Modern Church, intimidated, conquered by the devil!

Isaiah 58 Ministries              1-23-2013

Pastor Leah Svensson

Scriptures:  Ephesians 2:2-3, 1Peter 4:1-4, 2 Corinthians 6:14, 2 Corinthians 6:14, 2 Corinthians 5:16,  Matthew 16:6, Titus 10:16, 2 Corinthians 10-4, John 8:31-34

Theme

Jesus commands us to go out into the world and preach the Good News of Salvation. That means to tell people that God has made a way where they can talk to him all the time, he will dwell in them and be a Father to them.  You can not talk to God if you are thinking of obeying a person or the sin that you are born into.  Because the person of sin will be your master and you will want to do those things that please your master.  In modern terms that is you want to obey your selfish desires of your own flesh, or your boss, or your parents or your spouse and even your children.  You are thinking about pleasing them, not God.  In order to talk to God you have to turn to him, you have to turn away from yourself, and others, which is all sin and start  listening to him and do what pleases him.  Because everyone is born into sin we need Jesus to save us from the fallen state.  We deserve to die because sin means to stole something from someone else and the punishment to sin is death.  So instead of dying for what you did, Jesus died for you.   God can not talk to you if he is about to kill you for what you did. You turn to Jesus see he died for you, receive a new heart, soul where you have no desire to sin but to not sin to please God your Father.  Then you go tell others the same Good News..  You are the salt of the world........ You preserve human beings, you lead them Christ so he can save them from their fallen state of a criminal mind.  You are a wimp if you do not preach this Gospel because you are afraid of others, you are in sin, following others instead of God.

Diary of a Wimpy Church

Alright, so disclaimer first. This may offend many church going folks, however that is the opposite of my intention. J I’ve got much love for ya’ll!  However, the Church, as a whole has become, well, rather wimpy. In the “olden days” a true Christian conversion was accompanied by a real heart and lifestyle change.  Ephesians 2:2 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, ² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, ³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

Change, REAL change, marked a true, born again Christian. To be born again is a very mysterious thing. “How can a man enter into his mother’s womb?” asked one questioning teacher to Jesus. Becoming a Christian is so radical that your old life is unrecognizable, it’s like it never happened in a way for it’s not who you are anymore. Your friends who you used to sin with wonder about you.

 1 peter 4:1-4 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us^[a] in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, ² that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.³ For we have spent enough of our past lifetime^[b] in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. ⁴ In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. ⁵ They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

Your friends and family will have to give an account to God one day. So, do not become ridden with anger or malice when they make fun of or persecute your new beliefs but seek the Lord on their behalf so they too can come to this knowledge.

And this is where the Church runs into some really bumpy roads because of the enemy’s most recent trick on Americans: “Forgive, all the time, for everything.” This causes mass confusion and people to never really experience the fullness of Christ because in this message of forgiveness is a false sense of security.  Now, don’t get me wrong, forgiveness is powerful and necessary, but the world has hijacked the word and given it back to the Church to mean something it was never intended by Christ to mean. It doesn’t have to be though. We fall into a trap when we continue to make merry and keep the same company as we used to keep, but see, they are still sinning and you are not.

^{2 Corinthians 6:14} Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers [do not make mismatched alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness?

¹⁵ What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial [the devil]? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?

¹⁶ What agreement [can there be between] a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

¹⁷ So, come out from among [unbelievers], and separate (sever) yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not [any] unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor,

¹⁸ And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

In an effort to not appear judgmental, the Church has become weak. We don’t use the spiritual muscles the Lord gave us to BRING PEOPLE OUT OF SIN and show them how the Lord can make them into NEW CREATURES

^{2 Corinthians 5: 16} Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a [purely] human point of view [in terms of natural standards of value]. [No] even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, yet now [we have such knowledge of Him that] we know Him no longer [in terms of the flesh].

