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We are facing an economic meltdown that was created by greed. Men are: Lovers of their own selves-greedy; lovers of money-coveteous; lovers of pleasures-lustful, and in the church, many count gain as proof of godliness, while they fall into many foolish and hurtful lusts. Where your heart is, your treasures will be. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.elsitiocristiano.com/donate/1102/29
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Greetings, friends and new listeners, and welcome to this program of the R.G. Hardy Ministries. I'm Sharon Knotts thanking you for tuning in today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today's message by my father, Brother Hardy, is entitled, The Three Foolish Lovers. Paul wrote to Timothy that the last days would be perilous times, and he described 18 characteristics of the people who would be living in this age before the coming of Christ. And among those, he noted three foolish lovers, lovers of self, lovers of money, and lovers of pleasures. And to these he added, rather than lovers of God. So let's join Brother Hardy now for the three foolish lovers.
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hallelujah for you sit down tell somebody next to Jesus wonderful and I love you Jesus is wonderful God is wonderful he does everything perfect hallelujah you know if God said okay here's the plane of salvation I drew up You can take anything out or add anything. I just leave it just like it is. Because he's got everything in there. He anticipated everything that we would need. And he took care of it, didn't he? He said, Peter, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises... That we might be a partaker of the divine nature and we have an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven. Hallelujah. Everything that we need in the beginning, he looked down and he saw you and I and he saw just the way our lives would go and our station in life and he put everything we need, reserved it for us. And then when it comes time in history that we need it, my God shall supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory. And he's got reserved up there because of Christ Jesus through the Lord because of what he did. Now, in the world... There's three types or groups of people, and you will fit in one of the three. And I'm going to be preaching the end of the different three, what's going to happen to them. First of all, there's the group that hardly has enough of the daily essentials to have their needs supplied. We call them the poor. And Jesus said that always those people would be with us. Yes. Remember that Judas wanted to tell that woman, don't break that box, pour it on Jesus, I'm going to go give it to the poor. He really wanted to put it in his pocket. And the Lord said, the poor you always have with you, and whatever you want to do good to the poor, you always have a chance. And that's true. Then there's the other extreme, the rich that's got more than they need for their daily essentials. the things that are essential for you to live healthy life. And the third group is in the middle that has all the essentials they need. And you're going to drop in one of the three. Of course, a whole lot of them want to be In the third one that I mentioned, second, more than they need. But we're going to see the end of these people. And I'm sure none of us want to be in the first one poor. Everybody wants to be poor, raise your hand. Because if you want to be poor, come bring all your money up and everything and a deed to your house and sign it over to me. Really, the church, and I'll use it for the church, to feed the poor, especially in Africa and India. Amen? First of all, I'm going to say to God's people, God, 2 Corinthians 9, 8, said, I like this verse. It's beautiful. Just these first three words, I could probably preach till Jesus come on. They're beautiful about God. It said, and God is able. Say it, God is able. God can do it. He's able. I don't care what your need is. I don't care what your situation. I don't care what three you're in. God is able. How many say amen? And then, if you're one of his people, You're going to be one of his children. He's going to say, God's going to make you able. God is able, and he's going to make you able if you're his child. How many say amen? You should be on bread. They would name all of the vitamins that was needed for sufficient for you to have a healthy life and to maintain it. God's able to make all grace abound unto you. Listen to this. That you always have all sufficiency in all things for every or all good work. That's the five alls and five's the number of grace. That's the grace verse. How many say amen? So get that in your mind because you might get a little shook up as I preach. But I'm going to bring the word of God. And it's going to be counter to a lot of preachers, especially some of the big boys on TV. But it's going to be the truth because I don't know what I need anymore than everything I need when I need it. But my God shall supply all your needs. What more do I need? If my need is supplied, the rest is excess. And we're going to find out when we get in excess, that gives the devil a door to work. Amen? Some of the most miserable people in the world are multimillionaires. And these scriptures here are for us more than any other day till this up-to-date Sunday. And I'm going to be preaching on three foolish lovers. Maybe some of you can relate to them. Three foolish lovers. 2 Timothy, the third chapter, it says, this know also. God wants us to know this. God doesn't want us to be ignorant about the next few verses Paul is going to tell us about. Time that he wants us to know it. That in the last days, so right now we're in the time, we're in the last days, and he wants us to know something. And he wants us to know is, for men shall be lovers of their own self. That's the first foolish lover. The second one is the next word, but the King James translates it covetous. For men shall be lovers of their own self, covetous. But the Greek word is lovers of silver. And remember back in the Bible days they didn't have paper money, it was all coins. Right? So it's really translated, lovers of money. And they are in peril. The word peril means jeopardy and danger. Those that love their self and those that love silver are in danger. And a lot of people, even saints, are in danger. He puts them in the class with boasters. proud, blasphemers, disobedience to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affections, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers, third lover, foolish lover of pleasures is a peril to you. It's dangerous. of the result that's going to be. Now, first of all, they love their self. So all they think about is me, myself, and I. Therefore, to satisfy myself, me, myself, and I, which will never be satisfied, because you never can satisfy the natural man, never satisfy the lusts and desires of the natural man. So the thing that they want is silver, money, And their whole life is gauged with getting money. And they don't care how they get it because they'll do those things that I read in between. Do anything to get the money. If you want to be rich, you're going to have to deal with the rich people, and they're unscrupulous. They do anything to get it, and you're going to have to come on their terms. Amen. I want to satisfy myself that can't be satisfied. You take somebody that loves food, and the more they eat, the more they want. I know my brother was telling me about this young person, and he said he was the hugest person he ever seen. And all he did was eat and eat and eat and eat and eat. And somebody told him, says, you know, you're killing yourself. He said, I don't care. I love it. You can't satisfy your lust. And they love the money. They got to get the money. They don't care who they knock down, who they flim flam. You want to get an example of it? The most poorest peoples in the ghettos in our city are underprivileged. And who do the drug merchants go after? Who do they go after? Those poor people. And those guys don't care. If they make them an addict, in fact, they want them to be an addict. To get them, they'll give them a little bit first because they want that money. They wanted to splash gold hanging down their necks until they get a broken neck. They want to stretch a limousine and all the clothes and all that proud, arrogant, heavy, high-minded, fierce, blow you apart. They prey on the poor. We had a big deal. These guys grabbing up houses, call it flipping, selling it to the poor for outrageous, charging outrageous interest. And of course, they get the money so they can satisfy their self that wants pleasures. We're living in a pleasure crazed day. Pleasures. If you got the gambling habit, to woo you up to Jersey, they'll send you a free bus to take you, give you a meal, and I don't know how much they're giving you now to start off with. How much money to start you off, and especially to go for the women because they're nuts about the one-armed bandits. Because they know that the house is fixed to win. You can't beat the house. The only way that you can beat the house, and if you've got a gambling demon, you won't, is if somebody spent all their money and they were one bet away from winning, you went in and hit it, and then you got it and left, but you ain't gonna leave. When you leave, you ain't gonna have nothing. Because you can't satisfy that gambling demon. Who plays the numbers more than anybody? I mean, it was so great a few years back that the pastor in the pulpit was given the number today by John 3.16. I'm not exaggerating. They were waiting for the pastor to give. He said, the first verse I quote is the number for today. Pleasures. Satisfy the flesh that can't be satisfied. Spend your life trying to get money. You know, if you would hit the jackpot or the lottery for a million dollars, you'd go crazy with the money. You'd be out of your happy mind. You wouldn't know what to do. First of all, those things that you thought you'd want, you'd run out and get it. How many say amen? You get the fancy clothes. You get a house. You get a fancy car. You might take a trip here and there, but you wouldn't know what to do. That money would kill you. You know what it would be like? How many knows the Midas company to fix your car? Don't they call it Midas mufflers? Now they advance into brakes and all the other stuff. See, it's Midas because everything they touch is going to cost you. Do you know that tale about the Midas, King Midas? King Midas said, I want the gift that everything I touch will turn to gold. He thought that was beautiful. How many would like that? yeah you would you'd go yeah don't tell me nothing you try to figure out i'll figure out a way how to get this money and then if you if you love food you're in big shape bad shape because if you touch the food is going to turn into gold everything would be gold how many say amen well you couldn't even hug your children and your grandchildren Amen? The might is such a curse. See, I believe the Lord looked down in the beginning and he put us, everyone, in the standing and status where he wanted us to be. The station in life that he wanted us to be in. And he gave us the ability to be able to produce that which is sufficient for us. Our need. See, to me, money is not a lust. It's a tool to lift up the Lord and get the gospel out. If I didn't need the money to get gospel out, I wouldn't want any money. I don't want to have money so I can put it in a bank account and say I got a trillion dollars. What good is it? How many is out there? There's an old Jewish proverb that says this. God don't give me poverty unless I curse you. And then it says, don't give me riches lest I forget you. See, the rich forget God. They don't need God. What do they need? I mean, they got a million dollars in the bank. And all that goes with being a rich, they don't need anything materially. They got it made. What do they need God? They don't have to depend on God for their bread. The only time they're going to need God is when they get cancer. Or if they would live a life healthy and die healthy, they would need God to be their Savior. Money can't save you, brother. The Bible says you came naked in the world, and when you leave, you leave in the same way. You can't take it with you. Amen. I don't know how this little illustration will go, but the person died and people were putting diamonds and all kind of wealth in there and money. This one guy come up and gathered all the wealth and the money and pulled out a checkbook and signed a check and threw it in. And that guy would never cash that check. The only thing that's going to last out of this life when you go is what you've done for Christ. All the rest is going to be burned up. You either