Moses and the Prophets	Hope for You	Beware of Philosophy and Empty Deception
The Love of Jesus	The Difference Between a Disciple and a Believer	Having a Servant's Heart
Avoiding Worldly Worship	Purge the Evil from Among You	Who is God?
Living a Life Worthy of the Lord	Praying for the Lord Jesus	Who is God? - Part II
The Way, Will, and Word of God	Overcomers in This Life	Who is God - Part III
Saints Alive in Jesus	Bowing Low in Worship	Repentance That Leads to Life
Keeping a Good Conscience	Remember Lot’s Wife	Called to be Blameless
If -- A Picture Paints a Thousand Words	The Lord Will Rejoice Over You	The Nature of Persecution
The Wardrobe of the Saints	Filled Up to All the Fullness of God	Loving Deeply
Seeking Glory from God	Amazing Grace	God's Sovereign Plans and Purposes
Abominations in the Sight of God	Identification with Christ	Alabaster Jar
Running from God	Forgetting the Past	Was Jesus Seeker Friendly?
God's View of Public Bathing	Is Secular Music for Christians?	Ignorance is Not Bliss
In the Yolk of Christianity	Songs of the Holy Fire	Known by God
Modern Day Idols	Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God	Walking in Truth, Righteousness, and Holiness
Escaping from Dead Religion	Living Sacrifices in Consuming Fire	God's Amazing Plan for Your Life
Your Identity in Christ	Having the Love of God in Your Heart	Knowing the Lord
Following in His Steps	Our God is an Awesome God!	Hide and Seek with God
Belonging to the Lord	No Turning Back	David, A Man After God's Own Heart
Living on Earth as They Do in Heaven	Chosen for Obedience	The Ironies Between Jesus and Barabbas
Dedication to God	Keep Your Lamp Burning	The Holy Fire Series
The Active Nature of Faith	Why God Hides His Face	Only What's Done for Christ Will Last
Praying Heart-Prayers	Trembling at His Word	Seeking Him in the Wee Hours of the Night
If My People Who Are Called by My Name	The Flesh vs the Spirit	The Sin of Sodom
Christian Perfection	The Timeless Beauty of Holiness	Stay at Home and Seek the Lord (COVID Quarantine)
Global Prayer Meeting	Sins of Ignorance	Sins of Omission
What We Should Always Be Doing	The "Never" Promises to Sinners	The "Never" Promises to the Righteous
Things You Should Never Do	Things God Will Never Do	The Throne of God
Peter and the Rooster: A Call to Watch and Pray	The Fruit Test of a Genuine Disciple	Black and White
The Blessing of Abraham	Being Blessable	Gospel Power vs Sin's Power
Grace in Its Various Forms	The Afflictions of the Righteous	Heavenly Wisdom vs. Worldly Wisdom
The Faith of God	What Does It Mean to Repent?	Understanding God's View of Earthly Things
The Apostasy (False Christianity) Before the Rapture of the Church	The Revelation of Love	Testimonies of People Who Have Seen Jesus
How to Prepare for the Rapture	The Blessings of Being in Christ	Does Being Saved Make All Your Troubles Disappear?
Day by Day	The All-Powerful Blood of Jesus	Thoughts Directly Affect Your Destiny
Having An Eternal Perspective	Transformed From Glory to Glory

Author's Note: You may also access my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. "Seek My Face" painting © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist. 

Do You Want to Know Him?

If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Living Sacrifices in Consuming Fire

Dear God-seekers,

Many of you who love the Lord Jesus have embraced His promise in Scripture to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire, and have actively sought Him to receive the promise by faith. I commend you for this, and the Lord will surely answer your prayers. However, one thing I continue to find is how opposed the enemy is to this promise. Even within the Church there are people who speak against it. It's no wonder, because so many are not spiritual men, but are operating out of their natural man. As Paul said,

"But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." (1Co 2:14)

So I realize that not everyone who reads this is going to accept it, but for those who can accept it, you will receive the promise of God. As for us, we will continue to preach the cross of Christ, and also the cross for every one of His followers. "And He was saying to them all, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.' " (Luk 9:23)

Meanwhile, there are many who profess His name and yet do not deny themselves or take up their cross daily. They may think they are following Jesus, but they are only fooling themselves. The Lord can see right through to their hearts and knows the true condition of it.

