WHOSE KINGDOM?

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, "Up, make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."

And Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." So all the people took off the rings of gold which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt."

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord." And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Exodus 32:1-6

How easy it was for the people of Israel to switch from the Lord to the golden calf! After all….

- They didn't give up religion....

- They didn't stop worshipping....

....all they did was switch the object of their worship from God to an idol.

With sadness the Spirit of God is watching from the hovering cloud….

"What are you doing? Who do you think brought you out of Egypt? Who is keeping you alive with manna you gathered from the desert this morning?"

Without shame they turned to an idol which was far more comfortable than the Holy God..

And he received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, 0 Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord."

"What does it matter? It's all the same.

In fact, now we have a more comforting god, a god we can see and touch."

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

"Why, we’re more religious than ever ... and our worship has a lot more freedom."

There's only one little problem. Who's calling the shots now? Whole telling them how to worship, when to worship, what to worship,

.......they are!

They attribute wonderful things to this new god.

"These are your gods, 0 Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt."

But the "guidance" that comes from this golden calf is really coming from them, and from the demonic realm which always breaks forth like a running sore whenever people gratify their craving for an idol, for a god they can manage and manipulate. Demons enter this little spiritual game and quickly turn it into something vile.

Meanwhile, the God who spoke to Moses at the burning bush, who sent Moses to deliver these people from Pharaoh .... the God who led them with the cloud by day and the fire by night ... the God who is still feeding them with his hand is neither being listened to nor worshipped.

Moses comes down from the mountain and is stunned. How can the Israelites sink to this so quickly? How come Aaron doesn't call them to account?

And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought a great sin upon them?" And Aaron said, "Let not the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, 'Make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' And I said to them, 'Let any who have gold take it off'; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and there came out this calf."

And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to their shame among their enemies), then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. And he said to them, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 'Put every men his sword on his side, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.'" Exodus 32:21-27

Before anyone gets bent out of shape over the severity of the judgment, remember, if these people are allowed to turn God's kingdom into their kingdom ... if they are allowed to take control of it and modify it to suit their whims, they'll never make it to the promised land ... they'll all die in the wilderness.

In the apostolic church the same thing started to happen. People wanted to take this wonderful move of the Spirit that was transforming their lives and shaking the city of Jerusalem---and put their own little touch on it.

"Understand, we still want to serve you Lord, and worship you, and proclaim your name, and share what we have, but we're just going to cling to a little of our old life and keep it for ourselves."

If this is allowed to happen ... if people are allowed to put their hands on this thing which God is doing and dull the edge of it the slightest bit, then this work of the Holy Spirit will be killed before it gets started. Hence, again the medicine is severe.

But a man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God." When Ananias heard. these words, he fall down and died. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. Acts 5:1-6

Three hours later the man's wife comes in and the same thing happens to her ... and they bury her beside her husband. And the whole church got the message --- this is God's thing, don't mess with it!

And yet, for every case where God sends a Moses down from Sinai to straighten out the Israelites – with instant judgment – for every case where God gives a Peter a word of knowledge to expose a deadly threat to the life of the body – with instant judgment – there are perhaps a thousand cases where, for reasons of his own, God allows the false game to be played out to its end.

When Jerusalem fell into idolatry God sent prophets to call it to repentance. And when it killed prophet after prophet and refused to repent there was no lightning judgment. God just let Jerusalem slowly reap the consequences of its idolatry. In time they found themselves captives in Babylon ... the world capital of idolatry.

Jesus tells us that people will be allowed to go through their whole lives saying, "Lord, Lord," and never really doing the righteous, holy, loving, will of the Father.

- No lightning will strike them.

- No plague will visit their house.

...they will prosper.

And there will be men and women who will prophesy in the name of Jesus, cast out demons in the name of Jesus, do mighty works in the name of Jesus, while their lives are actually being spent, not for Jesus, but for themselves.

- No angel comes to unmask them.

- The earth doesn't open and swallow them up.

...they do very well.

Then one day they will be reminded of whose kingdom it is they've been messing with.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'" Matthew 7:21-23

Behind every golden calf....

Behind every sin of Ananias and Sapphire....

Behind every person who says, "Lord, Lord," or prophesies, or casts out demons, or does mighty works in Jesus' name and is still bound for hell, is a simple creed which was inspired by the serpent in the Garden of Eden and is still ruling the race of Adam.

Six words: "I can do what I want."

This creed finds its way into the Body of Christ ... it's the basis of the life of a high percentage of professing Christians. Strip off the pious veneer and the spiritual jargon and this is what you really hear:

"Don't be telling me what to do. Don't be trying to make me feel guilty. When I get ready to do what I'm going to do, I'll do it and no one's going to stop me. Because I can do what I want."

And here it becomes apparent which kingdom we're serving. If it's your kingdom you can indeed do what you want. You can say, "Lord, Lord," and still do what you want. You can prophesy and cast out demons in Jesus' name, and do mighty works in Jesus' name, and still do what you want.

But, if it's God's kingdom, you will do what God calls for.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Matthew 7:21

In the kingdom of God we no longer do what we want, we do what the Father calls for. And we do it with joy and thanksgiving.

- Our life is to do what he calls for.

- Our joy is to do what he calls for.

- Our weakness becomes power as we do what he calls for.

And what does the Father call for?

1. He calls for repentance.

"The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel."

Repentance is not just shedding tears. It's turning our life around ... constantly turning our life away from self and toward God and his goodness, his forgiveness, his peace.

In the kingdom of the golden calf, which is the kingdom of man, there is no repentance. There may be regret, or remorse, or despair, but never repentance. In the kingdom of God, the only way in is the way of repentance ... the only road is the road of repentance. A turning of the heart, the mind, a million times a day from me to God, from my will to God's will ... and doing it. Doing God’s will with thankfulness and joy.

2. In the kingdom of God, the Father also calls for continuous submission ... to him, to brothers and sisters for his sake.

"I came not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me," says Jesus ... "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do."

And the place where we learn how to submit to the Father is here in the Body, by submitting to each other in Jesus’ name.

- We are to submit ourselves one to another out of reverence for Christ.

- We are to get down and wash one another's feet.

- We are to learn to yield and fit in and be thoughtful, and patient, and forbearing.

And as we do these things, our submission to the living God takes on substance. If we insist on saying, "Lord, Lord," or prophesying, or casting out demons in the name of Jesus while we refuse to submit to one another in the fear of God, we'll soon be dancing around a golden calf.

Or, if we pick up our marbles and walk away every time life in the Body gets a little hairy, we'll soon be dancing around a golden calf.

God is dealing with every one of us.

"Submission to me," he is saying, "includes submission to brothers and sisters. When are you going to start doing it?"

3. Finally, in the kingdom of God, the Father is calls for continuous service.

"We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night comes when no one can work."

We are being sent to proclaim Jesus' gospel, to manifest his love, to magnify his name,

....day-in-and-day-out.

Every one of us is called to full time service ... every one of us. But each of us has to ask and keep asking, even today, "In whose kingdom am I serving?" Is it my kingdom? ..... religion on my terms?

....a Jesus that I control?

....so I can do what I want?

Or, is it God' a kingdom? ...where God calls the shots, and I do what he says.

- When he calls me to repent ... I repent.

- When he calls me to submit ... I submit.

... to him,

... to the people to whom he has joined me.

And when he sends me to proclaim the gospel, I do it in the power of his Spirit and in unity with my brothers and sisters....

.... So, whose kingdom are you serving?