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                             A Drink Offering!

              Renouncing Covetousness and Embracing Sacrifice

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By David Wilkerson
January 19, 1987
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          It is amazing how the Word of God literally cries out
          against the way a majority of Christians live today.
          Old Testament prophets spent much of their time
          exposing the greed and graft of priests, false prophets
          and of the masses. With broken heart Isaiah said, "His
          watchmen are blind: they are ignorant, they are all
          dumb dogs... sleeping... loving to slumber... yea, they
          are greedy dogs which can never have enough... they all
          look to their own way, every one for his own gain..."
          (Isaiah 56:10,11).

          Certainly not all ministers are like the greedy dogs
          depicted by the prophet Isaiah. Yet religion then, as
          now, had become very corrupted, and both priest and
          parishioner had become self-centered and consumed with
          covetousness. Jeremiah said, "From the least of them
          even unto the greatest of them every one is given to
          covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest
          every one dealeth falsely" (Jeremiah 6:13). And as if
          to assure the covetous congregation that the luxury and
          prosperity would never end, they concocted a most
          convenient message of peace and shallow religion.
          (Jeremiah 6:14).

          The New Testament prophets and apostles are just as
          strong in their denunciation of self-centeredness and
          covetousness. Paul said, "No covetous man..shall
          inherit the kingdom of Christ..." (Ephesians 5:5), he
          warned of perilous times coming in which men would
          become "lovers of themselves... covetous, unholy..." (2
          Timothy 3:1,2). Peter forewarned us that false prophets
          and teachers would arise in the last days who would
          bring into the church damnable heresies of greed -
          whose very hearts will be "exercised with covetous
          practices".

          Jesus ministered to a very religious people who had
          become so inwardly corrupt they could, without a tinge
          of guilt, turn God's house into a den of thieves and
          robbers. Jesus soundly denounced the Pharisees and
          scribes of His day because they were stooping so low as
          to steal widows' houses in the name of God! (Matthew
          23:14). Again and again Jesus warned, "Beware of
          covetousness" (Luke 12:15)..

          Greed has become the god of this age. A wild, driving
          spirit of covetousness has possessed both the secular
          and religious world. Personal gain and security have
          become the goal and motivation of the masses. The
          greedy Wall Street manipulators and the preachers of
          success and prosperity all have in common an urgency to
          "get it all now, while the getting is good!"

          But I hear the ominous sounds of a gathering economic
          storm. Sudden lightning is going to strike Wall Street
          and wipe out a host of grasping, selfish, money mad
          investors. What a wailing there will be. Los Angeles,
          New York, Boston, San Francisco and other major cities
          will soon be reeling from financial panic. The present
          economic boom in some of our big cities is a house of
          cards - and it is all about to collapse. It has been
          fueled by an insatiable greed and crookedness which God
          will not much longer endure.

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                          In such a time as this -
                       the message of the Holy Spirit
                     is not of getting but of giving.

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          I believe Satan himself is the perpetrator and guiding
          force behind the glorification of self which has become
          so popular in the church today. Because we have drifted
          so far from the cross of Jesus, we now applaud blind
          ambition, even in the work of God. Self-esteem and
          success have replaced humility and daily dying to self
          and the world. What a stench in God's nostrils it has
          become.

          Yet while multitudes bow to the golden calves of
          success and materialism - God is raising up a holy
          people who are obeying His call to self-denial and
          cross bearing. Jesus Christ is going to return and take
          to Himself a bride completely emptied of self,
          ambition, pride and covetousness. The New Jerusalem
          which is above will be comprised of a remnant body of
          believers who have learned to pour themselves out to
          Christ as a drink offering.

          Isaiah, the prophet, said of Jesus, "He hath poured but
          his soul unto death..." (Isaiah 53:12). The prophet was
          looking back to the drink offerings presented to the
          Lord in the wilderness tabernacle. Two spotless lambs
          were slain, laid on the brazen altar and consumed by
          fire - one in the early morning, and one at night. This
          was to serve as a continual reminder to Israel that
          their sins were laid upon the guiltless lamb and
          presented to God as a sacrifice for reconciliation. It
          pointed to Christ and His sacrificial death on the
          cross.

          Along with the sacrificial lamb, the offerer brought to
          the priest a meat (bread) offering, consisting of flour
          and beaten oil - and three pints of wine as a drink
          offering. The procedure is simply outlined in the 28th
          chapter of Numbers. "The one lamb shalt thou offer in
          the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at
          even... and a tenth part of an ephah of flour for a
          meat offering, mingled with the fourth part of an hin
          of beaten oil... and the drink offering thereof shall
          be the fourth part of an hin (three pints) for the one
          lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong
          wine to be poured unto the Lord for a drink
          offering..." (Numbers 18:1-8).

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                       The Drink Offering Represents
                  Our Service and Ministry Unto the Lord.

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          "Thou shalt offer the drink offering... as a sweet
          savor (aroma) unto the Lord..." (Numbers 28:9).

          The drink-offering picture was made of pure gold. The
          wine of the offerer was placed in the golden pitcher,
          and while the lamb was being consumed on the altar, the
          priest poured it all out on the ground. The drink
          offering was not to be consumed by the priest, but
          rather offered unto the Lord as a sweet aroma.

          Very little has been taught about the significance of
          the drink offering, but I believe it has much to do
          with our time. In a day of so much self-dealing,
          self-pampering, self-indulgence - we need to understand
          what God is saying to us in the drink offering. The
          Spirit of God is calling for the pouring out of our
          very lives as a sacrifice to Him. It is an invitation
          to empty ourselves and be poured out as a living
          sacrifice to Him - to stop hoarding and grabbing and
          gathering and getting - to quit squandering all the
          goodness of God on ourselves to change our selfish ways
          of stuffing ourselves and sponging in all the
          blessings. Many have become overfed, overprotected,
          bloated with materialism, and still lusting for more.

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                               Walk In Love!

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          Isn't it about time for God's people to start giving
          more of themselves and what they have? Will this
          mindless quest for success and prosperity never end in
          God's house? Will millions of charismatic Christians go
          into eternity parroting a single scripture verse, "I
          wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be
          in health..." (3 John 2)? Will they ever get enough?
          Does the wine stay in the pitcher - or will it be
          poured out unto the Lord?

          How unlike Christ we have become - taking so much for
          ourselves when He gave His all for us. He took so
          little of the things of this earth - actually only what
          he needed to sustain life. Paul wrote, "Walk in love;
          as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself
          for us an offering of a sacrifice to God for a sweet
          smelling savor..." (Ephesians 5:2). Jesus really gave
          Himself to the Father as a sacrifice, and because of
          giving Himself to the Father, He also gave to us. So it
          is with us! It is in giving ourselves wholly to the
          Lord Jesus that we best give ourselves to others. We
          are not called to serve mankind - we are called to pour
          out our lives as a drink offering to the Lord, and in
          that sacrifice to Him, our service to mankind will come
          forth.

          The Old Testament offerings and sacrifices gave God no
          pleasure because it was but a heartless ritual to the
          Israelites. It was Jesus who brought joy and pleasure
          to the Father when he poured out His life as a drink
          offering. This was not a shadow, but the very substance
          of what God had always wanted. He wanted those who,
          from the heart, would do His will in all things. Paul
          wrote, "In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou
          hast had no pleasure... then said he, Lo, I come to do
          thy will, O God..." (Hebrews 10:6-9). Jesus established
          the pattern for all of us - a poured out life of
          service to God, in doing only His will.

          To the Philippians Paul said, "But even if I am being
          poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and
          service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with
          you all..." (Philippians 2:17,18,NAS). At the close of
          his ministry just prior to his home going, he could
          say, "I am already being poured out as a drink
          offering, and the time of my departure is at hand..."
          (2 Timothy 4:6 NAS).

          Paul, the apostle of sacrifice and self-denial, stood
          before his Lord in the closing days of his ministry as
          an empty vessel. When he speaks of having fought a good
          fight and having kept the faith, he is actually saying,
          "I've been poured out to my Lord!" Paul had give up the
          world and all its meaningless things - counting it all
          as manure - so he could set his affections on things
          above.

          Paul could say to the Corinthians, "I will not be a
          burden to you... I don't want what you have... I want
          you and will very gladly spend and be spent for you;
          though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be
          loved..." (2 Corinthians 12:14,15).

