Responding to the Holy Spirit-Part 4

James 4:2-4; Exodus 34:12-16; Hosea 1:2; 3:1-2; Revelation 17:3-6; 18:4-5.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 21, 2021.

We continue today talking about those who respond to the Holy Spirit by joining Christ’s Church, and yet who then fall away from the truth.  Some of them walk away from the Church.  However, others stay in the Church and pervert its teachings into another Gospel, and its purpose towards another Christ.

The biblical image for this is an unfaithful prostitute.  Let’s get into our passages.

The biblical picture of the unfaithful bride who has become a prostitute

James 4:2-4 helps us to see that this metaphor really is being used of Christians.  James refers to these believers as “adulterers,” and “adulteresses.”  This is the spiritual problem of not staying faithful to Jesus and going after something, or someone, other than him.  These believers wanted things in life and were fighting each other in order to get them.  This adulterer metaphor is essentially the same as the prostitute, which just pictures the problem as far worse, or progressed.

This is the contrasting picture to the virginal chaste bride.  That bride was faithful to her groom, but this bride has not only gone after another, but has sold herself to them.  We see this picture throughout the Old Testament.

In Exodus 34:12-16, Israel is still at Mt. Sinai and Moses is going back up the mountain to have God put His commands on two new tablets of stone.  The first two had been broken by Moses when he came down the mountain and found the people worshiping a golden calf.  Moses had been up on the mountain for 40 days, and they didn’t think he was coming back.  God tells Moses that the people have “corrupted themselves.”  Here, God is warning Israel against further corruption.

Notice in verse 15 that what the other nations were doing in their religious rituals was considered spiritual prostitution as well.  “They play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifices to their gods…” The nations all around Israel were not made by God to worship false gods, or pretender gods.  They were made to worship the One True God alone.  However, God had cast them off after the Tower of Babel incident.  Israel was called and created by God in order to be different from the other nations.

This activity of worshiping other gods was a continual temptation for Israel.  It did not help that sexual immorality was used in all of the ancient religious rituals.  Through sex with a temple prostitute (male or female), a person could worship and connect to the power of that “god.”  This is how the story of Balaam ended.  He could not curse Israel, so he taught Balak how to get God to be angry with Israel.  The Moabite and Midianite women came to the edge of the camp of Israel, shook their booty, and invited the Israelite men to come join them in their worship ceremonies.  It was a worship ceremony that was both literally and spiritually prostitution.  The sexual immorality broke the law of God, but the worshiping of these pretending gods broke His laws and His heart.

The whole book of Hosea (another way of saying Joshua or Yeshua) focuses on Israel being a wayward wife of God.  It mixes the images of an adulteress and a prostitute.  Israel’s sin is so bad that her spiritual adulteries had descended first into being paid for her spiritual adultery (prostitution), and then, one prophet even decries Israel for paying others, making her the John instead of the prostitute.  It is best to see all of these as simply speaking to the same spiritual problem of being unfaithful to God.

In Hosea 1:2, God commands Hosea to marry a prostitute, so he marries Gomer and has three kids with her.  Some scholars believe that Gomer only became a prostitute later, but the text does not tell us this. Chapter two describes the harlotry of Israel and how God would bring judgment upon them followed by mercy.  Let’s look at the opening of chapter 3.

Hosea is instructed to “go again” (take back to himself) a woman who is being loved by another in adultery.  We then see Hosea paying money for his wife.  It is unclear what this money is for.  Some believe Gomer has actually ended up on a slave block to cover her debts incurred in paying for lovers.  Yet, this is not stated in the text.  It is more natural to understand that Hosea is somehow buying her out of her prostitution, such as paying her an amount to quit.  This would represent an unthinkable act of love from a jilted lover that would be equivalent to paying other prostitutes to leave her alone.  By the way, the imagery here is not intended to project that women are the ones who commit adultery and men don’t.  Remember, Hosea represents a picture of God Himself and Gomer is representative of Israel.

Do we not see the irony behind Hosea’s name being a variant of our Lord’s name, Yeshua, “Yahweh Saves?”  We can pride ourselves that this is about Israel, but doesn’t it beg the question about His Church?  Should it then surprise us that this metaphor would be used in regards to the Church of Jesus?  Are we insulated from the problem of spiritual prostitution, to which Israel often succumbed?  We clearly are not.

Back in James 4, verses 5-10 tell these adulterous Christians to repent of their wickedness and turn back to God.  “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Lament and mourn and weep!  Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into gloom.  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

Repentance is the solution to spiritual adultery, turning from the false loves and towards the only true love in this universe, Jesus!  Let us continually be a people clearing our lives of any sin and drawing near to God.  This is a heart issue that requires vigilant maintenance.

Yet, the truth is that some adulterous hearts can’t be cured.  The last words from the Apostles of Jesus come from John in Revelation.  There God shows him a horrible image of a great prostitute that would be prevalent in the last days.  She would even be the mother of many other prostitutes and abominations of the earth.  Before we read some of it, let’s think about history for a bit.

