False Hopes!

2 Chronicles 28:23 " For He sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus,which smote him: and he said,Because the gods of the kings Syria help them,therefore will I sacrifice to them,that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and all of Israel".

Here today we have a story of  self destruction,Ahaz turned away from God to serve the gods of Damascus,because Syria enjoyed prosperity."For he sacrificed unto the gods of damascus,which smote him: and he said,because the gods of the kings of Syria help them,therefore will I sacrifice to them,that they may help me.But they ruined him and all of  Israel".The consequent introduction of false deities and defilement of the worship of God became the ruin of Ahaz and his kingdom.We to should be careful today not to bring of the ways of the world  into the Church of the living God.Careful not to allow the pleasures of this world to cause us to seek after the gods of this world.Drawing us to evil company, bringing about unbelieving notions, imitating properous sinners, as we attempt to be accepted in the world and loved by the gods of this world.

There was once a shepherd who once stood and watched a eagle soar out from a cliff. The bird flew high into the air,and then all of a sudden became unsteady,and reeled in its flight.Then one wing dropped, then the other wing dropped as the bird crashed to the ground.The shepherd couriously, went over to see why the bird fell,he saw that as the eagle took off a small serpent had fastened itself upon him,and as the serpant gnawed in father and farther, the eagle in it's agony reeled in the air.when the serpent touched his heart, the eagle fell.Have you ever seen a man or woman in church, or in society, rising and rising; they become more influential,apparently strong, widely known,asserting power far and near; but by and by,growing unsteady, uncertain, reeling as it were,in uncertainty and inconsistency,and at last falling to the earth, lying there in hopeless disgrace,a spectacle for the angels to weep over and scoffers and devils jeer at? You may not know the secret of their fall but the all seeing eye of God does. The neglect of prayer,that secret dishonesty in business, the indulgence in the intoxicating cup of sin,the small doubt and unbelief was the small serpent at the heart.We must realize the smallest of sinful acts can begin to gnaw at us until it reaches the heart.We must be careful not to get caught up in what someone else has and let the lust of the eye pull us away from the will of God.