                    [Times Square Church Pulpit Series]

                    The Dethroning of Christ in America!

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By David Wilkerson
April 20, 1998
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          The apostle Paul writes that when Jesus comes again,
          "...he shall shew, who is the blessed and only
          Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords" (1
          Timothy 6:15). Paul is saying, in essence, "When Christ
          comes, he's going to show everybody who's Lord!"

          God the father enthroned Christ as king over all
          nations and all nature, and as Lord over the church.
          Paul is saying, "It doesn't matter what things look
          like on the outside. Everything may seem out of
          control. It may look like the devil has taken power.
          But the truth is, God has put all things under Jesus'
          feet. Christ is still king over everything!"

          "By him were all things created, that are in heaven,
          and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
          they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or
          powers: all things were created by him, and for him"
          (Colossians 1:16). "He is the head of the body, the
          church...that in all things he might have the
          preeminence" (verse 18).

          Each of these passages proves that almighty God has
          appointed Jesus Christ as king, Lord and potentate. All
          dominion has been given into his hands - and he rules
          over our nation, the church and our individual lives.

          Yet all around us today, we see our society and
          government dethroning Christ - refusing to acknowledge
          his authority and kingship. We're removing God from our
          schools and courts and ignoring him in the making of
          our laws. And now we're reaping a terrible harvest!

          I believe America's rejection of Christ's lordship is
          the reason behind all the bloodshed, violence, racial
          hatred, moral decay, drug abuse and outbreak of deadly
          sexual diseases in our society. Lawmakers, educators
          and the media have made God an unspeakable subject.
          Even in prisons, there is a ban on religious mottos
          including the ten commandments. We've dethroned Christ
          completely!

          Yet my concern goes beyond America's rejection of
          Jesus' authority. I believe the problem of Christ's
          dethroning is much worse, much more tragic - because
          it's happening in his church! It's true - Jesus, our
          exalted Lord and king, is being dethroned in churches
          throughout the land and in the lives of a multitude of
          believers.

          Now, it's understandable that ungodly people would want
          to dethrone Christ. They've mocked and ridiculed his
          name since the day he was born and will keep doing so
          until he returns. But how it must grieve God to see
          Christ dethroned by those who call themselves by his
          name!

          We've already seen from scripture that God has made
          Christ to be all things to the church. Simply put,
          we're to have no other resource, reference or counselor
          before Jesus. All of the church's government, guidance
          and counsel are to come from him. Isaiah writes,
          "...the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his
          name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty
          God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace"
          (Isaiah 9:6).

          Yet, slowly but surely, many Christians, churches and
          ministries are rejecting the Lord's counsel. They no
          longer lean wholly on his lordship. Instead, they're
          turning to the wisdom of the world - to man-centered
          practices!

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                          The Prophet Hosea Speaks
                         On This Issue of Rejecting
                            The Lord's Counsel!

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          Hosea describes the terrible harvest reaped by those
          who dethrone God from his lordship and turn to the arm
          of the flesh. When Hosea wrote his prophetic message,
          he addressed a people whom the Lord had carried in his
          arms for years.

          God had blessed and prospered Israel, giving them
          houses they hadn't built and vineyards they hadn't
          planted. He'd raised up godly men to speak as prophets,
          and had given the people clear words of direction. And
          for years the people had proven God faithful. They
          listened to his counsel, never turning to the flesh.
          When God spoke to them, they obeyed. And they were
          miraculously delivered from powerful enemies.

          But now an apostasy had come over Israel - and the Lord
          accused them of being guilty of a terrible wickedness:
          "They have deeply corrupted themselves..." (Hosea 9:9).
          "...all their princes are revolters" (verse 15).

          What was this awful sin they'd committed? It wasn't
          drunkenness, sexual perversion, covetousness, adultery
          or murder. No - God said their wickedness was in
          turning away from his counsel, ignoring his word and
          obeying man instead: "...God will cast them away,
          because they did not hearken unto him..." (verse 17).
          In God's eyes, the greatest wickedness a believer could
          commit is to no longer be dependent on him!

          In essence, the Lord was telling Israel, "You no longer
          put your trust in me. I'm no longer your guide, your
          source of wisdom. Now you're turning to the wisdom of
          man. You're running back to Egypt for help - back to
          the very place from which I delivered you. You've
          rejected my word and turned from me. You've dethroned
          me!"

