I posted this in 2008 but since that time there have been a few seasons where this rang true throughout the Church, right now at this moment we need to shake off this World and get ready to be a part of the message to let the World know Jesus is going to return the way He said He would, we see all not just some of the signs either coming to pass or being set up to happen in the very near future.... Is it another winnowing season?
Many of us have sin in our lives that we combat constantly, even if things look good on the outside we still combat internal issues. This is because we have not fully surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ and we are liars who say we have(1 John 1: 8-10 nails this pretty hard). Honesty is always the best policy, but it still is not justification. I have always been pretty forthright about what is going on my heart or my head and I used to think that this kind of honesty was a justification for my sin. I would say, “well, I’m telling you how it is and I pray about it so what more can I do?” And I felt that this alone covered me as an excuse, but really the truth is that those words and intentions were just cover-ups for the fact that the things going on in my heart and head were things I still had hope in ‘saving’ me from my circumstances. If it was greed then it was money I was hoping would save me, if it was anger and violence then I put faith in those things to shield me from hostile people or people I just didn’t want to deal with,….and many more things as well,….all of these are false hopes or salvations. Some of them sound good like becoming millionaire Christian rock stars,….the money became salvation “but it was for a good cause,…didn’t we ‘minister’ to so many?” Many Church board members who are wealthy businessmen understand this same thinking,…they used some money to help people last year and they were faithful tithers so its ok that their salvation is their money and business and not Jesus Himself,….I mean didn’t Jesus bless their business so IT could save them? On a side note,…ever notice that those who just can’t believe God for supernatural things like healing, deliverance, or signs and wonders, are still total believers in His ability to supernatuarally provide them with money?
Right now many of us have our ‘stuff’ coming UP in us(our hearts, heads, and spirits), all of the things we yearn for on this planet(mammon) to ‘save’ us from the pain of our circumstance. This stuff has suddenly stood up and become prominent in us. WHY? Because,…if you are willing,…Jesus is about to separate us from those things(winnowing time). The best thing we can do is to make these things as separate from ourselves as possible, while totally attacking them with prayer and fasting and total faith and believing in Jesus. I tell you the truth these issues are more deadly then cancer, or AIDS, or bullets. Attack these things like you will die if they don’t leave. Believe the Word of God,…if He says that unforgiveness will lead you to the pit of hell then He wasn’t kidding(Matthew 6: 14,15). Just because your a good Church goer, and your nice to people, and you cry when puppies and kittens die, does not mean the Word of God is nil and void(Love covers a multitude of sins,…it does not ‘cover up’ a multitude of sins). Attack these issues like its life and death because it probably is.
I mean when Jesus said, “if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you, for it is better to lose an eye then to lose your soul in the fiery hell”,…well, many people found that to be just allegorical. HMMMM I wonder how many people burning and screaming in eternal torment right now are concerned about the eyes they had when they were on Earth? An eye for eternity? sounds like a deal. We need to be this serious about attacking the things that separate us from God,….no sin is not OK,….God does not wink at your sin ‘lovingly’ forgetting your total disdain for His Word. The Bible says that the Wrath of God is reserved for those that will not believe the Word of God, and as I’ve said before a million times,…just because you think its true doesn’t mean you believe it. You have got to live it,….PERIOD.
What is sin? Anything God says is sin,….and never forget the words of James in James 4:17,…..Therefore to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.
So won’t Jesus be faithful to forgive our sins if we confess our sin to Him?….the answer,….Yes, as long as you truly repent. What does the word repent mean? It means to turn and walk the other way.
Many justified sinners(those who misuse the gospel to justify their sin) bring up the story of the adulteress who was brought before Jesus. She was brought before Jesus by the Pharisees(religious leaders) to see if He would make a ruling in her favor against the law of God so that they might accuse Him,…in fact the religious leaders even set the woman up to be caught(showing how wicked they truly were). The Pharisees said that the law said that this woman was to be stoned to death for her trespass and they were correct about this,…so if Jesus disagreed then He would be saying the law was not right,…this would give the Pharisees the right to call Jesus a false teacher.
Jesus famously knelt down and began writing in the dirt, and then turned turned to the Pharisees and asked them which one of them was without sin? And He asked them that the one of them without sin should throw the first stone to kill the woman. So Jesus did not say, “don’t stone her”. He just asked them which of them that was without sin would cast the first stone. It is supposed and I believe it is true,…that Jesus was writing the names of the Pharisees in the dirt and next to their names He was writing their sins,….I think that the implication and circumstance overwhelmingly supports this. Whether that is true or not, for some reason the Pharisees put down their stones and left(none of them threw a stone at her).
But then something happens that we should all remember as long as this story is told. Jesus says to the woman, “woman, where are they? did no one condemn you?”
And she said, “no Lord, no one” And then Jesus said something very important,….never forget one word of it, He said, ” I do not condemn you, either. Go. from now on sin no more.” Notice Jesus didn’t just say “its OK we’ve all been naughty, I won’t hold it against you.” But actually He tells her, “GO.” wow a one word sentence,…that’s pretty strong. Hes telling her to go on from this point and He makes more of a point of it by saying, “From now on sin no more.” It is also important to note that when Jesus recognized her sin and told her that it was not good and that she should not do it again, He was NOT condemning her, as He said, “neither do I condemn you”. the act of recognizing and calling to account for sin is NOT condemnation and is a necessary step on the path to repentance and freedom.
You mean if Jesus forgives us of sin then He expects us to go away from that sin and never do it again and that His blood isn’t just there to desecrate daily with the sin we’ve planned and laid up in our hearts with premeditated malice?
That’s right! Jesus will be faithful to forgive us and even many times for the same stuff,…BUT,…only if our hearts are truly seeking Him and not just playing with His mercy so we can try to slip into heaven while the whole time really living for hell. Jesus will not fill Heaven with people to love Him forever who spent their life hating Him by disbelieving His Word and spitting on His grace,…actually the wrath of God is stored up for these.
The last thing I will say is that there is another great strategy and command, for those looking to shake off binding sin. Look up James 5:16 and see how often you see a church service like this.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can avail much. James 5:16
Living rooms all across America should have this going on regularly. You say, “what if someone tells on me and other people find out about my sin?” Well for one I’ll say, “you can’t kill a dead man.” If you are really dead to this world then other people knowing your sin ain’t really no biggie. And secondly I’ll say that if our home churches really prayed for each other to be released and ‘healed’ from sin and we all knew what was going on with each other, then how much would we not be like the Church we have been dealing with for so many years. All the hidden sin, lies, deceptions,…its all so sick,…BUT,…God is bringing it up! He is coming to expose our sin and to free us from it. So two things are about to happen,…A great exposing is coming that will cause many to lose confidence and fall away because they either wont believe God would ask this from them, or because of their disappointment as they see the amount and the caliber of people being exposed and the sickness come to the TOP of the church,….And a great cleansing is coming to the Church where many who have fought against their sin like it is an enemy(and it is) are about to be freed, the years that many have fought and struggled with all kinds of issues are about to render a great reward(and it ain’t money,…YAY). It will cause a BIG division,….because His Judgment is a SWORD. The sword is coming to the Church as never has happened before, judgment of sin and the abusers of Gods grace is about to be screamed from the rooftops. Here comes the fiery Word of God to both deliver and judge all in one sitting,….WOOOOHOOOO! Be prepared to shake off shackles or be shaken off.
D.P.
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