The sermon by Jason Dohm, titled 'The Offer of Peace With the World,' explores Ezra 4:1-5, where the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin offered to help rebuild the temple, claiming to worship the same God. Zerubbabel and the leaders refused their assistance, highlighting the distinction between true worshipers and those who practice syncretism by mixing the worship of God with idolatry. The sermon emphasizes that offers of peace from the world often come with strings attached, aiming to blur the lines between the sacred and the profane. It warns against compromising faith to gain worldly approval and stresses the importance of maintaining a clear separation to fulfill the Great Commission. The response of the Israelites serves as a model of faithfulness, choosing to endure opposition rather than dilute their worship. The sermon concludes by reminding believers of the cost of discipleship and the importance of choosing their alliances wisely, maintaining allegiance to God above all else.

The text for today's sermon is Ezra 4 verses 1 through 5. Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the Lord God of Israel, They came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the father's houses and said to them, let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do. And we have sacrificed to him since the days of Asraddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here. But Zerubbabel and Yeshua and the rest of the heads of the father's houses of Israel said to them, you may do nothing with us to build a house for our God, but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us. Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah.

They troubled them in building and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia." The title of the sermon this morning is The Offer of peace with the world. The world is always offering terms of peace, and the terms of peace are never favorable to the people of God. The people of God should never accept those offers. But often they come with their own attractions. And that's what this text is about.

This is about the world, the world system coming and offering to make nice with the captives who have returned to Jerusalem for a very specific purpose, which is to reinstitute the true worship of the true and living God. And it cannot be done by people who are outside the people of God. But that is the offer that's on the table. Last week, the captives who had returned began the work, a long work, of rebuilding the temple. And they laid the foundation and then they gathered to celebrate and to praise the Lord that this first very important stage of rebuilding the temple had been completed.

And really up to this point in Ezra, it's been all happiness, hasn't it? Not that in reality there had not been hardships because they have completed a very long journey, probably a four or five month journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. And they've gone back to inhabit ruined cities, Probably broken down houses. So the reality might not have been actually as sunny as the text to this point. But in terms of what Ezra has pointed us to, it has pretty much all been happiness.

It started with the heart of a Gentile King being turned towards the people of God, and they're good. And it proceeded to the hearts of the Lord's people being stirred up to come back and do this work. Some would go and some would help, but all of them would engage in coming back to restore the temple in Jerusalem. And then they get back in a very short period of time. They're coming to Jerusalem.

They're building the altar. They're beginning to offer the morning and evening sacrifice. They're observing the feast of tabernacles. And by all accounts, the people of God are off to a good start. They're being faithful.

Everything that we've seen so far has been happy, but in this week, our text for this week, The people of God begin to encounter resistance. They begin to run into obstacles that we didn't see in the first three chapters. But with chapter 4 there's a shift. And People are coming who appear to be friends. In other words, people who are coming who present themselves as allies and as friends, but they're really adversaries.

They're really enemies. Here's going to be the structure of the rest of the sermon as we go to the text, Ezra chapter 4 verses 1 through 5. We're going to talk about the people, the people who are coming to make the offer. Then we're going to talk about the offer itself. Then we're going to talk about the response that the Lord's people deliver.

Then we're going to talk about the fallout, because it is not well received by the adversaries. And then we'll try to apply this text. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Oh God, I pray As we come away from this text, God, that You would give us such clarity about the places where the world is offering us terms of peace that should be rejected. You would help us to be a separate people, a faithful people, a people who care nothing for the applause of the world, the approval of the world, but all we want to be is faithful because we love you, because you have sent your Son Jesus Christ to redeem us.

God, may we be a people where everything's flowing from that. We've seen your goodness in Christ. Now we just want to love you with our lives. We want to spend the rest of our lives pursuing you and living lives of gratitude. May it be so in Jesus' name.

Amen. So the people, in verse 1, they're called the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin. In chapter 1, it's the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, primarily, who are coming back as the captives. So Ezra uses that to wrap up all of the captives who have come back to Jerusalem. And these are their adversaries.

They're the enemies of their people. So we're not kept in suspense by Ezra. He tips his hand right away and tells us that the people we're dealing with here are not friends, but they're adversaries and enemies. And we've already sort of caught wind of that in chapter 3 verse 3. Chapter 3 verse 3 said, fear had come upon them because of the people of these countries.

