The Old Altar And The New AltarThe Old Altar And The New AltarThe new gospel being preached today sounds very modern and uplifting but it is generating death to its hearers. What many people call "old-fashioned" preaching was no more than men pointing the sinner to the Cross of Christ instead of 'redirecting' him. The story of Jacob is a beautiful picture of the trek of the child of God and what happens to us when we substitute the old altars of our faith for the new ones of modern Christendom. To have true Holy-Ghost sent revival in America, we must return to the old altar!
By Chris McDonald
TEXT: Genesis 35:1-3 - And God said unto Jacob,
Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that
appeared unto thee when you fled from the face of Esau thy brother. [2] Then
Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the
strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: [3] And
let us arise, and go up to Bethel;
and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my
distress, and was with me in the way which I went.
Back in 1963 right before his death, the Rev. A.W. Tozer wrote a tract I believed inspired by the Holy Ghost entitled, "The New Cross And The Old Cross." Before I get into the life of Jacob I felt it necessary to share this tract with you in this journal. I believe the Holy Ghost was giving Rev. Tozer an insight to a demonic trend that was coming to the modern church in the years following his death. A trend that would sound so much better than the normal preaching of the gospel but a trend that would leave men's souls empty and void. I have highlighted a few of the main points in this powerful word of the Lord to us in the modern 21rst Century Church. I pray we ALL hear what the SPIRIT says the churches! The tract says:
"ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental. From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.
The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.
The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.
The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner anal jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.
The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross. The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.
The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life. That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.
We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum. God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him.
What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.
Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ. To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God's approval.
Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power.
Praise God and Praise God!!!! I feel the anointing of the Holy Spirit as I write this. Preacher, God did not call you to be a politician or a member in high standing at the Kiwanis club. He called you to be a bastion and a light of the cross of Jesus Christ, to lift HIGH the blood stain banner of the cross. As the old song goes - STAND UP STAND UP FOR JESUS, ye SOLDIERS of the CROSS! Lift HIGH it's royal banner, it MUST NOT SUFFER LOSS! Oh Hallelujah.
I want to take you back to the story
of one of the greatest men of the Bible - JACOB. Jacob's life I believe is one
of the best blueprints of the Christian walk found anywhere in the Word of God.
The Holy Spirit at times is not nice in His portrait of Jacob and as one writer
of old put it "the Holy Spirit revealed Jacob's life 'warts and all'" He was the
son of Isaac and became the bedrock and father of 12 sons who would become what
we know today as the mighty nation of Israel. Israel was the name God gave to
Jacob when God found Jacob underneath the stars at Bethel one night as a ladder
descended from heaven and angels transported themselves from earth to glory and
back again. In spite of his failures God always refers to Himself as the God of
Abraham, Isaac AND OF JACOB. Oh praise God. I feel a special touch of the Holy
Spirit as I write that last statement. THE GOD OF Abraham, Isaac AND OF JACOB.
In
our text we see that the Lord had come to Jacob and commanded him to return to a
place called Bethel. When Jacob lived in Padan-aram, he was there because he had
deceived his father and brother and was running for his life. He spent 20 long
years here which in modern times would be modern day Syria. The day Jacob left
Bethel was the last time he would see his mother Rebecca alive again, the same
woman who had helped him in this deception.
And after 20 years in Syria,
God spoke to him and said "I AM THE GOD OF BETHEL, come back here" (Gen. 35:1)
Bethel was a non-descript place. The closest town was a place called Luz so in
reality Bethel was out under the stars where God had first spoke to Jacob and
gave him the ladder that went to heaven. More than likely it was in Bethel after
the ladder incident where Jacob was 'born from above' as we would say in New
Covenant terms. It was the place where he MET GOD and was changed forever.
As Jacob then embarks on his trip
back to Bethel, he comes back a rich man.
God had blessed him financially despite all his difficulties and despite his
character flaws. All of his family was now born except Benjamin, the 12 sons
becoming the foundation of the great nation of Israel. But remember this about
prosperity.