Noah and his family step off of the boat as the saved people of God who have the true worship of God.  3 to 4 generations later, Nimrod has most of them building a tower to connect to the gods in rebellion against God.  This is the Tower of Babel.  The project is judged and the people are scattered.  Basically, God gives them over to the spiritual entities that they were cavorting with at Babel (the Hebrew means confusion, but the original language speaks of a god gate).  They were adulterous against God’s command and against Him personally as in going after other gods.  It is then that God calls Abram out of this outcast community to become the new saved community that has the true worship of God. 

4 centuries later, the people of Israel have corrupted themselves in Egypt.  Yes, they are physical slaves, but the Bible tells us that many of them were worshiping the gods of Egypt, spiritual slavery and spiritual adultery.  Yet, Moses shows up and calls them to repent and come out of Egypt.  Most of them followed him.  In the first century, Israel had built their own false religion in rebellion to God.  In Jesus, God shows up to call out His faithful remnant.  This is the historical context to the end-times harlot.  Let’s look at Revelation 17:3-6 and 18:4-5.

It is important to recognize in chapter 17 that there is a historical aspect to her (Babylon), and yet she is still active.  Also, she delights in drinking the blood of the saints.  In other words, she loses restrain (gets drunk) on killing true believers.

It seems impossible that Christians or churches, whose Lord was put to death by people who claimed to love God, could become so corrupt.  However, it is exactly what we are seeing happen in our own day, much less what has happened throughout history.  Those who claim to represent God/Jesus, and love His truth, will sick the world upon believers who truly do love Jesus and want him more than the world.

This woman is pictured as riding the beast because she thinks that she is in control of it, but she is in for a rude awakening.  The same chapter tells us that God has put it in the heart of the beast, and the 10 kings who back him, to burn her with fire.  This leads to the warning in chapter 18:4-5.

God’s people have been continually coming out from the false religion of this world, which is just a corruption of those who earlier were brought out from an earlier corruption.  Noah is brought out of the corrupt ancient world.  Abram is brought out of the corrupt post-flood world.  Israel was brought out of Egypt, and the Church was a remnant called out of corrupt Israel.  All Gentiles are called out of the nations from which they were born.

All institutions and individuals deal with a kind of mission creep.  If they will not purify themselves through repentance, then they will become corrupt.  At this point, the Holy Spirit will lead true believers out of the institution, leaving it to the destruction that God will bring upon it.  It is easy to look at past institutions and say that it doesn’t apply to you.  Roman Catholics can look to Israel and tell themselves they are the saved group.  Orthodox and Protestants can look at the Roman Catholics and tell themselves they are the saved group.  Pentecostals can look at the Protestant denominations that threw them out of their churches and pat themselves on the back.  However, that paves the road to destruction.  This is a problem for us all.

Friend, let’s keep our hearts and our group focused on Jesus, His Word, His coming, and his truth.  Let’s avoid becoming and participating in the destruction of the great prostitute that is on the horizon.

Holy Spirit pt 4 audio

Peter's Prayer for Believers

Today we will finish the book of 1 Peter as we look at 1 Peter 5:10-14.  It begins with a prayer that Peter prays for them and, by extension, for us today.  Before we look at the specifics for which Peter prays, let’s look at his descriptions of the God to whom he prays.

The God To Whom Peter Prays

First Peter describes Him as the “God of all grace.”  He is the source of all the good things that have come into our life.  James 1:7 says, “Every good and perfect gift comes from above, coming down from the Father of lights in whom there is no shadow of turning.”  Even things that we may think came from other people, can be traced back to God when we ask questions such as: Who gave them the health, strength, finances etc…, to do what they did?  What moved their heart to help me?  Did they make themselves?  Good comes to us through the creation which God himself made.  Thus he is the source of all good.

He is also the God of all grace in the sense that, when we are in difficult times, He is the One to whom we should turn.  His potential supply of help and grace is inexhaustible.  He has “all” the grace we need.

Second, God has called us into His glory by Jesus.  Just as he told us, Jesus is the door by which we are invited to participate and enjoy the glory of God.  This God who has made a way for you to have a part in His glory is the God Peter addresses.  Notice that Peter qualifies this with the statement, “after you have suffered a little while.”  Now my flesh really wishes Peter had left that out.  Suffering has been a big part of this letter.  Peter recognizes that in this life we have our particular lot of suffering.  Here, Peter agrees with what Paul said in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”  After the sufferings of this present world, we will join God in his eternal glory.  In that moment this present suffering will seem small, light, and incomparable.  That may not make it easy now.  But it is part of the Hope that we hold.

Lastly, in verse 11, we see that God is the only One worthy of the glory and power of creation.  Any glory and power of this world has its being in Him.  Thus any glory it has reflects upon the God who made it.  Within our own lives we should live in a way that is reflective of the glory that he has.  And, if there is any praise or glory back to us from people, it really is ultimately deflected back to Him.  All glory and all Power really do exist for his purposes and are representative of Him.