So the Lord's people have come back and they're painfully aware of how badly outnumbered they are even in their own land. And honestly they're afraid of the people of the countries that are round about them. And in chapter 3 we see the beauty of obedience even in the face of fear. But in chapter 3 we already got the message that there is something to fear in these surrounding people. And these people come making a two-fold claim.

They're claiming two things. Number one, in verse two, we seek your God as you do. That's the first claim. We seek your God as you do. That's the first claim.

We seek your God as you do. We're just like you. We're a perfect match for a partnership. You serve this God, we serve this God, and we're just like you. And The second claim is also in verse 2.

We have sacrificed to him since the days of Aseradon, king of Assyria, who brought us here. In other words, You seek the God of Israel and we seek the God of Israel and we've been at this sacrificing to him for about 140 years. Historically that's how the math adds up. Aseradon brought people from outside countries and re-inhabited Samaria about 140 years before the time of our text. The time of our text is probably 536 before Christ.

140 years earlier, Assyria had a king named Aseradon, and he brought in captives from other countries that the Assyrians had conquered, and brought them into this land that they had emptied out when they took the northern kingdom Israel or Ephraim into captivity. So these people who have been living there for generations and have been sacrificing to the God of Israel for about 140 years present their credentials. We seek your God, your God, as you do, and we've sacrificed him to him for about a hundred and forty years. We actually encounter Esaridon, the king of Assyria, in 2 Kings chapter 19. He makes just a very short appearance in 2 Kings 19, but he is mentioned there by name.

But to understand King Aseradon of Assyria and what is happening in our chapter you have to back up a couple of chapters to second Kings chapter 17 so please turn in your Bibles to second Kings chapter 17. There were a series of kings of Assyria who came against the northern kingdom, came against these ten tribes Israel or Ephraim and took them into captivity in waves and then brought in captives from other countries in waves to repopulate this territory. That's completely different than what happens in Judah 200 years later. When the Babylonians come, They take Judah into captivity, but they do not bring in other people to repopulate the land. So this is different.

2 Kings 17, I'll begin reading in verse 22 and read through 33. And it's speaking of the idolatry, the falling away from the Lord that has happened leading up to the time when the kings of Assyria come and take Israel captive, take the northern kingdom captive. 2 Kings chapter 17 verse 22, For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam, which he did. They did not depart from them until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight as he had said by his servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria as it is to this day.

Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avah, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead the children of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities. And it was so at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, the nations whom you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the rituals of the god of the land.

Therefore he has sent lions among them, and indeed they are killing them, because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land. Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Send there one of the priests whom you brought from there. Let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the rituals of the God of the land. Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord. However, every nation continued to make gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they dwelt.

The men of Babylon made Sukkoth-benoth, the men of Koth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak. And the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adramalak and Enamelak, the gods of Sepharvaim. So they feared the Lord, and from every class they appointed for themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods, according to the rituals of the nations, from among whom they were carried away." The last verse summarizes where we are in Ezra chapter 4. These people who were brought in from other countries to inhabit the northern kingdom, after the northern kingdom, those people were taken into captivity by the king of the Syria these people because God was sending lions among them began to sacrifice to the God of Israel, and yet they kept all their own gods right alongside him.

They didn't give up any gods, they just added one God. And So this is the status of just adding in one God to keep the lions off of you. And so it is not people who worship one God, worship the one true God, worship the God of Israel. It is a people who have a multitude of gods for a multitude of situations. And that describes the people who are coming to the Lord's people in Jerusalem to make this offer.

Now compare this to the Ten Commandments. You have the people who want God to get the lions off of them. That's their motive. And so they add sacrificing to the Lord to all the rituals that they're doing to their own gods. They don't give up any of their gods.

Now, what is the first commandment? We would find the first commandment in Exodus chapter 20 and in Deuteronomy chapter 5. The first commandment is, no other gods. You shall have no other gods before me. They are trampling that commandment.

The second commandment is no images. You shall have no carved images. So no idols and no images in worship. And in the second commandment, both in Exodus 20 and in Deuteronomy 5 it says the same thing. I am a jealous God.

