(Spiritual Dangers) Danger in the Way of Cain — Don Currin

Well, thank you pastor. It's a real blessing to be back again tonight. Thank you for your presence. It's always an encouragement to see God's people return to the house of God on Sunday evening. I agree with what pastor just said regarding preaching and Just the nature of true revival is Jesus all over again falling in love with him all over again.

The Need for Anointed, Confrontational Preaching

You know I'm about you, but I'm real concerned these days for the dearth of anointed preaching across the United States. An anointed preaching is biblical preaching and Anointed preaching to me is very confrontational type preaching so sometimes you know perhaps you sit under my ministry.

And you say well, that's a bit Bit hard or harsh or maybe a little bit too. Too rigid for me. Well. That's the way God has gifted me. That's the way God has anointed me, and I trust that the Lord may use his word to do a deep Penetrating and lasting work in the hearts of his people as well as the life of this church.

Now pastor Ron mentioned a moment ago. We we do these cutting-edge conferences periodically, and we're getting ready to do our ninth conference this fall we have speakers come in that will address issues that we feel like relate by large to the entirety of the body of Christ.

And in last year or so we've done a men's conference and a women's conference. One is becoming a woman after God's own hearts and Tremendous speaker. Matter of fact I understand. This is he was telling me that next year Carol Trahan you've invited her to come.

I'll tell you you'll not meet a woman. That is more word-centered in her sharing and there's such a sense of anointing upon her message than Carol Trahan. We've had her twice. We look forward to having her again next year.

Tremendous. This features her on this set of CDs. And she's dealing with various issues that relate to the needs and the lives of women and then to the praise of his glory. Men conference. What we did is we took various things areas of struggle in the lives of men.

And what we want to do is tie it all into the glory of God. So here were the sessions. The glory of God and motivation. The glory of God in meditation. The glory of God in Mortification. The glory of God in marriage.

The glory of God in moral purity. Boy. That's a big one in the lives of men these days. Excellent. The glory of God in mentoring. The importance of discipling others around us. The glory of God in Mastering the moment.

What it means to redeem the time for the days are evil and then such issues as the glory of God in ministering to the Lord and the glory of God in revival or his manifested presence. So We just want to give these to you as a church, and we hope that they will benefit you.

I hope there'll be a blessing. I tell you we've got some tremendous feedback and testimonies from men and women who came to these conferences. And I think you'll be refreshed as well to the content of what's spoken.

Immediately following the service as pastor pastor mentioned we have a fellowship gathering tonight and During that fellowship gathering we're not asking everybody to direct their attention over to the TV, but we've got a DVD Set up over there, and we have two of our mission trips.

Another part of our ministry is my wife. And I we will take young people to the mission field and normally 16 of year years of age and up. Right through college and career age we take them and we do a lot of work.

I mean, they're not going to sightsee. They're not going to globe trot. They're not going to see the sights and sounds of various parts of the world. But they're going to work and they're going to pray and they're going to seek God's face.

And they're going to minister to others and so last year We did two mission trips one to Guatemala. And we took about 26 young people with us down there and then of course in the summer We had a mission trip to the Apache and Navajo Indians in Arizona, so you'll see this.

It's about a 10 -15 minute clip on each DVD, and I hope you'll be blessed because it's your investment Monetarily financially as a church that makes these mission trips possible, so I hope there'll be an encouragement to your heart.

The Danger of High Places in Solomon's Life

All right pastors asked me if I would share a message that I shared in your church a number of years ago. This evening he said I just want you to pray about it. I'm not telling you what to preach, but would you pray as you come up to minister to our congregation about?

Preaching on this particular subject and so I did and I sense that God would have. Would be pleased for me to share with you tonight some thoughts along the lines once again of the danger of High places now.

I want you to take your Bibles if you would and look with me in first Kings once again. First Kings and chapter number 11. First Kings and chapter a number 11. Verse number 1. I want to read just a few verses here.

I'll not take the time to read the text over again completely. But I want to continue to read beginning in verse number 9. After I read a couple of verses here in the first part of first Kings chapter 11 follow along with me in your Bible.

If you would verse number 1, but King Solomon loved many strange women together with a daughter of Pharaoh women of the Moabites Ammonites Edomites Zidonians and Hittites of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel.

He shall not go into them neither shall they come in unto you for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. Solomon Clave unto these in love and he had 700 wives princesses and 300 concubines and his heart and his wives turned away his heart.

Now you'll note as you read on that he builds in verse 7 a high place for Shemosh the abomination of Moab. The Bible tells us that he's given over to idolatry and in verse 8 likewise did he for all his strange wives which burned incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

Now you see the Lord's reaction in verse 9 and the Lord was angry with Solomon. Because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel Which had appeared? unto him twice. As you continue reading you find that God stirs up three distinct adversaries against this man as a manifestation of his disapproval and his chastisement upon Solomon's life.

And now what I want to do for the next few moments is I want to speak to you on the subject of the danger of high places. And I suppose that a subtitle that I could give this message would be The reason our victories are so short-lived.

I Don't know about you, but there have been times where I've been the midst of special conferences or perhaps God had his hand. Oh my pastor's message. And God spoke to me in a very unique and a very powerful way and out of that came confession and repentance and renunciation and Beyond that came some holy resolves that from this day forward things are going to be different.

I'm going to really grow in this area. They'll never be the same again. I really want God to be glorified in this area of struggle in my life. And you know perhaps that would last a day or sometimes a few days.

Maybe at best a week. And suddenly I found myself back in the muck and mire of that particular area of struggle. Well, you know I don't I can't explain to you Why our victories are so short-lived at least give you all the reasons but I believe that one of the major reasons why we have difficulty in continuing is because we allow a High place or high places to continue in our lives or in our homes.

They you say well brother curry. What is the high place. It is a provision for the flesh a provision for the flesh. It may be in our bedroom. It may be stuff between our bed mattresses. It may be in our stereo cabinet.

It may be in the glove compartment of our car. It may be a relationship with someone else that we know that God disapproves of. But because we allow these high places these Provisions for the flesh to continue in our life.

We find ourselves during moments of weakness going back. Gravitating back to former God's former idolatry. And so tonight. This is what we want to talk about and let me just draw some things from our text in the way of exposition again.

That'll sort of lay a foundation for where we'll be going this evening. In first Kings 11 notice in verse number one The Spirit of God says. But King Solomon loved many strange women. He was Passionately in love with these women that were consumed with their own idols.

They were foreign women. There were women given over to their own Passions toward other gods rather than Jehovah. And here is a man that loved these women he became emotionally Attached to them. Now the first thing we learn in this process of spiritual declension is you find That in Solomon's life his spiritual decline began when he allowed the sensual to prevail over the spiritual.

When he allowed the sensual to take precedence over the spiritual. And may I say to you tonight that any time Stretching our sensual itch is more important than our obedience to God's truth. We will find ourself on the threshold of max lighting.

Somebody said years ago that the world is littered with the debris of what flesh has promised but been unable to provide. His beginning of his declension began when he allowed the sensual to prevail over the spiritual.

But you'll notice something else in first Kings 11 in verse 6. It says. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord. Now watch this. And he went not fully after the Lord as did David his father. He went not fully after the Lord as David his father.

You know someone said years ago that partial obedience is total disobedience. Paul's prayer for the Saints at Colossae there in Colossians 1 in verse 10 is that they might walk worthy of the Lord unto all.

Pleasing you see no doubts. Here was a man that was becoming another Amaziah. It was said of Amaziah that he did that which was right. But not with a perfect heart. And as you study that word perfect there it means not with a whole heart.

He had a division of affections. He was seeking to serve two masters and so it is in the life of Solomon. He went not fully after the Lord as did David his father. But you notice something else in verse number seven.

Now his desires his passions. Constrain him to build a provision for the flesh a high place for this God Shemosh. Verse 7 then did Solomon built a high place for Shemosh. His desires once again moved him to make this provision for the flesh.

Now you find as you read on that God was angry with him in verse 9. There was a loss of privilege for his own son. In verses 11 and 12 and also in verses 14 23 and 26 what we alluded to a moment ago. God stirred up adversaries against this King.