Financial prosperity is not always a sign of God's will. It may be His blessings
because God blessings at times even when a person is not in God's will. If that
were not the case, then very precious
few would know any type of blessing. The point is and never has been the fact
God blesses. The point is that we should never mistake God's prosperity and
blessings as a sign we are in His will. Millions are misunderstanding that point
today. The church as a whole has degenerated the message we preach into a "bless
me" message and nothing more. As for Jacob, he has the world by a string,
flocks, cattle, riches in abundance - AND GOD HAS GIVEN HIM ALL OF THIS. But
he is NOT where God wants Him to be.
You see, it is easy to find the will of God but it is very hard at times to OBEY the will
of God. At Bethel, Jacob had wrestled with God or I should say God wrestled with
JACOB. This wrestling is the story of the life of
every Christian. Your wrestling is not with Esau. Your wrestling is not with
your employers, your employees or whomever. Your wrestling is with God. He's trying to
bring you to the place he wants you.
Genesis 32:24 - And Jacob was left alone; and there (BETHEL) wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
It was not Jacob wrestling with God as much as it was GOD wrestling with
Jacob. God INITIATED this wrestling to change Jacob forever. AND THAT IS THE KEY
TO THIS CHRISTIAN WALK and LIFE. God is
wrestling trying to bring us to the place he wants us. He's wrestling to bring
us to the place of submission to HIS PERFECT will for our life. We can argue
about the permissive and perfect will of God all we want to but with God that is
not an argument in heaven. He has one plan for our lives and He loves us so much
He will at times INITIATE a wrestling match to get us to where He wants us.
Let me warn you. This wrestling match when it is over will leave you crippled from depending on
your own strength. You will think that everyone has left at times. You will
think your life has come to an abrupt end. You will think you have lost
everything and everyone precious and close to you. When the dust settles you
will feel like the loneliest person in the world at times. It's part of the
wrestling process God has in store for everyone of His children in His master
plan to make us "HIS WORKMANSHIP." The work He does in us is painful at times
because He is working with stubborn, rebellious, proud, human FLESH. When you read
the verse in Gen. 32:24 you see that Jacob was "left alone." Surgery is never
easy but when they haul you into that cold room with nothing but a sheet and a
huge light shining in your face there is no one in the room but YOU and the
doctor. Your wife is not there, your children are not there, your father is not
there, your mother is not there, your friends are not there, your pastor is not
there. Nope, surgery is just between YOU and the doctor. And when God starts
wrestling with us, He usually does it in such a manner that there is NO ONE LEFT
IN THE ROOM BUT US AND GOD. AND JACOB was left alone to wrestle with God on this
night in Bethel.
Once A Slave To The Sin Nature
Romans 6:3-5 - Know ye not, that so many of us as
were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? [4] Therefore we
are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness
of life. [5] For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death,
we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Romans 6:17 - But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye
have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
This walk called Christianity is not an easy trip. When Paul wrote in Romans 6:17 that we all were once servants to the sin of nature but we had "obeyed the form of doctrine" which was delivered to us, he was talking from the standpoint of a person who had been a slave to sin but had realized that the wrestling and the altar experiences of the faith were part of the born-again experience.
When he said
that "form of doctrine" he was referring to what he
stated in verses 3-5 of this same chapter. We ARE BURIED with HIM in BAPTISM and
RAISED in newness of life.
That is the form of doctrine that CHANGES LIFE. The church preaches a great deal
of "doctrine" today but it has no life in it because it does not embrace the
cross of Christ, the old altar of our faith. Today's message has become nothing
more than a cheerleading report on how much the church is accomplishing "for the
Kingdom" when in fact what we are doing is building our own shrines to ourselves
and ministries that will edify our name here on earth and not in eternity. The
people who pay for that type theology the most are the listeners and hearers.