That's why no carved images Because God is jealous. God doesn't share His worship with anyone, with anything. He is a jealous God. They are trampling on the second commandment. The third commandment, No taking the name of God in vain.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. That is not primarily about cuss words. It's not good to join the Lord's name to a cuss word, but that's not what that commandment is primarily about. That commandment is primarily about taking on the Lord's name and then living a completely different way, refusing to obey, living in rebellion when you are calling yourself the Lord's. We are Christians.

We have taken upon ourselves the name of Christ to live in rebellion. Having taken upon yourself the name of Christ is the essence of the violation of the third commandment. Don't take the Lord's name in vain. It's not about cuss words primarily. It's about what you allow yourself to be called, and if it matches your life.

They're trampling on the third commandment. They're allowing themselves to be called worshippers of the God of Israel. And they're not living like worshippers of the God of Israel. A very exclusive God, a very jealous God at all. They're trampling on the first commandment, they're trampling on the second commandment, they're trampling on the third commandment.

So they come to the Lord's people in Ezra chapter 4 and we evaluate their truth claims. They're making claims that certain things are true. We seek your God as you do. When we evaluate that we have to split it in two. We seek your God true.

You came here 140 years ago and you've been sacrificing to the Lord ever since. That's true. As you do, false. Not according to the first commandment, not according to the second commandment, not according to the third commandment. You do not seek the Lord as we do.

Because the Lord's people coming back from captivity understand that He's an exclusive God. He's a jealous God who will not share His glory with another. Those are the people. Now the offer. What is the offer?

Very simple in verse 2. Let us build with you. Let us build with you. As I mentioned last week, the first temple, Solomon's temple, took seven years to build. And he had more resources to throw at that building project than any other king in Israel's history, before him or after him.

And When you read about the building of the first temple, you see massive amounts of wealth and resources being thrown at this wonderful building project. So there's plenty of work. There's an abundance of work. There's not an abundance of resources. They come back, there's 50, 000 people for all of Jerusalem and all of Judah.

It's a drop in the bucket. They're outnumbered and they have this huge task ahead of them. And now someone comes offering help, resources, and on the surface seems like a good offer. They have more work than they can do, and someone comes, offers to help with the work. Listen to David, the psalmist, in Psalm 55 describing one of his enemies.

Listen to David in Psalm 55, verse 21. He's describing one of his enemies. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords." That's what we have in Ezra chapter 4. Smooth words with war in the heart.

There is war in the hearts of these people And they're going to prove it through the rest of Ezra and then through Nehemiah. We're going to see that the opposition that comes from this is a 20 year opposition. And it really goes further than that because then Nehemiah is going to come 80 years later and they're still at it. There will be opposition after the temple is built. There will be opposition to rebuilding the wall.

So it's really more like a hundred years of opposition. So they might have smooth words, they might come with an attractive offer, but there is war in their hearts. Or Proverbs chapter 27 verse 6. Listen to Proverbs chapter 7, excuse me, Proverbs chapter 27 verse 6. Faithful are the words of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

In other words, The wounds of a friend, wounds given to you by someone who really loves you and really understands and is out for your interests are way better than the kisses of an enemy. Judas Iscariot is the ultimate example of that, a very literal physical example of that. He comes and he kisses Jesus, but it's a deceitful kiss. So this is what we have. We have people with smooth words, but war is in their heart.

We have people who come with kisses figuratively, but they're enemies and it is all deceit. Paul addresses just this topic in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 6 now. The people In Ezra chapter 4, the Lord's people in Ezra chapter 4 act like they've been reading Paul. Now chronologically they can't have been reading Paul by hundreds and hundreds of years.

But they act like they've been reading Paul. They understand what Paul is teaching in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. I'll begin at 14 and read through 18. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14, 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." Here's the translation of the offer that is made in Ezra chapter 4.

Let us be yoked together with you for the building of this temple. That's what they're saying. Let's get in a yoke together. You yoke animals together for labor and progress. Well, let's get in a yoke together.

We'll work together to make progress on this temple. Let's be yoked together. And Paul says, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. In Ezra chapter 4, if the Lord's people concede the point that we're all the same, You worship God, we worship God, we should do this together. If they concede this point that we are all the same, then they join the temple of God with idols.

Because these people are not offering to give up their idols. The world never offers to give up their idols. The world wants to come into the church, whether it's the nation of Israel or the New Testament church, on their terms. Not God's terms. Not offering to lay down the idols, but offering to come in and labor together right alongside the idols.