What High Places Represent

Now I want to begin tonight by giving you a definition of a high place in Israel. What was a high place? Let's be very specific about this thing of high places. Well a high place in Israel was a ridge plateau or elevated platform Where cultic objects were placed for the purpose of pagan worship?

It was a ridge a plateau or an elevated platform Where cultic objects were placed for the purpose of pagan worship? You see it was an altar where both Baal and God Could be worshipped. You see oftentimes these worship places these centers if you would of worshiping God Would be used by others to worship a foreign God an idol and all types of sorted Activity would be engaged in would be exercised as an expression of worship to another God.

But both gods could be worshipped on these places these high places. Now here are some significant things to note about high places number one. Kings were often rated by their attitude toward high places.

Now it's interesting in the culture in which we live if a man or woman is aspiring to a position of political power or influence. We might do some investigating to find out what they believe concerning various issues that would Affect the outcome or the welfare of our society.

In other words we might find out. Well, what do they believe concerning foreign trade or a strong military defense? Or how about the issue of a balanced budget? Certainly no conscientious Christian would go without Seeking out an answer as to what a person who aspired to a political Position believe concerning a moral issue such as abortion and depending on what that person believed What they taught and what they reinforced we would vote accordingly right.

But not so in Solomon's death. Kings and spiritual leaders were evaluated oftentimes on the basis of their attitude toward high places. Secondly High places were the foundation of mental images. They always served as a reminder of former Idolatry.

You see imagine with me There's this field and in the field there I'm eyes wonder and They begin to lift up and as I look into that field there is a there's a small mountain. There's a large hill there and and on that hill there is a high place.

And as I look at that now, I'm converted. But before before my my conversion I used to go to that place. I used to worship another God or gods and my mind races back and flashes back to the details of that Worship experience the God that I worship the sacrifices that were made.

You see what high places are permitted to remain in our life. They always serve as a foundation a reminder of mental images. Furthermore high places were known for Immorality, can you believe that people would engage in?

Sexual acts as an expression of worship to their God. Oftentimes adultery. Sordid perverted acts of even sodomy. Were exercised there on high places. They were known for immorality. Here's another fault.

Children were often sacrificed there. Can I tell you something tonight? There are many children and grandchildren today that are being sacrificed in the living rooms of the homes of professing Christians.

The things that they are permitted to watch on television. The things that they are permitted to view via a DVD movie or some type of a video presentation. I tell you friend is horrific. It's unspeakable.

That's interesting years ago that time magazine. They had a big article big spread entitled kids without a conscience. Kids that had done hideous things. Some had murdered their parents. It all could be traced back to compromises that were made by parents or loved ones allowing children to sit there and watch repeated acts of murder and butchery.

Children are often sacrificed on high places. Also, you'll notice something else. They presented the temptation to always serve another master. Listen friend if I allow a high place to remain in my possession if it's under my jurisdiction in some way whether it's in my bedroom or in the living room wherever it may be as long as that thing exists it Always presents the enticement the strong powerful temptation to be drawn away to serve another master.

And then finally high places provide the potential for apostasy a turning away from the Lord altogether. And I tell you I believe that when God saves a person they are saved to the uttermost. And I believe they're saved for eternity as long as they're saved.

But there is such a thing as Perseverance that comes out of the new birth and if you're in Christ, you're going to persevere you're going to continue with Christ. You're going to pursue after Christ. You're going to walk with Christ.

Well, there are a lot of people who make professions of faith and they're not yet in the kingdom. So they begin to make all these little moral compromises and spiritual compromises allowing high places in their life and the first thing, you know their heart becomes dull and hard and insensitive to the things of God and they turn away from the Lord altogether and say Christianity is not for me because there's no Reality in it some of somebody today.

I I read a sermon by Spurgeon back some months ago and harden not your hearts. Something very simple you find in the scripture that there are repeated warnings about hardening not your heart. But you never find what the Bible tells us that we can tenderize our heart once it's hardened.