got works that are permanent, eternal, that are like silver, gold, and precious stones, or else you're going to be wood and stubble and hay, and God's going to put the fire to it. And only what's done for Jesus is going to last. Are you out there? But like I've been saying all my life when God revealed it to me, being rich is having what you need when you need it. Somebody was telling me recently that they went to a neighborhood to deliver some furniture. In order to get there, it took them an hour because the woman had to go through 100 doors, locking them and unlocking them. Better is the poor man with a little bit than the rich man with a lot without God. Now, the ones that find themselves in life poor are going to be made use by the rich. They're going to be oppressed. by the rich. God hates that. And if you are blessed, then you need to give to the poor. Because the Bible said if you give to the poor, you're lending to the Lord. He's going to give you back. You know, every time we send money over to the orphanage in Kenya and our work there. It's spread. We got a satellite orphanage now up further away with 200 and some children. We've almost got the orphanage in where we built it that sleeps 500 absolutely full. How many say amen? Amen. and spreading out. Every time we do it, God blesses. Some of you have seen how small the crowd is. You'd never believe how much money that we put out to reach souls. Sure doesn't come from the offerings in this church, but God always touches somebody because in the beginning, he knew that he was going to call me to this ministry. He knew that he was going to give me this work. He knew what he wanted me to do, and he put everything I need right there in heaven in inheritance, and when I need it, then God dispenses it. Because it's one thing when you give people too much, they always waste it. If some people, if God would give you all that you need January the 1st, To live the whole year, January the 2nd, you'd be saying, come on, welfare. Because you'd blow it, people would flim flam you out of it. Are you out there? Fifth verse said, after being high-minded, you know, when they get that money and the prestige with it, they ain't going to come around and see you no more. I mean, how many of you ever find out in your family they get money and all of a sudden, they don't want to name my poor cousin. I want to be around them. I'm going to be with the hoi polloi, the 400, the who's who. Said, these people have a form of godliness. They claim to be Christians. When you are amazed that's who these people are, he's talking about Christians. Amen. How many say amen? Let's see who are these Christians. They're in danger. They're in peril. They'll be lovers of their own self. Covetous are lovers of money, boasters of what they got, proud, blasphemers, disobedience to parents, unthankful. unholy, without natural affections, no love for their families, and also this covers homosexuality, without natural affections. Truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, that means without self-control, raging, fierce, despisers of those that are good because that'll bring conviction on them, they don't want to be convicted. You know, when you get this, the other people used to be your friends. Somebody said, boy, what's going to happen? You're going to have to give up all your friends. You don't have to give up all your friends. As soon as you get it, you ain't got no friends. They not gave you up. They see you on the street and they're going across the street. Traitors turn you right in because self is number one. don't you touch my money honey don't you rob me of my pleasures having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof from such do what turn away from the lover these people that go down the money road are in trouble turn away from themselves lovers turn away with all the rest of them Turn away with those that want pleasure. The only churches now mostly are having any crowds is the one that's got pleasure. Everything is geared to pleasure. Who needs an altar called? There ain't no pleasure kneeling down. Who needs an altar? Because if I preach right, ain't nobody going to come. Everybody's talking about how you can get rich. And the one's getting rich is the one telling you about it. Because you're buying their books and their recordings and giving them a $100 pledge to get it. Man, they graduated now. They want $1,000 and $10,000. I'm getting letters. I believe you're one of them ones. I got discernment. You're one of them ones to give $1,000. She said, well, don't you ask for help. I present the need and I tell them whatever the Lord tells you to give, you give. Who are you giving to, the man or the Lord? If you're giving to the Lord, he said, if you give it to me, then it's going to be given to you in the same measure or ratio that you gave to me. I'm going to give it back to you. I'm going to make men give in your bosom. Turn away from them. I've been preaching over 50 years, and according to the norm of preachers preaching deliverance 50 years like I have, man, I should have all kind of millions. Rolls Royce, Maserati, Austin, Summer Palace, Winter Palace, in between palaces. I'm so tired from running to palaces, I can't preach anymore. Now, I like it the way God's got it. It keeps me praying every day. I don't forget him because I need him today. I got to pray every day. Give us. You know you can't pray the Lord's Prayer saying me or I. You got to pray in the plural. Give us this day our daily bread. See if you're lovers for self, all you're praying for is me. Bless me. My two, we three, my four and no more. I know you don't like me. And I'm not endearing myself to sworn into you. Denying the power thereof, brother. I'd rather have the power of God in my life than a thousand or a million dollars in the bank. How many say amen? Because if I got the power of God in my life, that power of God will anoint my faith. And when I ask God, he's going to hear me and supply all of my needs. financially, materially, physically, spiritually, and I have some to give to the church. Oh, yes! Okay, now we're going to examine the end of these three lovers, or these three groups of people. Because these three lovers are really the same person. In other words, the love pleasures, you've got to love yourself. And in the love pleasures and yourself, you've got to have money to buy your pleasures. Let's talk about the same person. How many say amen? Now, the people that are born in a poor situation, and I've seen it overseas, one of the poorest people in the world is the Haitians in Haiti. And that was the first nation that God let me go to. And when I saw their poverty, I literally got mad at God. I went to the Lord in anger and said, Lord, in the 20th century, how could you allow this situation when Americans throw more away in the garbage cans than these people will ever get to eat and waste? I saw one kid. He was lucky. He had the front pair of a pair of pants. Then I saw the other guy had the back pair, but most of them didn't have none for the front or the back. They had what they called the poor man's market between the rich man's market In the mahogany market where all the tourists would come, packed wall to wall like sardines with people that literally are born there and die in that spot. And all they live on is trying to bake something. from the tourists when they come. And the guy who was taking us through it says, now, they're going to crowd you, but don't you give nobody any money. And I told you, I seen that one little woman. I can still see her eyes looking at me. She was looking into my soul. I looked at her, and he took us away, and she followed us. And every time I look, I see them eyes piercing me, and she'd be doing this. I mean, I just had a good meal. I told her, brother, I don't care what you told me to do. I'm going to give that woman money, or I'll never sleep again in my life. But you see, money wasn't the answer. to their problem because in port-au-prince they had a half a million people and like some of them said that they could spend a dollar a meal and feed a million a meal so it'd be a million and a half a day you know what you'd have to spend there a million and a half a day forever you hearing me a million and a half a day forever when i got mad at the lord the lord said to me who Now hold up say the reason why they're in that conditions because they have rejected my son and they went to voodoo And whatever you go after demons That's what the demon will do and the only religion that they went to had the great big building their Cathedral and one of the pictures that really got me was Jesus was on the cross and this woman was there with her arms around his feet looking up to him, and that was the only hope they had in the spirit, either that or go to voodoo or to go if they could get some ganja, which we would call marijuana, or something to drink to forget their miserable place. But then I saw when we went to the top of the mountain to one of the missionaries that lived there, and when I saw him, People marching up the mountain, and I said, what are they doing? They said, they're going up to pray and fast. And I looked, and a lot of them had my magazine under their arm, and their face was shining. How many say amen? And God supplied their need, because when you go to these places that are poor, if they are Christians, you'll find out that God is supplying their need in their environment. You can't expect to be blessed when you don't have God. There is no blessings. The devil's out to destroy you. The thief come up not but to steal and to kill and to destroy. But Jesus said, I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. How many say amen? The poor is going to stay poor until they get a hold of God. And then God is going to bring them into that middle group that their needs are always supplied when they need it. Let's see what happens to the guy full of riches. See if you want it. See if you want to be rich. Rich is having God. And when you got God, he'll make you rich in your pocket by giving you what you need. He'll make you rich in your body that by his stripes you get healed and you have health. You'll satisfy your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like an eagle. How many say amen? To be rich is to be an heir of God and to join heir with Jesus, to be full of the Holy Ghost and have the joy of the Spirit that's unspeakable and full of glory and have your name written in the Lamb's book of life. How many say amen? And have an inheritance incorruptible, unabombered, reserved in heaven. That's being rich, brother! Paul said he had nothing. He was like Jesus, but he possessed all things. He was rich. He could sing in the Philippi jailhouse. Heavenly say amen. He could sing walking down the corners to go out to get his head cut off. I fought a good fight. I kept the faith. Henceforth. There's a crown of righteousness laid up for me that the Lord shall give me in that day. And not only to me, but to all them that love his appearing. How many say amen? Hey, he went out rich. He went out victorious. He went out an overcomer.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen. What a word-induced season by God's servant, Brother Hardy, the three foolish lovers. I believe you have been arrested by the Holy Spirit to receive these words of admonition and wisdom for the last days. The time has come for each of us to ask ourselves, what kind of lover am I? Am I a lover of self? Am I a lover of money? Or am I a lover of pleasures? Or am I truly a lover of God and the things of God? Because we can never be satisfied with these other lovers. You cannot satisfy the immortal soul of man with mortal things. Jesus especially warned that it would be the love of money and the deceitfulness of lust and riches that would snare many of his own people. Yet some... ignored the warning and heaped themselves teachers who preach a gospel of greed. Paul said they count gain as godliness. To them, their prosperity is proof they are blessed of God. But Paul said to turn away from these because godliness with contentment, godliness with your needs supplied, is great gain. So where is your treasure? Jesus said, where your treasure is, your heart will be. He did not say where your heart is, your treasure will be, because your heart follows your treasure. This message, The Three Foolish Lovers, can be ordered on CD for a love gift of $10 or more for the radio ministry. Request offer 305. That's offer 305. Send your love gift of $10 or more to R.G. Hardy Ministries, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Or if you prefer, go online at rghardy.org. That's rghardy.org. Once again, the mailing address is R.G. Hardy Ministries, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Until next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.