And in Ezra chapter 4, these surrounding nations with their Pagan idols can't join in the building unless they join in the participation after the building. Okay, so the people of God have to keep their eye on the end game. Have to keep their eye on the end state. They're not going to build with you for seven years and then be excluded from the worship at the end of the seven years. That's not how it works.

The world always works to obliterate the separation that is to be between the Lord's people and the world. The world is always trying to knock down that wall. Now there's a beautiful wall that's been knocked down between Jews and Gentiles in Christ. That doesn't mean that there are no walls left. There is to be a wall of separation between the Lord's people and those who are not the Lord's people.

We are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. So The world comes and says you can keep your name, as long as the name doesn't mean anything. We don't mind you being Christians as long as you don't believe like Christians and act like Christians. But God says come out from them and be separate. I said this a number of weeks ago, but it bears saying again, separation is a necessary prerequisite of the Great Commission.

No separation, no great commission, no impact on the world. Without separation, the church loses its saltiness, and it's good for nothing except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. No separation, no Great Commission. So that's what's at stake. Separation is a necessary prerequisite to the Great Commission.

If we will not come out and be separate, then we will not have any impact on the world because we look just like the world. One of the most unmerciful things you can do to an unbeliever is to play along with his or her deception and self-deception. That he or she is a believer. Okay, this happens all the time. We're all the same.

We're all the same. My catholic neighbor wants me to think and believe and behave like we're all the same and so does yours. We're not all the same. And the most unmerciful thing you can do is play along with that self deception and keep propping it up. There's no hope for someone who continues in that self deception.

So it's actually an act of hatred to play along. In Ezra chapter 4, as in our lives today, if they play along, yes we're all the same, it's an act of hatred against their souls. So when we see them responding, in a minute we're coming to that, so forcefully, understand, that's not an act of hatred, that's an act of love. They're not playing along with the self-deception. Now why would we?

Why would we ever play along with that self-deception? One answer, comfort, our comfort. We love our comfort more than we love our neighbors. That's why. That's the only reason you would play along with the line, we're all the same, with people you have nothing in common with, is because we'd rather not drive the uncomfortable moment and live with the consequences of the discomfort.

We like our comfort, but we don't like our neighbor very much at all. Now, the response. The Lord's people respond in verse 3, Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the families respond in unity. You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God. Nothing, nada, zip, zero, zilch.

You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God. A totally unequivocal answer. No wiggle room, zero. They give a basis for their response. They actually provide a rationale to the people who have made the offer.

We alone will build to the Lord God of Israel as King Cyrus, King of Persia has commanded us. He commanded us to build this temple. So we're not even at liberty to let you help us. This is directly from the decree of King Cyrus that we studied in chapter 1 verse 3. Listen to it again.

This is from chapter 1 verse 3. Cyrus proclaims, Who is among you of all his people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and build the house of the Lord God of Israel." This is a very legitimate basis for their response. The proclamation of Cyrus, King of Babylon, is a charter which gives explicit authority. It says who, what, and where.

Who is to be the captives who are set at liberty to go back to do this? What is to be to rebuild the temple and reinstitute the worship of God? Where is to be at Jerusalem? They're no more at liberty to change it from Jerusalem to another place than they are at liberty to allow foreigners to engage with them in this work. Without this proclamation from the king of Babylon, or from Persia, I guess it's the king of Persia at that point, Cyrus king of Persia.

Without this proclamation, They were not at liberty to even leave Babylon. But with it, they are free to leave Babylon. They are encouraged to leave Babylon. They are funded for the project. Remember, Cyrus went into the treasury and sent them back with treasure.

So it is a legitimate basis and it is the basis that will constrain these other people around them. They will be constrained by the will of Cyrus, king of the Persians. But it is not the basis that is fundamentally driving the response. Meaning, the big reason that they won't let them build alongside them is not what Cyrus said. It's the reason given, and it's a legitimate reason, but it's not the big reason.

The big reason is faithfulness to God. You can go to ten places in the Old Testament law that will tell you explicitly why God doesn't think they should labor together. Why God prohibits, forbids them to labor together. But that's not the reason that they give. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 10.

In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus is sending out the disciples for the first time. They've been with Him, they've never been out by themselves to preach the gospel. In Matthew chapter 10, He sends them out to do that. And He says this to his disciples as he is sending them out in Matthew chapter 10 verse 16, Behold I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, therefore Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. We're very familiar with that.