Offer Your Bodies a Living Sacrifice on the Altar
The text I want to focus on today is from the apostle Paul's epistle to the Romans in the twelfth chapter, in which he said: "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." (Rom 12:1).

That is an admonition to each one of us who professes to follow Christ. Through the apostle, the Holy Spirit urges us to present or offer our bodies a living and holy sacrifice to God. Indeed this is our spiritual act of worship. This is what Jesus meant when He said, "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (Joh 4:24)

Consider the animal sacrifices that were offered to God under the Law of Moses. They were laid on the altar and consumed by the fire. When you read Romans 12:1, keep that in mind, because it represents what you and I are supposed to be doing. We are supposed to offer our bodies to God to be placed on the altar of sacrifice and consumed by holy fire. Yet how many believers actually do this? Have you done this yet? And if you have done so, are you still on the altar or have you jumped off because the flames were too hot?

Most of us have an aversion to pain and loss. So when we place our bodies on the Lord's altar for Him to consume, we are prone to want to jerk ourselves off the altar once the flames begin to lick us. But we must not do that. Instead we must remain there and let the holy fire of God envelope us completely until self is consumed and all is of God.

This is further proof from Scripture that the Lord desires to baptize each one of His disciples in holy fire, as I have written about in Holy Fire Baptism and Refiner's Fire, as well as The Burning Ones, The Three Elijahs, and The Fiery Sufferings of the Believer. I call it The Holy Fire Series. "Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit." (1 Thes 4:8, NIV78). As I proved in Songs of the Holy Fire, saints have been singing about the holy fire for centuries. Even to this day we continue to sing those hymns, as well as new songs about the fire of God in our lives. The remnant saints still desire the fire.

Bereans or Blasphemers?
Meanwhile, the enemy is busy spreading disinformation and lies about this to the Church. One site that I saw claimed to be Berean researchers, which gives the impression that they search the Scriptures daily like the Bereans to see if these things are true. They have styled themselves to be a site that is exposing heresy in the Church. And one of the things they sought to expose was the holy fire as a supposed heresy. They said many insulting things about the fire of the Holy Spirit. And one claim they made was that the fire of God is not for any believer, but only for the wicked. They also claimed that the expression to be "on fire for God" is a Pentecostal/Charismatic one, and should be avoided or removed from the vocabulary of those who love the truth, because they consider the Pentecostal doctrines of the faith to be false teachings.

Such people should consider the things I have said in this article and the other articles about the holy fire. But it seems that no amount of information will convince some of them, because they have made up their minds that it is evil. Don't they realize they are insulting the Holy Spirit when they do so? They are in danger of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, because some of them are claiming or implying that the holy fire is not from Him, but from the devil. As I have written in Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, they are in great danger of committing this unforgivable sin, when they attribute an act of the Holy Spirit to the devil. My friend, don't follow such people! They have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof (2 Tim 3:5).

Filled with Fire
I don't know about you, but I want to be filled with fire. As I was writing this in my office, my children began to sing the old hymn, Search Me O God, which they had selected in order to start their school day with prayer and worship, although they did not know that the Lord had led me to write this article. The lyrics say in part:

"O Holy Ghost, revival comes from thee.
Send a revival, start the work in me."

and

"Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify Thy name."

This is what we should be praying: for the Holy Ghost to fill us personally with fire. Revival comes from Him. How could someone say that this is from the devil and that it is not Scriptural to be on fire for God? Such men do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. They are agents of satan -- wittingly or unwittingly, who seek to put out the Spirit's fire. They quench the Holy Ghost.

Test. Don't Quench
However, the apostle Paul clearly warned, "Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil." (1 Thes 5:19-22, NIV78). Of course, we are supposed to test everything to ensure it is from God. The devil has his agents, too, who are imparting things that are demonic, and they can use the same terminology that the Bible uses. So don't assume that everything called the fire of God is really from God. You must test the spirits, and one way you do so is to look at the fruit, as I have already written in my article, Testing the Spirits of False Prophets.

Once you have tested the spirits and know that something is of the Spirit God, then you hold onto that which is good. You don't throw it out just because the devil has a counterfeit version of it. He can only counterfeit that which is genuinely from the Lord. His powers come from God, who is the One who originally gave satan his power. The gifts and calling of God are not revoked. So the Lord has not revoked the devil's powers that he had when he was originally created as a holy angel. However, the devil now uses his power for evil in rebellion against God, and since we must avoid every kind of evil, we must be vigilant and watchful, and test all things. Then avoid the evil and embrace the good.

