Something is burning on my heart, and to ease the sense of urgency, I am going to address it in today’s message. I recently read the results of an article entitled: “
Evangelicals Favorite Heresies.” This article was discussing the results of a survey that disturbed me. After reading the results, I almost feel like we need to set the record straight on several topics. I won’t, but I should. When you get a chance, take a look at the article.
You see, that article tied into something I read in Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. Now, you have to remember that Paul had founded this church, and when he heard some distressing news of what was going on in that church, he felt that he must address:
In my letter to you I told you not to associate with people who continue to commit sexual sins. I didn’t tell you that you could not have any contact with unbelievers who commit sexual sins, are greedy, are dishonest, or worship false gods. If that were the case, you would have to leave this world. Now, what I meant was that you should not associate with people who call themselves brothers or sisters in the Christian faith but live in sexual sin, are greedy, worship false gods, use abusive language, get drunk, or are dishonest. Don’t eat with such people (I Corinthians 5:9-11)
The first time I had ever read that, I wondered why we call this “
First” Corinthians, when he said, “In my letter to you I told you . . .”? There was obviously at least one letter that preceded this one, so what happened to it? Frankly, we don’t know. One argument says that the Lord didn’t feel it was necessary because it addressed a specific church, in a very specific time, so it was lost to time. Maybe, but questioning minds still wonder.
My other issue is he addressing this issue of “
sexual sins.” I mean, isn’t the gospel of Jesus Christ available to everyone? Didn’t we hear stories telling us that sinners are welcome to come to Jesus for Salvation? Doesn’t that include liars, thieves, prostitutes, murderers, homosexuals, drunkards and drug addicts? Aren’t the poor, the downtrodden, the broken-hearted, the outcast and the rejects of society welcome?
Sure they are, and don’t forget the self-righteous religious people who love to put on a show of being “
holy,” although, inwardly they are dead in their sins. Don’t they deserve salvation, as well? Yes, to all of those questions. The gospel is also for the professional people, like doctors, lawyers and the successful entrepreneurs who appear to have it all together, but inwardly are full of the bones of dead men.
No one is excluded from the offer of Salvation! We can safely say that Jesus puts the highest value on everyone, which is more than any other religion we know. However, now hear me out, once you receive salvation and become a member of the body of Christ, more is required of you. Membership in the family of God is no longer all-inclusive. I know that upsets some of you, but coming to Jesus changes you from the inside, out. You are no longer a “sinner saved by Grace.” Oh, you might have been a sinner who was saved by Grace, but now you have become the very Righteousness of Yahweh, Himself! You are now clothed in all of His Glory and Honor!
The original Church founders established a certain standard to remain active in the Christian fellowship. If anyone, willingly and joyfully, continued to maintain a lifestyle of sin, was to be avoided and rejected. But even this was only after the leaders took steps in an attempt to bring that person to repentance and restoration (
Matthew 18:15-17). In other words, when a brother or sister were found
willfully involved in sin, they weren’t just tossed out on the streets. They were counseled, encouraged, prayed for, and taught what is required, and so on.
The point is, a person who was
willfully and
deliberately committing what they knew to be sin . . . they were no longer permitted in the fellowship (
I Corinthians 5:9). The early church took that even further. If anyone was
unruly and walked
disorderly, they were also not allowed in the church (
II Thessalonians 3:6). In John’s third letter, he went so far as to forbid members who were domineering and sectarian from attending (
3 John 9-11). In Revelations we see that Jesus even renounced actual believers who were “
Luke Warm,” neither
Hot nor
Cold. Wow! (
Revelations 3:15-16). We can’t stop there, fellowship was also based on believing and receiving what Jesus taught (
II John 9-11).
Does any of that surprise you? I’m afraid that with those standards, many of us better begin searching our own hearts. In his second letter, Paul told the Corinthian church to, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are still in the Christian faith. Test yourselves! Don’t you recognize that you are people in whom Yeshua Christ lives? Could it be that you’re failing the test?” Ouch! When was the last time you examined your own heart?
I know that sounds harsh to most of you. But if it does, it is because you don’t truly recognize the authority of Scriptures, nor do you like Yahweh Himself telling you what to do. Oh, we say we love Him, but Jesus made it clear that we prove our love, through our obedience (
John 14:15). Ooh, that nasty “
O” word! From our rebellious, stubborn minds, we love to talk about “
loving” our Lord, but when it comes down to where the “
rubber meets the road,” we bristle at the thought.