In this episode of Through the Bible, we delve into the powerful teachings of the book of Hosea as Dr. J. Vernon McGee guides us through the trials of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Ignoring God's word not only led to spiritual adultery but also brought about God's judgment in a dramatic and prophetic transition. As we reflect on the message shared by the evangelist D.L. Moody and stories from Dr. McGee's own ministry, we're prompted to consider the essential role of scripture in our everyday lives. Throughout Hosea chapter 4, we witness the consequences that befell Israel when they neglected their sacred texts. Dr. McGee draws parallels to modern times, illustrating how turning our backs on divine guidance can lead to moral decay and personal dissatisfaction. Whether through personal anecdotes or deep scriptural insights, this episode calls listeners to introspection and a return to God’s word. Join us as we uncover the inhibitors to spiritual fulfillment and the inevitable consequences of idolatry and sin. Whether you are a long-time believer, a part of our World Prayer Team, or someone in search of spiritual clarity, this study provides profound insights. Prepare to embark on this enlightening journey through Scripture with renewed understanding.
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The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
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The evangelist D.L. Moody was right when he said, The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible. Listening to and obeying God's Word is a protection over our lives. And that's one reason that I'm so glad that you're here at Through the Bible, ready to get into God's Word with Dr. J. Verna McGee. And as you know, we're in the book of Hosea on our five-year journey through the whole word. And in this study, we're going to learn how the northern kingdom of Israel turned away from God because they forgot his word. Well, not only did they forget it, they wanted nothing to do with it. They completely turned their backs on God's ways. And you know, that's when God's man Hosea stepped up and said, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge of God's word. And then he relayed God's chilling consequence. Because you forgot the law of your God, I will also forget your children. I will change your glory into shame. Wow. I don't know about you, but that sobering pronouncement makes me sit up and listen. We're in Hosea chapter four. So as you open your Bible, let's listen to Dr. McGee's introduction on why God will judge his people.
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Now God says that he must judge the nation. And he says that he will change their glory into shame. Now the glory of Israel was actually the temple with the Shekinah glory upon it and his visible presence with the nation and his definite leading of them. And they're witness to the world of that day of monotheism. In a world of polytheism, they worship the living and the true God. That was their glory. It brought the Queen of Sheba from the ends of the earth. Now what is happening is this. God says, I will remove my glory from you. I'll remove my blessing from you. And I will judge you. I'll let the enemy come in upon you and take you away. And of course, the enemy is going to be able to say, look, they said they were God's chosen people. And look what's happening to them. And apparently their God's not a very strong God. Friends, we're seeing today in this land of ours something very similar to that. God is judging many churches and he's closing many doors today. You can look about you in this land of ours and see that God is still judging. And we are inclined to say, isn't it a shame to see a decline in a certain church? Well, maybe God closed the door. We need to recognize that only God today can afford to judge his own people, and he does that.
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Before jumping into our study, I invite you to join our World Prayer Team. Together we pray for listeners like Nora in the Philippines who writes this. I heard your message and want to know if you will really be forgiven. I have sinned in the past and I have thought that I am unforgivable. I got involved with another man and our entire village knows. I'm hurting and crying right now, but your words in my language of Locano comfort me and give me hope. For the first time, I feel as if God might accept me as I am. Please tell me what to do next. Please tell me more about Jesus and how I can be redeemed. Are you ready to join us for the journey? Well, hop aboard as we pray for millions of listeners like this one all over the world by signing up at ttb.org forward slash pray. And let's do that now. Thank you, Heavenly Father. Thank you for the privilege of hearing your word. Help us to turn what distracts us and do what pleases you. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of sharing your word with the world. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're off to Hosea 4 on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, we got down last time through the sixth verse of the fourth chapter of Hosea. And again, I'd like to say that this sixth verse here of this fourth chapter is considered one of the most familiar verses that we have. It's one that is quoted a great deal. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. And that's the way it opens. I went through it last time, and I'll not go any farther than that. But it was a lack of the knowledge of the Word of God that was the background of the sin of these people. The minute that Christian friend, you get away from the Word of God, you could not live a triumphant Christian life by any means. You could not live well-pleasing to the Lord. And I do not care how many of these method conferences you go to that have all these little gimmicks that if you do this and do that and do the other thing, that things are going to work all right for you in your home and in your place of business and in your social life, and everything will work out right. My friend, the Word of God makes it very clear that That's not by these little gimmicks, these little methods. It's by a knowledge of the Word of God. Now, that is as clear as the noonday sun in this book and certainly in other places. Now, will you notice as God continues to bring against the northern kingdom his judgment upon them, that is, he hands down a decision. He's going to judge them. And he has now proven that To them, his case, they broken the Ten Commandments. He went down the list and they had broken them. Now he says, as they were, verse 7, as they were increased, so they sinned against me. In other words, as the nation increased, God had promised to bless them by multiplying them. He told Abraham that. But all it did was just bring another sinner into the world. And after all, that's what happened when I came into the world. Just another sinner came into the world. But thank God, the grace of God reached down and somebody gave me the Word of God. And I was able to trust Christ as my Savior. But these people, they have an ignorance. They have no knowledge of the word of God. As they were increased, so they sinned against me. Therefore, will I change their glory into shame. God says, I'm going to turn your glory into shame. They eat up the sin of my people. They set their heart on their iniquity. They not only sin, but they like to brag about it. As a young fellow, ran with a pretty fast crowd in the bank I worked in. And we always like, especially on Monday morning, to brag about our weekend, what we did. And you know what it was, either to get drunk or... some adultery or something like that. That's what you brag about. And they not only sinned, they bragged about it. And there, verse 9 now, chapter 4 of Hosea, and there shall be like people, like priests. The unfortunate thing is that the priesthood had sunk down to the level of the congregation. Now, I have always believed, and as you've heard me say, that I started out in the ministry. I wore a Prince Albert coat and a wing collar. I look like a mule looking over a whitewash fence. But I soon gave that up. I dress just like the man sitting out in the pew. And I'm no different than that man in the pew. But I want to say this, that I want in the pulpit to give out the word of God so that I don't sink down to the level of that which is the man of the world. And today there are many ministers. They're the good guys. one man boasted to me he says you know he says my preacher says you know he says he comes out to our golf club he plays golf and i'm for that i do that i think it's great to mix with folk like that says after the game says he goes in the bar room with us has a drink with us says you know said he's just one of the fellas says i sure do like him well I wonder what God thinks about him. Like people, like priests. And I'll punish them for their ways and reward them for their doings, for they shall eat and not have enough. In other words, famine is coming to the land. And who would ever have believed that this great land of ours, just last year, a few years ago, that there would be no scarcity. Whoever heard of it, that you couldn't buy meat at the meat market, you couldn't buy bread, that there would be a scarcity of anything. May I say to you, I'm not sure. I think God judged us in the dust bowl many years ago. That's when I entered the ministry. And nobody listened to God then. Then we had to fight World War II. God judged us. And we didn't come back to God even World War II. So we've been fighting somewhere ever since. Just can't give it up. They shall eat, not have enough. They shall commit harlotry and shall not increase. You know, there's one thing, friends, about adultery. And I know today that I'm talking to a great many people that have had this in their mind and their heart because we're living in this day. And you can take it from a fellow that one time in his life before he's saved, you can never, never enjoy in a way in which God really wants you to until you can enjoy it in marriage. And when you can put your arms around the woman that you have been loving and you can say to her, I love you. above everything else in the world. Now, I say when you can say that, my friend, then there'll be an increase. And it'll be wonderful. Oh, they were committing adultery then, and they're doing it today. But actually, there's really no satisfaction in it. It's just a sort of a temporary release. And you hate yourself after that. And I know that. And some of you know that, my friend. And God knows that because that's what he's saying here. God's spelling it out for you. They shall eat and not have enough. They shall commit harlotry, adultery, and they shall not increase because they have ceased to take heed to the Lord. Harlotry and wine and new wine take away the heart. Last time we gave you all these statistics about liquor in this country today. And nobody, and I mean nobody today, is lifting a voice against this. And I don't think I've said very much about it. But I sure have said a whole lot the past couple of days. And from time to time, we do mention it. Arlatrin wine and new wine take away the heart, my friends. And part of our problem in Washington today are these two sins, harlotry, adultery, and liquor. They're the two problems in our government today. That's the reason that men lie. That's the reason that men