          A great Puritan prophet once wrote: "Pure power is
          never anxious for cooperating. It just demands." In
          other words, God doesn't say to us, "You do your part,
          and I'll do mine. Just check in with me occasionally.
          "No! God is pure, raw power - and he demands that we
          follow him, first and foremost, in all we do. We're to
          be wholly dependent on him. And anything short of this
          maligns his kingship over our lives!

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                        Consider the Tragic Results
                         Of Dethroning the Lord as
                        Counselor, Keeper, Provider
                          And Source of All Wisdom
                                And Power!

                      -------------------------------

          Hosea lists about a dozen tragic results that befall
          those who dethrone the Lord. I want to give you just
          four:

          1. "Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit
          unto himself..." (Hosea 10:1). Everyone in Israel was
          looking out for himself - and the result was total
          emptiness!

          At Times Square Church, we see this truth illustrated
          each week. Across the street from our church building
          is a Broadway theater featuring a famous, long-running
          musical. Every Wednesday is "matinee day," and people
          rush into the theater trying to find some bit of
          satisfaction. Yet, as they emerge some three hours
          later, there is only emptiness on their faces. Yes,
          they've been entertained - but that kind of
          satisfaction doesn't last. Jesus Christ is the only
          lasting satisfaction - and if you dethrone him,
          everything in life becomes empty!

          Yet, Hosea's words weren't directed at the godless. He
          was speaking to believers - showing them a picture of
          what happens to all who dethrone the Lord in their
          lives. Such people become selfish and miserable - and
          their every pursuit ends in emptiness!

          2. "Their heart is divided...he shall break down their
          altars, he shall spoil their images" (verse 2). Our
          nation's heart is divided. Americans pay lip service to
          God and religion, but they don't worship the Lord in
          truth. And that has led directly to the breakdown of
          all our hallowed institutions.

          The Hebrew phrase for "heart is divided" here is
          "faithless heart." You see, when you lose faith in God
          and place your trust in something else, that thing
          becomes an idol. And God makes sure that idol will be
          brought down. He destroys everything in our lives that
          takes his place!

          We see this happening in our nation today. Our society
          no longer trusts God, turning instead to the
          government, the President, the educational system,
          Social Security - all to try to find some kind of
          stability. But, beloved, scandal is rocking every
          institution - even the United Way, the great collector
          of charities. That institution had to fire its
          president because he was squandering millions of
          dollars. And now all of its patrons' trust is gone.

          God is saying, "If you won't trust me, I'll make all
          your trusted institutions fail. You won't have anything
          left to believe in!"

          3. "Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped
          iniquity...because thou didst trust in thy way, in the
          multitude of thy mighty men" (verse 13). Hosea is
          saying, "You stopped trusting in the Lord. And now
          you're going to reap a harvest of iniquity!"

          Humankind today is sophisticated, educated,
          knowledgable. We have dethroned God - rejecting the
          Bible and prayer - and enthroned science, psychology
          and education instead. Yet, I ask you: What has been
          the harvest? What has all our sophisticated learning
          brought us?

          It has given us a plague of AIDS, a deluge of drug
          abuse, dysfunctional families, absolute chaos among our
          youth. Everything is spinning out of control. Why? God
          is saying, "If you take me off the throne - if you rely
          on human wisdom - you'll reap a harvest of wickedness!"

          4. "...We have no king, because we feared not the
          Lord..." (verse 3). Hosea was king over Israel, but his
          heart was full of idolatry. So, when Israel's
          backsliding began, he was powerless to stop the loss of
          faith. His words carried no authority. Whenever he
          spoke, the people merely shook their heads and said,
          "We have no leadership, no direction. We're drifting!"

          That's just what is happening in America right now! The
          White House is embroiled in a sex scandal the likes of
          which our country has never known. Our President is
          being mocked and laughed at by the nations of the
          world.

          And, beloved, the same thing is happening in the church
          today. Many Christians mock their pastors, ridiculing
          their authority. Why? It's because these men's words
          carry no power! People are saying, "We no longer have
          any leadership in our church. We're lost, confused."
          That is the payday for dethroning the Lord!

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                           Do You Have a King in
                           Your Life, Your Home,
                              Your Ministry?