The poor bound soul seeks freedom for its bondage and all the church can offer
them is a "better way of life" if they will just come down and join our church
and profess they are saved.
As Rev. Tozer so boldly stated it, the old message we used to preach no longer "redirected" the Old Man to a better way of living - it killed HIM! The old cross KILLED THE OLD MAN. The old man DIES. It dies at the cross and it is raised a NEW MAN in Christ Jesus. The new cross only puts a face on an empty heart. The old cross changes the life. The new cross only puts a face on an empty life. Outwardly it is religious, inside it is empty. The Old cross doesn't care what denomination you belong to - it destroys the old life and changes you and sets you free from sin and the powers of darkness! It was at Bethel that God first dealt with Jacob's OLD MAN. It was here He asked Jacob about his name and his character.
Genesis 32:27 - And he said unto him, What is thy
name? And he said, Jacob.
When God asked him this question, he replied "My name is Jacob." The God of heaven knew what Jacob's name was. He was the
one who told Rebecca WHAT to name both Jacob and his elder brother Esau. He
wanted Jacob to know. AND HE WANTS US TO KNOW AS WELL TOO. Jacob's name meant "heel catcher, trickster, schemer,
deceiver." No matter how you clean him up - he's still JACOB. No matter where
you put him - he's still JACOB. No matter what church he belongs to - he's still
JACOB. No matter if he preaches or sells shoes - he's still JACOB. AND NO MATTER
WHAT OR HOW YOU TRY TO CHANGE THE ENVIRONMENT AROUND YOU, YOU ARE STILL JACOB!
AND I'M STILL JACOB TOO. The psychologist may tell you they can change your name
but they can't. Their name is JACOB too by the way. One Jacob can't change
another Jacob. God said "I'm changing your name 'heel catcher, trickster,
schemer, deceiver,' to ISRAEL, a PRINCE with God." I want to say it again.
All the psychology in the world can't change you. All the world's therapy can't change you.
But when you come to the CHRIST OF THE CROSS HE can change your name from Jacob to
ISRAEL, and make you a PRINCE with GOD!
After All This, Jacob Still Not In Will Of
God
One key thing I want you to see here
before we move on is the fact that Jacob had many supernatural manifestations in
this trek he made prior to returning to the old altar at Bethel. Before the wrestling match,
the Bible records in Genesis 32:1-2 that Jacob saw "bands of
angels," in other words millions of them. God had pulled back the blinds of the
Spirit World and let him see things only a few have really ever seen. Think
about that good.
Esau couldn't have hurt a hair on his head. There were angels everywhere. But
even that manifestation of an angelic vision and visitation did not change Jacob.
AND IT WILL NOT CHANGE ONE SINGLE SOLITARY SOUL TODAY. HEAR ME CLOSELY HERE.
TAKE YOUR MOUSE AND UNDERLINE THIS AND REWRITE IT ON YOUR HEART. Jesus did not
say that "you'll see manifestations and the manifestations will set you free."
And don't misunderstand me. I'm as Pentecostal, Charismatic as they come. What
I'm about to say next is not said in arrogance or pride but to make a point. BUT
I SPEAK IN TONGUES MORE THAN MOST OF YOU READING THIS ARTICLE. Manifestations
from God are great. Anything we get from God is powerful, wonderful and needs to
be sought. And we need to be mighty careful how we judge manifestations. Many
times we find ourselves labeling that which is of God of Satan and that which is
of Satan of God if we're not careful. I believe in the supernatural
working and power of God. I believe miracles still take place today. I believe
the gifts of the SPIRIT are FOR TODAY. I believe the power of almighty God is
the same as it was 10,000 years ago. I believe God hasn't changed and He hasn't
stopped saving, healing and delivering. I believe God is STILL baptizing people
in the Holy Ghost and fire with the evidence of speaking with other tongues as
the SPIRIT OF GOD gives them the utterance. But victory over sin has never been
won through seeing manifestations.