will do crooked things. And that is not confined to one party or just one group. The whole crowd is guilty today. One writer said that in Washington, you don't know who to trust. May I say to you, what a sad commentary on our nation today. Don't tell me the new morality is working. It didn't work for Israel. They got away from the word of God and they said, we try something new. And they went in for it. The northern kingdom, you see, they had sin galore. They put up two golden calves. And with that worship of Baal, I was connected with it, the grossest forms of idolatry and the Verse 12, my people ask counsel of their idols, and their staff declareth unto them, for the spirit of harlotry hath caused them to err, and they have played the harlot departing from under their God. Now he's speaking here of the harlotry, spiritual adultery, which is turning from God. They went to inquire of idols. And today, we find people running after the gurus of India. Well, they haven't done much for India, by the way. But yet, we've had a crowd running after them. And someone has said that one of them that came over here, he said that very candidly, he came for the money. And that it was nothing in the world but a religious racket as far as he was concerned. Yet people went after him. People are going off into this type of thing today. And there's actually the worship of Satan today. I have here a clipping that comes from Daytona Beach, Florida. A group of Satan cultists tortured and beat a 17-year-old youth to death, believing he was an undercover narcotics agent, police said Wednesday. May I say to you that worship of Satan today is certainly not helping morality by any means. And these people going into idolatry, idolatry was leading them into gross immorality. Now, let me keep reading here. And They sacrifice, this is verse 13 now, chapter 4. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains and burn incense upon the hills under oaks and poplars and elms because the shadow of them is good. That's where they put their idols, was on top of a hill under a grove. And you hear a great deal in scripture. And they found out today, archaeologists, that the center of worship of idolatry was in these groves. It was cool there, nice place to go. Therefore, your daughters shall commit harlotry and your spouses shall commit adultery. You see, the worship of idols, and we today have turned to idolatry, covetousness, All of this today, the greed of this country today has caused many a family to try to get on in the world. They want to move to a better neighborhood. They want a swimming pool. They want a boat to take down. And they say we're doing this for their children. And then all of a sudden their children take off and there are thousands. Thousands of young people today that are wandering up and down this country and all over the world. I saw them in Hawaiian Islands. I talked to three young people in Constitution Square in Athens, Greece. Two young men and a young lady. And I'm sure that none of them were beyond their teens. One of them could have been 20. And there they sat, and they were then under the influence of drugs. I tried to talk with them, and I tried to find out who they were. And they said, we're nobody. We don't count. We've dropped out. What's happened today, friends? What's taking place today? Why, the problem is back there in the home. We're idolaters. We're worshiping the almighty dollar. We've forgotten God. We've turned away from the living and true God, and we no longer worship him. And we've not turned to a savior that can redeem us and help us. Now, verse 14. He says, I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your spouses when they commit adultery, for they themselves are separated with harlots, and they sacrifice with harlots. Therefore, the people that doth not understand shall fall. God says ignorance, so the law excuses no one. And because these people have gone on, I'm not going to judge them for the sin they're committing right now. I'm going to judge them because they've turned from the living and true God and from his way. My friend, as I said to a man, and I met him on a golf course, by the way, and he said, joined our foursome he soon left us when he found out we were three preachers and this man made a statement well he said that he guessed that he was a sinner he'd done this that and the other said yes I guess I'll go to hell and I said brother you know you're not going to hell because you commit these sins he says what do you mean I'm not going to hell because I thought that's what you preachers said I said this preacher never said that I said you're going to hell because you've rejected Jesus Christ These people were being judged not because they had become harlots. They were judged because they've turned from the living and true God. Now, will you notice he says here, though thou Israel play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-Avon or swear the Lord liveth. God says, I'm going to hold Judah back. I'll not judge Judah yet. And Judah, don't come up and worship these calves that they put up here. Now we come to something that's quite interesting. Verse 16. For Israel slideth back like a backsliding heifer. Now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place. Now, friends, let's look at what really backsliding is. A great many people think backsliding means that you have become a Christian, joined the church, and then you drop back into sin, and that's backsliding. Now, may I say to you, that's not backsliding the way it's used here. And God illustrates it so you can't miss it. For Israel slideth back like a backsliding heifer. Now, I'm very happy the fact that as a boy, I had the privilege of living in the country and in a little town. And I think I've mentioned this before. There's a live next door to us in southern Oklahoma in a little town. We lived in a rancher. He had a big ranch and he had two boys and they were both about my age. And we three played together. We used to ride these heifers out in the lot and they would, you know, tie a rope around. As we said in that day, a belly band we'd put on them. We'd hold on to that. And then they'd buck us off. Now, every now and then, this rancher would load up. This was in the days before the automobile. In a wagon, he would load up these heifers to take them to market or take them out to the ranch. And he had a great big board. That is, it was a thing constructed out of boards that he put up at the back end of the wagon. It was a runway that you just try to run the heifer up back. Well, what they'd do, you'd put a rope around the heifer, and then you'd push her from the back. And as you'd get the heifer up, she'd go a part of the way, then she'd stiffen those front feet. She'd just put them out stiff. And you know what would happen? You couldn't pull her. She'd start sliding backwards. That's what backsliding is. Backsliding heifer. They were stiffening their front feet. And instead of being led of God, they were slipping backward all the time. And backsliding means when you turn your back on God and you step on that little neck of yours and that little mind of yours and you say, I'll have nothing to do with God. You're backsliding when you do that. You see, when you refuse to go the way God wants to lead you. Now he calls Israel here a backsliding heifer. There are a lot of backsliding heifers today and bulls also, by the way. Now, let me read the next verse. Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone. Now, we come to another word here. The word backsliding is mentioned three times in this book, and you'll recall it's only Jeremiah and Hosea, and they spoke to a nation ready to go into captivity, accused them of doing this, refusing to be led of God, refusing to come to God. Now, Ephraim, that name occurs 36 times. He picks out one of the tribes of the 10 tribes in the north and applies it to all 10 of the tribes. And I frankly have never been able to figure out just how God uses that term. Is he using it in a way that is the term of endearment or is it a term of ridicule? Now, this time through Hosea, I've come to the conclusion that it's a term of endearment. It's a pet name. You see, Israel in the north had really no name as a nation. Judah in the south was really the nation. And these 10 tribes had revolted, you see. And now God gives them, I think, a pet name. And you'll find all the way through, it'll occur 36 times, Ephraim. And he says this in, I would say, a longing sort of way, but with a note of finality. He says here, Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone. God says there comes a day in a man's life that if he keeps on being in a backslidden condition, refusing to listen to God, there'll come a day when God no longer can speak to that man. Now he says to them, your drink is sour. You'll become an alcoholic if you keep at it, brother. And it's not a disease. It's a sin. Their drink is sour. They have committed harlotry continually. Her rulers love shame more than glory. And the sad thing today is that we have men in government in high places instead of using a language that is clean. And chase. They love to cuss. And they love to drink. They love the shame more than glory. The wind hath bound her up in its wing. They're carried away by every wind of doctrine. And they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. God says, I'm going to make them ashamed before it's over with. Well, that brings us to the conclusion of chapter 4. Begin chapter 5 next time. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, Dr. McGee convinced me of the joy and peace found in living a quiet, righteous life before the Lord. How about you? We're midway through our study in Hosea now, so if you'd like to share these studies with a family member or friend, they're available on our app or at ttb.org. Or to purchase our Bible bus flash drive that conveniently holds all of Dr. McGee's five-year messages and also includes all of his notes and outlines for our studies and more than 100 of his booklets, you Shop our online store at ttb.org or call us at 1-865-BIBLE. And while you're at ttb.org, check out our new softcover Bible companions for the New Testament. Again, that's ttb.org or 1-865-BIBLE. And when you call us, please tell us how you listen. Is it by app or online? Is it YouTube, your local Christian radio station? There are so many different options. And you know, by sharing this little bit of information, you help us to be good stewards of the resources that God has so graciously provided through faithful listeners like you. Now, as we break for the weekend, join me for Dr. McGee's Sunday sermon. You can listen by app, online, or look at our radio station listing at ttb.org. I'm Steve Schwetz, and I'll meet you right back here next time as we continue to make our way through the Bible.
SPEAKER 02 :
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Explore the liberating notion of spiritual freedom as we examine the apostle Paul's message to choose righteousness over the dominion of sin. As we analyze Romans, discover how being alive in Christ offers a transformative perspective, granting believers strength to resist temptations. We delve into the ongoing battle within, how faith influences our choices, and the hope of peace found in Christ's victorious kingdom. Embark on this journey of faith and uplift your spirit with eternal truths that redefine our earthly existence.
