2 Corinthians 6:14-18
Authorized (King James) Version
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
What Is An Idol?
Colossians 3:4-6
Authorized (King James) Version
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. 5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6 for which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
The Lord is showing me that some people need to understand what an Idol is in order to repent of idolatry and prepare for the Lord's return by preaching. In other messages you've read here on Prophecies to Come, you've read that electronic gadgets are idols. Most people think that when Jesus says that we worship idols, that He means demons, or, statues of demons. A computer is not a demon. An Idol is something that we give our time to because we love it. Man's best friend is no longer a dog, it's the cellphone. Dogs are idols too. Ironic that the word "dog" spelled backwards is "God".
All the social media apps are cool. How hard is it for you to put that gadget down and preach? It's hard because you love that cellphone. You give all your time to it. That's called Idol Worship. When you worship idols like that, you get into problems with the Lord. The Lord wants us to understand what we're doing when we give our time to something because we love it, for He died for us because we know not what we do (Luke 23:33-35). We're worshiping an idol. It's not Devil worship. It's Idol worship. Either way, you're not on God's side when you do that. The Holy Spirit just wants to be your friend. He doesn't want you in hell. We need to make Jesus our best friend, not our cellphone.
We fall in love with who we spend time with. If we love something more than Jesus, it becomes our god. An Idol. An idol is a lifeless object that we love spending time with. That we love more than God. But Jesus is the Living God.
The Ten Commandments
Exodus 20
Authorized (King James) Version
1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. 19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. 21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. 22 And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. 25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. 26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
The Friend of God
John 15:8-17
Authorized (King James) Version
8 Herein is my Father glorified {says the Lord Jesus}, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
And in closing, back up to the opening Scripture passage, Colossians 3:4-6. Extract verse 5 and subverse C: "...and covetousness, which is idolatry". Covetousness is idolatry.
Define Covetousness, covetousness [ kuhv-i-tuhs-nis ]
SEE SYNONYMS FOR covetousness ON THESAURUS.COM
noun
"eager or excessive desire", especially for wealth or possessions: Social media so often encourages us to compare ourselves to others, inspiring covetousness and insecurity.
Now consider,
Luke 12:13-20
Authorized (King James) Version {Paraphrased}
13 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14 And {Jesus} said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? 15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
That passage was Jesus' example of covetousness, which is idolatry. Living your life and making a good living for yourself, as in the passage above, is idolatry if this is what you do instead of preach the Word in order to prepare for the Lord's return. Everything that you love and devote your time to, is an idol before the Lord.
Now we know that idol worship involves more than just your cellphone. It's what you give your heart to, your love and devotion to, instead of get ready to meet the Lord in the air. If you love Jesus, you're going to want to leave this world with Him when He returns.
What that man did in the passage above, is called Covetousness, or, Idolatry. That life and all it consisted of was a god to that man. His god was his good life. Your cellphone is your god. That fun feeling you have that makes you stay on your cellphone all day and night, is what that man felt about his good life. It's a love called "COVETOUSNESS" and covetousness, is idolatry. If you want to come out of idolatry, stop and drop to your knees and ask Jesus to free you from idolatry. Jesus is the only one who can prepare you for the rapture by setting you free from sin.
John 8:31-36
Authorized (King James) Version
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
To live our life means to create a good life for ourselves. But because of the war between good and evil, we are born in sin and doomed to die in hell forever. So living our life isn't the meaning of life. Knowing Jesus is the meaning of life and Jesus is returning to earth very fast to get the church and take us to heaven. The purpose of life is to witness to the world for the Lord Jesus, to be a soul winner, in order to be prepared for the Rapture.
Matthew 28:18-20
Authorized (King James) Version
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
God wants us to sacrifice our life for Him just as He sacrificed His life for us on the Cross. Sacrifice what it means to live your life and preach the Word instead. That is how you prepare for the Lord's return. There's nothing more important than witnessing about what Jesus has done for you to all the world because doing that alone, is heaven's guarantee. Living your life isn't going to get you to heaven.
Matthew 24:43-47
Authorized (King James) Version {Paraphrased}
43 But know this {says the Lord Jesus}, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
If you want to escape death and hell, prepare for the Lord to Come unannounced at any moment. This is the meaning of life. Satan is the god of this world and he has a plan to take us all to hell. The Rapture is about escaping the judgement to come on this world. This is why you need to sacrifice living your life for Jesus, lay your life down, because that's how to escape the evil and God's fierce wrath to come on this evil world.
2 Corinthians 4:3-5
Authorized (King James) Version
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
Ephesians 2:1-6
Authorized (King James) Version
2 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: