Sunday 29 May 2016

The Danger of False Worship


Scripture: Isaiah 29 v 4: "And thou shalt be brought down, and shall speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust."

False worship is when you make an idol out of a spirit being, an object or a person.  When this idol is more important than your love for Jesus, you are engaged in false worship.  Many people make an idol out of their pastor; many pastors make an idol out of their ministry.

I wrote an indepth study on my blog called "The Witch of Endor" which is the full story of King Saul consulting a witch to bring up or manifest, or as New Agers would say, channel, the spirit of the dead prophet, Samuel, that the King may enquire about the outcome of the war against invading Philistines.  The familiar spirit of Samuel did indeed manifest and told Saul that the enemies of Israel would triumph and he and his sons would die because he had made God his enemy through disobedience, especially turning from the Lord to consult a witch.

Our God is unchangeable, and what He called abominable in the Old Testament is still abominable in the New.  Consulting the ancestors or even attending a seance conducted by a psychic medium are an open door for serious problems coming upon your life.  Likewise idolising your ministry goes against everything we know about Jesus.

Africans go a step further. Their religion is to worship the ancestors. They carve and sculpt statues of their heads and make idols out of them. They bow down and worship them and through mediums known as sangomas or inyangas (witchdoctors) they receive instruction from the familiar spirits of them who are nothing more than demons masquerading as dead chiefs. 

The tragedy of dealing with the dead is that you reap death into your life and family whether through car accidents, HIV/AIDS, rape and murder, other epidemics.  If you worship the spirits of dead ancestors, who are really manifested demons, you are trading with your life and gaining only death.  

I cannot say every incident is directly linked to the ancestors but many are. It extends further to you, the reader, who may have brought home souvenirs of carved African heads or other things like drums, masks, beads etc. which have all been used in ancestral worship. In Deuteronomy 7 v 25 - 26 it clearly warns us not to bring such things into our homes but rather burn these abominations with fire lest you become cursed like them. Jesus died to set us free from all these things and we must worship Almighty God and not serve demons.

Many South Africans have maids and gardeners who are under the influence of witchcraft. Sometimes these servants bring curses on your home through envy. Suddenly your business is going under for no legitimate reason or you are in serious strife with your mate or your children are on drugs. These are not just random "it could happen to anyone" events. You have become a specific target through objects in your home or disgruntled employees. Or both.

The only safe place on this planet is in the Ark. His name is Jesus Christ and He is able to save, heal and deliver from all evil. Before Jesus resurrected there was no way of dealing with the dark side. If you engaged with demons on any level you were slain. Jesus took that death on Himself so that we could be forgiven and delivered of demonic bondage.

The biggest false worship is of Hollywood Idols; singing stars or sporting icons.  Guard your soul from falling into these traps.  The first commandment has always been that you shall have no other gods but our Almighty God and His Son Jesus.  It is only through true worship that we sustain our souls and avoid temptations.

Prayer: Heavenly Father You said we must not learn the way of the heathen or pagan people but renew our minds according to Your will. Help us to correctly discern our own lives and homes by Your standards and the light You have given us to live by in safety and love. In Jesus' name. Amen.