As for me, I'm crying out:

Come, Holy Spirit, with all 

Your omnipotent and enabling power!

Fill me from head to toe;

Engulf me this very hour!

Set my mind on what You desire;

Grant me more of Your holy fire!

Putting it All Together
If there is no fire, there can be no light. But where there is light, there will also be fire. Indeed, there is abundant evidence in the Word of God that there is such a thing as genuine holy fire, which God intends for every disciple of Christ who asks for it. It's a gift that is available for the asking, the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire. John the Baptist said, "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." (Mat 3:11; cf. Lk 3:16).

As the Lord taught us, when you ask the Father for a gift, expect Him to give it to you. He said:

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (Luk 11:9-13).

If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then offer your body today as a living sacrifice to God, holy and acceptable, which is your spiritual act of worship. This is the message of the cross. Lay your body on the altar and ask for God's holy fire to consume you wholly. Then receive from God what He has promised you in His Word. Receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Attribution Notice: Most Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB), unless otherwise noted, where other verses are from the Holy Bible NIV. All lyrics to the hymn Search Me O God are in the public domain.

Author's note:  If anyone does not receive this instruction, do not associate with him. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like my other posts called The Holy Fire Series, Holy Fire Baptism, The Burning Ones, The Happy Hunters on Fire, The Refiner's Fire, Songs of the Holy Fire, The Three Elijahs, Covenant Prayer, and The Fiery Sufferings of the Believer. For more articles of mine, please see the Home page of this blog. You can access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Walking in Truth, Righteousness, and Holiness

In my article, The Wardrobe of the Saints, I explained the spiritual garments that the saints need to wear each day. One of those is the new man that we are supposed to put on. The apostle Paul said,

"But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." (Eph 4:20-24)

So as Paul said, we must put off the old self and put on the new self, which is created to be like God. There are two aspects of God's likeness in this new self: righteousness and holiness of the truth.

One version says: "And put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." (Eph 4:24, NASB)

Another says: "And to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." (Eph 4:24, NIV)

The NASB has the truth as a modifier describing the kind of holiness that is found in the new man. It is holiness of the truth, as opposed to legalistic holiness that is outward only but has no substance or basis within.

The NIV has truth as a modifier of righteousness. It is true righteousness, as opposed to legalistic righteousness that is based on the written code and not according to the Spirit of God. True righteousness is distinguished from hypocrisy, false piety, and empty religiousness.

In my article about Michael Sambo's Revelation of Heaven and Hell, I wrote that Jesus said to brother Mike, “Tell man that if any man wants to see Me, he must walk in truth, righteousness, and holiness.  That is the only standard for heaven. Tell man I still love him.  Tell man My standard is high.  Tell man mercy is only attainable in the world.”

Since the Lord emphasized Truth, Righteousness, and Holiness, let's look at each of these three qualities one by one.

Truth
First of all, according to the gospel of John, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Jn 14:6). That's a radical statement! The truth is not simply information, but it is a person. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Truth. There is no other way to the Father except through Him.

The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians that the "Truth is in Jesus." (Eph 4:21). He also said that while there were many types and shadows found in the Hebrew Scriptures, reality is found in Christ (Col 2:17). What is true and real has now come and is found in Christ.

The truth is powerful. Jesus said, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Jn 8:32, NIV). And "if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (Jn 8:36, NIV).

If you listen to the traditions of men and follow man-made rules, you will end up in bondage. If you follow the flesh, the world, or the devil, it will put you into bondage. But the Truth will set you free from every kind of bondage. Let me encourage you to pray and ask God for the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. Then you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.

The apostle John said the Father has commanded us to walk in the truth, and we must continue to walk in the truth (2 Jn 1:4; 3 Jn 1:3).

Truth is one of the primary characteristics of the new self that we must put on. For more on this topic, please see my articles, What is Truth?, Tradition vs. Truth, Restored Truth, and The Truth Set Me Free!

