What Are You Worshipping in This World?

 

For nearly two decades now there is a group in Israel known as the Temple Mount Faithful that run the Temple Mount Institute who have been making preparations to get ready for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. They have rebuilt many of the tools to be used in the Temple as well as the menorah, and have been researching the red heifer, which they have now discovered as well as those who fall in the lineage of the Levitical priests, from the gowns the priest will wear, this group is taking this extraordinarily serious. The have it all down to the finest minute details from the exact color dye for the priests gown derived from a sea snail. We know that at this time, there is no Temple Mount in Jerusalem but in our study today we are learning that there will be. God says that one day there will be.

There are those who refuse to believe in the New Testament but through their actions, they are working on efforts that one day they believe it will be built again. This is just another indicator of last days events. God's Word is always true. You can even use Google Earth to check this area out where the Temple will one day be built again. It is just to the left and north of the Dome of the Rock. It is a vacant lot where it will one day be rebuilt and prophecy to be fulfilled.

Remember in our study yesterday, we concluded that God is issuing a warning throughout the Book of Revelation and even during the Tribulation Period when it comes, that He loves us so much, He doesn't want us to have to go through these things we are reading about and studying today. Don't lose sight of that.

As we continue our study this morning, we know that the warning God is providing of a very specific event comes a temple to the city of Jerusalem. One day in the last days, the Bible is assuming that a Temple will be rebuilt in the city of Jerusalem. There is not a temple there today, but the Bible clearly states that one day one will come. Scholars will argue that this is not what this portion of scripture is referring to and it must be something else because a temple will never be rebuilt there. Israel as we know is making serious preparations for this to happen even though they refuse to read the New Testament portions of the Bible. The priestly gowns have already been made right down to the most minute detail. The menorah for the holy of holies is already made. The altar has already been created. They are teaching those of the Levite lineage how to perform the priestly duties. Israel is planning on building a Temple.

They can't build it at this time because of the Muslim/Palestinian world would go crazy. It would be the catalyst for the next world war. It won't happen today, but Israel is moving in that direction. We know that there is a coming Temple because Jesus said so.

Matthew 24:14-15 ~ "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. So when you see standing in the holy place, 'the abomination that cause desolation,' spoken through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - "

There will be a rebuilding of the Temple in what looks to be the area just north of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. I believe that the Dome of the Rock will still be there because Scripture talks about a wall being built that will separate this holy place away from a defiled area. Why would the Bible mention this Temple Mount area as being defiled? God says in the last days, a Temple will come to Jerusalem. However a lot of political things have to happen before that could ever be true. There are motions and work taking place to brings these things about when that day comes. There is a flat area just north of the Dome of the Rock that can easily allow for the Temple to be rebuilt right behind the Golden Gate, that the Tribulation Temple will be built.

When John was given this vision in 90 A.D., the Temple did not exist either. In 70 A.D. it was destroyed by Titus in the invading Roman Empire to sequester an uprising in Jerusalem during that time. Jesus predicted this would happen when He said not one stone would be left unturned when the Temple was destroyed. The Bible says a day is coming when a man, the Son of Perdition, some scholars refer to him as a Prince or a Western Prince, will arise out of the ancient borders of a once great Roman Empire.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 ~ "Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God."

Even though we have a conglomeration of nations within the Europe Union right now, the Bible says that 10 nations will rise out of the 25 nations that are within that group right now. Within that 10, there will be a predominate group of 4 leaders that will be the spokespersons for these nations. Out of the 4, the Bible says that 1 will rise up and that will be the "western prince" or Son of Perdition or Antichrist and he will speak convincing words to the world that the world will believe. He will turn around the world's economy so that it will be the most prosperous time that the world has ever known. This time period will last for about 3 1/2 years. He will cause the environment to be rejuvenated to some degree but he will not convince all the world. It appears that China and parts of the Asian world will come to war against him, and we will study more about that in greater detail in chapter 13. This man will be the greatest politician the world has ever seen.

In the United States right now, our own independence is an affront to the entire global community. Did you know that? It is not liked and is jealously disdained in Europe. The independent spirit in Americans is not well received in the world. We are labeled as "free thinkers," "independents,"  and are marked as renegades in the global community. Ronald Reagan even received flack for being labeled as a "rogue cowboy." The world is getting a mind set of globalism. The United States is an affront to that and it doesn't easily bow to the whims of the United Nations. But something greater than the U.N. is coming. The European Union is gaining strength, even their dollar is worth more than our currency now. There will a continued decrease in the dollar and the yen, and you'll see more countries embracing the Euro as the European Union continues to grow in power and influence in the world.

The European Union is taking its cue from the United States and is following suit. There is one huge difference, God is being left out of their constitution, their flags, and their currency whereas the United States at this time has God in the midst of it all when He founded this nation. He is in the middle of our Constitution, the Bill of Rights, our Declaration of Independence. What comes out of Europe must have a vacancy of God for this man to rise to power. The Bible says that he will stand in the Temple of God during the Tribulation Period and declare himself to be God. The Bible says that the people of the world will fall under the deception and believe him. He will sign a 7-year peace treaty with Israel and its warring neighbors in Daniel 9.