          I look back over my ministry and my heart breaks. I cry
          out, "O Lord, I have wasted so much time and money on
          myself. I have spent so little of my time in being
          poured out before You as a living sacrifice. I've been
          too concerned about my own security - too wrapped up in
          my own pursuits and needs - too lazy and unconcerned to
          give my all to you." I grieve that is has taken me so
          long to know in a personal way that you find yourself
          only by losing yourself - in His will.

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                      We Have Been Drinking His Wine.

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          Wine is a type of happiness, human joy and gladness.
          "...wine that maketh glad the heart of man..." (Psalm
          104:15). Jesus, though full of divine joy and pleasure,
          renounced the joys and pleasures of this world. So did
          Paul and all the apostles of our Lord. Their joy
          consisted in doing the will of God.

          Malachi the prophet asked, "Will a man rob God?... but
          ye have robbed me in tithes and offerings..." (Malachi
          3:8)). We are robbing God of his drink offering. Rather
          than pouring out our lives to Him, and in turn to
          others, we consume it on our own lusts. Even our
          praying has become selfish. A large charismatic church
          advertises on the radio, "Prayer has produced this
          nation's largest churches. Prayer has made us one of
          the fastest growing churches in America. Come, see what
          prayer can do for you." That is robbing God of his
          drink offering.

          The present day addiction to ease and luxury is
          drinking His drink offering. We rob God of time - we
          sit in front of a TV idol for hours on end, and neglect
          Him day after day. We hear of millions of homeless in
          this nation, sleeping in the streets, yet we put it out
          of mind - still hustling after things. Millions are
          dying around the world and going to hell because the
          burden for missions is dying - yet a fat, overstuffed
          Christianity is satisfied to sit in church and rejoice
          in its security. We are drinking his wine.

          Well-meaning shepherds can be guilty of stealing God's
          wine more than all others. Building, visiting the sick,
          engaging in church activities - staying very busy -
          that in itself is not being "poured out to the Lord."
          The drink offering can be poured out only in the secret
          closet of prayer, where the heart is emptied of all
          self and earthly ambition, and the soul of the man of
          God is laid bare before His holy eyes. It should be
          only a "poured out" man who stands behind the sacred
          pulpit - one so unobstructed, so willing to spend
          himself for God and the flock, he becomes a vessel
          flowing with a constant supply of new wine.

          The prophet Habakkuk speaks of transgression by wine.
          He warns of those who not only spend everything on
          themselves, but who put the bottle to their neighbors
          lips. "Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine...
          who enlargeth his desire as hell... he cannot be
          satisfied... he gathers... .and heaps to himself... woe
          to him that coveteth an evil covetousness... woe to him
          that giveth his neighbor drink, that puttest thy bottle
          to him, and makest him drunken also..." (Habakkuk
          2:5,9,15).

          Without any ill will and without being facetious, I say
          to those who preach the message of prosperity and
          self-esteem - "Why must you put your bottle to the
          mouth of your neighbor?" If you choose to live in
          luxury, accumulating wealth and promoting success and
          self-achievement, accepting man's applause, just do it.
          Why must you create a doctrine to justify it? Why make
          others drink your wine? Will you make others drunken
          with success? How many of God's people must wallow in a
          drunken stupor of self-centeredness before the truth
          dawns that God is being robbed of His drink offering?

          Paul warned, "Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess,
          but be filled with the Spirit..." (Ephesians 5:18). In
          other words - don't drink the wine offering - be poured
          out, and poured out upon by the Holy Spirit. This wine
          is service, ministry. Don't serve yourself. Don't get
          drunk on ministering to your own needs - your own
          selfish desires. Just as in the days of Lot, with
          judgment at the door, multitudes "eat and drink"
          without alarm. They are drinking His drink offering -
          squandering everything on self.

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               Some Are Pouring His Drink Offering To Idols.

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          Jeremiah prophesied against the Jewish exiles in Egypt
          who were "pouring out a drink offering unto the queen
          of heaven..." (Jeremiah 44:17). Because of their
          wickedness God had destroyed Judah and laid Jerusalem
          in ruins. Now back in Egypt, bearing the curse and
          reproach of divine judgment - they sought a way to
          regain prosperity and plenty. Rather than turn to the
          Lord in repentance and humility - self was exalted.
          They turned their hearts to idolatry, totally rejecting
          the words of the prophet. "A great multitude, even all
          the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt... answered
          Jeremiah... as for the word you have spoken to us in
          the name of the Lord, we will not harken unto you...
          but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth
          out of our own mouth... to pour out drink offerings
          unto the queen of heaven... since we stopped pouring
          out drink offerings to her... we have not prospered..."
          (Jeremiah 44:17-19).

