When Darkness Is Called Light, And Light, Darkness Part 2

Reached deception to cold and ancient Israel leading to idolatry and judgment same deceptions.

In fact, thinking of today. The news is filled with the same destructive mindset because God hauled Israel into Babylon, the Moody Church in Chicago this morning to win with Sir who was clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Today we continue a series on the church in Babylon past elixir, the level of deception and society today is ramping up at a frantic pace tell us where were going in today's message. When darkness is called light and light darkness date. We certainly are living in challenging times as I like to emphasize that darkness is called light. The light is called darkness. There's a tremendous amount of confusion and Christians are oftentimes shamed into silence. You know, today is Friday.

I hope that is you think about the weekend that you consider going to church. I hope that you do go to church.

I hope that in your area. There is a gospel preaching church that is going to encourage you in these very challenging times I've written a book entitled God's devil. And speaking of light being described as darkness and darkness is light, God's devil exposes many of the hoaxes and the deceptions we are experiencing in our culture, and this is the second to the last day that we are making this book available God's devil. Here's what you can do.

Go to RTW offer.com that's RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now let us listen carefully to a text from the Old Testament that relates to us today. I think of another time and that is somewhere along the line, it was concluded that in our public schools. There could be no reference to a creator that science had to be taught as it is, and has it has been in all atheistic countries where there can be no appeal to God, whatever that we just came from and and Neva amoeba is that the word I forget where I came from and that somehow we all developed into who we are today explosion in a print factory and the result was a Webster's dictionary people were asked to believe that so we came up through the animal kingdom like the monkey said in the zoo in my my keepers brother asked that question and the implications of coming through the animal kingdom huge in terms of who we are in terms of the uniqueness of human life and so forth has to do with all kinds of issues in society, but we said we are excluding God when excluding the designer I think was Carl Sagan who said design yes but designer no. In other words your own thing, something else happened. We are at the crossroads and I don't know exactly when this happened, or why it happened because I been alive during this period of time. Obviously, as I look at this congregation, I realize that some of you also would've been alive during that period of time and oftentimes tell by the color of your hair and that is political correctness, destroying us this week I was on the telephone with a woman who investigates textbooks among other things. She talked about this company that published a textbook that said that 37 pages she said was given to Islam how Islam gave us peace and architecture in a great civilization. Christianity 13 pages headlined the Crusaders Christianity gave us the Crusades Christianity did this and that and there is a Muslim informant or inform her I should say on the committee who said that he is going to make textbooks pro-Islamic and if anyone disagrees with him.

He said I will call them Islamic phobic, intolerant and racist. So that's the way it is. So everybody bows down says will who wants to be intolerant and racist and Islamic phobic.

Now if your year-to-date is a Muslim, or you're listening to this message. Let me say that we are so glad that you are listening and we are not painting all of Islam with the same brush.

I'm simply telling you what someone told me this past week we have become paralyzed and that Europe, especially I could go into that. But we must hurry on so that's 1/3 time when we're at the crossroads and we chose the wrong direction. The great sin of intolerance.

You know, someone wrote these words hope that I can find them here. If you can believe that there are no absolutes and believe that absolutely if you can teach young minds that there are no objective truths, and yet you teach this truth objectively. If you can close your mind to the ideas of those whom you consider to be close minded if you can refuse to tolerate anyone you choose to label intolerant if you consider it immoral to stand against immorality. If you can make the judgment that judge mentalism is wrong and you can further make the judgment that others who judge things to be wrong are just to judge mental if you can force others to conform to your idea of diversity. What goes on. The idea is that the end of the line you really are PC politically correct paralyzed, then there's 1/4 point at which we chose the wrong path and that has to do with same-sex marriage and for those of you who struggle with same-sex attraction, just hear me out, and that is as a result, the destruction of a marriage is well on its way and that's why the governor can sign a bill that says that you can have more than two parents boys if their transit gender can go into girls washrooms what's really going on.

There is a violent revolt against creation, femininity and masculinity and so we as a nation are changing the rules and we are choosing the wrong path.

God says very clearly. He says choose the ancient path that doesn't mean that we should live in the past.

You can learn from the past without living in the past and God says that we as a nation must choose the right path.

The ancient paths but they said we will not walk in at pay attention to the sound of the trumpet. God says, but they said we will not pay attention now.