The problem we are having in our modern churches is that this sort of
divine discipline is missing. We simply don’t understand what this judgment means, anymore. Yet in the early days of the church, it was used to preserve the purity and unity of the body of Christ! It was enforced by mature, authorized ministers and a church filled with the love of God who had a single eye toward the glory of God!
Did you ever hear about the judgement against Ananias and Sapphira? They received some serious judgment! Take a look at it:
A man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold some property. They agreed to hold back some of the money they had pledged and turned only part of it over to the apostles.
Peter asked, “Ananias, why did you let Satan fill you with the idea that you could deceive the Holy Spirit? You’ve held back some of the money you received for the land. While you had the land, it was your own. After it was sold, you could have done as you pleased with the money. So how could you do a thing like this? You didn’t lie to people but to God!”
When Ananias heard Peter say this, he dropped dead. Everyone who heard about his death was terrified. Some young men got up, wrapped his body in a sheet, carried him outside, and buried him.
About three hours later Ananias’ wife arrived. She didn’t know what had happened. So Peter asked her, “Tell me, did you sell the land for that price?”
She answered, “Yes, that was the price.”
Then Peter said to her, “How could you and your husband agree to test the Lord’s Spirit? Those who buried your husband are standing at the door, and they will carry you outside for burial.”
Immediately, she dropped dead in front of Peter. When the young men came back, they found Sapphira dead. So they carried her outside and buried her next to her husband. The whole church and everyone else who heard about what had happened were terrified (Acts 5:1-11).
Look, the issue wasn’t that they
withheld some money. Gosh no. Peter told them, “Hey, the money was yours to do with whatever you wanted to do. But your problem came when you tried to fool the folks into thinking you were some ‘
Holy Givers,’ when in truth, you were frauds. And you thought you could fool Yahweh. Oops!” That’s when they dropped dead!
As you can imagine a great fear came over the church members, and it certainly brought a halt to any other such sinful behavior. When believers recognize the supernatural element in divine authority, they won’t be so reckless and irresponsible in their behavior. Granted, the number of cases where this sort of divine judgment happened was small, but it sure proved a good way to purify the church and preserve its unity!
Then in I Corinthians 5, the leaders had to deal with some guy who was committing incest with his stepmother. Oh my. There were also two men, Hymenaeus and Philetus, who denied the resurrection and were messing with the faith of some of the other believers (II Timothy 2:17-18). The Lord had given The Church supernatural authority to bind and loose and keep the church free of desecration.
I personally believe what is causing the division and defiling of the Church is the absence of this type of divine discipline! That is why the Church has little-to-no respect (or attraction) from the world. I also believe we have a shortage of Godly, mature leaders in the church because we do not apply any discipline in our churches. If we did, the shenanigans of some of those “preachers” out there would stop! I am so tired of them bringing embarrassment against The Church.
We need look at what Scripture says on this important topic with fresh, new eyes and a teachable spirit that is ready to receive the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment. I say that because Jesus founded this church and because of that, His heart beats strong for its success, its growth, and maturity.
Yet, what do we have? We have a church that is immature and carnal. Not only that, we are proud and arrogant about our sin! This attitude of ours is sad. We have Pastors who are committing adultery, yet have never been removed from their position; Shepherds who are homosexual, yet remain active in leadership. There are reports of Pastors who view pornography, even on the church computers! Yet, those pastors are never counseled or removed. What is going on in our churches?
But before I end this, I want to address you Pastors out there. I hope you are not one of those I have mentioned. Or that you are
ignoring the sin of others in leadership (by doing so, you are
condoning theirs sin). If you are, I don’t apologize, but I do encourage you to get your own heart fixed. Step down from your position and seek the help of the elders in your church, or from an outside Christian counselor.
If
you are not involved in willful sin, then out of your love and commitment to your church, you must be willing to risk offending some of your members with correction and harsh teachings. I’m sorry, but I can pretty much guarantee some of those who hear this will resent your new “preachy” demeanor, but that is the risk you must make.
When you do, I know, you will experience a renewal, and the hearts of your members will grow closer to the Lord. In the long run, they will appreciate you for bringing them the Truth that set the Free!
Nickolas
With these Morning Messages, I take you on guided tours to, as Bunyan described, the Celestial City. At times we linger at corners familiar and unseen. And explore the depths of our faith along the way.
The trail is long, but there’s no hurry. Though we do need to stock up on supplies for the way, and that’s where I need your help. If you enjoy these messages, please consider becoming a contributing member of this tour group. It will be very much appreciated.
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