Greetings to the House of God:
How does a son of God maintain their sanctification and purity? To the church at Pergamos clearly other doctrines had been seen and accepted and Christ was calling this church out about accepting these ungodly doctrines in their midst. First, we must understand that the enemy’s systems that he has setup to trap and defile the sons of God is a system of mixtures. How does he do it? By appealing to the flesh and the soul.
1 John 2:15-17: Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Locked in this passage of Scripture is how the enemy seeks to trap us. He seeks it through the lust of the flesh, eyes and pride of life. If we go back to the garden, it was these three lusts the devil used to appeal to Eve to deceive her.
Genesis 3:6: And when the woman SAW THAT THE TREE WAS GOOD FOR FOOD, and that is PLEASANT TO THE EYES, and a tree to be DESIRED TO MAKE ONE WISE, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
This is the mode of the enemy and what his systems use to defile and trap you as a son. At the heart of these three lusts are the desire for provision, protection and promotion. The enemy seeks to inhibit your maturity by the mixing of doctrine. The eating of foods sacrificed to idols is a picture eating or intaking of false doctrines and beliefs. In our walk as sons, this can easily be achieved if we lack a good relationship with Holy Spirit, we fail to study, if we are disciplined and desire provision, protection and promotion as it is in the world. The testimony of King Ahaz in part one of this message is an excellent example of this. He seeks it inhibit your growth by being unequally yoked.
Deuteronomy 22:9-11: Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled. Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together.
This entire passage of Scripture speaks to the commands to not mix when you plow, sow and even what you wear because when you mix there is an unequal yoking which weakens and makes the son of God ineffective in accurately representing the Father. So how do we maintain spiritual purity and sanctification.
Be Clear Minded and Spiritually Watch
1 Peter 5:8: Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour
Being clear-minded and spiritually watching (discernment) allows us to see life and the schemes of the enemy from the Throne of God where we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We can resist what we see. Discernment is the ability to see through the eyes of God concerning any matter to see the heart and intent.
Accurate Doctrine
2 John 1:9-10: Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house of give him any greeting
When we talk about doctrine, we must address the most important doctrine and that is the doctrine of Christ (Hebrews 6:1-3). So many people know their church doctrine more than the doctrine of Christ. The Doctrine of Christ is directly for the sons of God to mature in the image and likeness of the Father. Where we get into some mixture that we are called to avoid when we exalt our tradition and man-made doctrine over the doctrine of Christ. Our traditions and rules should never supersede the doctrine of Christ. Our man-made doctrines and traditions should never be made eternal law. When we do this, we are inviting mixture that can and will hinder sons from maturing.
Fellowship
2 Corinthians 6:14-18: Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial?[b] Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.
We are called to be holy as He is holy and we cannot be that if we are mixed with the systems of the world. I am not saying to completely become like a hermit crab in a shell and not interact with anyone. No, that is not what the Father would desire from us because we are in the world but not of it. We must learn, to walk in truth and in spirit and manifest the glory of God in our lifestyle because this is how He is lifted up in us and how he draws all men to Him. How do we overcome and defeat our enemy when we are tempted and the ways of the world are brought before to try to merge with the church?
Ephesians 6:10-11: Finally, my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil
James 4:7: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Two key words is stand and resist. If we simply resist the devil and His schemes the devil will flee. In Matthew 4, the temptations of Jesus, Jesus stood against the wiles of the devil. He stood in obedience and submission to the Father and in the end, He rebuked the devil and he left. Now the devil will return and he did multiple times in the earthly ministry of Jesus. For us, it might not be Satan himself but he has a entire army of fallen spirits that can. We are called to judge many of them in the moment of encounter but we will look deeper at that in a later teaching series. We are called in Ephesians to stand in Righteousness, Truth, Salvation, Peace, Faith and the Word. These are the weapons of our warfare where we are called to use and judge, by bringing into captivity, every high thing that exalts itself the knowledge of God and every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Sons of God who overcome mixture, God promises to give them to eat of the hidden manna and this is represented as revelation and the white stone which is represented as victory. We cannot receive the revelation of God or receive victory if we consent and accept the ways and doctrine of the world. There is so much worldliness and false doctrine in the Body and this has led to unproductive and immature sons. We have been called out and sanctified from the world. Our fellowship with Holy Spirit will always produce holiness like the Father and as His sons, created in his image and likeness.
Grace and Peace,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.
Welcome to the Household of Calhoun and the House of God 