We should all weep. Therefore own nation. Oh congregation, what will happen to them, behold, I'm bringing disaster upon this people because they have not paid attention to my words. The Bible is a smooth path for a very difficult journey but that's where we should go to for wisdom by word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. We must choose the ancient path and if our nation doesn't, we must individually and personally and as a church choose the ancient paths. Now there's 1/4 lie and perhaps it's the worst and the most sobering if the lie that the loss of the presence of God is not fatal to worship.

In other words, God's presence can leave and we can go on worshiping after understand when you read the book of Jeremiah that Ezekiel was also written during this period of time and Ezekiel is the one who sees the glory of God leave.

I think the description is in the 10th chapter of Ezekiel where he says the glory of God went to the threshold of the tabernacle. Then the glory of God went to the outskirts of the city and then beyond that, the glory of God disappeared. On the other side of the Mount of olives, the glory of God left but the people Worshiping with or without the presence of God is this very interesting. Once again, your Bibles are open and it says this in chapter 7 and I'm now in verse three thus says the Lord of hosts of Israel and then your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place.

Do not trust in these deceptive words parenthesis next week's message is on false prophets will probably want to be one of the most important in this series of messages because they were the ones that were giving the deceptive words I'm even going to try to teach you how to detect a false prophet because they are everywhere, so don't trust in deceptive words and here they are. This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, I mean were worshiping in God's house so why won't he deliver us a God goes on to say you're bringing all your sins and you're not dealing with them.

The people said you know we can go on with the ritual we can still sing the right songs we can go to temple we can go to church weekend to all these things and still have God and still be religious whether his presence is there not you know the most distinctive indication of the people of God is that his presence should be among us.

When people come into Moody church they should say Shirley God is in this place. May it never be said that his presence will leave us but we can't take it for granted currently. Now why is the love of darkness. Jesus said, men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.

I told you that I was going to give you some hope because first of all we paint the darkness, then we paint the light first of all, please keep in mind that the reason for all of these chapters and we've only touched a few verses. But the reason is because God is saying what do I need is say to you so that you'll come back to me. The whole purpose despite its harshness and you know that's why I put off preaching this series for a long time because there's something in Jeremiah that doesn't really fit my my nature in terms of wanting to preach.

I'd much rather preaching a very positive message and there's a room for that and a time for that, but what God is saying in all of this is. Don't you see how serious sin is and you must turn to me, that's the whole point that I began this message by saying God filed for divorce against Judah. Did he fulfill it know he didn't carry through with the divorce all through these passages. What you see is God keep saying come back to me because I'm your master one translation says I'm your husband, and furthermore, in the end you're going to come back. Another reason why many of us believe that God is not yet finished with the Jewish people that there is going to be a time a great restoration is because Jeremiah describes some events that have never happened when the people are brought back from the different parts of the world and they are in the land and they are worshiping him. So God says I filed for divorce, but I haven't gone through with it because I do want to bring you back and once again you will be my wife and I will be your husband. You see those of you who felt offended because I mention certain sins and by the way, people who are addicted. Often times are very very easily offended because what you have is this synthesis between Shane and feeling offended and conviction it's it's it's really something is in it and that but those of you remember this the whole point is so that you might come to God, and know how gracious and merciful he is and how he's waiting for you to come to him.

So that's number one. Number two, we have to remember not just that God wants our hearts by the time God sees a nation. Jeremiah certainly saw his nation in his day and God sees America today. God sees and nation. But God also sees individuals he sees you as an individual. Don't get lost in all of his look at what's happened to America without looking into your own soul. For example, here's Jeremiah.

Notice in chapter 4 verse 19, Jeremiah is speaking my anguish my anguish. I arrive in pain all the walls of my heart. My heart is beating wildly. I cannot keep silent. For I hear the sound of the trumpet. The alarm of war listen to me carefully. Now look into my eyes. If you're able to do that you know in America really needs it needs more people who will weep because of the sins of this nation. That's what America really needs. I was hoping you're out there for a while I thought maybe you were.

We need people but not only those who weep. We also need those who work because there are many places where God is doing wonderful things in America later on were going to talk about the church in Babel, and more specifically, and show that in the midst of a nation that has lost its way.

God often times has not only reform movements but ministries and we could name many of them connected with the Moody church. So it's not as if we simply sit back and wait for the judgment know know we are active we are serving we are representing God in a fallen world, and what Augustine called the city of man we pick up the pieces of this broken culture and we give hope and help to this culture. So thank you for all those of you for doing what you can. I wouldn't be witnessing to his many people as I try to as I connect with people.