Righteousness
When the apostle said we must put on the new self, he said it is created to be like God in righteousness. Many people make the mistake of thinking that the only righteousness that God recognizes is imputed righteousness. In other words, imputed righteousness is the kind where a sinner who repents of his sin and puts His trust in Jesus Christ is instantly made righteous in God's sight by faith. At that moment, God imputes to that person the very righteousness of Christ. He is now truly righteous and made right with God completely. That is what I call positional righteousness, because we are made righteous with regard to our position in God. As Paul said:

"For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'But the righteous man shall live by faith.'" (Rom 1:17)

"Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:" (Rom 4:4-6)

"What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law." (Rom 9:30-31)

"For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (Rom 10:10)

"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2Co 5:21)

However, there is another kind of righteousness that the Scripture speaks about, which we must have. This is the kind of righteousness that you must practice, so I call it practical righteousness. It is somewhat of a lost teaching, as you don't hear much about it any more. But preachers of old in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries used to preach about the need for it. Philip Henry, Matthew Henry, John Wesley, and others like them used to teach about it.

Before Christ, we are mere slaves to sin. We are bound to sin continually, which is the definition of bondage as I am using it here. But when a person comes to Christ, that old slave to sin dies and the person receives a new life with a new self that is a slave to righteousness. "And having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." (Rom 6:18). Now he is bound with Christ to always do what is right. He is bound to live a righteous life, which he could not live without Christ.

For without Him we can do nothing and all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags when we attempt to be religious apart from faith in Christ. But when we come to Christ by faith, He not only imputes his righteousness to us, but He also imparts righteousness, so that we can live it out ourselves by the power of the Holy Spirit. This requires action on our part. The Scriptures are full of direct and indirect references to this kind of righteousness. Christ's Sermon on the Mount is full of examples, where he speaks about the righteous way of life God requires.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
(Mat 5:6)

"For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Mat 5:20)

While we certainly must practice this righteousness, we don't do it for men, but for the Lord. "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven." (Mat 6:1)

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Mat 6:33)

Paul wrote: "But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets." (Rom 3:21). The Law and the Prophets both witnessed to the righteousness of God, which is attainable apart from observing the Law of Moses, "even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction." (Rom 3:22)

"And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God." (Rom 6:13)

As we present our members to God as instruments of righteousness, then He imparts His righteousness to us so that we can walk it out. This kind of righteousness requires your obedience. Paul said that obedience results in righteousness:

"Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?" (Rom 6:16)

Righteousness is one of the fruits of the light that we as children of the Light must produce as we walk out our lives:

"For the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth, trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord." (Eph 5:9-10).

We must try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord and then do it. That is practical righteousness and goodness. We must pursue righteousness:

"But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness." (1Ti 6:11)

The fact that we must be trained in righteousness from the Scriptures proves that we need more than just positional, but also the practical kind of righteousness. For there is no need to receive training in order to receive positional righteousness, but practical righteousness requires training:

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;" (2Ti 3:16).

Notice that we receive this training in righteousness from all Scripture, both the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, since they are all inspired by God and profitable for teaching as well as training us. That means that we are trained in righteousness not only from the Gospels and the Epistles, but also by the Law and the Prophets, as well as the Psalms and Proverbs.

The apostle wrote in the great Hall of Faith about the many saints gone before us who walked by faith, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Rahab, as well as Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, "who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight." (Heb 11:33-34). They performed acts of righteousness by faith. That's practical righteousness or imparted righteousness.

This fruit of righteousness cannot be produced in a disciple without training by painful discipline.

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Heb 12:11. NIV)

The apostle John in his epistles wrote that those who are born of Christ practice righteousness.

"If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him." (1Jn 2:29)

"Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;" (1Jn 3:7)

Don't let anyone tell you that the righteousness of God that He requires is only a state of being in your heart and not something you practice.

"Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy." (Rev 22:11)

Practical righteousness is a characteristic of the new self, which you can read more about it my articles Practicing Your Righteousness, Righteous Deeds and White Robes, Doing What is Right, and Is Practical Righteousness a Lost Truth?

Holiness
Another primary characteristic of the new self that we must put on is holiness, which I have written about in other articles like Holy Living in a Perverted World, Aim for Perfection, and Called to Be Blameless. I mentioned discipline a moment ago, which is not only necessary to produce righteousness in our lives, but also holiness.

"For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness." (Heb 12:10).

If holiness were merely a positional state of being for the believer, then there would be no need for discipline in our lives in order to share in God's holiness. But discipline is necessary for our own good.

Peter taught that we must be holy. The fact that he had to instruct us to be holy shows that it involves our participation. He said:

"But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;" (1Pe 1:15)

Notice that the kind of holiness Peter taught was the kind that is like the Holy One who called you. The fact that it is like the Holy One shows that He is the standard for it. We must be holy in all our behavior, just as He is. The reason for that is: "Because it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" (1Pe 1:16).