They will vote with their pocketbooks because they want prosperity in their lives and they want the environment to be restored, all the environmental groups will love him. Don't mistake the belief that Christians should be the greatest custodians of God's creations. But look around you and you can see the extremes people are taking these activities now. The difference is we don't worship creation, they do. The world is being groomed for this time to come.

Revelation 11:1 ~ "I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there."

I can understand measuring the Temple of God, the altar but counting the worshipers? We know that Jesus Christ is our High Priest, Jesus Christ died on the cross once and for all, and Jesus ascended to heaven to present His blood upon the altar in heaven. The temple was destroyed because it wasn't needed anymore. God is not into earthly temples. God is no longer into earthly altars. Jesus is now resurrected and is now enthroned in heaven. When we pray do we face a temple? We don't do this because as Christians, we have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and our God is enthroned in heaven. We can pray any way we want to, any time we want to, any where we want to. Our salvation is not connected to an earthly temple.

When John is asked to measure the temple, this is the temple the Antichrist will use. Even though it says it is the Temple of God, that is how the Jewish people reference it. God has not declared it to be His temple. The Bible says that won't happen until Jesus returns to earth and He establishes His own temple in Jerusalem. This is the temple to be commandeered or stolen by the Antichrist. It's a false temple and needless altar.

Now it comes to measuring the worshipers and in the Greek it is metreo which means: to measure, to ascertain in size, to make note of detail. To determine size, scope and influence. The word here is both figuratively and actual it just depends on the application. How do you measure people? John is told to measure their hearts. Who are they? What do they know? In what form are they worshiping? Where are they with God? God measures the worshiper right now! God is always measuring our desire or passion for worship.

If you read your Bible carefully, Christians are prone to worship! If you want to find a Christian who is worth anything to hang around with, find one who is a worshiper! Christians should be worshiping and praising God! It's what we are going to be doing in Heaven! It's good practice. God might not count the physical number of people worshiping in church but He measures each one of us. Do you ever notice that sometimes when you are singing worship songs, you might be mouthing the words, but your mind is someplace else. Sometimes if you are like me, you have to close your eyes to get rid of all distractions. When you worship alone, do you do that? We should understand that when we worship corporately in church, what a blessing that is. The music in church has nothing to do with us. As a Christian, we need to make worship a priority, not something you show up just after its almost over or leave just as it begins at the conclusion of service and you head out so you don't have to be stuck trying to get out of the parking lot. God measures His worshipers.

Distraction is an easy thing, especially in worship. Every Christian has experienced this. It is attacked with distractions. Anytime we try to do something for God or spend time with God, our minds have a tendency to wander. While we are involved in a spiritual devotion with God, it is foreign to this world. It is foreign to our nature. It is foreign to our life in this world. It is all about us worshiping the Lord and that is why it is so difficult. When we worship God, there is a beautiful death that takes place to us, our self, our demands, our wants, and we lose track of us, which is always a good thing. Worship causes us to see God bigger.

If you remember in the movie, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Lucy tells Aslan that every year he gets bigger. Aslan is the picture of Jesus in C.S. Lewis' classic novel. He doesn't get any bigger, its that Lucy worships him more. When we worship God, He gets bigger to us and that is why we need to do that. We lose ourselves in His presence. In the worship of God.

Babylon Awakens

We have been learning about a two-fold system that has its roots in ancient Babylon from the creation of the Tower of Babel to the coming one world global, political, economic and religious system. There will be a reawakening in Rome regarding politics in the very near future and I believe we are seeing the stage being set for all this to happen even today.

God will one day condemn Jerusalem again in the last days for going after and following a pagan worship system. He will call Jerusalem, spiritual Babylon! This system is vast, it is broad, it has infiltrated and is alive in our day today if you simply know where and how to look for it. It is what we have been studying lately.

To sum up our study from yesterday, we learned what Babylon will come to know that the end is near because (1) Babylon lives in darkness, (2) Babylon lives in sinful practices, and because (3) Babylon lives in idolatry. We learned that the scriptures tell us that Rome will play a great part politically, Jerusalem will play a great part spiritually and Babylon will play a great part economically. The world's headquarters for the anti-christ.

We know that there is a chronological order to things between Revelation 17 and 18. Remember that the world at this time is being held in a supernatural darkness based on the 5th bowl judgment, much like the ancient plagues of Egypt.

We know that the world will one day have a political, economic and religious system that will all be based in ancient Babylonian practices under the control of the antichrist during the Tribulation Period. The antichrist will captivate the world by his belief system to lead the world astray. That has always been his agenda. Babylon will know that God is just to the believer and they'll have His appeal.

Revelation 18:4-5 ~ "Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities."

The European Union's vision is to be a one global unified world with no wars. The believers will make a mass exodus and leave Babylon when God calls them to do so. It is Jesus speaking to the believers, or Tribulation Saints in this verse, and this has been His word to all His children throughout the ages.

What will be said to them then?

What could be said to us today?