If I didn't believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation and is the only hope for every individual to be in God's presence forever. I would not be devoting my life to spreading that message if I didn't believe that God called us to this hour to represent him as best as we can. As I say repeatedly in all the different locations represented at the Moody church finally is most important how Jesus is the end of Jeremiah's search for one perfect man. Did you know and you know, of course. Today we've been looking at so many different passages but they're all here in chapter 5 God says to Jeremiah if you can find one righteous man. I will judge the whole country while Jeremiah begins his search, he says.

First of all, he went to the poor people surely there is that I couldn't find any righteous person couldn't find any person who is perfect and righteous. He said I went to the rich. I thought surely those who were upper middle class or higher middle-class. Surely there'd be some righteous among them is that I check them out. I couldn't find one he said. I scoured the city of Jerusalem, I went to the various neighborhoods I'm looking for one righteous man. He said he couldn't find and you know, the same is true in America. Here you can go down any street in any alley and any home and you will not find one righteous person because the Bible says there is none righteous, no not one.

While were all tainted with sin, but that's the whole purpose when we read a passage like that we should say, boy, are we ever glad that now we can get to Jesus really fast because he is the perfect one. He's the perfect sacrifice he meets God's requirements so that judgment does not need to come to us because if we trust him as our representative as our Savior if we trust him, he becomes ours.

The judgment of God in eternity doesn't fall on us, because it fell on him. We believe on him and thank God we have found the one righteous man who can deliver us anybody glad for that fact that we found the one righteous man. The great deliverer now for all of you were listening no matter where you are in your spiritual journey deal Moody founded this church said many interesting things many true things. Many pithy things but there's one quote I want to leave with you, and he said this, it is possible for a man and of course he'd include women in that it is possible he said for a man to be as vile as hell in one moment and be saved. The next conversion isn't something that just happens over a period of time. Now you know. You may grow into an understanding.

But the moment you believe you are say no matter what your past is no matter what you've done because the message of the gospel is good news. It isn't just keep these roles and if you don't go to hell all of us in one way or another, often break the rules, but Jesus Christ is our Savior and because we believe in him we are saved, no matter who we are, no matter our background, no matter our past, Jesus can save anyone he can save to the uttermost.

The Bible says all those who come unto God by him because he died in our behalf. I say it again. Man can be as vile as hell in one moment they saved the next because sometimes we even sing that song you know the vilest of sinners who truly believes that moment from Jesus apart receives so that woman at the airport was on her way to Montr�al before she left I left her a copy of the gospel of John and explained to her that the gospel is not what she thought it was but we have a Savior to bring us into God's presence to give us a personal relationship with him no matter which direction our country goes, we ourselves can walk with God and if you agree with that and I hope you do would you bow your head in prayer. Now after that message that I just preached you need to talk to God. Some of you have never trusted Christ as Savior want you just say okay that moment. This moment I believe in him is my righteousness as my perfect sacrifice as my Savior, who kept all the laws in my behalf believe and be saved.

Would you right now believe and be saved and father, we thank you that you are a holy God, we thank you all so that Jesus met our requirements of your holiness.

So we worship you because you are holy yesterday Lord, that you might make us like Jeremiah to weep over the sins of our nation help us in Jesus name, amen. This is Pastor Luther you know whenever I preach the gospel. I'm reminded of the fact that the Bible says that Satan blinds the eyes of those who here lest they should believe that's a puzzling verses in that, but it is a reminder of the fact that we are involved in spiritual warfare. This is the next to the last opportunity for you to get a copy of a book I've written, entitled God's devil. I wrote the book to show the sovereignty of God over Satan how we can pray effectively basing our prayers on the victory of Christ for a gift of any amount. It can be yours.

And thanks in advance for helping us as we continue to expand the ministry of running to win.

Here is what you do go to RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 I'm going to be giving you that contact info again asked for the book, God's devil you can go to RTW offer.com or if you prefer you can call us at 1-888-218-9337 together, we are making a difference.

You can write to is running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, IL 60614 in ancient Israel, false prophets lies about God into the minds of God's people. The same is true in our day. They diminish his holiness exaggerate their goodness and hide their real motives. Next time I'm running to win other recognize them when you hear them.

Thanks for listening for Dr. Erwin Blitzer this is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church