Wise as serpents, innocent as doves. That's what Jesus says to his disciples and we see an example of this. This is a great embodiment of what Jesus is teaching in Matthew chapter 10. This is exactly what's happening in Ezra chapter 4. The people are coming back.

They're a weak people. And they're not numerous. They're sheep in the midst of wolves. That's exactly what we see in Ezra chapter 4. And therefore, they are to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.

Now the fallout, not well received. It's a good response, but it is not a well received response. Because the offers of the world are not really offers. They are demands disguised as offers. This is what you find out.

When the world makes you an offer of peace, Here's what you're going to find out about that offer. It's not an offer. They ain't asking. They're telling. And you are not at liberty to refuse the offer of peace.

The offer of peace is really a backhanded declaration of war. And they're giving you one shot at averting war. The offers of the world are not really offers, they're demands disguised as offers. Here's a great verse, here's the one verse, the one cross-reference verse you should remember from this sermon. Make sure to write this down.

Ezra chapter 6 verse 21. We won't get there for a little while as we work through Ezra, but in Ezra chapter 6 verse 21, The temple will be complete then. And they will have just dedicated the temple in Ezra chapter 6 verse 21. And they'll be celebrating the Passover for the first time. So the sweetest, most precious time.

They're celebrating the Passover again. They have a temple to celebrate the Passover. Here's Ezra chapter 6 verse 21. Then the children of Israel who had returned from the captivity ate together, this is the eating of the Passover, ate together with all who had separated themselves from the filth of the nations of the land in order to seek the Lord God of Israel. At the celebration of this Passover there are the Lord's people And then there are people who have been grafted in.

And how have they been grafted in? Because they have separated themselves from the filth of the nations of the land in order to seek the Lord God of Israel. That would have been through circumcision for men. But it's a renouncing of the other gods. A wholesale renouncing of the other gods to just serve the God of Israel.

This is how you become the Lord's you renounce the filth of the nations So Ezra chapter 4 isn't a reluctance To allow other people to serve the true and living God. No, it's a refusal to allow people to come on their own terms to enter into the worship of the true and living God. Here are God's counter terms. Unconditional surrender to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Here's how you enter in and become one of the Lord's people through the work of Jesus Christ.

But it is unconditional surrender. Renounce the filth of the nations. You find out later how much you're totally dependent on the work of the Spirit even to do that. And yet, that is what you must profess when you come to Christ. You must renounce everything else when you come to Him.

Having given their response, they now deal with the fallout. There is a three-fold opposition. Number one, the people of the land discourage the Lord's people. They discourage them. They slow, stop, impede the work however they can do it.

The King James renders it literally, which is they weaken the hands of. Weaken their hands. However they can weaken them. However they can put a roadblock in the way to stop and slow and harass, They do it. Number two, the people of the land trouble the Lord's people in building.

They trouble them in building. The text doesn't say how they do that. Number three, the people of the land hire counselors against the Lord's people to frustrate their purpose. They actually hire counselors against them. And as we proceed through Ezra, we get to next week's text where we get to the beginning of written accusations and petitions to the king to put a stop to the work.

So it's passive aggressive opposition. It's not open warfare. It's a hiring of counselors against them to frustrate any progress. It's sending accusations off to Babylon to get the King of Persia to put a stop to the work. And This is going to cost them 16 years.

That's where we're headed. It's going to cost them 16 years. Whatever the price, they have to pay it. They cannot allow for this Alliance. And it was better that they paid the cost of 16 years than that they would labor together with these idolaters and bring idolaters to participate in the worship of participate in the worship of God.

They were wise. They chose well. When the world makes the offers, and you look at the cost of the opposition with your family who are not believers, with your neighbors who are not believers, with your co-workers who are not believers, with people in the community who are not believers, and you look at the cost, Sometimes it just seems like it's not worth it to remain faithful. Sixteen years of work stoppage on the temple. They've come back to do the temple.

How can they allow for a stoppage for sixteen years? It seems like it's not worth it until you consider the alternative. Ultimately, it's not their job to finish the temple. It's their job to obey God. That's what we have to keep in mind.

The cost is faithfulness to God. We are bought at a price, and so we must be faithful at whatever cost. The ends, The end objectives are not ours. We might achieve them, we might not achieve them. Faithfulness to God is the real end objective.

