The Unclean Thing!

I hear the Lord trumpeting the word foundations as He works to remove all mixture in the foundations of His House. The house He desires is fashioned with His heart and His mind with kingdom precepts. The foundation of His house is a heart that is wholly His and wholly consecrated to Him. The Lord is a jealous God and will not allow a life devoted to Him to be intertwined with the worship of other gods.

The scripture tells us that God built the foundation of His House on the lives of the apostles and the prophets. He first secured them in Himself through the Fire of the Crucible of His eternal love and holiness. The lives of His servants were rebuilt and refashioned in the fierce love of a fearsome and all-powerful God. He divinely intervened in their lives, catching them away into the remarkable and eternal destiny of being woven into Christ as the foundation of His House.These servants became a dwelling place, occupied by and preoccupied with a Holy God. They became the essence of God represented to man through their Ministry to and for Him.

Paul could therefore make the bold statement, follow me as I follow Christ…as his life matched and became one with the Savior’s life (1 Cor. 11:1). Can leaders today say the same? Nothing impure or unclean must defile this life as it is where a Holy God dwells.

Paul asks the question: Do you not know that you are the temple of the living God? How careful are we in being God’s house? The scriptures warn us not to touch the unclean thing. What is the unclean thing? It is anything yoked to an idol, a god, or a spirit of wickedness. God is saying to not become yoked with the idols of the world.

“Depart! Depart! Go out from there, Touch no unclean thing; Go out from the midst of her, Be clean, You who bear the vessels of the LORD.” Isaiah 52:11

It is possible to give the appearance of having favor with God through success and prosperity, but yet bear very littleeternal fruit for the Kingdom of God. In such cases, there is usually a defiling influence eating the fruit. We can never know the true condition of the heart by appearances.

“Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren.”2Kings 2:19 

God is looking for a life that is a clean refreshing glass of pure water for Him to drink, free from all impurities. Does that mean that we must be perfect and live under the law? No, it means all sin must be under the Blood, covered by a true repentance issuing from a heart that lives turned towards its Savior. One that lives in the fear of the Lord and obedience to His Word. Such a life is Holy to Him, and one God will work to deliver from sin. Its nature is the desire to live as God did in Christ. Such a life is protected and continually being cleansed by the Blood from the effects of the defiling influences of the world as it lives turns to God.

We have been enlisted as soldiers in the wars of the last days and are not to be entangled in the affairs of this life, that we may please the one who enlisted us (2 Timothy 2:4). Our lives are offered to the King as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable—this is our reasonable service (Rom. 12:1). The seven letters to the churches written after the Cross, are full of warnings to the Church about the things God is not pleased with, this in preparation for the things that were to come. This is the Jesus speaking, that has Fire in His eyes and a two-edged sword in His mouth.

The Lord has said in His Word we are not to be unequally yoked with the unbeliever and He means it. To be unequally yoked is to willingly join ourselves in unholy alliances, partnerships, businesses, and marriages. These are yolks that create avenues for the defilement of God’s house!

“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM. I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.” Therefore “COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM AND BE SEPARATE, SAYS THE LORD. DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN, AND I WILL RECEIVE YOU.” “I WILL BE A FATHER TO YOU, AND YOU SHALL BE MY SONS AND DAUGHTERS, SAYS THE LORD ALMIGHTY.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

This is New Testament instruction! This is a passage I have frequently taught, yet I recently made the mistake of making an investment through a company God was not pleased with. I received a prompt rebuke from the Lord and was told toclose that door. I was truly broken for not being diligent and discerning. After a time of repentance and communion, I received the release and the cleansing. The Lord then reminded me of a word I had written in the past based on a revelation of the same mistake made by Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat partnered with King Ahaziah to send merchant ships to Ophir for gold, but the ships never sailed, why? Because God considered it an UNHOLY ALLIANCE and the ships were ultimately destroyed by God.

“Some time later King Jehoshaphat of Judah made and alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, who was very wicked. Together they built a fleet of trading ships at the port of Ezion-geber. Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat. He said, “Because you have allied yourself with King Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy your work.” So the ships met with disaster and never put out to sea.” 2Chronicles 20:35 

The two most potent forces presently at work in the world today, in which Christians and unbelievers alike have become ensnared, are sexual immoralityand mammon—a spirit of greed, the love of money, and the power it provides. Sexual immorality is clearly a sin, but the traps of Mammon can be very subtle.

When confronted over unholy alliances in business, many respond with the scripture that the wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous (Prov. 13:22). I believe this is a misinterpretation of scripture that has become a very effective trap. It has been used to ensnare the people of God into unholy alliances and the spirit of mammon. And as has been shown appearance proves nothing…the question is whether there is  eternal fruit. God does not need our money He owns the world and everything in it…He says we are to seek first the Kingdom, then everything is added! We will be tested in this until God has His way!

Proverbs 13:22, is a passage that is actually teaching the principles of the care and responsibility God expects from parents to ensure that their children have an inheritance and are taken care of. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous. 

The contrast is that the wealth of the wicked will be given to the righteous. We see a clear demonstration of this when the children of Israel left Egypt with the wealth of its people. God used the wealth of the Egyptians to cover The Jewish people’s years of unpaid labor, and would be used to build His Tabernacle.

Again, we see God demonstrated as His way of provision for building His temple after Israel’s release from captivity…this time from Babylon. Cyrus provided all the gold and silver needed as he was moved by God to do so. 

At no time do we need to join our souls with the unrighteous for money—to serve their gods in unholy alliances in a yoke of idolatry. We are in the world, but we are not of it! We do not need to lust after its fruit! We Have a Good and Great God. We are separate, separated in the spirit unto God, wholly consecrated to Him and His intentions to build His House.

“Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, SANCTIFIED AND USEFUL FOR THE MASTER, prepared for every good work.” 2 Timothy 2:19-22

This understanding is important to all leaders as they are the foundations of the work they are called to build for the Lord and an example for the people to follow. God’s work is fierce in the one called to be a leader as a leader’s life and affiliations will affect the lives of those they are called to serve. God is cleaning House in preparation for the King as He is coming to fill it! If our desire is to become a place of habitation for the Presence, our lives must be structured and built true to Plumb—according to His precepts, the essence of His nature, serving Kingdom protocols. I heard the Lord say:

You have been building off Plumb. You have made My House About your opinions – Not My Word.

About yourself – not My Glory.

About your Ministries and your growing empires – Not My Kingdom.

You have compromised on sin – You have no fear of the Lord.

You have been attending to your idols – Not to My Lordship

You have brought the mixture of the world into My House – worshipping at the altar of its deceptions and error. 

What are you building? Who are you building it for? I am a Holy God!

When My Temple is finished according to My Blueprint, Glory will Fill it! Glory came to the Jew first and Glory will complete it with the Jew first. Understand this.

He waits!