SPEAKER 01 :
So then we're beginning to see the wide range of thought that Paul is floating in, thinking in, when he tells us, Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We don't look inside and say, are we dead indeed to sin? We look outside to the kingdom of God and say, whose kingdom is victorious? Is it Christ's or is it Satan's? Well, obviously, Satan has been defeated. He was defeated in heaven before Christ, before he was ever sent to the earth, if you're in doubt about that, read Revelation 12, and he was defeated at the cross. And this is all beautiful to us as Christians because we have to keep our faith alive by reckoning ourselves in the right kingdom. Likewise, you also then reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin. That is, you are no longer alive to the sin kingdom of Adam. Now I grant you. that we're very much embroiled in the sin kingdom of Adam. We live in it. We experience its weakness, its brokenness, the death that it brings, the sorrow, the suffering, and so on. But as Christians, by faith, we recognize that Christ has beaten that kingdom, has defeated it, and we now live in the victorious kingdom of Christ. So our faith is telling us one thing, even though our bodies may be telling us another. So then Paul, to drive this home, brings verse 12, which is really interesting, and I'll tell you what the interest is in a minute. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in its lusts. Now, as far as I can recall, as far as I understand the book of Romans, this is the first time Paul is talking now about what goes on inside of us. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts. But notice how he teaches what goes on inside of us. He's not saying what's going on inside psychologically, but he's saying what is going on outside of us which affects us psychologically. Why do I say that and how do I know that? Because he says do not let sin reign inside You see, this truth about reigning again is so very, very important and vital. Paul is talking about kingdoms. He never uses the word kingdom, but he uses phraseology that only belongs to the kingdom, reigning and dominion. Sin shall not reign, or the law doesn't reign, or wrath doesn't reign, all of these statements. Why is he doing that? because he's recognizing that Jesus Christ is the second Adam who has brought a new kingdom into the reality of our experience by faith alone. That kingdom will, of course, reign ultimately in the world. But he says, do not let it reign. Well, now that says something, doesn't it? Do not let it, that is, do not allow it. In other words, the kingdom of Adam still exists, but we have the liberty of faith to determine whether it shall command or demand our minds. No, we're not going to let it. Well, we do let it often, don't we? We just get fed up and we want to sin or we fall or we're sick and tired of the situation of this world and we go into the kingdom of Adam because we're just lackadaisical or we're just fed up with the situation. But then our faith kicks in and we say, now, wait a minute. I am allowing right now the kingdom of Adam to reign. Well, I am now a new kingdom, rather a prince of a new kingdom. I belong to the kingdom of Christ, and I have power to shut this kingdom down. That is the kingdom of Adam. What a thought that is. You see, Paul has introduced the idea that we are in bondage to sin. Sin isn't, as I have said many times, simply something we do. It's something that does us. King Sin reigns. Sin is a power, a dominion, a force over us. Now then, here we are being told, don't let it be over us. Well, that's saying something, isn't it? It's implying that the you, the you who says don't let it, is the person who is in dominion of the kingdom of Adam's dominion. That is in charge, somebody who is over the kingdom of Adam. Well, Christ is over the kingdom of Adam, but we live and operate in Christ. And so we are free to say, I will not allow you to have dominion. Now this, again, let's go to the issue of addiction. Let's take the alcoholic who feels utterly overthrown by alcoholism, defeated by it, and each day he has to face whether he'll have another drink. But instead of facing it on the basis of, shall I do this or not, an action, he's now asking, shall I live in this kingdom or not, because I am free as a prince in Jesus Christ to say no to the kingdom. So while he's tempted to drink, and even has the wine or the beer in the mug, he's free to say, I am not going to let this kingdom reign. Now that doesn't guarantee that he will not take the drink. But it guarantees that he will not come under the identity and judgment of the kingdom of Adam. You say, well, what's the difference, Colin, if he drinks anyway? The difference is the reaction that follows. Because when you have the earthly perception of things without a knowledge of the kingdom of Christ, then a drink will bring you to judgment, depression, grief. fear that you will ruin your life. But if you, by faith, know that that kingdom is broken, your reaction is less traumatic. Oh yes, I failed, but I praise God that the kingdom is finished. I don't belong in it, I don't belong to it, and I assert my relationship with the kingdom of Christ in which I am a prince or princess. This is how we think in a different way. This is how faith operates. People have belittled faith because they have never understood its real power in the mind of a Christian. But we do, because we have heard of what Christ has done. We have seen him break the power of death. We have seen him rise from the dead. Before that, we saw him on the cross, never believing that his father had left him, even though he said, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Remember the thing that he said before he died, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Jesus knew. that his life with the Father, innocent, pure, not having come under the power of sin, had defeated the power of Satan. We live in him. We cannot defeat the power of Satan, but we live in him, and our faith is training itself and growing every day, seeking to operate in this way. Yes, defeats will follow, but victories will too, and calmness of soul. and freedom from this endless depression after a failure, so that we know how to bounce back, because the kingdom that we live in is not the kingdom of Adam where there is judgment, but the kingdom of Christ where there is freedom from judgment. So this is, you see, all part of this chapter on dead to sin. It's a totally different way of looking at things and thinking of it all if you are not a man or woman of faith. So Paul having said, therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lust, then says, and do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin. What he's saying here is, do not present your body and all its parts as a member of Adam's kingdom. So when you're facing a temptation, It's really nice and good to be able to say, sorry, I don't belong to your kingdom. I'm not presenting my members to your kingdom. I'm not presenting myself at the door of the kingdom of Adam and saying, at your service, sir. No, I'm not. I'm presenting my body in the service of Jesus Christ. Now, look, don't think of this in terms of you do it. perfectly forever afterwards, or you are defeated perfectly forever afterwards. You're doing it right one time, and you're doing it wrong the next time. But each time you do it, that is, each time you express your faith in the right way, you strengthen that ability. You know, I'm rereading a little book that I ordered from Amazon the other day called Power in Praise. Some of you may know it. Is it Merlin Carruthers? I don't think it's Merlin, but anyway, it's Carruthers by Carruthers. You can find it on Amazon for $9. And it's reminding me all over again what the implications of the Book of Romans are. He doesn't talk about the Book of Romans all that much, but I knew the Book of Romans before I knew this Power and Praise book, and when I got a hold of this book 30 or 40 years ago, I said to myself, oh yes, this is the natural consequence, that is praise, giving thanks to God for the truth and the reality that the book of Romans teaches. You see, in Romans 5 and 6 that we've studied so far, freedom from wrath and freedom from the power of sin, We are talking about what God has done for us, not what we try to do for ourselves, not how we practice. trying to overcome this or that. But what God has done, he's taken away his wrath, taken away his judgment from us so that we have peace of heart and we are reconciled to the heart of the Father and we can enter his throne room without any judgment. And he has broken the power of sin, taken away the sin kingdom of Adam by giving and introducing us to the kingdom of Christ where there is righteousness and life and peace. Well, doesn't that lead your heart to be thankful? Isn't that the first response that we give to God? Oh, thank you, dear God. Well, that's what we need to be practicing, you see, every day. To be able to thank God in the midst of all the foibles and brokenness of this world, in the midst of the disappointments and the depressions, to be able to say, now look, all I'm going through, dear God, all that you take me through that seems to be in the kingdom of Adam is actually in the kingdom of Christ, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death thou art with me. That verse in Psalm 23, the first part, the valley of the shadow of death is Adam's kingdom, and the second part, thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me, is the kingdom of Christ. And so, you see, I am walking in the kingdom of darkness in my natural body, but in my spirit, in my faith in Christ, I am walking with God, whose staff and rod comfort me. They guide me on the road. Though I can't see the path, Jesus can, and he holds up a lantern for me. This is how it is, you see. This is what faith is. Take it. Believe it. Grow with it. It's more powerful than the atom. Thank you for joining me today. Colin Cook here, and you've been listening to my program, How It Happens. This is listener-supported radio, which means that the listener who appreciates the program pays for it, makes a donation. You don't have to, of course. Don't feel guilty if you don't do it. But if you'd like to, and if it cheers your heart to do so, please send your donation to FaithQuest, P.O. Box 366, Littleton, Colorado, 80160, or make your donation online at faithquestradio.com. Thanks so much. I'll see you next time. Cheerio and God bless.
Join Sharon Knotts in an insightful exploration of the profound impact of whispers that the enemy plants in our minds. She discusses the role of fear as a crippling emotion first felt by mankind and how subtle differences in truth can lead to significant spiritual consequences. Gain wisdom on discerning between right and almost right, see how Satan's MO of stealing, killing, and destroying can be tackled with the faith in God's unwavering truth.