Jesus said "you shall know the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall set you free." (John 8:32) Two things I want you to see here. One, the truth will keep you from falling for the false! Those who know the TRUTH will not be duped into stupid antics and foolishness that goes on in the name of God. Secondly, all the manifestations in the world will not deliver you from your problem!
I mean if manifestations were the key to victorious Christian living then the children of Israel should have been a synch for saint hood before they ever reached the Promised Land. They had watched God lay waste the mightiest nation on the face of the earth with some of the most powerful demonstrations of His power known the mankind. I mean just seeing frogs come out of the Nile into the home of Pharaoh would have been enough for me. Seeing Egypt in total darkness while Goshen, where the children of Israel lived, remain full of light would have certainly done something for the remaining skeptics. Seeing the Nile turn to blood would have even done it. But God did far more than that. Then to boot God slew the firstborn of Egypt while protecting the Israelites with just the spreading of blood on their mantles by hyssop. Then he brought 2.3 million out of Egypt to the brink of the Red Sea and parted right in the middle and allowed them to walk across on dry ground to then turn around and cause that same Red Sea to come crashing down on the Egyptian army and crush Pharaoh's pride and arrogance.
But even after all that and feeding the children of Israel with manna and keeping them from dying of thirst in the wilderness for 40 years, manifestations did not sanctify them nor did it make them worship the true and living God any better than they did while they were slaves! I mean in the book of Exodus it records that following the destruction of Egypt, the elders of Israel "SAW THE LORD!." (Ex. 28-32) This was not just a vision of God, but they literally SAW GOD in all His glory and grandeur. Yet days later they were building a golden calf to a heathen deity. That needs to sink in to some of you. Some of you are battling for your spiritual lives right now and you're seeking answers to why you can't get victory over the problems you have. And you can have 10,000 bottles of oil poured on your head and have the entire state of Georgia and Tennessee lay hands on you and neighbor you will still have your problem after the dust settles. WHY? We'll get to that more in a minute.
But you see, YOU CAN'T GET AROUND THE WRESTLING AND YOU CAN'T DO AWAY WITH THE OLD
ALTAR AT BETHEL. And the enemy is slick. He's so slick that if you can't or
won't do away with the OLD altar, he will substitute the old altar for a new
one. He did that to Jacob and he's doing it to the church of the 21rst Century.
He's not making us denounce what Christ did at the cross as false. He's just getting us to
preach "another gospel" and infiltrate us with "another spirit" that is causing
us to preach "another Jesus." This "other gospel" is the new altar and new cross
that sounds much better than the old one. As Brother Tozer stated, it makes
Christianity "user friendly." It's very similar in most ways to the
old cross. It's just dressed up a little better and a little less "ugly" for
those who seek to circumvent the price Yeshua paid for our redemption.
Jacob Builds A New Altar In Succoth
Genesis 33:17-20 - And Jacob journeyed
to Succoth, and built him an
house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called
Succoth. [18] And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the
land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-aram; and pitched his tent before the
city. [19] And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at
the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of
money. [20]
And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.
The Lord told Jacob to go to Bethel but he went to Succoth.
Succoth is not the place you want to be and it was not the place Jacob ever
wanted to be. In Succoth, Diana gets raped. In Succoth, the kids are killing
everyone. In Succoth, you lose the respect of the towns folks and just about everything you have. Your problems
are because you've built the new altar at Succoth and have not returned to BETHEL!
Some of you reading that are saying
"what are you talking about??" I'm not talking about a physical place you're in,
I'm talking about the SPIRITUAL place you're in! You're in the wrong place IN THE SPIRIT.
Millions of well-meaning Christians are in Succoth. Jacob built an altar there
but there is absolutely NO WHERE in scripture where it is found that God told him to
do that. This new altar looks just like the old altar. Jacob offered up
sacrifices on it and shouted hallelujah. But it was not where God wanted him to be
and he had nothing but TROUBLE there. And many of you reading this are having
nothing but trouble in your Christian walk and you don't know why. You go to
church and shout and have a great time and some even teach and preach. But there
is an emptiness inside and every single attack imaginable is coming against you
in the spirit and you just can't understand why you can't find that place of
victory.
