Praise the Lord Saints of the most high God! Praise the Lord
everybody! Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's always a
wonderful feeling to be in the house of the Lord. It's always a blessing to be
with the children of the Lord. It's always a thrill to be in the presence of
the Lord, to feel His presence, His anointing, His peace that passes all
understanding.
There's nothing that I enjoy more than dwelling in the presence of
the Lord. In taking the opportunity to join in fellowship with the Saints, to
partake in the offering of joint praise and worship to our Lord. That's exactly
what we’ll be doing in heaven Saints! That's exactly what we’ll be doing for
eternity. If you don’t like praising God down here, you’re not going to like
heaven!
So let’s take a few moments to pray before we get started on this
message. Let’s take a few moments to ask the Lord to anoint me as I attempt to
bring forth His word. Let’s take a few moments to ask the Lord to anoint our
ears to hear the word and to help us to apply it to our lives. Let us pray!
Pray
for as long as the Lord directs:
The title of this sermon today is: Get Rid of the
Old Junk (Repeat)
Could
we all please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Our text today
is:
Numbers
33:52, 55
Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and
destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images and quite pluck
down all their high places: 55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of
the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let
remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your
sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.
You
may be seated.
At
this time, the children of
Moses
knew the heart of men, and he also knew the heart of the Lord. He knew the
children of Israel would corrupt themselves if they didn't cleanse the land as
they took it over. It had already happened once, and he knew it would happen
again. Therefore he gave them this warning, which I believe the Lord admonished
him to do.
As our text
says:
"…ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and
destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images and quite pluck
down all their high places:"
Therefore
as the children of Israel went forth conquering and to conquer; they purified
the land, and they consecrated it unto the Lord. Thus the example has been set
for us as the children of the Lord to do likewise. Are we to go forth
conquering and to conquer? Absolutely not, albeit the time may come when we do
so! But that which we're to do at this time, is to cleanse the land that's
under our control, just as the children of Israel did when they entered the
land of Canaan. It says in:
Deuteronomy
23:14
For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to
give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he
see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.
In
this passage the Lord has commanded His children to clean up their camp, to get
rid of everything that was unclean, so that He might walk among them. By His
walking among them, they would have the power to overcome their enemies. They
would be able to rise up and be counted as mighty warriors before men. They
would also garner respect from their enemies for the Lord their God, which is
something which we should all strive to do!
But
I ask you today Saints of the most high God, what is your camp and have you
cleansed it? What does your camp consist of; and what might it need cleansed
from? Let me tell you today that your camp consists of many things, and has
many parts. Among its many parts is your place of dwelling, your home and there
are many things which may have need of cleansing in a home.
Things
such as:
Have
you purified it of any worldly influence? Have you cleansed it of things that
would bring reproach to the name of the Lord? Are there pictures on your wall which
are of dubious character? Do you have albums or CD's which contain
inappropriate language in your possession? What radio channels are saved on
your radio? Do you have other possessions that are not appropriate for Holy
Ghost filled Christians to posses?
For
example, at one time my father was a Free-Mason. But after a time he began to
think that something wasn't quite right and so he ceased to be a member. He
wasn't quite sure what was wrong; he just knew that something wasn't quite
right. However, he kept his Masonic ring and other associated items from that
time period.
After
his decease, my mother kept those items until the time that she remarried 23
years later. At that time she gave them to me and I stored them in my closet
for a long period of time before opening the box. Upon opening the box, I
noticed these items and glanced through some of the written material. At this
time I didn't know what the Masons were about and thought nothing of it.
After
a few years, I grew in my knowledge of what Freemasonry was about and at that
time the Lord started dealing with me to clean up my camp and to throw out that
which was unclean. Even though it was a part of the very few items I had of my
father's very personal possessions, I knew that I had to be obedient to the
Lord, and I threw all the Masonic items in the trash.
But
I ask you today, what do you have in your camp today that might be the unclean
thing? Do you have pictures of old flames where they might not be dressed in an
inappropriate way? Do you still cling to old love letters where you discussed
things that maybe you shouldn't have? If so, then the Lord is telling you
today, to clean up the camp, and to throw out the unclean thing!
Another part of your camp is your mind; do
you have any areas of your mind that you refuse to turn over to the Lord? It says in:
Revelation
2:1-5 Unto the angel of the
church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in
his right hand who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2 I know thy works, and thy
labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and
thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found
them liars: 3 And
hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast
not fainted. 4 Nevertheless
I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5 Remember therefore from
whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come
unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except
thou repent.
When
we first came to the Lord, we had an abiding love that consumed our whole
being. It was what we lived for, it was what excited us; it was what gave us
hope for tomorrow. But after people have been saved for a while, they have a tendency
to forget to nurture that relationship which they’ve had with the Lord. They
forget what it took to build that relationship with God; they forget what it
takes in order to maintain that personal, intimate, eternal relationship with
God.
As
human beings, our minds were created by God to be filled with something. We're
full of the Holy Spirit, or we're full of Satan's spirit, or perhaps our head
is full of mush or even air….. But our minds will be filled with something!
I'm
asking you today church, what is your mind filled with? What are your thoughts
consumed by? Is God still your first love? Do you still take the time to spend
time with Him each and every day? Or have you put Him into a closet in your
mind; and you only take Him out to play with from time to time?
