John Hagee - The Riches of Righteousness
Let me talk to you about 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 out squirrel hunting in east Texas. I saw a squirrel on the trunk of a slanted oak tree chirping fiercely at something at the base of the tree. I looked very closely at what was terrifying this squirrel. Slowing moving back and forth was the head of a rattlesnake, hypnotically seducing the squirrel. The squirrel sensed the danger, but ran down the tree chirping, and each time got just a little closer, and just a little closer, and just a little closer. And then in a flash, the rattlesnake struck, sank its venomous fangs deep into the flesh of that little squirrel, and its life was over. Killed by a fatal attraction.
Do you have a fatal attraction in your life? Let's look at other people who did. The children of Israel were delivered from Egypt's bondage by ten dazzling miracles from the mighty right hand of God. They went through the Red Sea, watched God drown the Egyptian army, the most powerful army on the earth. God was raining manna down every morning for them to eat, six mornings out of seven. And was giving them the cloud by day to keep them cool, and the fire by night to warm them. They saw a miracle every minute of the day and night. They went through the Red Sea to mount Sinai where Moses went face to face with God on the top of mount Sinai, receiving the Ten Commandments. Moses had been gone for 40 days, and Israel started yielding to a fatal attraction. They had lived for 400 years in Egypt that was filled with idols. They allowed their past to control their future. They allowed their past to control their future. Is that you?
Listen to me, you can only conquer your past by focusing on your future. Saint Paul said, "Forgetting those things which are past. Pressing toward the prize of the high calling in Jesus Christ". Some of you here and some of you watching by television desperately need to forget the things that are in your background that you have never been able to walk away from. You need to let God bury it in the sea of forgetfulness. Get over it and get on with your life. At mount Sinai, while Moses was on the mountain meeting with God, Aaron was crafting a bull for the children of Israel to worship while Moses was gone. It was their fatal attraction. The bull was the Egyptian God of sexual power. The result when Moses came down from mount Sinai, the children of Israel were having a sex orgy in the desert. It was a massive sex orgy. Worshipping an idol is spiritual adultery, and it brings the judgment of God swiftly and in spades.
Here's the rest of the story that you have never heard, or maybe have never been told. The untold story is in Exodus 32. "And the Lord said to Moses, 'I have seen these people'". When God saw what they were doing, and Moses saw what they were doing, he said, "They are indeed a stiff-necked people," he's talking about the Jewish people. "Now therefore let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them, that I might consume them, and I will make you, Moses, a great nation". Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand. And so it was, as soon as he came near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. So, Moses' anger became hot also. And he cast the tablets out of his hand and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Then he took the calf which they had made, and he burned it with fire, he ground it to powder, he scattered it on the water and he made them drink it. He made them drink that water.
When Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and shouted, "Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me". God Almighty right now is asking the people in America, "Who is on the Lord's side? Who is on the Lord's side"? Listen to this. "And all the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and about 3,000 men of Israel were killed that day. And the Lord said to Moses, 'whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book'". God still has that book, it's in the Book of Revelation. It has every thought and every deed that you've ever written down. "So, the Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made".
To those of you who have been taught that God is a doting grandfather, sitting benignly in the heavens, smiling at your sinful conduct, please pay attention. Without repentance, it would be impossible to describe the wrath and fury of God in your immediate future. I assure you, God is watching you. It's all being recorded. He's not smiling at what you're doing. The grace of God is a magnificent thing, but the grace of God on Judgment Day will be ended, and the wrath of God will fall on those who have submitted to this fatal attraction. Having an idol in your home gives satan a license to rule your home. Pharaoh ruled Egypt with a symbol of the serpent on his crown, cobras. The Bible says, "That old serpent, the devil". An idol in your home, in God's opinion, is dangerous because it's a fatal attraction. Anything that attracts you away from God, away from God's word, be very careful.
What idols do you have in your home that invite the prince of darkness to rule your home? Praying to an idol is offensive to God. Recognizing an idol is offensive to God. Your direct contact to heaven is through the name and the authority of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and no one else. Let's examine the fatal attractions of Bible heroes. Remember, a fatal attraction is something that looks good in the beginning, but it destroys in the end. Here is David and Bathsheba. David was a prophet, he was a poet, he was a warrior. He was a statesman. The Bible says he was a man after God's own heart. This guy, David, killed Goliath, he conquered Jerusalem and the Jebusites 3,000 years ago. Jesus Christ introduced himself in the Bible as the son of David. David was the Rambo of Israel. He was somebody, but David had a fatal attraction. He saw Bathsheba bathing on the roof.