Jacob had the same issues. It was
here at Succoth (Shechem was a city in the area known as Succoth) where
Diana got raped by a heathen boy. It was this event where
Satan's tried to sully the princely line through whom the Messiah was to come
through of the sacred family. After the rape of Diana,
Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, said in their hearts "we'll teach these Shecamites a thing or two." And without going into the gory details (and they
were gory) the killed every last man and boy and took their little children as
captive.
Genesis 34:25-29 - And it came to pass on the
third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi,
Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and
slew all the males. [26] And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge
of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out. [27] The sons
of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled
their sister. [28] They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and
that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, [29] And all their
wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and
spoiled even all that was in the house.
Not to sound coy or funny but the fact is, THAT WAS THE CHURCH OF THAT DAY!! Friend, if a preacher, church, or church member is out of the will of God, you will have a mess on your hands! Jacob had a mess on his hands and his new altar was not doing him any good. AND YOUR NEW ALTAR WILL NOT DO YOU ANY GOOD EITHER!
As I close this journal, there are four things that Jacob said when he arrived back at Bethel that illustrate what happen to us when we substitute the old altar for the new altar:
Genesis 35:1-10 - And God said unto Jacob, Arise,
go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that
appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. [2]
Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him,
Put away the strange gods that are among
you, and be clean, and
change your garments: [3] And
let us arise, and go up to Bethel;
and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my
distress, and was with me in the way which I went. [4] And they gave unto Jacob
all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were
in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. [5] And
they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about
them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. [6] So Jacob came
to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people
that were with him. [7] And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el:
because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
[8] But Deborah Rebecca's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an
oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bachuth. [9] And God appeared
unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan-aram, and blessed him. [10] And God
said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob,
but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.
1. "Put away the strange gods that are among you" Strange gods are
the result of the new altars today in the church. We don't preach the need any
longer for a man's heart to be changed by the power of God, we preach that he is
to be "redirected" to the church counseling section of our buildings. Or if we
don't send him to the church counseling session by our in-house psychologists,
we send him through our 10-step programs thinking that somehow after the 10th
step the poor soul will be free. HE WILL NOT!
If that don't work then we think we'll just entertain him enough to where he will come to our meetings and we will have another tither on the church role. People look for churches left and right and they're on every corner that offers "good clean entertainment." AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS A MILLION MILES AWAY FROM THEM AND NO WHERE REMOTELY TO BE FOUND!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to say something that needs to be said. I know there is disagreement with some. It's an old issue with me so bear with me. I'm not attacking any one group or individual and I'm not saying that Christians should never have a time of enjoyment and entertainment
But the spirit behind what we see as the modern contemporary Christian music industry and movement as well as the southern gospel music industry and movement has produced nothing more than strange gods in our churches. The church has brought this spirit into their buildings to entertain the people like Nashville and Hollywood seek to entertain those in the world. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE - the lyrics and beat are just slightly different. "BUT OH BROTHER MCDONALD I DISAGREE WITH YOU STRONGLY THERE THEY SING ABOUT JESUS AND ITS OK BECAUSE THEY PUT JESUS IN THE LYRICS AND PEOPLE ARE BLESSED BECAUSE OF THAT." Neighbor, hear me. It's a NEW ALTAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it will never produce life and true freedom in the people. And while I'm getting myself in a whole heap of trouble with some let me just go a little farther and say this - so-called Christian television has done more to advance the coming apostasy than any other medium the devil would ever dream of using in the world. He don't need the world to destroy humanity any longer, he has the new altars of the church.
