The song we sang said “I’ll praise until my breakthrough. I will praise because I trust you.” Sometimes we need to be reminded that faith and trust, oftentimes, requires patience and it requires endurance. It requires us to be willing to hang in there and continue to do what we know we need to do until we see the breakthrough.
Paul said it like this: “We don’t become weary in well doing.” We don’t become weary in well doing because we will see the breakthrough. We will see the breakthrough.
So whatever breakthrough you need to see, have the patience, have the endurance to hang in there. Trust the God that you serve, trust the God that you worship that He is going to bring the breakthrough.
Normally, I would ask “How is the blessed of the Lord?” But tonight I am just going to tell you, “You are blessed.”
Last April, Pastor Bronc (Flint) did a message about Revival Demons, and he talked a little about that at the conference this past April. He named the following demons that have been released on the Church to influence the Church to live a life other than what God wants us to live.
He mentioned the spirit of infirmity, the spirit of division, the spirit of lust and perversion, the spirit of another gospel, the spirit of diversions, the spirit of lukewarm, the spirit of excuses, and the spirit of Mr. Destruction of reason.
As I thought about that message over the past few months, I looked at the list and thought about which of the spirits, right now, has the potential of being a subtle attack for the Church and for Barry. The one that I focused on is the spirit of diversion.
I want to tell you what a diversion is and this is from Webster’s dictionary.
o The act of an instance of diverting or straying from a course, activity, or use: DEVIATION. How many of you have heard about airplanes that take off for a particular destination but have to abandon the route it was taking because of some problem with the aircraft? The problem which caused the flight crew to alter its course is a deviation.
Satan wants to divert us from the place God wants us to go. That’s the spirit of diversion. Let me give you another example.
Let me give you a football analogy.
I love the way the commentators help you understand what’s going on in the game because they can see the entire field and we can’t. For example, the announcer will say the team looks like they’re in zone coverage or a two-deep coverage, which means the safeties are playing behind the cornerbacks. When the safeties are covering the line, it’s an opportunity to throw the football. When they are back off the line, it’s an opportunity to run the football.
When the quarterback comes to the line, he’s looking to see what type of defense he’s facing. Let’s say the team is in a cover two, which means there will be opportunities for the wide receivers to run routes between the linebackers and the safeties. But to succeed, the quarterback must make sure the safeties don’t drop down into the coverage and take away the route. So, he looks at the safety to his left and until the safety sees him. The safety begins to watch the quarterback’s eyes and when the receiver comes across the formation from the right, the safety is not in proper position because he has been looking at the quarterback. That safety has been diverted.
o Another definition of diversion is something that amuses: PASTIME (Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube). They don’t seem like they’re a big deal. You are enjoying the moment. You are wrapped up in the moment. These are things that that eat up our time and divert us from the spending time with Jesus.
o Synonyms – deflection, departure, detour
A diversion, as a principle, is neither positive nor negative. It is the motivation behind it.
My point: A successful diversion, one that has an aim and a purpose, is dependent upon, now listen to me ladies and gentlemen, is dependent upon the person seeing the diversion, but not recognizing that it is a diversion, and then responding to it in the desired way.
Again, a diversion is like the safety eyeing the quarterback. He doesn’t realize he’s being diverted until the safety comes across field from the opposite direction and catches the pass.
Let’s look at a couple of examples. Turn to Joshua 9. We’re going to read the first 14 verses.
(1) And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof;
(2) That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.
(3) And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai,
(4) They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;
(5) And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy.
Gibeon is about five miles away from Gilgal and the children of Israel.
(6) And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We become from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us.
(7) And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you?
Do you see the question that they asked? Even though the men looked like they had come from a far distance, there was something about them that caused the men of Israel to hesitate.
(8) And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
Israel is asking the right question and getting the answer it expects.
(9) And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt,
(10) And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth.
(11) Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us.
(12) This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy:
(13) And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.
What are we seeing in all this ladies and gentlemen? The men of Israel are ignoring the questions that arising in their heads about these visitors and zeroed in on what they saw.
(14) And the men took of their victuals and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD.
The men of Israel did not seek counsel from the Lord. They made their decision based on what they saw even though they had questions in the back of their minds. But the most telling thing in this verse: they did not seek counsel from God.
Here’s my point: we are always to be at the foot of Jesus and to always be ready to hear from the Holy Spirit. There may be situations where we hear nothing because the situation is fine. But then there will be other times when He will be screaming to get our attention.
Why was Israel not to live among the nations who did not serve the Lord? Turn with me to Deuteronomy 7.
(3) Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
(4) For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
This was God’s issue the whole time with the children of Israel and why He gave them the instruction that He did. He knew that if the children of Israel began to spend time with the other nations that eventually they would turn them away from Him.
Sadly, we are seeing this in the Church today. The Church is spending so much time paying attention to the culture, paying attention to what society says, paying attention to what this person says, what that person says that they have forgotten about what the BOOK says.
The Church has been diverted so far from Scripture that it is not in a place where God can truly begin to work through them to make a change, to make a difference.
Turn to Mark 5. It’s another example of a potential diversion.
The woman with the issue of blood has touched Jesus’ robe and received healing.
(33) But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
(34) And He said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
Whose faith made her whole? The woman’s faith.
(35) While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?
This is the person who had come to Jesus and asked Him to go with him to heal his daughter and Jesus agrees. That was the path that they were taking. That was their destination. But the men from the ruler’s house came and said your daughter is dead so there is no need to bother with Jesus. A diversion, ladies and gentlemen.
The men from the ruler’s house are essentially saying, “You can’t heal a dead person.” We are going to hear people say things that sound logical, that sound reasonable. But if the Word of God means anything to you, it’s not what you see and it’s not what you hear. It is WHO you believe!
(36) As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.
Jesus says, “Don’t let what you have just heard divert your attention as to why you came to Me in the first place.”
The principle: What the eyes see and what the ears hear are what we follow and what we follow is what diverts us.
The spirit of diversion has a definite purpose. If the path that we are on is spiritual maturity, if the path that we are on is to look more and more like Jesus, then we know what this spirit is trying to do. It’s trying to get us off that path by minimizing in our lives the things that we are doing. Reading and meditating on the Word. Prayer, especially in the spirit. Worship. Fasting. We call these the Four Pillars of Spiritual Maturity.
And it will start so innocently. I don’t have to read the Bible today. I can read it tomorrow. Or, I don’t have to pray today because I prayed a lot yesterday. These are little decisions that seem so innocent.
Let’s look at 1 Kings 16. My point in this message has been the spirit of diversion wants to impact the Church and to keep it from maturing and becoming more and more like Jesus. Let’s begin with verse 29.
(29) And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years.
(30) And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.
(31) And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
If there was a god who was worst than Baal, it will be hard to find. Any kind of perversion could be found in the worship of Baal.
(32) And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.
(33) And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
What we miss in this portion of scripture is the impact that it had on the children of Israel. Let’s go back up to verse 25, which talks about Omri, Ahab’s father.
(25) But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all that were before him.
(26) For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
Omri made Israel to sin. Ahab made Israel to sin.
Now turn to chapter 22 and verse 51.
(51) Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.
(52) And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin:
(53) For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.
This was always God’s issue with the wicked kings. They were causing the children of Israel to sin because of the gods that they worshipped.
How did Ahab and Ahaziah make Israel sin? They diverted them to worship Baal, known in Israel as Baal-peor, and whose worship was identified with Molech and child sacrifice and we see this in Jeremiah 19:3-5.
(3) And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
(4) Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;
(5) They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
And Leviticus 18:21 says, “And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.”
Who are the Ahab’s and Ahaziah’s today? The men and women in the pulpit who are diverting their congregations away from the truth and from the Lord by what they teach or by what they support.
When you have a pastor who tells you that same-sex unions do not violate God’s law, that’s an Ahab. That’s an Omri.
When you have a pastor who tells you that when it comes to abortion it is the woman’s decision to make and no one else, you have a pastor who is an Omri and an Ahab.
When you have a pastor, ladies and gentlemen, who tells you that God’s grace covers sin and all you have to do is plead the blood but does not tell you to stop sinning, you have a pastor who is an Omri, who is an Ahab.