Paul taught that the unmarried woman and the virgin must concern herself with being holy in body and spirit.

"And his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband." (1Co 7:34).

If your holiness only affects your spirit, then it is not complete. It's not true holiness, because if it were true holiness it would affect your body, too.

Just as Peter taught that we must be holy, so did Paul. He said, "Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him." (Eph 1:4). This means the Lord chose us that we would be holy and blameless before Him.

The Bride that the Lord Jesus is going to present is one who is holy and blameless. Paul wrote:

"That He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless." (Eph 5:27)

He taught that we must perfect holiness in the fear of God.

"Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (2Co 7:1)

The apostle wrote:

"Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." (Heb 12:14, NIV)

There are two aspects of holiness taught in this verse that I want to point out. The first one is that you must make every effort to be holy, and the second one is that without holiness, no one will see the Lord's face.

Putting it All Together
So as we can see, this new self that we must all put on is characterized by truth, holiness, and righteousness, which are indispensable. We will not reach heaven without them.

The Lord said to Brother Michael Sambo, "I am commissioning you to go back into the world to tell them of My everlasting love for man. Tell man I love him with an everlasting love. Tell him to repent and turn to Me. Preach Christ the crucified. Preach Truth, Righteousness and Holiness; because that is the only way that can bring man to heaven. Preach holiness as if no one has ever preached it in the world."

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, unless otherwise noted. Other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, where noted. 

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy Following in His Steps, The Wardrobe of the Saints, Holy Living in a Perverted World, Aim for Perfection, Called to Be Blameless, Walking in the Perfect Will of God, Baptized with the Spirit, Holy Fire Baptism, The Straight and Narrow Path, Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God, Pleasing the Lord, The Burning Ones, Only the Holy -- Three Shocking Testimonies, Ask for the Ancient Paths, The Knowledge of the Holy, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Living a Life Worthy of the Lord, Keeping a Good Conscience, Separation from the World, Having a Servant's Heart, The Difference Between a Disciple and a Believer, Righteous Deeds and White Robes, Doing What is Right, Partaking of the Divine Nature, The Ways of Life, The Refiner's Fire, Whatever You Do, Do All Like This, Is Obedience Optional?, Obedience by the Spirit, and The Obedience of Faith.You can find more of my articles related to Seeking the Lord on the Home page of this blog. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org

Modern Day Idols

Dear God seekers,

Idolatry is something that has been around for thousands of years and is still just as prevalent in the world today as it was in the old days. In fact, this present generation is the most evil one that has ever lived on the face of the earth, so idolatry is probably more widespread now than ever before. It comes in many forms, some old-fashioned ones and some modern-day ones. Let's look at what the Scripture says about it and what constitutes idolatry, as well as what does not.

A golden calf

"Then God spoke all these words, saying, 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."(Exo 20:1-6).

These are the first and second commandments. The first commandment is that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is Yehova our God, and we shall have no other gods before us. The second commandment forbids idolatry. We must not make an idol, which is a graven image. That includes any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water. God specified that we shall not worship such images or serve them, and this must be understood in the context of the first commandment against having any other gods before Yehova. When God commanded us in the second commandment not to make an image of anything in the likeness of what is in heaven above, that included God Himself, His throne, the angels, the cherubim, and the glorious Holy City.

The Lord reiterated it in Deuteronomy when He said:

"So watch yourselves carefully, since you did not see any form on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, so that you do not act corruptly and make a graven image for yourselves in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water below the earth. And beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven." (Deu 4:15-19)

When the Lord spoke to the Israelites at Horeb, He spoke from the midst of the fire on top of the mountain. They did not see any form on that day. He says that to make a graven image is to act corruptly. The prohibition is against making images in the form of any figure, including those in the likeness of male or female, any animal, any bird, anything that creeps on the ground such as serpents, and any fish. He also warned us not to lift up our eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them. This is essentially a reiteration of the first and second commandments.

Images in the Bible

We do see images in the Bible, some that were authorized by God and others that were not. Let's look at some of them.

The Tabernacle

God commanded Moses to be sure and make the tabernacle according to the pattern shown to him on the mountain (Ex 25:40). The tabernacle itself and all its furnishings were types or copies of the original realities that exist in heaven. Part of the pattern that God gave Moses to build was the ark of the covenant. Above it were the golden cherubim above the mercy seat on the ark.