In Ezra chapter 4, the people passed the test. They refused to partake of syncretistic idolatry. That's really what is in view. Syncretism, blending, mixing together. God doesn't mix.

The worship of God doesn't mix with the idols of the world, and the idols of the world aren't carved wooden statues. They're not golden calves that you put on your mantle. It's other things that you're tempted to love more than you love, that require your loyalty above loyalty to Jesus Christ. So syncretistic idolatry is mixing, is trying to have your cake and eat it too. We cannot, we cannot.

And they see it so clearly in Ezra chapter 4, they see that they cannot have both and they choose wisely. Now applications. Three big ones with some little sub applications mixed in there to keep the number down. Three big applications. Number one, understand that unbelievers are your enemies.

Understand that idolaters are your enemies, Your sworn enemies. Does that sound off to you? Does that sound contrary to the gospel to you? Does that bother you that your preacher says that unbelievers are your enemies? It is categorically biblical.

And when we're uncomfortable with that language then we're uncomfortable with the language of Scripture. As I was writing this, there's something inside of me that revolts against it also. I know this bothers our sensibilities. That's why I want to say it with as straight a face as I can. Unbelievers are your enemies.

Idolaters are your enemies. Now, Christians love their enemies. Christians bless their enemies. They do good to their enemies. They pray for their enemies.

When you read Matthew chapter 5 verse 44, when you read the second half of Romans chapter 12, you want to be the enemy of a Christian. They're so well treated, they're so well loved, they're so well cared for, So this is not that we should rail against or mistreat unbelievers. But Christians are not to be confused about the status of believers and the status of unbelievers and how they're incompatible at every level. Do you understand that? There is a war that is being prosecuted against the people of God by the world, the flesh and the devil.

You're in a war. Act accordingly. Your father is the devil until the split second that you're adopted, if you've been adopted by God through Christ. Until that fraction of a nanosecond, your father is the devil. We don't like to think in those terms.

We like to have middle ground. We don't like to think of ourselves as being born and living this life with our father being the devil. But that's what the Bible teaches. And so we should be wise as serpents and innocent as doves in this world. Because if you walk through life not understanding that unbelievers are your enemies, that are to be loved and prayed for and done good to, but that they are soldiers in an opposing army.

Then you set yourself up for all sorts of compromise. This statement is to keep us from the type of compromise that the people are being lured into in Ezra chapter 4. Number two, expect to receive offers of peace from the world. Evaluate your life now. What offers of peace are being made to you by the world right now?

If you look carefully, you'll find some. Listen to what Matthew Henry says. Matthew Henry says, wonder not at the relentlessness of the church's enemies in their attempts against the building of God's temple. Don't be surprised by the relentlessness, Relentlessness of the attack against the building of God's temple. We are the building of God's temple.

We're not talking about physical buildings anymore. We're talking about the people of God being raised up to worship God and offer spiritual sacrifices. Matthew Henry says, He whom they serve and whose work they are doing is unwearied in walking to and fro through the earth to do mischief. In other words, their father is the devil. He's relentless.

He never sleeps. He never slumbers. He's always walking through the earth looking to wreak havoc. And his children are the same. They oppose the work of God at every front.

I want to consider three realms where we are probably receiving offers of peace from the world today. The first, the realm of right and wrong. The world is offering us peace in The realm of right and wrong. The world is offering us peace in the realm of right and wrong. Nowhere is it more obvious than in the category of homosexuality.

The debate is over. The consensus is in. Homosexuality is okay. Okay. And for 99 out of 100 people or more, that is now true.

It's happened with breathtaking speed. We're being offered peace. They're not really offering. They're telling. It's a disguised demand.

And it comes in the form of, this is over. The jury is in on this one. You can't have an impact and hold that position. You cannot have an impact and hold the Bible's position. So you're going to have to choose.

Either You have no impact, you have no ministry in the world, or you go with the consensus on this. No, no, a thousand times no. Our job isn't to have an impact. Our job is to be faithful to our God. If we come out from them and be separate, the Lord has his elect, he'll bring them into his people.

The realm of right and wrong is always shifting. There's always something that's like homosexuality is now. In the next generation it will be something else. There will be other things in our generation and peace will be offered. And what they really want is the white flag of surrender.

And that's what's really being asked for. Give up the Bible. How about this? The Bible. How about this?

