John Hagee - Fatal Attraction
Turn to Exodus 20, as we continue our sermon series on "The Ten Commandments" with this sermon "The Fatal Attraction". Consider the bonanza of benefits to America if we would obey the Ten Commandments. Over night, this nation would be completely different. We would be honoring the God of the Bible and obey him. We would be in church or synagogue each Sunday. We would respect spiritual authority of God's word. We would not murder. There would be no adultery. No one would lie. There would be no theft. There would be no cheating. There would be no envy. There would be no coveting. America would be transformed over night. There would be no criminal crisis like we have. There would be no burning down of our cities by anarchists. There would be no abortions. There would be no one telling a lie in the court of justice. There would be no sex trafficking that's destroying the lives of 75,000 girls a year. No schools would be teaching the critical race theory. No one would be bowing to the demands of corrupt politicians, because the nation would become pure before the throne of God.
On Sunday morning, the churches would be filled with people worshiping the Lord. Think about it. Have you ever considered the riches of righteousness? Get that phrase in your brain, "The riches of righteousness". The Bible says, "Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people". And that includes America. Right now, we are in a fierce culture war for the soul of this nation. It's a war between those who embrace biblical values and those who want America to become a secular, progressive, socialistic, godless country. And one of those forces are going to win. The prize goes to the winner of our children and the next generation.
People say, "Pastor Hagee, the Ten Commandments are an ancient document in the Old Testament. It really doesn't apply to a sophisticated country like us". Ladies and gentlemen, we're not sophisticated. We're not sophisticated. We're not even spiritual. "The law of the Lord is perfect". Say that with me. "The law of the Lord is perfect". And for those of you who want to hear that in the New Testament, Jesus said it this way in Matthew 5:17. He said, "Do not think that I have come to destroy the law. I did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law". Listen. "But whoever does and teaches these commandments shall be called great in the Kingdom of God," end of quote, Jesus of Nazareth. How many of you would like to be called "Great" in the Kingdom of God by God himself? Then do and teach these commandments to your children. Get this sermon series and let what God has established in the scripture cause this nation to have a spiritual reformation.
Today, "The fatal attraction," Exodus 20:4. Read with me. "And you shall not make for yourselves a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water underneath the earth: you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For i, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments". God says those who do not love him, who have images they worship, receive his judgment for four generations, which is 200 years. God is a jealous God, and he wants you simply to love his son and to obey his word. Let's pray:
Father, in the authority of Jesus' name, let us today hear God's command, and let it change us to be godly, righteous Christians in this United States in a time when our nation so desperately needs it. In the authority of Jesus' name, we pray. And all of God's children said, amen.
You may be seated. What is a fatal attraction? A fatal attraction is that which, in the beginning, seems attractive and irresistible, but in the end, it will totally destroy you. On one occasion, my older brother and I were in the deep woods of east Texas squirrel hunting. And I saw a squirrel on the trunk of a tree that was slanted. And the little squirrel was chirping fiercely at something that was at the base of the tree. I looked closely and it was a rattlesnake moving slowly from side to side, hypnotically seducing the little squirrel. The little squirrel was fascinated, and each time, would get just a little closer and just a little closer. And on the one occasion, it got just a little too close. And like lightning, the rattlesnake struck it, sank its venomous fangs deep into its flesh, and the life of the squirrel was lost, killed by a fatal attraction.
And today, we want to shoot the rattlesnakes in your life. The children of Israel were delivered from Egypt's bondage by ten dazzling miracles from the mighty right hand of Jehovah God. They went through the Red Sea to mount Sinai where Moses went face to face with God to receive these Ten Commandments. Moses had been gone into the mountain to be with God for 40 days. And Israel yielded to a fatal attraction. They had lived for 400 years in a nation filled with dozens of idols. They allowed their past to control their future. Are you? Don't allow your past to control your present or your future. Saint Paul said, "Forgetting those things which are passed, I press toward the prize of the high calling, which is in Jesus Christ".
At Sinai, while Moses was on the mountain meeting with God, Aaron crafted a golden bull for the children of Israel to worship while Moses was gone. The bull was the Egyptian God of sexual power. The result is when Moses came down from mount Sinai, the children of Israel were having a massive sex orgy in the desert: just living proof, when the preacher leaves town, all hell breaks lose. Point: what you worship will control you. What you worship will control you. That sexual spirit swept through the camp of Israel. The demonic power was a Satanic, fatal attraction. God buried thousands of Jewish people alive in an earthquake to demonstrate his fury. God will not tolerate this. Worshiping an idol is spiritual adultery, and it brings the judgment of God swiftly and in spades and for generations to come. It's very important. Having an idol in your home gives Satan a license to have a presence in your home.