"You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat." (Exo 25:17-20)

This is an example of a case where God commanded Moses to make an image of cherubim, which are created beings in heaven. In fact, they were on the ark of the covenant in the most sacred place of all, the holy of holies. God also commanded Moses to put images of angels in other places in the tabernacle, too, such as the curtains.

"Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet material; you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman." (Exo 26:1).

All these images were authorized by God, who gave the skillful workmen the talent to create such beautiful material.

The Temple

We also see the use of cherubim in the design of Solomon's temple:

"Now there were four supports at the four corners of each stand; its supports were part of the stand itself. On the top of the stand there was a circular form half a cubit high, and on the top of the stand its stays and its borders were part of it. He engraved on the plates of its stays and on its borders, cherubim, lions and palm trees, according to the clear space on each, with wreaths all around. He made the ten stands like this: all of them had one casting, one measure and one form." (1Ki 7:34-37)

Likewise, we see cherubim in the design of the millenial temple:

"It was carved with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces, a man's face toward the palm tree on one side and a young lion's face toward the palm tree on the other side; they were carved on all the house all around. From the ground to above the entrance cherubim and palm trees were carved, as well as on the wall of the nave." (Eze 41:18-20)

These images were all allowed by God.

The Bronze Serpent

Another example of God authorizing an image is the bronze serpent. Snakes were biting the Israelites in the wilderness, because of their sinful behavior, and they were dying. So God commanded Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a cross bar atop a long pole. When those bitten by the snakes would look up at the serpent high atop the pole, they would be healed and not die.

"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.' And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived." (Num 21:8-9)

This serpent was actually a type of Christ on the cross, according to the Scriptures. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life." (Joh 3:14-15)

Unfortunately the Israelites turned the bronze serpent into an idol named Nehushtan and burned incense to it. That's why Hezekiah broke it in pieces.

"He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan." (2Ki 18:4)

The Gold Ephod

When Gideon returned from battle, victorious over the Midanites, the Israelites wanted him to be king over them. He refused to be their king, but said the Lord would rule over them. He did ask for one thing and that was their gold earrings, which they gladly gave him. He melted it down and made a gold ephod out of what he collected. The Israelites later prostituted themselves with the ephod and it became a snare to Gideon.

"Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, 'Rule over us, both you and your son, also your son's son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.' But Gideon said to them, 'I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.' Yet Gideon said to them, 'I would request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his spoil.' (For they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) They said, 'We will surely give them.' So they spread out a garment, and every one of them threw an earring there from his spoil. The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the neck bands that were on their camels' necks. Gideon made it into an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household." (Jdg 8:22-27)

Baal and Ashtaroth 

Of course, we all know about the many idols the Jews made, such as idols to Baal and Ashtaroth. "So they forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtaroth." (Jdg 2:13)

"Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him." (Jdg 10:6).

The prophet Samuel got them to get rid of these, although they later returned to idolatry. "Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, 'If you return to the LORD with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the LORD and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.' So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the LORD alone." (1Sa 7:3-4)

The Golden Calf
Then there was the famous golden calf that they worshiped.

"Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, 'Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' Aaron said to them, 'Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.' Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, 'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.' Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, 'Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.' So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play." (Exo 32:1-6)

This was a tragic moment for Israel when they fell into sin while Moses was on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments from God.

The Foolishness of Idolatry

Idolatry is foolish, because it shows how man wants to worship something he can see. Yet God says, "To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him? As for the idol, a craftsman casts it, A goldsmith plates it with gold, And a silversmith fashions chains of silver. He who is too impoverished for such an offering Selects a tree that does not rot; He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman To prepare an idol that will not totter." (Isa 40:18-20). They worship created things rather than the Creator.

As we can see, there were many images in the Bible, most of which were evil, but others that were authorized by God Himself.

Traditional Images 

Aside from these biblical examples, we also have examples of traditional images used in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. 

Pope Benedict kneels before Mary statue

These religions have made many images into idols, including paintings and statues of Jesus and Mary, as well as the saints. Even crucifixes portraying Jesus hanging on the cross have been turned into idols. These images are venerated by those who kiss them, touch them, and bow down before them. These images are believed to have power. 