Oh we can get people to come to our churches to be entertained but we can't get them out to prayer meeting or intercession if it hair lipped grandma. As R.W. Schambauch once said, "have a big quartet at your church and you'll have them standing for miles to get in. Have a prayer meeting and you won't fill the front pew." But more dastardly than that is the spirit that is pervading the Body of Christ by the "Christian" entertainment industry - IT'S A STRANGE GOD. It's a STRANGE GOD and a NEW ALTAR. I recently heard the pastor of a local church get up and proclaim why his church hosts contemporary Christian concerts. He said that he wants to make these "artists" available to the public at a "reasonable" price so the world can see the church embraces the same music they do. Who cares what music we embrace??? THE SOULS IN HELL DON'T CARE. THE SOULS IN HELL DON'T CARE WHAT SONG IS NO. ONE ON THE CHARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE SOULS IN HELL DON'T CARE WHO THE WINNER OF LAST YEAR'S DOVE AWARDS ARE. THE SOULS IN HELL DON'T CARE WHETHER OR NOT OUR CHURCH WAS PACKED TO CAPACITY LAST NIGHT BECAUSE OF THE MEGA STARS WE HAD ENTERTAINING THE MASSES. HEAR ME MAN OF GOD. THE CHURCH HAS NOT BEEN CALLED TO BE ENTERTAINMENT TO THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My God since when have we been called to give these so-called "dove" awards for Christian music? I mean God does anybody else see the fact that it's just an effort to copy the Emmys, the Oscars, and the Tony's??????? WHY ARE WE TRYING TO MIMIC THE WORLD?????? I mean why are we so self-righteously and arrogantly worried about MTV instilling poison in our kids when they can come to our local church down the block and see the exact same spirit portrayed on stage and passed off as ok because they use lyrics for Jesus? I watched a certain group of young ladies perform at this local church I'm referring too back in the spring and all I could think about was "I'm watching the Backstreet 'Girls' up here on stage.'" I mean the smoke coming out of the altar was about the same. The costumes were about the same. The backup singers were jooking out probably worse than something you'd find at the local bar. The young ladies wore outfits tighter than a Republican fund-raiser and yet everyone in the audience was just clapping and having a grand old time - NOT AT THE LOCAL BAR DOWNTOWN but in a local church.
And neighbor you can call that type music of the HOLY SPIRIT if you like but I call it a STRANGE GOD and a NEW ALTAR and before the church sees TRUE HOLY GHOST REVIVAL believe what I say to you - we MUST come back to the CROSS and the TRUE WORSHIP of a TRULY HOLY GOD!!
We may call them them "dove" awards but they are more like the "buzzard" awards! They are a STRANGE GOD, STRANGE GOD!!!!!!!!! They're a STRANGE GOD that has found its way into our churches and worship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't say it hard enough or loud enough -it's a STRANGE GOD and a new altar that will not change the hearts of men. Besides the blatant sin of us indulging in the pride of life <1 John 2:15-17> with this so-called entertainment there is no where in scripture where it said we are to go around "singing" the good news of Christ. The church's call is not full-time singing evangelism but the call of the church is to PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE!!!!!!!!
And listen good to me. I have no problem with quartets and the like. My dad sings in a gospel quartet. But let's get real for a minute and just admit that we are really in the deepest recesses of our heart, and after all the fluff and the image is stripped away, that we are really entertaining people. It makes me laugh almost to the point of vomiting at times to hear these so-called "professional" groups get up and tell people they're singing for Jesus yet they wouldn't even be up there to begin with had they not been given a guaranteed "FEE" to sing. That's IDOLATRY and DELUSION! And it's a STRANGE GOD and a NEW ALTAR that leaves people's flesh happy but their soul unchanged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have substituted the old fashioned preaching of the cross for the new altar of Christian entertainment. And the result is hell for many!!!!!!!! God help us. The blood of so many is going to be held at the hands of many preachers who were more worried about the crowds than the souls of men. It's not a valid trade off!