SPEAKER 01 :
Greetings, friends and new listeners, and welcome to The Sound of Faith. I'm Sharon Knotts, thanking you for joining us today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today's message is a true eye-opener and ear-arrester, the whisperer. In Genesis and Revelation, Satan is called a serpent. The Hebrew word is nakash, and its verb form means to whisper like the hiss of a snake. From the moment he beguiled Eve in the garden, Satan has been whispering his cunning lies and accusations against God and his true people because he is the whisperer. He whispers fear. I think everyone is more powerful than the other. Now that I'm going along here, fear is so powerful. It can cripple people. It can cripple people till they can't even hardly function. It can cripple them till they cannot enjoy the blessings God has in their lives. They are so afraid of everything. And I'm not surprised because it was the first negative emotion that mankind ever felt when Adam and Eve sinned. You know, the story goes on to tell us. And then they went and hid and God came walking in the day and he said, where are you, Adam? And he said, well, I hid because I was afraid. I tell you, saints, I don't know how many times through the years that people have come to me and their prayer request is, A spirit of fear. And I can identify with it. I understand it because I was under it. I came under it very strongly. And I've told those testimonies before how I got delivered, so I won't do it today. But I understand how strong a spirit of fear is. I had it from a child. As a little child, I had it. And then as I grew up, I seemed to overcome it. And I didn't have it for many, many, many years. And then it hit me again hard when I had the back issue. So I understand the fear, the things that the devil says to you. Sometimes he'll tell you, you're going to die. You're going to die. And it can become so real to you that you start having symptoms in your body you never even had before. I know that that is true. I know it. So slander, whispers of slander. And this is blasphemy. And, you know, people always think that blasphemy can only be done against God. They always connect blasphemy against God. But you read the New Testament. You read Paul. He says you can blaspheme against other people. And a lot of times they are outright lies. And the thing about it is he is so clever and crafty, he has the ability to make it sound true. To make it seem so plausible, to make it seem true. We looked at Greek, so now we see the Hebrew word for subtle. It means to be shrewd, crafty, cunning, and sly. Again, the word here in the Hebrew, the idea is that it's hard to distinguish between two things. The difference is so subtle that it's hard to differentiate between the two of them. The distinction between them is not obvious immediately. A subtle difference. And, you know, it happens a lot of times in a good way. You know, you're going to paint your bedroom a new color. Okay, we're going to make it a blue bedroom now. And so now you have bought your bedding, and so now you've got to go to the store and get paint, and you want to make sure that it blends. So you're pretty sure you know what color you want, or vice versa. You've already painted the room. Now you're going to go look for bedding, whichever way. And you go into the paint store and you think, okay, we're going to get a light blue. There are 4,235,000 swatches of light blue. And you're like, this is just blue. Put it next to your bedding and they clash. One after another. One after another. You know, you think that it is the same color. But when you get them next to each other, there's a subtle difference. Amen. It's that subtle difference. See, sometimes, saints, it's not a matter of discerning between right and wrong. That's not subtle. It's discerning between right and almost right. Amen. That's where the devil gets in and whispers in your ear. Amen. He uses words of reasoning to camouflage his true intent. So what is the nature of HaSatan? Jesus said in John 10, 10, the thief personifying Satan is come, but, and that means the only thing he's come for to kill and to steal and to destroy. That is his MO. That is his agenda. And everything he does is to the fulfillment of those things. Amen. That's what he's come to do, to steal, to kill and to destroy. And I want you to know that you might say, well, kill and destroy. If you're dead, you can't be destroyed. Here's what you've got to understand. The word destroy there means to ruin. ruin see kill means what it means he would like to actually kill you but if he can't kill you if he can't take you out then he wants to ruin your life he wants to ruin your life with bondage and lies and fear and torment amen That's his nature. And as I've told you before, the word Satan, Satan in Hebrew, if we look at its root, remembering the original Hebrew language was written in word pictures that later became letters. And when we look at the three consonants in the word Satan, because they did not write vowels in ancient Hebrew. So we would spell it S-T-N. So when we look at the Hebrew letter S, it's shin. It's a picture of teeth or fire. Either way, it means to devour. When we look at the word T, it's tet in Hebrew, and it's a picture of a snake. And it means a snake. And when we look at the word en, it's nun in Hebrew. It's a picture of a fish swimming in water. Not just a fish, but swimming in water. And it means life. Put the three together. Satan is a snake that comes to devour life. That is the hidden layer in the name of Satan in the Hebrew. Amen? And so he comes often in whispers. And I correlate Satan's whispers to what I call white noise. Now, our ears are bombarded all day long, everywhere we go, with sound. Everywhere. Sound, sound, sound. If it's not the TV, it's the radio. If it's not that, it's machines that are running. If it's not that, it's traffic that you can hear in your home as well as if you're in your car. It's kids making noise. Everywhere we go, it's... Noise. And I dare say that a majority of people have the habit of having their TV on even when they're not watching it. It's in the background. They can be doing something completely different, but they put the TV on and they're not even paying attention to it, but it's on. And they're accustomed to noise at all times. Amen? And so we're bombarded with all of this noise. But I tell you, if at night... When everyone is asleep and you turn off the TV, you don't go to bed with the TV on and you turn off the radio or whatever else and completely silent. And you happen to live on a street where there's not traffic out there and everything is completely silent and you're laying there. I tell you, you will hear a low level of A very low level of some kind of buzz in your ear. How many have ever done that? And you know what I'm talking about? Because we're so used to sound. We're so used to be bombarded with it that when we're totally, completely quiet. And hopefully if you're married, your mate doesn't snore. If your mate snores, you won't hear the white buzz. The little white noise. Amen. But you will hear that. It is like this low level of noise. And saints, that noise, that sound is not coming from external stimuli. From external noises. That sound is coming from inside your own head. How many know what I'm talking about? It's not outside. There's not something on in your home or in your bedroom that's making this noise. It's coming from inside your own head. And you see, this is how the serpent whispers to your mind. Now, that is a physical illustration that I gave you. But can we connect it and go in the spirit and see that that's how Satan whispers to your mind? And he knows when to whisper. For you to hear him. And that's why we've got to learn to drown out the whispers with the word of God. We've got to cast them down with God's word. And for me, it means sometimes I've got to completely go to speaking out loud. I have to answer out loud. I might in my mind think of a verse or of a song or something. But you know what? I find out when I start singing. I don't hear those whispers anymore. When I start quoting the word of God, I don't hear them anymore because I'm resisting the devil and he has to flee from me. Amen? And I have learned not to wait. See, a while back before I learned all this, I would wait a while. And the thoughts kept coming. And I would just wait a while. And before I would finally, you know, because I was under a spirit of fear to a point. But I have learned now, I don't wait until he tells me two, three, four, five things. As soon as I hear the hiss. As soon as I hear it and my spiritual ears are sensitized to know that is not the voice of my shepherd. That is not the voice of my beloved. That's not the voice of my Holy Spirit. Immediately I begin to speak against it. Immediately I rebuke it. I block it before it can become a fiery dart to go from my mind to my heart, my spirit. Amen. That's what you have to do. You've got to take scripture and counteract it at the very first whisper. So many times when I pray for people, they'll say, Sister Sharon, the devil told me. And I mean, they got this long drawn out story about what the devil told them. And after a while, I have to stop them because they're going to affect my ability to pray for them. You know, tell me, give me the gist. Give me the gist. Don't tell me everything he said. Amen. Why are you repeating it? I know you're trying to explain to me, but I don't need to hear you give me that whole big long thing. I need you to just tell me the main points because I'm getting ready to rebuke the devil. I'm getting ready to command him to back off of you and leave you alone. And I don't need to hear whatever he said because whatever it is, it's a lie. It's a lie. It's a lie. And you know when you're telling me that it's a lie, you know it. So why are you letting the devil beat you up with it? Now I'm not fussing at you. I'm telling you what I know because I know what he did to me. And I know God gave me the victory and he's not a respecter of persons. He'll give it to you. So when it's just a notion, a suggestion that you know is wrong or you know that it's untrue, you cannot let that thing develop. I'm going to go one further. Let's suppose it's not a whisper. Let's suppose the devil's got bold enough to send somebody to you and tell you something about someone or something that immediately your spirit says, that's not right. That's not true. I don't believe that you need to tell that person right then you need to say, you know what? I don't think that's right. i don't believe that it doesn't witness with my spirit and i don't believe it and you better be careful what you're saying about that person because if it's a lie you may be touching god's anointed now if the person they're speaking of is a godly person a godly person then they need to be careful i mean if it's a hypocrite and everybody knows they're a hypocrite you know you just say well you know the bible says you'll know by their fruits So let's pray about them. But when they speak against someone that is a godly person that you have never had any reason to think anything about them, then you need to be careful because it's probably the slanderer. And if it's not and it's true, it will come out. It'll come out. They'll either get right with God. And if they get right with God, then that's the good thing. If they don't get right with God and persist in whatever this thing is, it's going to come out anyway. Be sure your sin will find you out. You know, it reminds me of when they'd already beaten Peter and John and threw him in prison. Amen. And they wanted to keep doing things to him. That's how they were. And then finally, Gamaliel stood up and said, you know, if this thing is not of God, it's going to all fall apart just like he named other things. But he said, if it be of God, you may find yourself fighting against God. See, he wasn't sure. He didn't know. And he was afraid that just in case they were wrong, they would be fighting against God. So we need to proclaim God's word over our mind. And here's the thing. You may have to repeat it and repeat it and repeat it. You may have to repeat it, but you keep doing it until you've drowned out that whisper. And you will. Eventually you will. But don't let the whispers accumulate. Because then they can become a stronghold. Let's go back to 2 Corinthians. And this time let's look at chapter 10. Looking at verse 4 and 5. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal or they're not of the flesh, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Now, here is what the Lord moved on my heart for myself, and it's helped me, and I will share it with you because I think it will help you. I like to reverse the order. In other words, I start with bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Because if you will capture something when it's a thought... When it's a whisper. If you will catch it when it's a thought and cast it down and bring it into the obedience of Christ, make it line up with the word of God. If it doesn't line up with the word of God, then immediately. You cast it down. If you do it when it's just a thought, it will not become an imagination. And that's a stronger because now it has become this thing of reasoning in your mind that now is actually hostile and fights against God and the knowledge of God. It's going up a step. And if you continue to have those imaginations, then they will begin to be one on upon another upon another. And then it becomes a stronghold. And a stronghold is like a fort that is surrounded with walls. So the enemy cannot get in. But in this sense, it's your mind and your mind now has these walls and the truth. cannot get in the enemy has built up walls around your mind he's so filled you with these thoughts and these imaginations and then imagination means fallacious reasoning fallacious reasoning oh you reason this to be true it's not it's false but you do so that allows you then to reason this and reason that and reason the other till it's built up this big thing amen And Satan has successfully put this wall around your mind until it's hard for truth to get in. Then what do you got to do? You got to pull it down. It's a lot easier to take one thought captive than to pull down the walls of a stronghold. I'm not saying it's not possible. Obviously it is, but it's harder and you will suffer much in the process. Amen. So that's how the Lord dealt with me and it really helped me and hopefully it will you. So we have been talking about don't listen to the whisperer. Learn how to resist him and rebuke him. Now I might step on more toes about this time because I'm going to say not only don't listen to the whisperer, don't become a whisperer. Because you know there are whisperers in the church. I'm going to prove to you. Let's look to Romans 1 29. Now in Romans 1, we have a whole catalog of deadly sins. But we're zoning in on our subject. So let's look at verse 29. Being filled with all unrighteousness. Now that's a very key description. Being filled with all unrighteousness. And here is the symptoms, the outgrowth, the fruit, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, whisperers. Now, several of the traits that we just read here are synonymous with words we've already looked at in connection with the serpent Satan. For instance, malicious and then envious and the murderers. These are all Satan's nature. Deceitful. Malignity here is the same word as craftiness that we've read in the other verses. It's the same word. But the last one is one of Satan's titles. The whisperer. So let's look at the Greek word for whisperer, whisperings and whisperer. What is the Greek word? I'm not even going to say it because it's a little tough. Not that you really care, but here's the meaning. This you do care about. A secret slanderer. Because the devil is a coward and he's like a snake in the grass. He does all his things. He tries to do secretly incognito. So you don't realize it's the devil. Amen. Slander to speak false charges, which defame and damage another's reputation to assassinate their character. That's what Satan does. revelations 12 10 names him one of his titles the accuser of the brethren amen accused means to charge someone with an offense to claim they have committed something wrong or bad and this is what satan's mo is he's always slandering someone slander is a direct connection to satan And I hate to say this to you, but he's got some saints in the church he can use to do his dirty work. I'm not saying just faith tabernacle. I'm saying the church. Amen. The body of Christ. You know, the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 2 that there are vessels of honor and there are vessels of dishonor. And the enemy knows who he can use, that he can whisper to them, accuse godly people to them, and get them to do his work of starting to slander them. Amen? Back in 2 Corinthians 12 and looking at verse 20. For I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as you would not. But here's the point. Lest when I come, there be debates, envians, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings. swellings, and tumults. So here we have that word again. I fear less when I come. This is what I'm going to find. I'm afraid when I come to see you again, Corinth. And I want you to know that this would be his third trip there. He's already been there twice. He's saying, I'm afraid, even though I've been there two times already, I'm afraid when I come back, this is what I'm going to find. Debates and envies, raps and stripes and backbiting, whispering, swellings and tumults. Saints, there was a lot of bad stuff going on in this church at Corinth. It's even all the more remarkable when you consider they are the ones to whom he wrote all about the gifts of the Spirit. But he also wrote to them the chapter on love.
SPEAKER 1 :
Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen. What a bondage breaking word of the Lord, the whisperer. One of Satan's most dangerous and effective tactics is not just to lie against God, but to subtly whisper his accusations like the hiss of a deadly serpent. He is called the serpent and the accuser of the brethren. He could also be called the whisperer. Paul wrote to the church of Corinth, I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, So your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. There are five significant Greek words in this verse that tell the story of Satan, the whisperer, and reveal how he whispers thoughts to the mind that accuse God and godly members of the body of Christ. If they are not taken captive when just a thought, a notion, or suggestion, they can become mental strongholds of deception. Whisperers can tear up a church with jealousy, slander, suspicion, and lies, maligning leadership and wounding members. Learn how to discern the whispers of the enemy and take captive every thought. Make sure not to allow the hedge of protection around your life to be broken down because Proverbs says, where the hedge is broken, the serpent bites. Order The Whisperer on CD for a love gift of $10 or more for the radio ministry. Request SK208. Mail to Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Order online at soundoffaith.org, where MP3s are available. To order by mail, send your minimum love gift of $10 to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Request SK-208. Till next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.
In this engaging sermon, uncover the significance of mental honesty and simplicity in Christ as defenses against Satan's treacherous subtilties. Sharon breaks down the implications of being beguiled by crafty whispers and offers insights on maintaining a hedge of spiritual protection. This episode is a clarion call to recognize and dismantle the whispers that threaten to corrupt your faith and integrity.
SPEAKER 01 :
Greetings, friends and new listeners, and welcome to The Sound of Faith. I'm Sharon Knotts, thanking you for joining us today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today's message is a true eye-opener and ear-arrester, the whisperer. In Genesis and Revelation, Satan is called a serpent. The Hebrew word is nakash, and its verb form means to whisper like the hiss of a snake. From the moment he beguiled Eve in the garden, Satan has been whispering his cunning lies and accusations against God and his true people because he is the whisperer. You know, we're in a season, especially this month of October. It's like a season of a dichotomy in that on one hand, it's the high holy days of the Jewish people. They're in their holiest season of all during the time they had Rosh Hashanah was just last week. And then now they're in the 10 days of all. and these 10 days are between rosh hashanah and yom kippur coming up during these 10 days they search their hearts and they really um you know go before god to see if there's something that's occurred in the last year that they need to get taken care of they need to ask god for forgiveness or go to people And then they have Yom Kippur, when we know is when the Day of Atonement, when the high priest offers up, where they don't do that anymore because they don't have a temple, they don't have a priest. And so it's because they missed the fact that Jesus is their lamb now. But nevertheless... They still have that service. And they'll be coming up on the Feast of Tabernacles, which is a time of joy and celebration. And that's the one feast that will continue to be celebrated even in the millennial reign. They will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. So this is a really holy time for God's chosen people. But at the same time, it's a time of increased demonic activity. This month, as we go through and progress through this month, demonic activity will increase. Be a lot more demonic chatter. And Satan, he always tries to conflict with and counteract what God is doing. So it doesn't make us nervous or anything. It doesn't make us fearful, but it means we have to be on guard. Amen. On guard. And so if the Lord allows me throughout this month, I will try to be preaching messages to this effect to answer this increased demonic activity. You know, because I thought about it, an issue that had come up in my life, not me personally, but against me, I should say. And when I realized that at least the inception of it was during the same time of year and when the enemy begins his chatter. And we're going to kind of look at that today. So this morning, we're going to begin in 2 Corinthians 11th chapter and reading one verse, 2 Corinthians 11, 3. And Paul writing says, but I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. So your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. But I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. So your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. So we're going to look at five words in this verse that are very important. First, we look at the word serpent. Remember, we're in the New Testament, so we're going to look at the Greek idea. It meant a snake. literally a snake but metaphorically it meant someone that is sly cunning malicious a malicious enemy and being more specific it referred to satan so in the greek thought the serpent metaphorically referred to satan and so now this serpent is the same one that started in the garden In Eden, and he beguiled Eve. And the word beguiled means to seduce someone, to deceive them. And he did it with subtlety. And this word is often translated in your King James Bible as craftiness. It means to be very clever, but in a treacherous way. It is possible for at times for it to be used in a good sense. And someone who was subtle means it's someone who's very prudent and someone that has good ideas and wisdom. But most of the time you're going to see it used in the negative sense in your Bible. And it's talking about being clever, but in a treacherous way with false wisdom. And then the next word we want to look at is corrupted. He has corrupted. And this word means defiled or it can even mean to be destroyed. Destroyed. Something can be defiled but still operational. But if it's destroyed, then you can't even use it. So there is a subtle difference. Amen? And then last of all, simplicity. The simplicity that is in Christ. And this refers to mental honesty. To be free from hypocrisy. You know... people you like to say this word they pepper their language and dialogue all the time well to be honest blah blah blah blah blah a lot of times they're not being honest but they use it to make you think they're being honest how many know what i'm trying to say here but you see the simplicity in christ means i'm going to be honest with myself okay i'm going to be honest about being honest with myself Because sometimes people say they're being honest with themselves, but they're not. Because as soon as they hit that little thing that in their spirit, they back off or gloss over it, move on to something else. That's not being honest about being honest. It's when the Holy Spirit convicts you on something and you don't gloss over it, you face it. you own up to it, and then you say, Lord, forgive me of this and help me going forward. That's the simplicity that's in Christ. So we're talking here about the fact that Paul is concerned that just like Satan was able to beguile and deceive Eve through his subtlety, his clever craftiness, he is concerned that their minds... Their minds could be corrupted, that they could be defiled or even destroyed from the simple honesty that is in Christ. So we know that he's talking about Satan, the serpent. Let's turn to Genesis 3 and verse 1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, which is Eve. Yay. Has God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden. So now we have the word serpent in the old Testament, which means we want to look at the Hebrew