It's almost a point of no return and see these high places these provisions for the flesh will harden your heart. They will dull your spiritual senses toward the things of God. They will so dwarf your faith if you have any faith at all.

And if you have no faith what what faith you think you do possess may not be faith at all and ultimately just diminish altogether and you forsake the Lord God and apostatize. Listen to this the basic problem one man said with high places was that they easily provided areas where the religious practices of Canaan could creep into Israel's worship experience and can I tell you my brethren the basic problem with Contemporary high places that they easily provide opportunities to creep back into our own Worship today and can snuff out the life of God if they exist.

They ultimately can be the very detriment of our spiritual life. Well, let's be very biblical here about this matter. Have you ever noticed this in the books of Kings and Chronicles of all the leaders and all the kings that are mentioned?

There were only two that went all the way with God. It was said of so many of them that they would confess sin they would acknowledge abomination. It says of them that they would level the groves where these very idols were placed.

They removed the idols themselves destroyed them demolished them and they even put the sodomites out of the land. But the Spirit of God says but the high place or high places were permitted to remain.

For example in 1st Kings chapter 15 in verse 14 Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord verse 11, but the high places were not removed in 1st Kings 22 in verse 43 Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of Asa his father doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord.

Nevertheless the high places were not taken away for the people offered and burned incense yet in the high places. Listen to this one in 2nd Kings 12 verses 2 and 3 and Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all his days.

But the high places were not taken away that people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places in 2nd Kings chapter 14 verses 3 and 4. And Amaziah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.

How be it the high places were not taken away. How about this team? Azariah in 2nd Kings 15 verses 3 and 4 and Azariah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. Save or accept that the high places were not removed.

In 2nd Kings 15 verses 34 and 35 and Jotham did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. Watch it again. Now. How be it the high places were not removed. You see friend seemingly these guys went all the way in their obedience before God.

It was nothing short in the eyes of men of being radical. I mean listen here. They are leveling the groves. They did away with the idols and they extracted the sodomites from their regime. But the high place or high places were permitted to remain.

I Mentioned a moment ago. There were two kings that went all the way with God. What is in 2nd Kings 18 verse 4 it says of Hezekiah? He removed the high places and break the images. You know what the result of that Reformation was.

The scripture says the result was that God was with him and made him to prosper militarily over all his enemies. The other man was a man by the name of Joash. Excuse me, Josiah in 2nd Kings 23 verses 13 and 15 the Bible says.

And the high places that were before Jerusalem. Did Josiah defile and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat had made both that altar and the high place? He break down. What does it say? Was the reward of his obedience?

God came and showed himself strong on this man's behalf. Now, you know friend when I read these things of how God blessed these men so profoundly and showed himself strong on their behalf. I don't know if that does anything for you or not.

But I'm just foolish enough to believe That God being no respect your persons if he would honor those men because of their radical thorough obedience. Certainly he would do the same for us. Have you ever put him to the test?

Have you ever done a housecleaning? Have you ever read your home of music that you know, God doesn't approve of? Have you ever eradicated from your very existence? Movies or videos or DVDs that you know are despicable in the eyes of God.

Have you ever taken and burned to the glory of God any magazine or book or poster or Anything that you know that God looks upon with abhorrence. Ask you right are there high places existing in life. You say you want revival.

You say you want God to minister to your heart. You say God I want you to show forth your glory in my home. But I want to ask you something friend is your obedience. Is it thorough. Is it total or is it only partial?

You confess things all the time. I know I want to do better. I purpose in my heart to do better, but I ask you friend. Do you have provisions for the flesh? Remaining in your life in your home. Listen to this.

Contemporary High Places in Entertainment and Thought

Let's make it very practical. Now, let's shift gears and let's talk about our present-day culture. What is a contemporary High place. What is a contemporary high place? Now listen carefully. It is in the area thought or Relationship that I permit to remain in my life as a provision for the flesh.

Dissatisfied the sinful desires of my heart. It is in the area thought a reasoning or Relationship with another human being that I willingly allow to remain in my life. Dissatisfied the carnal Sensual desires of my heart.