In history, Pharaoh ruled Egypt with a symbol of a serpent in his crown. The Bible says, "That old serpent, the devil". An idol in your home, in God's opinion, is a very dangerous thing. It can become a fatal attraction. A true story of two television partners that we have: a man and his wife, devoted Christians, purchased a very expensive doll that had a coiled black snake on, mounted. Both testified that the image of the black snake brought in a strange presence into their home that had never existed before. One morning, they found a living black snake that had crawled into their palatial home, located this image, and wrapped itself around that doll. They killed that snake and threw the image and the dead snake into the trash and set it on fire. They both testified that the strange presence left their house. The question is: what idols do you have in your home that invite the prince of darkness to rule your home?
Remember, a fatal attraction looks good in the beginning, but it destroys you in the end. Do you have a sexual relationship in your life that's outside of marriage? Stop it. Break it off or get married, because that's God's law. You will never prosper until you obey the law of God. Now I've had young people look me in the eye and say, "Well, we're just trying to get to know each other". That's what you do after you say, "I do". Don't turn off this television. It's going to get better. Is your fatal attraction the love of money? Listen to me. There's no sin in being megarich. The Bible says about Abraham, the father of all who believe, that means he's your spiritual father, that he was very rich in cattle and gold and silver. And those three items are still very attractive. It is a sin when you love what you have more than you love God.
You can drive a 1952 Volkswagen with the bumpers dragging in the street and love money more than God. Listen to the story of Achan. God told the children of Israel not to take the riches of Jericho when that battle was over. They were to be used for his temple. Achan decided that he was the exception to the rule. He disobeyed the spiritual authority and it led to his destruction. That night, he slipped from his tent into Jericho, and he took a beautiful Babylonian garment, and he took 200 shekels of silver, and he took a wedge of gold. He slipped back through the darkness of the night from tent to tent until he found his tent, removed his bedroll, buried it, put his bedroll over it, put his hands behind his head and said, "I'm rich! I'm really rich! Those poor saps, who are keeping all the rules, look at me now"! He had stolen from God, and God saw it. The Bible has a promise. "Be sure your sin will find you out". That's not a promise you have on your refrigerator, but it's a promise.
A few days later, Israel went to battle against AI. AI was a little, puny, insignificant nation. And Israel's soldiers got wiped out. Joshua fell on his face before God and said, "Why? There's no reason why we shouldn't have won that battle". God said, "Get up off your face and stop praying. There is sin in the camp". And so Joshua performed a tent-by-tent examination of all the tents in Israel. And when he came to the tent of the thief and found that treasure, he said that the judgment of God must come to this family. And Achan and his wife were stoned to death. His sons and their wives were stoned to death. Even their livestock was brought and stoned to death. "They were burned to an ash," the Bible says, "So that God could put sin out of Israel".
And that's the same God that's sitting on the throne right now. God will not tolerate his children stealing from him. Some steal their tithe and offering. Malachi 3:8, "Will a man rob God? You have robbed me in tithe and offering. You are cursed with a curse". Do you think God would bring judgment to Achan for stealing from him and not bring it to you? Because he is, the Bible says, "No respecter of persons". Is your fatal attraction power? Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. You only have to look at Washington, D.C. And know that's the truth. Are you a father, who ruthlessly rules his family with an iron fist of abusive power? Does your wife cower from you? Are your children fearful of you? Does the dog hide behind the door when you come home? Stop it, lest you become a banquet for worms. Where do you get that?
Acts 12, Herod, royalty, powerful, king. He was arrayed in his royal apparel. And he sat on his throne and he gave a speech. The Bible calls it "An oration". The people of Israel shouted, "It is the voice of a God, and not a man"! Listen to that. "It is the voice of a God, and not a man"! Immediately, an angel of the Lord struck Herod, because he did not give God the glory. And he was eaten by worms and died on the spot. That's in your Bible. God is a jealous God. He has not changed his opinion. He will not share his glory with any man for any reason. The Lord's prayer says it best. "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever". It is his kingdom. It is his power. It is his glory. It is not ours, not ever, not ever, not ever! Can I get a witness? Look at what this commandment does not forbid. This commandment does not forbid works of art. For God himself instructed that cherubim, those are angels, would overshadow the mercy seat found in the tabernacle. Bells and pomegranates were on the borders of the garments of the high priest.