¹⁷ Therefore if any person is in Christ  he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

I am not saying to stand on the street corner and shout “REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND!”  Even though, John the Baptist did do this and he was a pretty cool guy, at least Jesus thought so. I am not saying to get into long debates with non Christians or even other Christians who are walking in sin. What I am saying is to let your life so shine so that all may see the change the Lord has made in you. I also say to not back down when asked a question about your change. I also don’t say to be quiet  in any circumstance where others would entice you to sin, even a little, for even a little sin can corrupt our whole being.

^{Matthew 16:6} Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees… ¹² Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

These leaders who Jesus warned about taught an outward cleanliness but not an inward holiness. This is where most of the American Church is stuck. Not on purpose, but do to our unconstitutional laws false teaching has crept in amongst us. Most Americans WANT to do the right thing. But as long as preachers keep preaching “we all sin. I sin, you sin, we all sin.” No one is ever going to walk in the power of God that can only come from living a sin free life.

Within the catacombs of church picnics, Vacation Bible School, potlucks, and outreaches, are those who would wish to cause others to slip into sin or continue on sinning.

^{Titus 1:10-16} For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.^[a] 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. ¹² One of the Cretans,^[b] a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”^[c] 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, ¹⁴ not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. ¹⁵ To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. ¹⁶ They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

My desire is for Christians to start SPEAKING UP and SPEAKING OUT against those who would profess to know God but they deny him by what they do. I recently came across an article by a certain celebrity by the name of Megan Fox. In it she claims to speak in the holy tongues of the Spirit when she goes to church. I pointed out that she could possibly not be speaking of God but the devil can mimic such things as well. There were those who thought this was a wrongful judgment call, but you see, there are those who profess to know God but are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work. When a person strips naked for money and then thinks nothing of it. When they curse and women talk perversely of having sexual desires for other women in an unashamed way, it’s not good. Paul publically points out a whole group of people as being lazy, evil beasts, and gluttons. There is a power in what he was saying, to keep his followers from falling into the same mess. We need to have a back bone back as a Church and start to speak out against such unholy behavior, especially in those who call themselves believers, and especially teachers.

Now, I do not advocate making waves with every Tom, Dick, and Harry walking down the street. Nor, is it seemly to point out every fault in every person around you. But when someone is in sin around you, you need to understand that they are captive and a prisoner. The idea is not to get angry and get in fighting matches, but to recognize the spiritual aspect at work. If you want someone who believes abortion is okay to see that the baby in the womb is precious and always to be protected, then you pray. First, you clean out your own life and make sure you are not in sin, then you will see clearly to help out your brother or sister in Christ, or even set a sinner free. Don’t let ANY lie stay in your head. When they speak lies you have to combat them.

^{2 Corinthians 10: 4} For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, ⁶ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

When we speak the truth, in love and humility, it has power. When we are afraid of offending or appearing judgmental, we lose that power and our words become of no effect. The surest way of winning someone to Christ who wants to be won, is to stand your ground, neither angry or arrogant, but firm in the truth. Sin is sin, when we come to Christ we cease from sin. Old things are passed away and all things become BRAND SPANKIN NEW!  This is the Gospel, this will set people free, and free forever.

John 8: 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave 2 to sin.35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 

While on our bike trip we were blessed to have many conversations with people about the Lord. The cool thing was, we never had to bring God up, others always did. We kept coming across so many renegades in the Body of Christ, those who were outcasts in the Church who had left because they were gravely hurt by pastors or others. One couple had worked with a pastor for a long time and raised $10,000 for a missions trip, only to have the pastor take the money and run. Another woman was sexually accosted by her pastor. The list goes on. How do we help these people? We help them by identifying criminals, rooting out sin, and standing up for the weak and abused. I know one lady whose family travelled around as a singing group that her father led, but he molested her until she got married at the young age of 17.  We have become wimpy, my fellow Christians, too afraid to stand up and point out sinful behavior, too afraid to make waves. Well, folks, fear has torment and is not of the Lord. We need to spend time with the Lord and have spiritual discernment to rescue those in need and not let these abuses continue. We cannot create a safe haven for those who want to continue to practice sin and by practice it means something that is worked at and put effort into.

In love, we restore one another, in meekness, in humility. But we need to muscle up and not be afraid to speak out against sin.