There Is Wrath Gone Out From Among The Lord And The Plague Is Begun
There is a plague of sin that has gone out among God’s people. This story out of Numbers does not relate a story concerning the heathen nations around Israel, but God’s chosen. If we are to see the plague among us stay in this hour, we as the priests of God must return to the door. In reality, it must start with the leadership because when Moses and Aaron returned, the plague was stayed. Preacher, it’s time for YOU to come back to the CROSS and preach Christ Crucified!
By Chris McDonald
TEXT: Numbers 16:45-50 - Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. [46] And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun. [47] And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. [48] And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. [49] Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. [50] And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
As we read of Israel’s wonderings in the wilderness we read a story of a people gone astray from God. No one will ever know for sure totally what went through the minds of those 10 spies who came back with an evil report but it sent Israel into a 40-year cycle of wandering that brought peril, conflict and eventually cost Moses entrance into the land God had promised his forefathers.
I can almost feel an eternal quickening in my spirit as I write these words and ponder what really caused Israel to doubt GOD after all that had happened in Egypt. 430 years in hard bondage had reduced Abraham's descendants to mere slaves but with a mighty hand GOD brought them out while destroying one of the mightiest nations on the face of the earth at that time. Yet, despite all the miracles and the great deliverance God wrought through the hands of Moses and Aaron in Egypt, when it came to cases in believing Him to enter into their promised rest - they failed. I pray as we write this journal that the Lord will help us glean the warnings of the events of the wilderness and bring us back to the cross before it is eternally too late. Israel's lessons are OUR lessons today! Her warnings and failures are for an EXAMPLE to us so that we may not do the same thing and suffer the same fate!
The first promise of this land was given to their ancestors – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Confirmed again to Joseph through revelation knowledge as he lay dying on his bed begging his brothers – “take my bones from here and don’t let me die in Egypt,” Joseph knew that God had promised His people a better land and a better country than Egypt. A land flowing with milk and honey even though it would also be a place of danger and peril as well.
Israel's deliverance from Egypt and entrance into the promised land is a type of the Christian experience today. When we get saved, we enter into a journey that begins with Christ and as we walk with Him He promises to take us to the same place of rest as He promised to lead the Israelites to after they came out of Egyptian bondage. Egypt is a type of the world and the bondage and slavery of the mud pits are a type of sin. The blood of a slain lamb was the only thing standing in the way of Israel, Egypt AND the death angel on the fateful night God broke Pharaoh's hold on His people. Those who put the blood on the door were saved as God “PASSED OVER” Egypt and destroyed the firstborn of Egypt from Pharaoh right on down to the poorest slave. We are SAVED by the BLOOD and nothing else. We are SAVED by the death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua – NOTHING ELSE. We are saved because of CHRIST CRUCIFIED and nothing else. As the great Christian song goes,
“Judgment is coming, ALL will be there, those who’ve rejected, those who’ve refused. Oh, Sinner hasten, haste to His call, then He will PASS, HE will PASS over you. When I see the Blood, When I See the Blood, When I See the Blood, I will PASS, I will PASS, over you.”
God would lead the nation out of Egypt through many dangers, toils and snares feeding them each day from heaven’s table. Giving them warmth at night with a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud by day. Nothing the Israelites needed went unmet. God was their source. Egypt had been their source but at the cost of their freedom and God doesn’t condone SLAVERY! He wants His children free. Those who choose to come to Him are FREE. We are children who are FREE in the name of Jesus.
But as they came to the point of entering into the Promised Land, the place of destination God had in mind when delivering them from Egypt, they came to one of many crossroads Israel came to with God in her history. Moses had not yet angered God (which he would do later) to the point of not going in so this day was extremely important in the life of the nation. Everything God had told Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was on the brink of being fulfilled. The Bible says God commanded Moses to send in 12 men – one of each tribe – to spy out the land of Canaan.