And before you get angry and scream back and say "well you just don't understand this concept of Christian entertainment Mr. McDonald. I mean this group the other night came to our church and they gave an altar call for those that wanted to come to Jesus." Let me tell you this. Chances are the ones who came down front were not coming to renounce their old life. They were coming because they got entertained and the entertainers said something that they liked to hear and they embraced THAT instead of embracing the CROSS OF CHRIST, the only TRUE SOURCE of salvation. And to be honest about it, let's just face the facts. Many of those singing "Christian" music are not Christians themselves just as many preachers who preach are not Christians themselves. Many preach about and sing about a Christ they have never met!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No. 2 - Jacob said "BE CLEAN." The word clean here has connotation to "righteousness." Jesus rebuked Laodicea because she replaced HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS with a self-righteousness that STANK in the nostrils of God. It stank so much it made him VOMIT. And when you're in Succoth you don't see your need to be clean. You don't see the need to change. You don't see the need to repent because your self-righteousness has made you BLIND!
Listen. Because of the "new" altars of the church, there is an epidemic of arrogance and PRIDE in the church today. This arrogance and pride has led us into delusion thinking we have become the source of salvation for the world instead of pointing people to the REAL SOURCE and that is Yeshua Ha'maschiah!! What do I mean by that? Whenever the church stops making the sinner feel uncomfortable in his condition in our buildings and instead gives the sinner hope that he does not have to renounce his life and repent of his sins ,the sinner man may become very religious but he will NOT ever be free of his sin!! And a person who is religious yet bound by sin always winds up in self-righteousness eventually because the enemy's greatest delusion in our lives is making us think we are ok in the condition and we have NO NEED TO CHANGE AND REPENT!!!!!!! And that person's soul is in eternal peril unless the true light of the gospel is shared with him before it is too late.
Listen neighbor, the church cannot clean up the world. ONLY JESUS CAN! Jerry Falwell had a campaign back in the early 1980s called the "Moral Majority." The catch phrase of this movement was "Let's clean up America." It should have been Let's clean UP. He should have put a period at the end of that first statement to denote the fact that the CHURCH needs to allow the HOLY SPIRIT to clean US UP FIRST! How can we take the speck out of the world's eye with a beam of ungodliness in our own????????? The reason we are trying to do that is because of our "new altars" in the church. It's because we have substituted the real power of God for psychology and programs. God knows we are busy in the church today. Every time you turn around something is "going" on. But that "going" on is not revival nor is it even God. It's man's effort to replace the old altar with a new altar and it won't work. And it will never make us CLEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Being clean does NOT mean we don't smoke, dip or cuss. Being clean is that we have been WASHED by the blood of Yeshua and that BLOOD has SET US FREE to the point where we don't WANT to smoke, dip or cuss!
No. 3 Jacob said "Change your garments." In other words, REND YOUR HEARTS and repent. Repentance is an ugly business. As A.W. Tozer said it does not cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die. When we repent there is no one accountable but US. We don't seek any justification for our actions but we humble ourselves before a holy and offended God and say "I HAVE SINNED AND I THROW MYSELF ON YOUR MERCY."
The sickening arrogance of the church has made us oblivious to our own need to repent. And in turn because the world sees us with no desire or effort to repent and change our ways, our messages to them to do the same fall on deaf ears. That is why our converts get saved on Sunday and are back at the bar on Monday. It's why we have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on committees and have meetings every week on trying to figure out how to keep people coming to our churches. What I am about to say is going to hurt a little and you need to read the entire paragraph before getting mad. I believe in the cell-group idea of the church. I believe with all my heart that home groups are biblical and scriptural and that as we near the end the church of the last generation will once again be in the homes. The first church began in the homes and we will go out in the homes. But many churches have made cell-groups their "new altar." The cell groups have become a substitute for preaching the word and has taken away from the efforts by the church to win the lost. Nine times out of ten the cell group leader don't know where the book of James is in his Bible or have a clue about the word of God. And when we substitute the preaching of the word for cell groups led by people who don't know the Lord, friend that is a new altar. The reason we do that is again to make our churches "user friendly." NEIGHBOR CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A USER FRIENDLY RELIGION. And preacher and pastor if everything you are doing at your church is geared to make your church user friendly - YOU ARE IN SUCCOTH and you need to return to BETHEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Quickly let me give you five things that happen when you come back to Bethel. I'll make them brief. These in themselves may be a journal at a later date. Jacob returns and builds the old altar again at Bethel. When he does this:
1. His family gave up the strange gods in their hands - When we come back to the cross we won't have to tell our people in our church to stop going to dirty movies and worshipping idols. THEY WILL HAVE BEEN CHANGED in their hearts and will do so because their hearts beat only for the one who redeemed them - Yeshua Ha'maschiah!
