Who Is On The Lord's Side? Series

WHO IS ON THE LORD'S SIDE?

Scripture reading:

Exodus 32:22-26 "22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

25 Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. 26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him. (Message: 26 So he stood at the gate of the camp and shouted, “Everyone who is on the Lord's side come over here!” So all the Levites gathered around him,)

INTRODUCTION:

Today we are going to reflect upon this very important question: "Who is on the Lord's side? or Am I on the Lord's side?"

Just as there are two sides of the coin, the head and the tail, there are always two sides of the spiritual realm we are in.

The good and the bad, heaven and hell, God's kingdom of light and Satan's kingdom of darkness.

There is no neutral or middle ground.

It is either you are on God's side or not.

That is why you need to ask yourself this question: "Are you on the Lord's side?"

You see, for many years, many of us were on the enemy's side, filled with sin, hatred, misery and greed.

But God changed all that when we surrendered our lives to Christ.

He gave us the Holy Spirit and we now belong to God's army, living a life of faith, hope and love.

We are now in God's side.

And so, we ask ourselves: "Am I still on the Lord's side?" after we have gone through trials and difficulties in life.

Are you still on the Lord's side even if the spiritual battle for purity has been tough and demanding?

For sure, we do not want to go back to the side of the enemy.

We want to stay where God is because we know God is in the winning side.

He will put everything under His feet.

We are more than conquerors in Christ.

Therefore, we must be on His side always.

We must be loyal to Him alone.

We must never change sides anymore.

Because changing sides means treason and betrayal of trust.

According to Wikipedia, During the American Battle for Independence, one of the most most notorious person of changing side was a man named Benedict Arnold.

I wonder if you have heard of him.

He was a general during the American Revolution War who originally fought for the American Continental Army but defected to the British Army.

While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fortification at West Point, New York.

It was a very strategic place for the war of Independence.

He had however a secret plan to surrender West Point to the British forces which was their enemy.

But when his plan was exposed in September, 1780, he defected and changed sides.

Ultimately, he was commissioned into the British Army as a Brigadier General.

Because of the way he changed sides, his name quickly became a byword in the United States for treason or betrayal.

He left behind a very conflicting legacy for others to follow.

Lesson: Changing sides is a betrayal of trust that can erode your reputation.

It is not good to change sides when you know you belong to God.

In our story for today, we find the Israelites changing sides very quickly.

After their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt, they were called the people of God.

God promised to take care of them and bring them to the Promised Land of milk and honey.

Moses was their leader and spent a lot of time talking with God.

One day, he went up to the mountain to pray and receive instructions from God.

But he was delayed in coming back.

The people were impatient and decided to do their own thing.

They fashioned a golden calf from the gold and silver they took from Egypt.

They worshiped that idol dancing, singing and making revelry for their false god just like the pagans do.

The Lord was so angry with the people that He almost destroyed them in an instance, if it wasn't for Moses' intervention.

Moses pleaded and asked God to forgive His people.

And so, the Lord relented and did not allow the disaster he had threatened.