Now, I have been to David's house. I have stood on his second floor. Her house wasn't more than a hundred yards down the trail. And where she was standing was in the broad, open daylight. What I'm saying is, this lady was not in any way trying to secretly hide the fact she was taking a bath naked. David might have said, "Dear God, I'm just gonna risk one eye and look". But he didn't. He desired her. He was the king. He sent for her, he had sex with her, he impregnated her.
David conspired to murder her husband, and then to send him into battle. God's prophet, Nathan, invaded the palace, pointed his bony finger in the face of king David, and said, "Thou art the man. You have committed murder. The sin is on your house". David confessed his sin in Psalms 51. He says, and it's written, "Take not your Holy Spirit from me, and do not remove the joy of my salvation". God forgave David, but David paid for the rest of his life for this secret sin. Consider David's life. His child with Bathsheba died. His son, Absalom, was a rebel who sought to kill David while having sex with David's wives in public to humiliate his father, the king. David's daughter was raped by his son. His life was blessed with staggering accomplishment, but he suffered one heartbreak after the other for the rest of his life.
Is your fatal attraction the love of money? It's not sin to be rich. Abraham was very rich in cattle, gold, and silver. Those three things will still make you rich. Job was the richest man in the east. Joseph was the second most powerful person on the earth in his generation. The fact is, every believer has the potential of unspeakable wealth. God, your father, owns all of the wealth in the world, and he delights in your prosperity. But he cannot allow you to manage more than your obedience factor will permit. It's a sin when you love that which you have more than you love the God who gave it to you. Did you hear what I just said? It's a sin when you love what you have more than you love the God that gave it to you, because God can most assuredly take it away from you. You can drive a 1964 Volkswagen and crave money more than God.
Listening to the Old Testament story of Achan, God told the children of Israel not to take the riches of Jericho. When Jericho was conquered, those riches belonged to God, who was going to use it in the building of the temple. Achan decided that he was the exception to the rule. How many of you know people in your family who feel they're always the exception to the rule? Don't raise your hand, just think about it. A bunch of you. An exception to the rule. Achan decided he disobeyed spiritual authority, and it led to his destruction, the destruction of his wife and children, the destruction of everything he owned. That night, when all of the children of Israel went to sleep, Achan slipped from tent to tent into the city of Jericho, and he took a beautiful Babylonian garment, he took 200 shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold. He snuck back through the camp until he got back to his tent, he buried his treasure under his night robe, he laid down, put his hands behind his head and screamed, "I'm rich"!
Fool. You're not rich, you just killed yourself. Why? He had stolen from God. Be sure your sins will find you out. A few days later, Israel went to battle against Ai. Little, puny, pathetic, insignificant Ai. And Israel's soldiers were defeated in an unbelievable defeat. Joshua fell on his face before God and said, "Why did this happen"? And God said, "Get up off your face, there's sin in the camp". So, they went from tent to tent searching for that treasure. And when they found it in Achan's tent with his wife, their sons, and their wives, their livestock, all of that was stoned to death, put in a pile, and burned to an ash.
Listen to the story of king Herod. In acts 12, king Herod got dressed up in his royal apparel. He sat on his throne, and he gave an oration. This is in the Bible, acts 12. And the people of Israel shouted, "It is the voice of a God and not of a man". That is a dangerous thing to do. Immediately, an angel of the Lord struck Herod because he did not give the glory to God, and Herod was eaten by worms before he could get off the throne. Ouch. God is a jealous God. He will not share his glory with any man for any reason. The Lord's prayer says, "For thine is the kingdom, and thine is the power, and thine is the glory". This is his kingdom, it is by his power, it is for his glory, not mine, not ours, not ever. Hallelujah. 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 the cherubims, those are angels, overshadowed the mercy seat found in the tabernacle. Bells and pomegranates were on the borders of the garment 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. "You shall not bow yourself them," not ever. It's a violation of the second commandment to bow before a statue of saint John, saint Paul, the virgin Mary, or anybody else. The only one you bow before is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Why do men make images? Men make idols and images because God, to them, is dead. No man who knows God, who is living in sweet communion with him, needs a statue or a picture to help him pray. God is a spirit. The Bible says, "God is a spirit and they that worship him, worship him in spirit and in truth". You don't need an idol. Men make idols in an attempt to cut God down to size, to assume that God is subservient to our control. Idolatry is our attempt to contain God and make him manageable. Listen to this, if your God is so small that you contain him on a canvas, or control him by a statue, or limit him to your mind, he's not worthy of worship. He's small, he's weak, and he's powerless. The God of this Bible has all power in heaven and in earth. He is the God, he is the God. Give him praise and glory in the house.