2. The terror of God was upon the cities round about - When we come back to the old altar of the cross the fear of the Lord will once again grip this nation like it's never been gripped. We have lost the fear of God in the church and until we get it back, we are wasting our time slamming our hands on our pulpits declaring that the fear of God must return to the nation. THEY DON'T FEAR GOD BECAUSE WE DON'T FEAR GOD!!! Judgment begins with THE HOUSE OF GOD! And we have lost the fear of GOD IN OUR MIDST. When we return to the old altar, the terror of the Lord will return around us!
3. God appeared unto Jacob again - God is wanting to APPEAR to us AGAIN! Don't believe the hype that "God is here, God is here." God isn't here. Much of what we pass off to people as God is only a residue of the Holy Spirit. A residue is a hint of something that once was there. Some churches don't even have the residue. Some are afraid of it. Some don't believe in it. Some are so concerned about being in CONTROL of their churches even GOD HIMSELF could not come and do anything even if He wanted to. And the only way we're going to see souls saved, sick bodies healed, believers delivered, sinners set free is the MANIFEST PRESENCE AND GLORY AND POWER OF ALMIGHTY GOD! He never appeared to Jacob at Succoth, but when he returned to Bethel, GOD APPEARED TO HIM AGAIN.
4. God blessed him at Bethel - TRUE blessings are about to be poured out on the church. Some of you reading this are so worried about receiving prosperity from God but if God did give you a million dollars you'd backslide next week. God knows this. When we come back to Bethel we have come back to the old altar and laid our lives on that altar so whether we are rich or poor - we are STILL HIS!!!! And neither money or poverty will change US!
5.God recalled his name Israel and changed it forever - the power of the cross is the ONLY POWER ON EARTH that will change you forever friend. All the self-help efforts of the church will never change your name. And many of the things we are seeing today in the church are nothing more than the latest fad and latest craze. It's all flesh and it's all part of the "new altar" we have built thinking God is going to answer us when the reality of the matter is very simple. It's not a Succoth that God changes people - it's at BETHEL - the old altar - the old rugged cross.
As I close this journal, I ask you today. Where are you at in your Christian walk??? Succoth or Bethel? Many of you reading this are battling every demon under the sun and not finding victory. You can quote 10,000 scriptures but quoting scriptures will not deliver you. You can have every preacher in the county lay hands on you and while that is all good and well, that in itself will not deliver you. You can go to your church psychologist and sit down and pay her $100 an hour to have her tell you you're ok and nothing is wrong with you - but you're still going to be JACOB and you're still going to have a mess when you get up from that sofa!!! And she is going to be $100 richer with money you could better spend by spreading the gospel!
It's time to come back to Bethel church. It's time to return to the preaching of the cross of Christ.
My faith is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
I dare not trust in earthly things, but simply to THY CROSS I cling.
On CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK I STAND, ALL OTHER GROUND IS SINKING SAND
ALL OTHER GROUND IS SINKING SAND
YOUR ANSWER IS FOUND IN FAITH IN THE CROSS. THE POWERS OF DARKNESS WERE DESTROYED AT THE CROSS AND THROUGH THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTED MESSIAH. HE IS ALIVE TODAY AND IS WAITING FOR YOU TO RETURN TO THE OLD ALTAR!!