Do
you still read His word every day? Do you still spend time in prayer every day?
When was the last time that you spent an hour just praising the Lord? When was
the last time you fell on your face and worshipped the Lord? When
do you plan to do it next?
Saint
of God, guests, and all who are in the sound of my voice. I beg of you please:
· Return
to the Lover of your soul!
· Return
to your Master.
· Return
to your Savior!
· Return
to your King of Kings.
· Return
to your Lord of Lords.
· Return
to your God of all Gods.
· Return
to your First Love!
It says in:
Isaiah
26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is
stayed on thee:
because he trusteth in thee.
If
we don't keep our minds on the Lord, how can we hope to ever have peace? How
can we ever hope to trust the Lord the way that we need to in order to live an
overcoming life for Him? Because we are to live this life for Him,
and not for ourselves! Sometimes we forget that part Saints of God. Sometimes we
forget that we're not here to live for ourselves; but that we're here to live
our lives for Him!
I'm
asking you today Saints of God, are you holding anything back? Are you keeping
something reserved only for you; and God's not allowed into that area? If you
are, then you'd better change your ways, and do it quickly lest the Lord remove
your candle from his candelabra! Don’t take a chance on being lost Saints of God;
please give it all to the Lord, and please do it today!!
Pause
Now
the next part of your camp is your body. Are you wearing things that bring
glory to the devil instead of glory to God? Do you think God would be
comfortable sitting next to you dressed the way you are? Or do you think He
would prefer you to dress just a little bit different? Think about it Saints!
Is
what you're wearing showing more skin than the Lord would be comfortable
viewing? Does it create a temptation to those around you to lust after you? I'm
not accusing anyone Saints; I'm just preaching what God tells me to preach. I'm
just asking you to keep in mind that in all we do, in all that we say, in all
we wear, either we bring glory or we bring reproach to the name of God.
We
need to live above the world in all we do. We need to get off the fence as far
as we can and live in a manner that shouts to the world that we love God!
Saints of God, we do not dare be embarrassed about living apart from the world,
and holy before God. Remember that if we're ashamed of Christ before men, He'll
be ashamed of us before His heavenly father!
I’m
here to tell you today Saints of God that we need to start now in reassessing
our lifestyle. We need to take a second look at everything we do in this life.
Time is getting short to win souls for God!
It says in:
John 9:4 I must work the
works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can
work.
We
have to seriously seek God in order that we might let Him cleanse our camp.
There are things in our lives that may not be bad things, they may even be very
good things, but are they what God would have us to do at this time? Sometimes
God wants to redirect our efforts but we aren’t listening because what we're currently
doing for God is a good thing.
We
can be in God’s will, but not in His perfect will. I want to always, at all
times, be in God’s perfect will. I want to be on the cutting edge of what God
wants me to do! I want to do those things in the way that God has directed me
to do so! I want to have a deep, abiding, love for souls, and to win those souls
for God! Praise the Lord everyone!
Another part of your camp is
your vehicle. I ask you today Saints of God, where are the radio stations set?
Will the music that comes through those speakers glorify God, or will it
glorify the devil? It says in:
2
Chronicles 23:19
And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the LORD, that none which was
unclean in any thing should enter in.
We have to stop the devil from entering into the camp by any means
that he should try. We have to be careful what we read, and I hope you aren’t
in the habit of reading while driving. We have to be careful as to what we see,
and I hope that your eyes are on the road instead of upon whom or what may be standing
on the sidewalk holding a car wash sign. Reading things or staring at the
scenery while driving is a good way to crash and burn.
Most of us are pretty smart and we don’t read the newspaper while
driving down the road. But most of us will listen to the radio or talk on the
phone while we drive. Hopefully our conversations on the phone are with Godly
people and those conversations only bring glory to God.
But I ask you again Saints of God, what about the radio? Where is
that channel set? Is it set to the Gospel? Is it set to worship music? Is it
set to biblical teaching? Or is it set to that which does not glorify the Lord?
As I’ve said before, and I’m sure I will say it again before I’m through, we
have to look at every area of our lives to see if it all glorifies God. It says in:
2
Corinthians 6:17-18 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing;
and I will receive you. 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be
my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
As this scripture says; we’re to come out from among them. We’re
to come out from the world, to be separate from their ways, from their
lifestyles. We’re not to listen to their music, we’re not to watch their
television shows, we not to dress like they do, but we’re to glorify God with
all that we do and with all that we say!
Talk to God Saints! Talk to God, and ask Him what He thinks about
it. Talk to God and ask Him what He thinks about your life and your lifestyle.
I’m not saying that anyone in this church is doing something they shouldn’t be
doing. If you are, I don’t know about it. I just know that God has directed me
to preach this message at this time.
· This
message may be for someone that you work with.
· It
may be for a family member.
· It
may be for a friend.
· It
may be for someone you meet in the line at the checkout stand.
· It
may be for someone you meet at the bank.
· It
may be for someone you meet in the restaurant.
· It
may be for someone you meet on the street.
· But
God knows who it’s for whether we do or not.
As we
bring this service to a close at this time:
Saints
of God, I ask you, I implore you, I beg of you:
· Please
examine your lives today
· Please
clean up your camp
· Please
get rid of the “Old Junk”.
· Please
draw near to God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength!
· Please
work on your personal, intimate, eternal, relationship with God!
Do an
altar call at this time.