<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">BY-NC-ND 2.0</a>, a.k.a. Music Sharing, license.</p>

Eugene Prewitt

The Faithful City Becomes a Harlot, and Then...

In the early 90's I was listening to a sermon by a man who was very influential.

Many churches in North America today are operating under principles that he began teaching during the early 90s.

It means that the church doesn't follow the policies of a conference or a union or a division, but they're almost their own entity.

They determine what they do with their money, how much they pay their pastor, who they hire for a pastor, what doctrines are allowed, what doctrines aren't allowed.

The local church is its own highest authority.

This man is responsible to a large degree for that movement.

Verse 21, How is the faithful city become an harlot?

It was full of judgment, righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers." Let me just ask you, is it possible for a faithful city to become a harlot?

Isn't it very obvious in this verse that it can be done?

And the point that man was making is that it had happened.

That the Adventist Church, once a faithful city, had been a city on a hill, giving light to those below, but it had become like a harlot." He didn't lecture on the rest of the chapter, and I'd like us to read a few more verses.

Verse 22, Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water.

You might recall that Jesus is represented in Malachi as a refiner and purifier of what?

That is, he's purifying the sons of Levi, he's purifying his priesthood on earth.

He's taking the dross out of them and leaving nothing but silver.

It has been going backwards in terms of moral purity.

Verse 23, Thy princes are rebellious and companions of thieves.

Therefore, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty 1 of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies.

Does God treat it lightly when a faithful city becomes a harlot.

You know, he does put the blame on some people.

And does he indicate that there's going to be vengeance against those responsible?

He indicates that he is going to avenge himself on his enemies.

And when I read that, I get a mental picture in my mind, if I hadn't read the whole chapter before, that this city is about to go up in smoke.

It was a faithful city, it became a harlot city, and...

God didn't say he's going to avenge himself on the city.

He said he's going to avenge himself on his enemies.

And I will turn my hand upon thee, that is, upon the city, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin, and I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning.

Afterward thou shalt be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.

So I asked you a few minutes ago, is it possible for a faithful city to become a harlot?

And now the question is, when that happens, is that a one-way road?

Is it possible for a harlot-like city to become a faithful city?

In fact, in Isaiah 1, God's teaching is that that is the result of his judgments on his enemies in the harlot-like city.

As I mentioned to you, the man who preached on this verse to me first, verse 21, didn't preach on the rest of the chapter.

And there are yet today many with this view that once a faithful city becomes harlot-like that its case is hopeless.

We're doing a study on how it is that God purely takes away thy dross.

How God restores the judges as at the first, how it is that a faithless city becomes again a faithful city.

Jeremiah 51, this is for your edification later, is the source of Revelation 18.

That is, the metaphors in Revelation, most of them are drawn from other passages in the Old Testament.

And the metaphors in Revelation 18 about Babylon being fallen, about coming out of her, about the merchants of the earth mourning, about her plagues in a day, these metaphors have their origin in this chapter.

Flee out of the midst of what does it say flee out to the midst of Babylon and deliver every man his soul be not cut off in her what does it say iniquity for This is the time of the Lord's vengeance.

That's right, because God is about to judge her.

God is about to punish Babylon And that's why you want to leave her, because if you stay in her, what does the Bible say?

Babylon is going to be judged because she is full of sin.

But what if Jerusalem is full of sin at the same time?

Will God treat Jerusalem and Babylon the same if Jerusalem is also full of sin at this time in verse history?

Look at verse 5, For Israel has not been, was it say, forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy 1 of Israel." At the very same time that God says, come out of Babylon, she's about to be destroyed, he prefaces that by saying that Judah, though full of sin, has not been, what's the word?

But he makes a contrast and it might be a question in your mind, why?

Why doesn't he treat them the same since they have apparently the same problem?

Verse 7, Babylon has been, what does it say?

In the Lord's hand that made all the earth drunken." Now that metaphor is familiar to us, all the nations being drunken with the wine of Babylon.

But the thing Jeremiah adds is who has the cup?

We don't think of God as being the 1 that has the golden cup of Babylon in his hand, but here he most certainly is.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter twenty-three.

We want to look at what does it mean that the cup is in the Lord's hand.

In Jeremiah chapter 23 we're looking at verse 1.

Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord." We can get a lot of information from this first verse.

No, it specifies which ones it condemns, doesn't it?

The ones that destroy and the ones that scatter, Verse 2, Therefore saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people, you have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them.

Behold I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord." Here, God's pastors look like that they don't get away scot-free.

Back to Menu

The Faithful City Becomes a Harlot, and Then...

Transcript

Sponsor

Recorded

Related

WYC 2013 Plenary Sessions

The Power of the Pure Heart

35m

Eugene Prewitt: Book of Daniel

Lecture on Beast vs. Covenant

36m

Jesus at God’s Right Hand

35m

The Healing Presence of Jesus

Dark, Dirty, Delivered

59m

WYC 2009 Plenary Sessions

Likeness of Man

34m

Morning Devotionals

The Dragon, the Soil and the Prepper

31m

Jesus: The Lamb of God

57m

The Purpose

55m

Dennis Priebe Weekend 2008

Current Issues In Sanctification

1h 42m

Jesus Who?

55m

The Death of Legends - Part 2

45m

The Sins of the World and Learning How to Think for Yourself

The Sins of the World and The Lamb of God Part 2

54m

Sound Doctrine