Peter Prays that God Would…

He prays that God would perfect us.  The word for perfect here means to mend or fix that which is broken.  As a fisherman, Peter had “perfected” many a net so that he could use it again.  Like a ship that has gone through a storm, we may be beat up and wounded.  Perhaps, like the shipwreck that Paul went through, we may have thrown some precious cargo and tackle overboard in order to survive.  Peter prays that God would fix and mend their lives.  He prays that God would equip them with whatever needful thing they have lost and supply any new thing necessary for them to fulfill the purpose for which they have been made.  We need to cooperate with this perfecting in our lives.  Some things that are painful or difficult are the very things that God is using to mend and fix us, if we look to Him in faith and trust.

He also prays that God would establish us.  This word means to be firmly set.  It is the picture that we will not be easily knocked over or moved.  Clearly we are to be firmly set in Jesus.  So that we will not be easily swayed or knocked off of our dependence and faith in Him.

Next he prays that God will strengthen us.  This word does often refer to physical strength, but I am quite confident that Peter has an inner strength in mind here.  Thus he is asking for God to strengthen their hearts and souls.  Our hearts and minds are inundated daily by the temptations and deceits of our own sinful flesh and of our enemy the devil.  Thus we will need strength in order for our faith to persevere through the individual tests and to the end of our life. 

Lastly he prays that God would settle us.  This word literally means to put a foundation under something.  Clearly, as I said earlier, this foundation is Jesus.  1 Corinthians 3:11, “No other foundation can anyone lay that that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus.”  However, it is more than just a name or an identity.  God places the life, teachings, work, death, and resurrection of Jesus under us as a foundation.  He does this by giving us teachers, fellow believers, and the Holy Spirit.  As we cooperate with this process we are enabled to build upon a foundation that can never fail.  When the person and work of Jesus is the basis for everything we do then we can say that God has finished this task in our life ; )

Peter’s Closing Comments

Verses 12-14 are the closing of this letter.  Peter makes it clear that his purpose in this letter was to exhort and testify that they had received the “true grace of God.”  Much speculation had traveled throughout the empire and the apostles had to be vigilant all the time in the area of doctrine.  He encourages them that they have already received the “true” grace of God, as opposed to any new “grace of God” that someone might be shilling.  Though it might not seem like enough, we have been given the grace that God knows will not only help us, but is all we need.  We can trust his provision.  In light of a day and age that speculates on everything, we need to hear this message now more than ever.  Every year a new speculation about religious conspiracies within Christianity or even in its origin try to question whether we have been given the true grace of God.  It is true that many Christian groups have added to God’s Word.  However, in the Bible we have the eye witness testimony of men who were there and verify that the things we have recorded are true.  I won’t go into it here, but the text of the Bible is without question the most verified ancient text.  Any attempts to change its text have been easily spotted throughout history and were never global in their acceptance.  We can be confident that we have just read the actual letter that Peter wrote to believers in the first century.

Peter also exchanges greetings from the church where he is writing.  The “she” referred here is tied to the believers who are receiving the letter by the phrase “elect together.”  This clearly is a reference to the church (a feminine noun that would use a feminine pronoun) rather than a specific woman.  It is interesting that Peter appears to be in Babylon.  If it is meant literally then it would be a reference to the Babylon of the Mesopotamia.  However, many have pointed to a possible coded reference to Rome.  John appears to do this in the book of Revelation.  So it is possible.  Another reason to believe that this may be a reference to Rome is that in the book of 2 Peter 1:14, Peter mentions this first letter and that he is about to be put to death.  Since the clear testimony of history is that Peter died in Rome, it is very likely that he was in Rome which led to his martyr.  Many Protestants have rejected this because of the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching that Peter was the first Pope in Rome.  There is no evidence that Peter ever was a Bishop or Pope in Rome.  Yet, we need not be blind to the fact that Peter probably interacted with the Roman church before his execution.  These two letter appear to have been written in the period leading up to his death.

Peter’s last statement is to remind them of their duty to love one another.  He does so by referring to a customary greeting, the kiss.  The biblical injunction here is emphasizing the kind of greeting rather than the act of greeting itself.  As Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, so believers are to reject such hypocritical and deceptive techniques.  They are to truly love one another and not hide behind the mask of social customs.  Then he prays peace to those who are in Jesus.

Are you in Jesus today?  That means you have trusted in him to be the forgiver of your sins.  You have looked to his death as the price of your own sins.  You have trusted in his work on your behalf to make thing right between you and God.  Have you done this?  Don’t put it off.  God has loved you within time and throughout history.  It is revealed to you today through this letter that Peter wrote.  Your faith is not a leap of faith, but a trusting in the objective reality of the testimony of not just Peter, but also thousands who witness the coming of the Savior of the World, Jesus.

Peter's Prayer audio