©2003 Pastor Tom Miles
God’s Glory or Man’s Glory!
Revelation 2:19-21 I know thy works, and thy love, and faith, and ministry, and endurance, and that, thy last works, are more than the first. Nevertheless, I have against thee, that thou sufferest the woman Jezebel, she who calleth herself a prophetess, and is teaching and leading astray my own servants to commit lewdness and to eat idol-sacrifices; and I gave her time, that she might repent, and she willeth not to repent out of her lewdness.
What does this scripture passage have to do with the church today? After all the church today is doing great works right? They feed the poor, clothe the poor, minister to the sick, minister to the youth, teens, elders, and have many outreaches to the community. These are all great works and highly admirable, but are they truly godly? Are all these acts of the church meant for God’s glory or man’s glory? I believe that the spirit of Jezebel is sneaking into our churches!
Exactly what is a Jezebel spirit you might ask and the answer is a spirit of vainglory, idolatry, vengefulness, evil, death, lust, self-serving, and enticing. It is a spirit that skillfully leads believers and spiritual leaders into committing spiritual adultery. The church today is falling away from its union with God to marry in to this spirit of evil. Many of our church leaders are afraid to stand up for that which they know to be right. Our churches today are beginning to tremble under the hand of the leaders of the world. Whatever the landowners, city officials, and governmental authorities lay down before our church boards our spiritual leaders willingly accept. Many spiritual leaders have begun to accept the things of the world as more important than the things of God. You cannot serve two masters, you will learn to love the one and hate the other (Luke 16:13). Worldly leaders do not have a commitment to God their commitment is to the world and the things of the world. Unless the leaders you follow are born again, Spirit filled leaders, you must be cautious of how close you get to them. Their concern is not of Christ but instead of personal gain and they will commit adultery destroying the church of righteousness and godliness with every chance they get. They will throw up roadblock after roadblock, obstacle after obstacle using even the churches own spiritual leaders as their puppets to guide and tender their ploy for their self gain. We must take a look at the whole picture is it glorifying God or man? What is the main thrust of the program? Does the main theme center on God or things of the world? If it centers on the things of the world than it’s of the world and of a Jezebel spirit not the Holy Spirit of God! We are not to lay down with the spirit of Satan.
God is very patient, very loving, after all look at what He puts up with our silly and foolish attitudes, and failings, but He does this because He is merciful, gentle, longsuffering, patient, and because He loves us so much and does not want to see us suffer but instead wants to see us flourish in all we do according to His will. If things seem difficult and never exactly as it should be, slow down and ask God if He’s still in the plan! We cause the condition of our country, our nation through our apathy. It’s so easy for us to blame others and cast blame on everyone and everything but self! Look at what we are so willing to accept today in our churches and our ministries abortion, homosexuality, adultery, idolatry, drunkenness, and all types of immortality for the vainglory of what man has to offer us! God is so patient with us, giving us chance after chance to repent and turn to HIM and not to man every time we need something but we don’t and we won’t because we under such horrific pressure from the world around us that we have set our eyes upon the things of the world not of God. We speak of God and profess Him but when push comes to shove God loses and we take the world’s offer because it is easier, more glamorous, and more profitable! We stand in church behind the pulpit screaming, preaching, ranting, ‘repent, repent, remove the filth of sin from your life’ yet the sin reeks in our own self because of our sleeping with the enemy. Yes, repent even if it means you lose the big glorious contract, donation, status, no matter what it is, it is not important enough to lose God’s favor! We must first lose it all so we can gain everything! We cannot stand in the pulpit, sit at the meeting table, and ask or call for others to pray for help, to pray for situations, that we ourselves have neglected to take care of how can we ask for others to intercede for us when we ourselves are not even doing what we should do for God! Until we truly surrender/submit ourselves to God the answer will not come! God is calling His church to repentance and His church needs to stand forth and look at its self and fall to its knees before the Lord God and repent!
We as the church of Christ need to be cautious that we do not get bigheaded and haughty thinking we are all powerful. We some times wrap ourselves up in our proud and arrogant spirits lording our authority over those below us making life miserable for those not willing to sleep with evil and we do it so often as if it comes from God! God will remove all the evil from the church including the leaders that cause the stumbling and blocking of His Word from going forth and His will from being done. God will have no other gods before HIM! Be wary what you bow down before and worship! Be wary of what you put into the house of God! Be wary how you attempt to justify what is God’s house and what is not God’s house!
It’s time we draw ourselves into union with the Lord. It’s time the Christian church shakes off the dust and the smoke. It’s time to be a BELIEVER not just a mannequin. Release the fire and go beyond the square box! Make a stand for righteousness before it’s too late.
1 Corinthians 15: 58 So, then, my beloved brethren, become ye, steadfast, immovable, super abounding in the work of the Lord, at all times; knowing that, your toil, is not in vain in the Lord.
God wants us to be His hands, feet, mouth, and example pure and holy before the world and He wants us to take pleasure in our task for Him. He wants us to step fully into Him and when we do He will bring revival to each one of us individually and corporately as we surrender/submit ourselves to Him. We the Church of God must not abort or divorce or commit adultery from or in our responsibilities to God and His will. God gave us a great commission and we must accept it and follow it to the letter, not making compromise for material gain or worldly status and symbol. We need to become morally responsible for entire world because God ordained it for those that choose to follow Him.
Matthew 28: 16-20 And, the eleven disciples, went into Galilee, unto the mountain which, Jesus, had appointed them; and, seeing him, they worshipped, but, some, doubted. And Jesus, coming near, spake unto them, saying All authority, in heaven and on earth, hath been given unto me; Go ye, therefore, and disciple all the nations, Immersing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I myself have commanded you, And lo! I, am, with you, all the days, until the conclusion of the age.
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Pastor Thomas Miles
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