There is one image that we worship, it is Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:15, "Jesus Christ who is the image of the invisible God". Worship him, adore him, honor him, serve him, praise him, give him the praise and glory. Amen.
Here's the essence of this second commandment. It's God's desire for you to live life without limit. "No other Gods before me". A statue, an image, whether it's mental or physical, is a limitation. Every statue, every image came out of a man's brain. And if a man's brain is too small to fully comprehend God, you have no business praying to that statue. I repeat, the Bible says, "God is a spirit, and they that worship him, worship him in spirit and in truth". Jesus Christ lived a life without limit. He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem's manger. He commanded the winds and waves, and he walked on water. He cast demons out with a word. He didn't interview demons, he cast them out with a word. He healed the lepers with rotting flesh with a touch. He raised the dead, he healed the sick, he turned water into wine. He walked out of his grave on the third day just like he said. He ascended into heaven. He's coming back in the clouds of heaven for the church triumphant. He will return to earth as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Queens, kings, presidents, and prime ministers in the City of Jerusalem are going to bow before him. You want to limit that to a statue? I think not. Our God is an awesome God. There is no limit to his power. You are God's children. God wants you to live without limit. Jesus said after performing mighty miracles, "Greater things than these shall you do". He's talking about you, and you, and you, and every person on this television who believes the contents of this Bible. Greater things than these shall you do. Nothing is impossible to those that believe. That verse has challenged me all of my life. Nothing is impossible to those that believe. "Unto him who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that you can ask or think". "Ask and you shall receive".
Think about that. God has a menu of things he wants to give to you. The problem in the church is we have mental images of what God can't do. Where'd you ever get that? Some of you have given up on your dreams because you serve a limited God. You're living a limited life. Stop it. Stop saying it can't happen. Start saying, "The Lord reigns and nothing is impossible. The Lord reigns and nothing is impossible". Every person in this room is a divine creation of a majestic God who, in the second commandment, dares you to live life without limit. There is within his divine spark, waiting to explode, that will bring you into a dimension you never dreamed possible.
The royal blood of heaven is flowing in your veins. Nothing is impossible to those who believe. Know the joy, know the excitement, know the divine rush of living without limit. The Bible says, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount on the wings of eagles, they shall fly into the highest heaven 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 coming together in unity. Do not give up on the job that you're working, and you feel so stranded and so helpless. Hear me. If God could use a crooked stick in the hand of Moses to lead millions of people to freedom, to bring water from a rock, if he could do that, he can do anything for you that you have the courage enough to ask him for. Give the Lord praise in the house.
Get a new vision of who you are. You are a child of the living God. He's not a statue, he's not a limited image, he's not a great idea, he is your father, which is in heaven. He's looking over the balconies of heaven saying, "I love you. I made you. I don't sponsor flops". Fly, fly, fly on the wings of faith higher, and higher, and higher until you're in the face of God. Faith is the daring of the soul to see further than the eye can see. Make today the best day of the rest of your life. Crucify your fears, stomp on your doubts, your insecurities. When you want something you've never had, you've got to do something you've never done, and that's experience the riches of righteousness. Ask and you shall receive. Hallelujah.
Stand to your feet. While the organist is playing, I want to ask you to look deeply in your soul. You might want to close your eyes right now. How many of you in this building have a fatal attraction? Something if you do not conquer it, is going to destroy your marriage, your health, your eternal soul. If that describes you, would you slip your hand up? I wanna have prayer with you right now. Slip your hand up. God bless you, God bless you. You need to confess it now because you will when you stand in front of God. Thank you, God bless you. I want you to pray this prayer with me, those of you who are watching by television.
Heavenly Father, I approach your throne in the precious name of Jesus Christ, your Son and my Savior. I am asking you to deliver me from the thing that's trying to destroy me. Let my life be rich and full. Blessed beyond measure because of my obedience to the Word of God. In Jesus' name, amen.