Man is not forbidden to make a representation of anything. He's forbidden to use it as an instrument of worship. Get that. He is forbidden to use it as an instrument of worship. "Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them". Let me make that a little clearer. It's a violation of the second commandment to bow before a statue of the virgin Mary or of saint Peter or of saint Paul. God will not tolerate idolatry from anyone for any reason, not ever! Deuteronomy 27:15, "Cursed is anyone who breaks an idol or cast an image and sets it up in secret". Man makes an idol to assist him into worship, then they focus on the image, which becomes their God. It's idolatry to have a cross around your neck unless Christ is in your heart. So why do men make images? Men make images because they've lost communion with God. They need a statue to reduce God, so they can wrap their little mind around it.
The Bible says, "God is a spirit, and they that worship him, worship him in spirit and in truth". Men make idols in attempt to cut God down to size to assume that God is susceptible to our control. Idolatry is our attempt to contain God and make him manageable. Hear this: if your God is so small, you can contain him on a piece of canvas or control him by a piece of statue, limited to the thinking of your mind, he's not worthy of worship. If your God is that little that you can totally comprehend him, he's small, he's weak, he's powerless! There is one image we are to worship. Jesus said, "Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God". Worship him! Adore him! Honor him! Serve him! Praise him! Give him praise! Give him glory! He alone is worthy of praise! Can I hear an amen? The problem in the church is that we have mental images of what God can do and cannot do.
Some of you have given up on your dreams because you are serving a limited God. You're living a limited life. Stop it! Stop saying, "It can't happen for me". Start saying, "The Lord reigns, and nothing is impossible"! There is within you a divine spark waiting to explode into its full, brilliant, dazzling glory. That's you! The royal blood of heaven is flowing in your veins, and your veins, and your veins. You are royalty. You are sons and daughters of the Most High God. Therefore, knowing that nothing is impossible with you, experience the joy, the excitement, and the divine rush of living life unlimited to do anything you want to! The Bible says, "They that wait upon Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount on wings of eagles". They shall fly into the highest heavens and look into the face of God. Do not give up on your dreams. Do not give up on your hopes. Do not give up on your future. Do not give up on your healing. Do not give up on your family. Do not give up on your job. The Almighty God is your father and you are a child where nothing shall be impossible unto you! Give the Lord praise in the house! Bless his name!
Listen. If God could use a crooked stick in the hand of Moses to lead millions of people out of captivity, if he could bring water out of a rock for one million people, think about that, if he could use a donkey to preach to Balaam, ooh, I wish I could strike that out of the Bible. God preached a sermon through a donkey that changed the course of history. Preachers need to remember that on Sunday morning. If he can use me, he can use you. If God tells you to go fishing for Moby-Dick with a cane pole, take the tartar sauce: something big is about to happen! Get a new vision of who you are! You are a child of the living God. He is not a statue. He is not limited by time. He is not limited by what you can think about. He is not the great idea. He is the great God of heaven. He is Almighty. He's your father. He is your father which art in heaven. He's looking over the balconies of heaven right now, shouting, "I love you. I made you. I don't sponsor flops. I want you to fly, fly, fly on the wings of faith, higher, higher, higher. Live your life without limit. Nothing is impossible with you".
Faith is the daring of the soul to see further than the eye can see. Make today the first day of the rest of your life. Crucify your fear. Get rid of your doubt. Believe with all of your heart that nothing is impossible for you! God is our Creator. God is greater than the mountains. He's greater than the giants. He's greater than your fears. He's greater than your handicaps. He's greater than your enemies. Put your hand in God's hand and reach for greatness. Dare to live life without limit. What is your dream? What is your dream? However impossible it seems, whatever the obstacle that lies between you and it, if it is noble, if it is consistent with God's purpose, lock your jaws on it. Lock down! You can do it! Go for it, because God is your sponsor! Do not stop. Do not quit. Do not be intimidated. Make it happen. You are living life without limit, which is the mark of a child of God. You can do this, in Jesus' name. You're not limited by the image and marvel or in the mind: for nothing is impossible to those who put their trust in God! Give him praise in the house!
Can we stand? How many of you here can say, "Pastor, I have given up on my dream"? "Living life without joy, I'm bound by self-imposed limitations". If that describes you, would you slip your hand up? I want to pray with you for today. Are there idols in your home, statues, Ouija boards, tarot cards, occultic literature? That's idolatrous. Get rid of it. Get rid of it. You want something to read? Open John 3:16 and read that. If you raised your hand for any of those things, lift your hands toward God and receive this prayer.
Our most gracious Heavenly Father, we approach your holy throne in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm asking you today that the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from all sin would cleanse us all and make us pure in your sight: that we give up our dreams that are founded on nothing, but bind ourselves to the loving God to fulfill his dream for our life: that we live our life with confidence and accomplishment, limited to nothing: for nothing shall be impossible to those that believe and are called according to the purposes of God, in Jesus' name. And all of God's children said, amen.