                      -------------------------------

          Is Jesus the ruler and counselor in your life? If so,
          scripture says, you're being given strength from God
          himself:

          "The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth
          King for ever. The Lord will give strength unto his
          people; the Lord will bless his people with peace"
          (Psalm 29:10-11). "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
          ever..." (45:6). "Thy kingdom is an everlasting
          kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all
          generations" (145:13)

          These are wonderful promises. But they didn't apply to
          Israel - because they had dethroned the Lord! Hosea
          told the people: "When you dethroned God, you became
          confused, leaderless. You said, 'We have no king. We're
          directionless.' But the truth is, you will have a
          king!"

          "He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the
          Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to
          return [to me]" (Hosea 11:5). The word "Assyria" here
          means "king of pride." In other words: "When you
          dethrone the Lord, pride takes the throne!"

          I've seen this happen in churches time after time. The
          people don't want to hear a message of holiness - so
          they hire a CEO-type pastor, someone who's a salesman
          and vows to run the church like a corporation. He comes
          in and immediately declares, "We're going to reach
          people the most effective way possible."

          This minister sends his sheep door to door surveying
          people, with questions such as: "What would you like to
          see in a church? What would you want in the form of
          worship?" Then he puts all the data into a computer -
          and it dictates which programs the church should
          implement. It's all done according to surveys. The Holy
          Spirit is ignored completely-and Christ is dethroned,
          no longer relied upon as Lord!

          This has happened even among zealous churches and godly
          ministries. These works were founded by the Holy Ghost
          and had humble beginnings. Their leaders were men and
          women of God - lovers of lost souls, intercessors who
          wept and prayed over every matter. They didn't have
          money for consultants, so they prayed in every dollar.
          And they depended wholly on the Lord for all direction.
          Whenever he told them, "Do this," they obeyed.

          But now these ministries have been taken over by
          younger, more educated staffers, many of whom have
          never had to sacrifice. And these young people run
          things with a whole different way of thinking.
          Intercessory prayer is unknown to them. They don't
          depend on Jesus for their needs. Instead, they're
          convinced proper strategies can accomplish everything.

          Now, don't misunderstand me - I'm not against using
          modern methods or computers. We employ many such things
          in our ministry. But the difference is, we don't
          receive our direction from these "ministry tools." We
          spend time on our knees, seeking the Lord for direction
          in every area of ministry. Yet, this is a lost practice
          among many ministries today. They rely on computers
          rather than on Christ!

          Today, "experts" have taken over the reins of the
          church. Sin is seen in psychological terms and called a
          "disease." A drug addict is said to have a "weakness."
          Altars have been replaced with counseling rooms.
          Prophets of holiness have been replaced by
          psychologists and social workers spouting the latest
          man-centered jargon. In short, Jesus is being dethroned
          - and Freud is being exalted!

          This wasn't true of the church some forty years ago. At
          that time, God led me to start a ministry to drug
          addicts and alcoholics. Today, there are over
          two-hundred-and-fifty Teen Challenge centers worldwide.
          And it all started in a rundown house in Brooklyn.

          We had no money, no how-to books - only total
          dependence on the Holy Spirit. We hung a sign in our
          offices that read, "No one shines here - only the Holy
          Ghost!" And during our chapel services, we prayed,
          "Lord, our help isn't in psychology or psychiatry, but
          in the Holy Spirit. We can't work on the head unless
          you change the heart!"

          Nicky Cruz, one of the first gang members we
          encountered, was a killer at heart. A psychiatrist we
          knew took an interest in his case. He spent a whole day
          with Nicky - and when that day was over, the
          psychiatrist decided Nicky was incorrigible, hopeless.
          (Little did this man know, Nicky delighted in confusing
          all "head doctors"!)

          Yet Jesus had other plans for Nicky - and at an altar
          in that rundown house, Christ accomplished in five
          minutes what the experts said could not be done. Nicky
          wasn't psychoanalyzed; his head wasn't examined. No,
          God sent an arrow into his heart - and that arrow was
          the truth of the gospel: "Nicky, Jesus loves you!"

          In a single moment, out went Nicky's heart of stone -
          and it was replaced with a heart of flesh. Nicky wept,
          hugging us all. He was supernaturally transformed by
          the power of God - after society's experts had written
          him off!

          Over these past forty years, I've watched with alarm as
          the church has slowly but surely dethroned Christ and
          enthroned the wisdom of the world. Jesus is no longer
          the source and power behind God's people. Instead,
          we've turned to fleshly things that eventually will
          fade. And we've lost all the power we had when we
          trusted in Christ!