Let's break these three things down these three categories. First of all any area areas can be high places. I'm speaking in a general sense, but let me just give you a partial listing. You know, you can go on and on and make a lengthy list of high places.

But I just give you a few things that I think that most people could relate to. The psalmist said in Psalm 101 in verse 3. I Will set no wicked thing. No thing of Belial. No thing of Satan before my eyes.

The first thing in this list is television. I know the first question that some of you would ask is brother current. Do you have a TV in your home? Yes, we did. Do you watch it regularly? No, we do not.

How often do you watch it? Sometimes we might pick up a documentary. Sometimes I might watch a ballgame like I did this past week March Madness. Sometimes we might glean a news report. But by and large it's not used to tap into the media to entertain us.

I tell people all the time. If you can't control your television set it's best that you get rid of it. It will be the demise of your spiritual life. It will be a detriment to your spiritual welfare. Television can be a high place.

I think one of the most dangerous things is to allow Children to be left in front of a television set depending upon that TV as a babysitter for children. Yet today in homes many Christian homes. It was amazing even an evangelist this last week said he took a survey had a few hundred young people in a Christian school.

He was ministering to and he said over half of those young people raised her hand when he said how many of you have a television in your bedroom. Over half of them said that they did. TV can be a high place.

Music can be a high place. Music. We can be drawn away of our own lost and enticed through the medium of music. I remember a fellow years ago. He he repented and he said, you know. He said I I held tenaciously to my country music.

I love that stuff. You know what country music is don't you? It's a soap opera put to music. And he said I love that stuff. He said I would watch it. He said I would listen to this music all the time and sometimes he said watch videos you know with some of these stars on there in the country music realm and He's I enjoyed that and he said God was convicting me and he said I held on to it.

And he said one night. He said I'm watching Johnny Carson. He's got one of my heroes on there. He talks this guy for a while the guy makes all these lewd comments and suddenly introduced this female star.

She comes out she sits down beside this country music star and he makes a bunch of Filthy comments to her and they laugh about it. The next thing he knows he said this man is doing something very inappropriate with this woman and even as desensitized as she was she was embarrassed and He said it's like God put the icing on the cake and said now see where it's going to lead you.

You see what's happening? And he said I repented and he said I haven't been back. I haven't listened to it since. There is videos movie videos. It can be high places. There are books or magazines. Such as high school annuals.

Such as romance novels. Such as sadly in homes where there are medical Encyclopedias how many young people's minds have been led astray and their very consciences. Entrapped in moral impurity because what they did is they went on a curious search in their home and finding?

Something that would exploit the human anatomy and even though it was justified in most minds as simply being a medical Encyclopedia yet it was enough to defraud and defile that young person's hearts.

Diaries old diaries. Can it be high places? I'll tell you where God found me and I I think I may have shared this before with you. But I had to get rid of my Christian pornography. You said what do you mean Christian pornography you see in my library and I have about 3 ,000 to 3 ,500 books and in that library there I had some certain books written by leading evangelical leaders that would talk about the very act of marriage.

You never open those books and read the content or see certain diagrams without being greatly defrauded. You know as I've shared that before I've had Pastors and I've had layman said I had to do the same thing preacher had to do the same thing.

It's a high place. Sports can be a high place. By the way, I love sports. I'm going to enjoy sports. I don't like it like I used to. I believe It's because of the sanctifying work of the spirit in my heart.

I don't have time for it anymore. But I still like to watch basketball and especially college basketball. And I'll flip on the TV to watch a game our teams got beat Duke in North Carolina in the final four process.

But I enjoy watching it on occasion. I Always like sports. There's only three sports. I never could get into. One was auto racing. Another was Canadian curling and the other was rattlesnake roundups. Believe it or not I was in Texas years ago for a series of meetings about 40 miles from the border and there were two guys in the church That caught rattlers for a living.

I Can't get into that. I wouldn't make a good snake handler. So I guess my worship experience would be terribly dwarfed. Sports though can be a high place. By the way, there's only one thing that kept me out of the NBA.

Many of you asked me Well, how tall are you brother Don? I'm. I'm six seven and a half. Well, the one thing kept me out of professional basketball and that was ability. Materialism can be a high place.