          This is one of the most vivid examples of stubbornness
          among God's people in all the Bible. It proves that not
          even the severest of divine judgments can shake people
          loose from their bondage to the doctrine of self will.
          You would think that people of God who were stripped of
          everything and put under the rod of punishment would
          wake up to their need of dependence on the Lord. They
          had wasted and flaunted all that God had given them,
          and He took it away. In their poverty and despair, do
          they open, their hearts and ears to the words and
          warnings of holy prophets? No! They flatly, arrogantly
          turn away from God's true servants and invent their own
          gospel of convenience. They end up giving all their
          time and energy to idolatry - to a form of godliness
          without power or holiness.

          There is a similar reaction today against prophetic
          messages among those in the church who lust after
          success and prosperity. To them, prophets are but a
          nuisance - doomsayers whose warnings about repentance
          and impending judgment are not in keeping with New
          Testament mercy and grace. When the prophetic voice is
          rejected, idolatry becomes rampant. Man-centered
          preaching then takes center stage. Under this kind of
          preaching Christians become absorbed with self-need,
          self-fulfillment and self-love. It ends in a stubborn
          rejection of Christ's gospel of suffering and
          self-denial.

          Who is this queen of heaven to whom so many are giving
          themselves over - to whom the drink offering is being
          poured out? her name is self-indulgence. Her spirit has
          captivated our modern society and she is now determined
          to set up her throne in God's house. She has a
          multitude of followers already:
          cold-in-their-love-for-Jesus Christians who now live
          only for themselves. Their hearts have been captured by
          the pleasures, the lusts and luxuries and the pride of
          this world. They minister to their idols - and they
          will give to God and human need only when the all
          consuming needs of their own idolatry are satisfied.
          There is little left to be poured out to God because it
          has already been sacrificed to some idol.

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                We Are Now In A Time Of Last Opportunities.

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          The closing curtain is about to fall and the church is
          getting its final call to repent, forsake its selfish
          ways, get back to the holy place and be poured out as a
          sacrifice. A remnant is even now being deeply stirred
          by the Spirit of God.

          God has called me back to New York City to be a drink
          offering there to His glory. My one great prayer now
          is, "O God - let me give myself wholly to You - let me
          be poured out in tears, in brokenness, in supplication
          and intercession for the lost and hopeless. Accept all
          my time, all my energy, all my love, all my will - as a
          living sacrifice. Let me see the emptiness and
          nothingness of all earthly things. Let me renounce all
          self-ambition and self-love. Let the ministry You have
          given me be poured out as wine to You, Lord - and let
          me stand one day before Your Judgment Seat, emptied -
          completely poured out!"

          This I know is my last opportunity to be a drink
          offering - a sweet smelling aroma to Him. Is the Spirit
          calling you too? Are you being weaned from this world?
          Do you feel His magnetic pull toward giving all to Him?
          Then present your body wholly to Him as a living
          sacrifice - be poured out - it is our reasonable
          service to Him

                                   Jonah

                    Jonah built a little booth,
                    A shelter from the heat.
                    A gourd-vine grew,
                    protection from the wind that on
                    him beat.

                    Jonah rejoiced, exceeding glad
                    For this convenient gourd-
                    Espec'lly since this comfort was
                    Provided by the Lord!

                    "I thank Thee, Lord, Thou hast been
                    good
                    To my dear wife and me;
                    We're glad we're in a peaceful land
                    of great prosperity.

                    It makes us feel so good-
                    This little bungalow-
                    The kitchenette, the living room,
                    The rug, so soft you know.

                    We love our children, every one;
                    We keep them home for God:
                    The homeland needs them just as
                    much
                    As mission fields abroad.

                    And fundamentalists are we,
                    My children, wife and I-
                    So thankful that we're saved by
                    grace
                    Secure until we die!

                    What didst Thou say?
                    O-Nineveh?
                    Well, that's another thing.
                    Right now we want to praise our God
                    We're sheltered 'neath His wing!"

                    Thus fundamental Jonahs to
                    The Lord their praises tell.
                    They'll sing "We're saved and
                    satisfied,
                    Till Nineveh goes to hell!

                    -Ted Laskowski

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

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