          At this point, let me ask you personally: Have you
          removed Christ as king from the throne of your heart?
          If you're trusting in psychology or some how-to book,
          you'll only become more confused. And you'll end up
          saying:

          "I have no king - no direction, no leadership - because
          I didn't trust the Lord. I didn't esteem or obey his
          word. I didn't seek or desire his counsel. I only did
          what I thought was right in my own eyes, or what my
          trusted friends advised me to do."

          God says to you: "A son honoureth his father, and a
          servant his master: if then I be a father, where is
          mine honour? And if I be a master, where is my
          fear?..." (Malachi 1:6). In other words: "If I'm king
          to you, why don't you obey my word? You don't seek me.
          Instead, you turn to psychology, to books, to friends.
          You refuse to trust me, your counselor and king!"

                      -------------------------------

                           I Have Shown You Some
                         Of the Tragic Consequences
                         Of Dethroning Christ - But
                          Now Let Me Show You the
                         Glorious Benefits to Those
                           Who Keep Him Enthroned
                             In Their Hearts!

                      -------------------------------

          Perhaps you're saying, "I want Jesus to be king of my
          life. I want to do everything he commands me!" Let me
          show you the wonderful blessings that come to all who
          enthrone Jesus as king of their lives:

          1. Those who submit to Christ's lordship will be
          infused with his holiness. Scripture says if you'll
          submit yourself to Jesus, waiting to receive his
          counsel and direction, you'll partake in his holiness:

          "We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us,
          and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be
          in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For
          they verily for a few days chastened us after their own
          pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be
          partakers of his holiness" (Hebrews 12:9-10).

          Paul commands us to come to Jesus, asking him to give
          us dominion over all our sins and fears: "Neither yield
          ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto
          sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are
          alive from the dead, and your members of righteousness
          unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for
          ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Romans
          6:13-14).

          God is saying, "If you want to know abundant life -
          true, full life - then submit yourself to me. I'll give
          you life without fear, guilt or condemnation!"

          2. Those who submit to Christ's lordship will walk in
          peace. Submitted Christians don't live in fear, turmoil
          or anxiety. They're clothed with peace:

          "That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered
          out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without
          fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the
          days of our life...Through the tender mercy of our God;
          whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to
          give light to them that sit in darkness and in the
          shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of
          peace" (Luke 1:74-75, 78-79).

          What a wonderful promise! If we will yield our lives to
          him, he'll shine his light into our darkness. He'll
          remove the shadow of death over our lives and guide us
          into peace and rest. He says, "I'll clear up all the
          confusion in your life - and you'll be able to walk in
          peace!"

          You can tell when a person has enthroned Christ in his
          heart. Such a life produces a peace that passes all
          understanding - and you can see that peace in the
          person's face and demeanor. "Now the Lord of peace
          himself give you peace always by all means..." (2
          Thessalonians 3:16).

          3. Those who submit to Christ's lordship have an
          increase of strength and knowledge of the Lord. They
          literally gain a new mental and physical strength. They
          don't faint along the way - because Jesus pours his own
          strength into them as they go:

          "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do
          not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might
          be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom
          and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy
          of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every
          good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
          strengthened with all might, according to his glorious
          power, unto all patience and longsuffering with
          joyfulness" (Colossians 1:10-11).

          4. God will keep those who submit to his lordship
          blameless to the day of Christ's coming. If we submit
          to Jesus - doing as he commands, not leaning on our own
          understanding - we will never lack anything. He'll
          supply everything we need to please him. The Lord
          himself will hold and keep us blameless, to the very
          end!

          "That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all
          utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony
          of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind
          in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus
          Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end, that
          ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
          Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto
          the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord"
          (1Corinthians 1:5-9).

          We are to entrust our lives into Jesus' care. It then
          becomes his responsibility to hold and keep us: "The
          Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you
          from evil" (2 Thessalonians 3:3). He says, "If you keep
          me enthroned on your heart as Lord, I'll keep you
          blameless until my coming. I'll keep you from falling!"
          "...commit the keeping of (your) souls to him in well
          doing, as unto a faithful Creator" (1 Peter 4:19).

          Psalm 121 sums up the attitude we're to have:

          "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence
          cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which
          made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to
          be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber...nor
          sleep.

          "The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy
          right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor
          the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from
          all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall
          preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time
          forth, and even for evermore" (Psalm 121:1-8).

          Put Christ on the throne of your heart today - and
          live!

          ---
          Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O.
          Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771 USA.

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