Numbers 13:1-5
And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, [2] Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. [3] And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel
Out of the 12 spies, only two - CALEB and JOSHUA - believed God and told the people they could go in. The unbelief of 10 of those 12 spies angered the Lord so much that He caused an entire generation to wonder in the wilderness for 40 years. Paul would write in Hebrews that the reason that generation wondered and eventually perished was unbelief and hardness of heart. It is a solemn warning to the modern 21rst Century Church today as well. It's part of the message of this journal as we enter another year (2003).
Hebrews 3:7-19
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, [8] Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: [9] When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. [10] Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. [11] So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) [12] Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. [13] But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. [14] For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; [15] While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. [16] For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. [17] But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? [18] And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? [19] So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Hebrews 4:1-5
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. [2] For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. [3] For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
This was one of 6 times Moses had to intercede for the people to keep God from totally destroying them. The wondering for 40 years was actually God’s second choice- not His first. His first choice was He wanted to wipe the slate clean sort of speak and start over. Moses said, “if you do that then the heathen will say that You brought them out but You can’t bring them in.” And God listened!
Deut. 9:25
Thus I fell down before the Lord forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the Lord had said he would destroy you.
Just months before God had come within an eyelash of destroying the nation at Sinai because of the idolatry of the golden calf. While the very hand and finger of God were carving out the Law and Torah to Moses on written tablets of stone, the children of Israel “were rising up and sitting down to play” to a golden calf.
Deut. 9:18
And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.
Each time Israel sinned, Moses went into deep intercession for 40 days. The other four events, three of which we will cover in this journal, where Moses interceded for the people included:
When Korah and his company rebelled and accused
Moses and Aaron of wrongdoing (Numbers 16:4)
When
God determined to destroy the people because of Korah's rebellion (Numbers
16:22)
When
God determined to destroy the people who rebelled because of His judgments upon
the 250 princes
(Numbers 16:45) (the subject of this journal)
When Israel rebelled against Moses because of no
water (Numbers 20:6)
Even with the intercession of Moses, God judged Israel. We must never forget something in our walk with the Lord. We may sin and think we get by because we are Christians but we DON’T! God will judge HIS PEOPLE. God is not a tyrant in heaven sitting up there with a big stick. His love for us burns so deeply that when He judges us it is down out of a deep passion He has for His own. He had that same passion for Israel. When they strayed from obeying Him, God did not take pleasure in sending judgments like He did TEN times in the wonderings of the wilderness and their journeying to the Promised Land. But He will chastise those who are HIS! Are you hearing me? Neighbor, listen to me. You can't sin and get by. You can't take the attitude that God's love will allow you to sin and not be chastised. If anything His love is what CAUSES Him to chastise us. If we be without that - then we are BASTARDS and not HIS. I'll explain that statement more in a minute.
Ten times God dealt with Israel in the wilderness - the same number of plagues He sent on Egypt. These ten plagues included:
1.Fire—for misuse of tongue (Numbers 11:1-3)
2.Sickness—misuse of tongue and lust for flesh (Numbers 11:4-35)
3.Leprosy—misuse of tongue and jealousy (Numbers 12:1-16)
4.Death—misuse of tongue and rebellion (Numbers 14:28-35)
5.Sickness—misuse of tongue and rebellion (Numbers 13:31-33; Numbers 14:37)
6.Earthquake—misuse of tongue and rebellion (Numbers 16:1-3,29-33)
7. Fire—misuse of tongue and rebellion (Numbers 16:1-3,34-35)
8. Sickness—misuse of tongue and rebellion (Numbers 16:41-50)
9. Serpents—misuse of tongue (Numbers 21:5-9)
10.Sickness—adultery and idolatry (Numbers 25:1-9)
This is something the modern church has lost sight of I’m afraid. It’s why we don’t preach the cross-life anymore and we preach a user-friendly gospel that gives people a lot of pride through increasing their knowledge ABOUT God but does nothing to deal with the nature of sin in man. It's a nature that produces disobedience that brings on the wrath of God to those who walk in such. It's in all of us - no exceptions - even Christians. The sin nature of the Christian has been rendered powerless but if that Christian yields himself to that nature - that Christian will reap the same consequences as the sinner - if not worse. Israel perished in the wilderness because of unbelief. Israel's unbelief produced disobedience. Unbelief always does. You say wait a minute how could that possible be? Israel was God's chosen nation. She was blessed by God immensely, how could you say she didn't believe???? The same question must be asked today - how can the modern church - with as many blessings and wealth that we afford and boast of - stay steeped in its unbelief as well? That's a good question. You may say well, "of course the church believes in God," but the state of the modern church would indicate otherwise.