The realm of causes. Good causes. Great causes. Peace is being offered to us by the world in the realm of causes. Abortion.

When you go out to the clinic, there the Catholics are. With their beads, saying their Hail Marys, praying to Mary. They'll offer you peace when you go there. Hey, the Cause is bigger than us worrying about little things like praying to Mary. That's how the offer of peace comes in.

It's bigger than that. We pray to Mary, you don't pray to Mary. But saving Babies is bigger than that. Mental health. This is a new one.

You're going to hear more about this and see more of this because Rick Warren is pressing forward full steam ahead. Senior pastor Saddleback Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist Convention Church and he wants the church to address mental health. And to do that, he's formed a coalition between Saddleback and the Catholic Archdiocese of Orange County, California, and a completely secular mental health organization. The name escapes me, you can look it up. That's the coalition that's going to address mental health in the church.

Rick Warren and the archdiocese of Orange County in California and a secular, and when you do the Google search and you find out and you do a little research on them, totally godless mental health organization. It's a coalition that should have never been formed, not by a Christian. It's ungodly, It's sinful of Rick Warren to do that, to press forward with those partners, to say, let's get in the yoke together and let's build this temple together. It's not right. He should not do that.

How about this? The realm of politics. Wow. The offers of peace are coming fast and furious from the world in the realm of politics. The most attractive candidates politically are overwhelmingly Mormon or Catholic.

Overwhelmingly, all the candidates I like, politically, are Mormon or Catholic. Or the commentators. The political commentators that I like are one or the other with very, very, very few exceptions. Be very careful before you put yourself in the yoke with them, because you like their tax policies, Because you like their stance on abortion. Be very careful.

Here's what I'm not saying. I want to say this very forcefully. I want to say very forcefully what I'm not saying. I'm not saying there are only 300 real Christians, and they all attend Sovereign Redeemer or Hope Baptist Church, and we're the remnant and God is only working here, heaven forbid. That's not true.

There are millions, I'm confident that there are millions of true believers in Jesus Christ who we can be partners with in a hundred different ways in the United States of America. The Lord has his people here, there, and everywhere. I know that. There are many faithful pastors. There are many faithful churches.

What I am saying is, you can't take for granted that everyone who says they're a Christian is a Christian. I'd like to propose two useful lines for drawing in terms of whether we should yoke with or not yoke with and be partners with or not be partners with. One is, who is Jesus? Who do you think Jesus is? That tells you an awful lot.

Historically, that's the best line to draw and see which side of the line they go on. They elevate anyone to the level of Jesus, you cannot yoke with them. If they have a defective view of Jesus Christ, the co-equal member of the Trinity, Son of God from all eternity, then you should never yoke with them. Historically, that knocks out heretics hand over fist. The second line is, what do you think of Scripture?

What is Scripture? All the other things that you might get tangled up with, roll into that one. What do you think of scripture? Thirdly, Understand what is at stake. So number one was understand the believer unbelievers are your enemies Idolaters are your enemies number two expect to receive offers of peace from the world number three Understand what is at stake.

Here's what James says James chapter 4 verses 4 and 5. Adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. This is what is at stake. If you want to be the world's friend you make yourself an enemy of God.

Nothing in this world is worth being an enemy of God. No objective is worth being an enemy of God. No amount of progress in any category is worth being an enemy of God. No objective is worth being an enemy of God. No amount of progress in any category is worth being an enemy of God.

James calls it spiritual adultery. He calls it cheating on your spouse. Of course it is. Jesus Christ is the groom to the church and to go off and to join yourself to false gods in these ways is adultery. Friendship with the world is enmity with God.

Friends, choose your enemies wisely. It is a fool who thinks he can have no enemies. It is a fool who thinks he can have no enemies. It is a fool who thinks that she can have no enemies. And so you must choose them.

And I counsel you to choose them wisely. And don't let God to be found your enemy. You cannot be friends with everyone. You cannot be friends with all your family members. You cannot be friends with all your neighbors.

You cannot be friends with all your co-workers. There is a cost to following Jesus Christ. You must take up your cross and follow Him every day. And it will cost you relationships. Let's pray.

God, I thank you for this text. I pray for men now as I prepare to add to the teaching that you would bless them. You would send your spirit to stir up certain men to bring things that ought to be said about this text. In Jesus' name, amen.