idea. The Hebrew word is Nakash Nakash. And it means simply a snake. That's the noun form. But when it's used in its verb form, it means to whisper. Literally, it means to hiss, to hiss like a snake, to hiss like a snake. And so we get the idea of whisper like a snake hisses. This word nakash evolved to refer to those who practice divination, to enchanters and spellcasters and fortune tellers. In fact, five times it's translated in your King James Version Bible, enchantment. And there is a connection to this word nakash, meaning snake or serpent, to the word whisperer. As this is how those who practiced definition and casting of spells spoke. They spoke in whispers, in secret, in darkness. And so the connection. You see, the snake hisses before it strikes. And if you hear that hiss, it's a warning. Amen. You're getting a warning that you need to watch it now because if you get too close, he's going to strike. He's going to bite you. Amen. So the snake will hiss. And in Hebrew thought, the snake is a symbol of a deceitful enemy. And again, the Hebrew thought matches that of the Greek thought, specifically Satan, or they would say Ha-Satan. Because we could actually give Satan the title, amongst many others that he has, we could call him the whisperer. The whisperer. Amen? You know, this is just popping in my mind, but we've heard about the dog whisperer and the horse whisperer, but that's all in a good sense. They can take animals that are hard to tame and hard to control. And there can be a certain person that just seems to have this gift and they can just talk to that dog and that dog will just immediately become obedient. And the same way with a horse who's wild and nobody can ride on him and they can't tame him. But the horse whisperer has a way. Can come up to that horse and just stroke its face and whisper something to it. And that horse will just become docile. So that's in a good sense. But when we speak of Satan and we call him the whisperer. He may come up and try to stroke your face and whisper in your ear. But he's coming to deceive you. He's coming to beguile. He's coming to corrupt. Amen? And we have to be on guard and not fall for it. He works in a subtle, crafty way, just like a snake hiding in the grass. And how many know that some very poisonous snakes that can be deadly often have these very detailed words. colorations on them they may have diamond shapes on them or certain stripes on them because it's camouflage for them to blend in with everything but if you see some of these snakes out in the open like the copperhead that can be deadly they have a certain stripe pattern with a color going through it and you know that this is a deadly snake I mean, it's not only going to bite you, but you're going to get very sick and maybe even die. Amen. And that's how Satan is. And he always begins with a whisper to the mind. Isn't that what Paul said? Your mind. The mind is the place where we've got to win the battle over thoughts that come from Satan. Amen. It's the mind where he attacks. It's the battlefield of the mind that we must get the victory over because if we don't, then he can defile our mind with thoughts of fear and other negative thoughts. Amen. And then they can just invade our whole person. So Satan begins with a whisper in one's mind. It may be an accusatory thought or statement like we just read here in Genesis 3.1. He said in an accusatory way, "'Yay, has God said?' As God said, you may not eat of every tree in the garden. And so the inference is, make God look harsh. Make God look stingy. Make God look like he doesn't really care about you. Like he's withholding something good from you when he tells you not to do this or not to do that. Make him look like a meanie. Amen. And that's out there today. That's what's spreading. If you don't only say that God is love, exclusively God is love, and that's all you say, you can't say that God is a God of justice. God is a God of truth. God is a God of judgment. Because then all of the sudden, has God said that? What kind of God is that? Amen? So he comes with that thought. And he usually doesn't come real bold and out loud right away because you're going to cast him down. But he comes with that whisper to your mind, a suggestion, a notion. And if you don't cast it down, he will speak a little louder and a little bolder and continue to lie to you. It could be that whisper of lust, that temptation. And he may whisper to you, you're not doing anything wrong. There's nothing wrong with what you're doing. Amen. But he's going to escalate it. It's going to go forward. If you don't cast it down, he's going to then come with the next step. Amen. It could be that whisper of anger. Look what they did to you. Look what they said about you. Amen. It's very hard to get rid of that anger in those initial stages when someone has done something terrible to you unjustly, lied about you unjustly. The anger is so powerful. It's palpable. And then Satan tries to come. You know, he is an opportunist. He tries to come and build on that. Amen. You've got to get rid of those whispers when they first come. And they can come in many ways depending on your situation or what you're going through. And there's so many things out there in the world that's bombarding us all the time. We cannot let our minds dwell on them or Satan, the opportunist, will come in and begin to whisper. Whisper things. You know, something can happen, one person against another person. And it can be for some reason that is very specific. But Satan will come and say, oh, they don't like you because you're white. Oh, they don't like you because you're black. Uh-huh. I ain't talking about just in the world. Right. Now, see, I'm talking about people in the church because Paul was writing to Corinth. He was writing to a church. Those whispers of racism. And don't tell me the devil doesn't bring them to you. I don't believe it. Because when he brings them to me, I know it's the devil. You know, they don't like you because you're a woman. They don't like you because you're a white woman. They don't like you because you're an old white woman. Yeah, I've heard them whispers. Amen. And, you know, at first I get really put off by it. I'm like, I know they don't like me. You know, they probably wish this and wish that. But after a while, I have to think to myself, well, wait a minute. I didn't volunteer to do this. God put me here. He enabled me. He endowed me. He anointed me. And I'm going to do it. And I'm going to speak the truth. And people that think those things, they got something in their heart and the devil's whispering and they're listening to him. You need to shut the devil down. Whenever he brings those racist thoughts to you. The world is so permeated with those thoughts. Every news thing that happens has got a slant to it. And they always bring racism into everything. It's the devil's work. We're not surprised. It's what he does. And he found out it works good. We can't let the devil whisper that to our minds. Amen. It was whispers of jealousy and envy. Amen. Oh, that is a powerful spirit, a powerful spirit. When someone comes under attack by those spirits, it's really strong and it can cause them to imagine all kinds of things that aren't even true. sometimes they can imagine things against their own mate and the devil's convinced them your mate is unfaithful and it is not a bread of truth in it but he can take little innocent actions and say see see there uh-huh and you think yeah that that that's right they are doing that uh-huh i tell you the devil what he does he's good at but we gotta be wiser This scripture just popped in my head. I don't even have it in my notes. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. In other words, we need to have some Christian subtlety. We need to know how to counteract the devil at his own game. But we are wise as serpents. We're clever in a godly, righteous way. But we're harmless as doves. Because we've got the right attitude. We've got the Holy Spirit. Amen. He whispers fear. I think everyone is more powerful than the other. Now that I'm going along here, fear is so powerful. It can cripple people. It can cripple people till they can't even hardly function. It can cripple them till they cannot enjoy the blessings God has in their lives. They are so afraid of everything. And I'm not surprised because it was the first negative emotion that mankind ever felt. When Adam and Eve sinned, you know, the story goes on to tell us. And then they went and hid. And God came walking in the day and he said, where are you, Adam? And he said, well, I hid because I was afraid. I tell you, saints, I don't know how many times through the years that people have come to me and their prayer request is a spirit of fear. And I can identify with it. I understand it because I was under it. I came under it very strongly. And I've told those testimonies before how I got delivered, so I won't do it today. But I understand how strong a spirit of fear is. I had it from a child. As a little child, I had it. And then as I grew up, I seemed to overcome it. And I didn't have it for many, many, many years. and then it hit me again hard when i had the back issue so i understand the fear the things that the devil says to you sometimes he'll tell you you're going to die you're going to die and it can become so real to you that you start having symptoms in your body you never even had before i know that that is true i know it So slander, whispers of slander. And this is blasphemy. And, you know, people always think that blasphemy can only be done against God. They always connect blasphemy against God. But you read the New Testament. You read Paul. He says you can blaspheme against other people. And a lot of times they are outright lies. And the thing about it is he is so clever and crafty, he has the ability to make it sound true. To make it seem so plausible, to make it seem true. We looked at Greek, so now we see the Hebrew word for subtle. It means to be shrewd, crafty, cunning, and sly. Again, the word here in the Hebrew, the idea is that it's hard to distinguish between two things. The difference is so subtle that it's hard to differentiate between the two of them. The distinction between them is not obvious immediately. A subtle difference. And, you know, it happens a lot of times in a good way. You know, you're going to paint your bedroom a new color. Okay, we're going to make it a blue bedroom now. And so now you have bought your bedding, and so now you've got to go to the store and get paint, and you want to make sure that it blends. So you're pretty sure you know what color you want, or vice versa. You've already painted the room. Now you're going to go look for bedding, whichever way. And you go into the paint store and you think, okay, we're going to get a light blue. There are 4,235,000 swatches of light blue. And you're like, this is just blue. Put it next to your bedding and they clash. One after another. One after another. You know, you think that it is the same color. But when you get them next to each other, there's a subtle difference. Amen. It's that subtle difference. See, sometimes, saints, it's not a matter of discerning between right and wrong. That's not subtle. It's discerning between right and almost right. Amen. That's where the devil gets in and whispers in your ear. Amen. He uses words of reasoning to camouflage his true intent. Amen. What a bondage-breaking word of the Lord, the whisperer. One of Satan's most dangerous and effective tactics is not just to lie against God, but to subtly whisper his accusations like the hiss of a deadly serpent. He is called the serpent and the accuser of the brethren. He could also be called the whisperer. Paul wrote to the church of Corinth, I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, So your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. There are five significant Greek words in this verse that tell the story of Satan, the whisperer, and reveal how he whispers thoughts to the mind that accuse God and godly members of the body of Christ. If they are not taken captive when just a thought, a notion or suggestion, they can become mental strongholds of deception. Whisperers can tear up a church. with jealousy, slander, suspicion, and lies, maligning leadership and wounding members. Learn how to discern the whispers of the enemy and take captive every thought. Make sure not to allow the hedge of protection around your life to be broken down because Proverbs says, where the hedge is broken, the serpent bites. Order The Whisperer on CD for a love gift of $10 or more for the radio ministry. Request SK-208. Mail to Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Order online at soundoffaith.org where MP3s are available. To order by mail, send your minimum love gift of $10 to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Request SK208. Till next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.