The church has its faith in everything BUT God! We have become user friendly and made the church a place where the sinner is no longer convicted but accepted on man's terms, not God's. We've made the old fashioned art of believing God no matter what a lost art form. We have the money now to do what we had to believe God to do in the past. We have the buildings now to house as many people as we can get in and keep those offerings coming in and going out to headquarters to make us look good in the site of men. Yet a generation of young people and old people too for that matter is perishing and on their way to hell.
Are we to believe in the great wisdom of our denominations? Are we to believe in the tenants of faith we so proudly hang on our church walls letting everyone know we belong to the Assemblies of God, Church of God, etc.? Are we to put our belief in what our pastor tells us without ever questioning what he says to us even if it’s contrary to the word of God? Are we to blindly follow our church even though it may not be doing anything for the Kingdom of God but we go their because of mom and dad or grandma or grandpa??
The word of 10 men sent Israel into an abyss of backsliding that she never recovered from for 40 years. Everything STOPPED in God's plan for her until the generation that rebelled against Him DIED. Yes they were blessed in the wilderness. Yes, God provided. Yes, God was still their God. Yes, God did not cast them aside. But their unbelief cost them something more precious than the gold of Egypt. And the word of the majority today is sending millions to hell as well. I want to say a few things about that.
The majority is not always right! To be quite frank with you, especially in the church today if everyone is clamoring after it (whatever it may be – be it being slain in the spirit, laughing, so-called shaking, gold-dust,etc.) there is a good chance it's probably not of God. Now hear me closely.
I believe in the gifts of the Spirit. I am as Pentecostal and Charismatic as they come. I believe God still baptizes people in the Holy Ghost and yes I believe when they get baptized in the Holy Ghost – they are going to speak in tongues as the Spirit of God gives them the utterance!! My nine-year old understands that. Why can't men with doctorate degrees behind pulpits understand it????
I believe that there are times when the Spirit of God comes on a person so strong that yes they will fall under the power of God. There are scriptural occurrences when the presence of God caused men to fall prostrate on the ground. God help one poor Baptist missionary I heard recently though that got up in a HUGE Baptist church in Knoxville and tell people that if you fell forward is was of God but if you fall backward it was of Satan – IMBECILE! That is just plain stupidity talking. There is no such teaching like that ANYWHERE in the word of God. That’s the unbelief of the denominationally divided church talking!!
In 1993 I received a special touch from heaven and was in meetings I was preaching in at the time where many would fall under the power and begin laughing uncontrollably. Many had true experiences with the Lord and many lives where changed for the good. I am not trying to give the impression I’m against supernatural experiences – IF THEY ARE TRULY FROM THE LORD.
What I am hitting at here are the so many FADS the church chases after today. I mean we change our emphasis and focus as much as we change our shirts. A few years back it was submission. Everyone was preaching on “submission, submission, submission.” You need to be submitted. You need to be “under authority,” which is a Godly sound teaching. YOU DO need to be submitted, BUT NOT TO A MAN-RUN Organization with man-made rules and man-made theology. If you want nothing but heartache in your Christian walk then just submit yourself to something like that and friend you WILL be in need of those so-called Christian psychologists the Assemblies of God wants to put you under. IMBECILES. It's a waste of time but neighbor you get yourself in the wrong situation and submitting yourself to a tyrant who calls himself a pastor - you may just need it (SMILING)
Our submission is to GOD! Our submission is to each other in the Body. Our submission is family-oriented as husbands submit to their wives, wives submit to their husbands and children submit themselves to their parents. We are to be submitted to our pastor as long as that pastor is preaching and living by the Word of God. If we are fomenting rebellion in our churches – we’re wrong. If we are causing division and criticizing what the pastor is doing in our churches- WE are the ones who may need to leave and find a good church where we CAN be submitted to. I’m fully aware that some folks out there won’t submit to ANYONE period and these statements are not for them. The rebellious will be dealt with in God’s own timing as we will see in a few moments here later in our story.