How does this warning affect us? It means for us to keep a light touch in this world.

What do I need to change today in my life? Are you being used by the world or are you using the world for the glory of God?

Is there something I need to separate myself from? Something we need to be free from? A thinking, an action that has kept us bound to this world like smoking or some type of addiction that you are struggling with? Did you know that 27% of women are admitting to being addicted to pornography? We need to pick our Bibles up, not put them down. God will do the work and He'll get all the glory. Find ways to make yourself accountable to others to help you.

Galatians 5:1 ~ "For freedom Christ has set us free, stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."

Post this scripture where you can see it everyday. Make it your screen saver!

Why does God want believers to leave Babylon?

1. Because judgment is coming
2. He doesn't want you to share in her sins. Don't get involved in that stuff. Remember how susceptible Israel was and how often God warned them to steer clear of their enemies idols and practices? It was because He knew if we allowed them to be nearby, we would get sucked into their practices and make compromises in keeping our faith to God pure!

This world should have no governing powers over us. Make sure if you've been blessed in your life, that you are possessing your possessions and that your possessions are not possessing you. Use them to the glory of God. Make sure you own them and they don't own you instead. We need to learn how to use this world all to the glory of God. We want to make sure that we are really in God's family. What evidence is there in your life that you belong to Jesus Christ?

John 3:1-5 ~ "Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." Jesus answered him,
Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."

More on this tomorrow as we finish up our study in Chapter 18 and prepare for the great news coming in Chapter 19!

Do Your Put Your Trust in God with a Big G or a Little g?

When you consider the question, do you need money, what do you need the money for? Is it for that second vacation house, or a sport's car? Or do you need the money to buy food to feed your family? There is a fine line between worship and a need for money. When people get blessed, most of time when that happens, we can forget God in the process and then we turn that blessings into an idol instead. How many times can you honestly say, "If I had an extra hundred dollars, I'd give it to the church or support a ministry?" It doesn't even have to be a specific amount. What do you do with all that God has blessed you with. Are you furthering yourself or furthering God's kingdom?

Money should be considered as tools to be used in the building up the kingdom of God. "In God We Trust." Our founding fathers realized that money is a blessing from God. In our prosperity we'd better not forget that, especially in America. That's why so many people are trying to get rid of that on our money even today.

Isaiah 13:19-20 ~ " And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there; no shepherd will make their flocks lie down there."

What Babylon will come to know because the end is near is because Babylon lives in idolatry.

Revelation 18:3 ~ "For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality; and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living."

Matthew 6:24 ~ "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."

Why do we put "In God We Trust" on our money. You should do some research and see what a true blessing it really is.

James 5:1-3 ~ "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire."

1 Timothy 6:10 ~ "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs."

It is not wrong to be wealthy or to invest our money or even to be wise with it. Is it wrong to lean on it, trust on it, or depend on it? One way to find out is to get rid of God, stop going to church, burn your Bible and then see  how it affects your life? Then get rid of all money, stop relying on it, trying to earn more of it, give what you have away, and see how it impacts your life. Which one in your life is more important? Which one do you need in your life? The Big G or the little g? Be very careful where and what you put your trust in.

What Babylon will come to know in man's final stand, is that God is just.  He is just to the believer, they'll have His appeal.

Revelation 18:4-5 ~ "Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities."

There will be believers, Tribulation Saints, not only all over the world during the Tribulation, but also in New Babylon in Iraq. God is telling them to get out, before He destroys it, just like He did with Lot when it came to Sodom and Gomorrah. Do we as believers deal with non believers every day? Yes we do.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 ~ "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, 'I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty."

This doesn't mean you can't do business with non believers, it is not getting involved with others who are not of the Lord in personal matters, like marrying non-believers. Don't marry them thinking one day you will convert them to God. Many relationship problems we have today is because we disregarded God and became disobedient to His word.

Isaiah 26:19-21 ~ "Your dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead. Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by."

Those who have died believing in God, their bodies lie in the dust until the day of the rapture! Some of your Bibles may say indignation or fury, but it simply means God's wrath, not hell but the earthly judgment coming in the Tribulation Period. This is God's declaration that He will deliver His people from it.

We also read "reached to heaven" which translated means to lay one brick upon another until you reach heaven. Sound familiar? Nimrod built a tower of Babel intent on reaching heaven in Genesis. God is saying here, that "You've been building a long, long time, building your sin, and don't think I've forgotten all those bricks upon bricks you've been laying. It has reached a point that I need to deal with this once and for all. What began in Genesis, God deals with finally in Revelation.

Have you been building a life for yourself without God, brick by brick? What does your life look like? Don't say it, do it! Conduct yourself in such a way unto the Lord, that will draw people to you and they will want to work for you. They will want to draw near to you.

Who is your God? The One of the Bible or the one of the world, part of the system?

If you're living a  life or a lifestyle that isn't acceptable to God, don't think because nothing bad has happened to you, that He approves. You are receiving His mercy right now. There will be a day when His mercy reaches its intended goal, it was given for a limited time and then His judgment will come. Don't wait for His judgment and get swept away with what is false.