1 Peter 1:24-2:2 says, (1:24) For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: (25) But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. (2:1) And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. (2) As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”
One of the goals of the spirit of diversion is to keep the Church spiritual babies by keeping us off the narrow path that leads to spiritual maturity and the spirit is working through the pulpit to make this a reality.
After a while, and this is important, the spirit of diversion will produce an easiness and an acceptance of doctrine that is not grounded in spiritual truth. The examples are endless. Tithing. Predestination. God is in control. Good and bad come from God. You don’t have to repent.
The reason why such diversions are so easy to hear and so readily accepted is because that is what people want to believe. There is another example that I heard again recently: “Why does God send people to hell?” We should know that the Bible does not teach that God sends people to hell. People choose to go to hell. They stamp their own ticket. “All aboard. Next stop hell and the lake of fire.” You have too many in the pulpit who are not willing to tell people that is a lie.
Now, why are these diversions?
2 Corinthians 3:18 – “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
The examples of doctrines I just mentioned are so subtle in how they are taught and delivered that they lengthen the time it takes for us to transform into the image of Jesus because they obscure the truth. I’m talking about months and years.
John 17:20-23 –
(20) Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word;
(21) That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in Me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent Me.
(22) And the glory which thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
(23) I in them, and thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Jesus says the whole purpose of Him going to the cross and being raised from the dead is so that we can be one with Him, with the Father, and with the Holy Spirit. When we are one with the Godhead, there is no difference between us.
Earlier I described a successful diversion as one that is dependent upon the person seeing the diversion, not recognizing it, and then responding to it in the desired way.
Now, before I say what I’m about to say, I am going to read Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of the things not seen.” We have faith in what we don’t see because we trust the One who promises to bring those things to pass.
One of the enemy’s most faith-destroying diversions is for us to see a lack of visible fruit in our lives. Now follow me closely: when we see nothing, we don’t see faith. That’s a diversion ladies and gentlemen.
You prayed for the person and he’s still sick.
You prayed for that person and she had to go to the hospital anyway.
You prayed for that person and he died anyway.
The enemy wants you so focused on what did not happen that you eventually stop praying altogether.
So, how do we minimize the attacks of the spirit of diversion?
Do you remember what the children of Israel didn’t do after interacting with the Gibeonites? Joshua 9:14 says “And the men took of their victuals (tasted the food), and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord.” Seeking the Lord’s counsel is how we minimize the impact the spirit of diversion can have in our lives.
There is a word in the Hebrew that aptly describes how we can minimize the spirit of diversion’s impact in our lives. It’s the word sur. It appears 56 times as turn aside, and 51 times as turned aside. We are only going to look at the first time the word is used. Turn to Exodus 3. You know the record and you know who it involves.
(1) Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
(2) And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
(3) And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
Moses made a purposeful decision to stop what he was doing to turn and look at the bush. I want you to see the purposefulness of that decision.
(4) And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
Think about what this verse is saying. God looks to see how we are going to respond to Him. Because Moses made a purposeful decision to turn aside, God made a purposeful decision to speak.
We need to give God opportunties to get our attention. And to get our attention, we have to be in His presence. All diversions aside. Our sole focus is on Him.
Do you see how God responded to Moses’ decision to seek to know Him, to seek intimacy with Him?
The Wigglesworth Standard (SW shared a story told by a visiting evangelist) – “Years ago the Spirit of God began to speak to me, but I was too busy to heed His voice. He persisted, until I commenced to go aside when He spoke, so that I could hear what God the Lord had to say. This became my manner of life. I obeyed His pleading voice; until now, at the slightest breath of the Spirit, I leave everyone and everything to be in His presence, to hear and to obey His Word.”
Ladies and gentlemen, when we live our lives in constant yieldedness and constant obedience, when we live lives of turning aside to hear the Lord speak, the spirit of diversion will be powerless to hinder our transformation to 2 Corinthians 3:18 and the results that the transformation will produce in our lives.
I want to encourage you – if you have let the four pillars slide in your life, make a purposeful decision to get back on track. Don’t let the spirit of diversion stop you from maturing into looking more and more like Jesus.