How about this one? How about the Internet on the computer? And a man tell me up in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, he said for the last six and a half years since I retired. He said I opened up my own business to recover lost data on Computer hard drives whether it was personal hard drives or corporate hard drive.

He said most the time he said I can retrieve that information. Then he looked at me and he said brother current. He said almost without exception the last six and a half years of all the computers. I've worked on almost without exception Every computer that I've gone in and tapped the information the data I found pornography.

There's area thoughts in 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 verse number 5. You remember after Paul says the weapons of our warfare not carnal. But mighty through God of the pulling down of strongholds. Then he says he is casting down Imaginations and every high thing high place is the idea there in the thought life.

Every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Now listen to this high places can be manifest in our thought life.

Concerning this area of sensuality and sexual impurity. The Bible says in the prophecy of Ezekiel chapter 23 in verse 19 she multiplied listen is she multiplied referring to Jerusalem her hoardings in Calling to remembrance the days of her you can I tell you night that there are individuals That are in constant bondage to sexual immorality.

Because they cannot control their thought life that during a moment of weakness in their life where they feel a measure of rejection from a member of the opposite sex perhaps their own mate what they do is retreat into a Fantasy world to fulfill the lustful appetites of their own sexual desires.

I'll give you a few examples here. Unrealistic dreams concerning sports. My boys played high school basketball. They could jump they could move they could shoot. They had all the ability. They must have taken after mom because dad didn't have a great deal.

But they did well and I watched them I'd slip in the bleachers and watch them. But I tell you friend times I would watch other dads. It was as if they were living their sports fantasies to their own children.

And the incredible pressure they would put on them the way they would yell at their kids and the way they would yell at the Officials and and then they would pull them aside. They're at halftime and they would they would rake their kids over the coals and say you could have done better.

You should have done this. How many kids have been lame physically or perhaps even ruined spiritually because That father had an idol a high place in his mind of sports and now because he never could achieve What he dreamed to have he tried to live his dream through his children.

And I tell you years ago. I was in Pennsylvania and sat there at a lunch table one day on Tuesday. We had a Sunday through Winston meeting and the pastor came and had lunch with my family and I and we're sitting around the table.

And I said brother I said I noticed your family wasn't here last night. I said, where were they? Oh, he says well, he says my uh, my uh, my wife. I took my little boy to to his baseball game to his little league baseball game the whole family went to support him.

And I said well brother. I said, you know, I just want to caution you. I Said I'm not opposed to sports, but I said When you've got special services if you feel like these things are of the Lord. I Think your children.

I think your family need to be under the sound of God's Word. And then I said brother I said, you know when you start compromising the things of God such as church attendance and listening to the Word Of God in the context of those church attendance services when you start doing that.

I said you're gonna open your children up to apostasy. Turning away from the Lord and serving another God. You know what? He looked at me and said he said well I don't believe they'll lose their salvation.

I Said that's not what I'm talking about. But I said perhaps even though they pray the sinner's prayer they made a profession of faith. They may not yet be in the kingdom. But I said if you cultivate these desires to say it's alright to miss church.

It's alright to miss the preaching of God's Word to go out and serve another God. What's that telling them? It's hard to serve two masters, but in the process friend it may cost them their soul. How about revengeful thoughts?

I'm addressing this small congregation like some of you that in your mind when a certain person's name comes up in Conversation or their face comes up in your mind. You cringe. Because there are certain powers within you that rise up to seek revenge against that person that has hurt you or harmed a loved one and You can't control it.

You can't seem to block it out. You can't seem to overcome it in your mind because you're always imagining what you'd like to do to this person or what you'd like to see done and nothing would delight you anymore than for This person to be hurt in some way for what they've done to you or done to somebody that's very close to you.

It's a high place. It's a revengeful thought of a high place. But I want to give you another area and that is relationships and first Corinthians chapter 15 verse 34 33. The Bible says be not deceived evil communications corrupt good morals.

It does matter friend who we associate with. It does matter who you pal up with. I ask you tonight is God honored in your relationship with others. And I mentioned a couple of areas here first of all.