For example, it is believed to provide protection to have a picture of "the sacred heart of Jesus" in your home. The same is believed to be true of something called a scapula, which is an image made of metal or cloth that is worn on the body around the neck on a chain or pinned to the underwear. And depending on what kind of help you need, there are false beliefs about the various statues. If you need safety on the road, then you put a statue of Saint Jude on your dashboard or hang the rosary over your rear view mirror in your car. If you need help selling your home, then I have heard that some believe you should bury a statue of Saint Joseph upside down in your yard. All of this is pure superstition and idolatry.

When I first came to Christ, nobody had to tell me these things were idolatry. I gathered them up in my hands and as I prepared to throw them away, I felt that I was either about to commit the greatest act of sacrilege and a lightning bolt was going to strike me, or else I was about to be set free from religious bondage. Well, I threw them away by faith in God, and He did not strike me with lighting, but He did set me free from bondage. The truth set me free not only from that, but from addictions to drugs, alcohol, and immorality. 

Yet when I tried to warn others who were still in bondage to idolatry in the Catholic religion, they would not listen to me. They insisted that these were not idols and they were not committing idolatry, since they were not bowing down to these images or worshiping them. They hardened their hearts when they heard the voice of the Lord speaking to them through me, and they chose idolatry instead of truth. They justified their sin, so they could continue practicing it, rather than repent and be set free to worship God in spirit and in truth. 

Jesus said, "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (Joh 4:24).

Therefore, if you are involved in idolatry with traditional images, the Lord is calling you to repent and turn away from such wickedness. Turn back to the living God and He will save you.

Also see Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church and Unbiblical Practices of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Are All Pictures Idolatry?

But some people even teach that making any kind of picture of Jesus is idolatry, which will take you down to hell. I personally do not teach that or believe it is true. If it is idolatry to have a picture of Jesus, then that means motion pictures of Jesus are also idolatry. That would mean that movies about Jesus are a form of idolatry, such as The Jesus Film produced by John Heyman and directed by Peter Sykes and John Krish, which is primarily based on the Gospel of Luke. Yet this movie has touched lives for Jesus and many people have come to know Him after watching the film, who would not otherwise have heard the gospel. In the book I Just Saw Jesus, which describes the making of the movie, it is obvious that God was in it and the devil was strongly opposed to it. 

If all movies of Jesus were idolatry, that would also mean that The Passion of the Christ movie produced by Mel Gibson in 2004 is idolatry. And again, I know that this movie has helped to show the world the sacrifice that Christ made for them on the cross. I also know that satan opposed the production of it, such as the making of the sound track. And James Caviezel, the actor who portrayed Jesus in that movie, encountered many trials and tribulations during the making of the film. For example, he was struck by lightning, accidentally scourged, had his shoulder dislocated, and suffered from pneumonia and hypothermia.

If all pictures of Jesus are idolatry, including still images and motion pictures, then according to the second commandment, all sacred artwork would be idolatrous, such as the pieces that artist Danny Hahlbohm says the Lord inspired him to paint. All photographs and pictures of any kind would also be considered idolatry, since they are either images of something on earth, in heaven, or in the sea. That would include videos of any kind, like videos of people, even pastors preaching sermons against idolatry! All such videos contain images of people, which are among the ones forbidden in Deu 4:15-19.

In fact, if all pictures are idolatry, then all drawings and illustrations are idolatry, such as children's illustrated Bibles, craft activities for children's Sunday School lessons on the Bible, coloring books of Bible stories, and paper cut-out figures of Bible characters. One of my children's favorite activities is flannel graph, which are flannel figures of people, angels, trees, animals, and buildings from the Bible, which they stick on a flannel board to create scenes from the Bible. They call it "sticky people." These would be considered idolatry, too, according to this teaching. All books containing illustrations, such as anatomy books and botany books would be idolatrous. All pictures everywhere would have to be eliminated.

I will leave it to you to prayerfully decide for yourself whether all pictures are idolatry, but unless the Lord shows me that personally, it is not my belief that they are.

Revelations About Diagrams and Drawings
Let me also share briefly some excerpts from a revelation given to a boy named Samuel, whom I have written about in my article Visitation of Jesus to Samuel Oghenetega. The Lord told him:

"Pastors who put any form of diagram on My altar and call My Name there, I am angry with them. And I will send them to hell."

"Tell those who draw any diagram or creature that does not glorify Me, I shall cast them into the lake of fire. In fact...some of these artists are demons, and they are...used for satan. Therefore, repent and beware."

Other Modern Idols

Some modern idols include video games, cars, motorcycles, movies, TV, i pads, i phones, smart phones, laptops, computers, sound systems, boyfriends, girlfriends, fashion models, sports figures, military heroes, politicians, royalty, movie stars, and entertainers, such as rock stars and other music celebrities.  Some make idols of their children, their pets, their spouse, their house, their boat, their vacations, their holidays, their sports, and their photographs. People also still make idols of the sun, moon, and stars. Others make idols of rocks and crystals. They can even make idols out of money, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, sex, and food. And certain people like Hindus, still worship the images of their millions of false gods in their temples. Muslims travel to Mecca where they walk around a cube called the Kaaba. They bow before it, and pray, while some kiss the Black Stone in the eastern corner of the cube. Some make idols of their parents, grandparents, and ancestors. In some Asian countries, they venerate the dead by burning incense in front of pictures of their ancestors, which comes from Buddhism. Children may make idols of baseball cards, toys, dolls, action figures, super heroes, and cartoon characters. Christians even make idols out of their theological doctrines, as well as Christian celebrities and pastors, which is human worship.

With regard to the list of other idols I have made above, it is not comprehensive, of course. Moreover, just because people make idols of these things, not all of them are inherently sinful. For example, if the Lord blesses you with a spouse, a child, a pet, a house, a car, or a laptop, that is not necessarily sinful, and it does not mean we should get rid of these simply because others have idolized them. What is an idol to someone else is not necessarily an idol to me. However, some things are clearly sinful and idolatrous, regardless of who does them, such as all forms of pornography, which is an abomination to God.

Refusing to Bow to Idols

During the period when the Israelites were in captivity in Babylon for their sins of idolatry, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold and forced all the people to bow down to it. But the three Hebrew young men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refused to bow down.

"Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up." (Dan 3:1-2)

"Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up." (Dan 3:7)

Everyone fell down and worshiped the golden image, except for the three Hebrew young men. When they were called before the king about this, and he threatened to throw them into the fiery furnace, they took a firm stand for God.

"Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, 'O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.'" (Dan 3:16-18)

Of course, we know that the king did throw them into the furnace, and though his soldiers who threw them into it perished because of the intense heat, the three Hebrews were unhurt inside the blazing furnace. They came out without even the smell of smoke or a hair on their heads singed or any damage to their trousers. God had sent His angel and rescued them. 

We need more people like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego today who refuse to bow down to idols. Idolatry is not just a thing of the past, it is still very much a practice of the present, and it is going to continue in the future. In fact, during the soon coming Great Tribulation, all the inhabitants of the earth, whose names are not written in the Book of Life, will worship the beast. 

"All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain." (Rev 13:8).

And the false prophet will deceive the inhabitants of the earth with miraculous signs and wonders, forcing them to worship the image of the beast. 

"He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed." (Rev 13:13-15)

But woe to anyone who does so.

"Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.' Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus." (Rev 14:9-12). 

Listen now to the words of the apostles. John said, "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols." (1Jn 5:21, NIV). Paul said, "Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry." (1 Cor 10:14, NIV).

He said, "...we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2Co 4:18)

He also said, "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal 5:19-21).

John said in the book of Revelation when he described the Holy City, "Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." (Rev 22:15, NIV).

Putting it All Together

As you can see, mankind has a tremendous propensity for idolatry, which is rampant today. It's all around us! Idolatry is not just an ancient practice, but a modern one. And some idols that may seem modern are actually just a more recent version of ancient ones. The devil has an idol for all people of all ages, races, creeds, and languages.  It's more popular today than ever before, and since we are immersed in a culture full of idolatry, it's more difficult to recognize it in our own lives.

If you want to make it into the kingdom of God, you have to repent from idolatry. This includes any and all forms of it -- both traditional and modern ones. God is a jealous God, and He will not tolerate idolatry. Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

Attribution Notice: All images copyrighted and used according to the Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes only.

Author's note:  If you enjoyed this article. I would like to invite you to read Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Avoid Becoming a Corrupted Christian, Drifting Away, Abominations in the Sight of God, Deleted Scriptures in the Bible?, Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God, Salvation with Fear and Trembling, The Apostasy Parables, Angelica Zambrano Heaven and Hell, Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church, Unbiblical Practices of the Russian Orthodox Church, and Bowing Low in Worship.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Other Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible NIV. 

You can access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.