Then a few months after the submission craze it changed to the teaching that the new thing in the church today were cell groups. We wanted to make our churches user-friendly so we stopped preaching the gospel in the middle of the week and went to cell groups. Then it was Christian entertainment. We have to provide an “alternative” form of the world’s entertainment with Christian values so that the world will see that it cannot own Hollywood or Nashville. So thus the rise of the Christian Rock scene and the Christian Contemporary Music scene. For a while several Christian comedians were going round making us laugh telling us that good old fashion "humor" was what we needed in the church since the world was always laughing at its comedians. Also we began to see a huge number of “Christian” movies coming out with Hollywood movie stars in them giving them as one stupid preacher put it – “validity.”
One such actor who I will remain nameless I remember staring in one of these so-called Christian movies had two videos at the local video stores recently at the same time. If I recall the store actually had both of his movies side by side on their shelf. In one movie, he played a "Christian" lawyer, while in the other movie he played a deranged dentist who would systematically dismember people with his dental instruments because he just didn’t like them. The movie was so bad that it got a rating where no one under 17 could even watch it. It was not just the violence but full of sexually explicit scenes and vulgarity that would make a sailor blush. Now, I’m not judging this actor. The point I’m making is this.
Our children sees these two videos. They say “MOMMY, DADDY, there’s so-and-so and he was in that Christian movie so it must be ok to watch this other one right??”””” GET THE POINT!???? It’s a fad.
I remember in the early 1990s when I was pasturing a small church in North Florida that the latest fad then was demonic deliverance. Everybody in the world was talking about spiritual warfare and deliverance like it was some type of game of cowboys and Indians. I mean people were talking about everything from shaking those devils out of you to pouring oil on a mattress. One dear old lady minister friend of mine back then thought her mattress had demons on them, so she put the mattress in the back of her truck and took it to the local trash dump worrying that the influences on the mattress were going to rub off on her and her husband. I knew the husband and belief me some of those spirits would probably had rather stayed on the mattress! Sounds pretty stupid don’t it. But it’s the fad-chasing we do in the church.
I’m a huge fan of Bible prophecy. I love studying prophecy. I have written several prophetic journals lately and will continue to write on the end-times. But again, it’s a fad that is sweeping the church right now. We see it in the huge number of books on the market where everyone under heaven wants to throw their opinion in on when the rapture is going to occur.
Last April when I was in California at the annual board meeting for the organization I’m ordained with I had dinner with Rev. Johnny Mays from San Francisco, Ca. Rev. Mays was an older gentleman but he took my hand and looked me in the eye and said, “Chris, I have just one piece of small advice for you – and that is don’t waste valuable time you can spend preaching the TRUE gospel and the simplicity of Jesus Christ on chasing rabbits. The enemy will have you chasing so many rabbits to the point that you will find yourself no longer preaching the gospel message that will set men free and that will stop the plague of sin. The cross will never go out of style son. It’s not a new message but an old one and if the enemy can divert you as the minister of the gospel from it he will. The people who will suffer for it are those who will listen to you.” To be quite honest I almost got offended but as I have chewed on those statements this past year I realize Rev. Mays was right.
We’re wasting valuable harvest time today in the church chasing RABBITS. And these rabbits are leading people to HELL. The souls in hell don’t care who was Contemporary Christian Artist of the Year. The souls in hell don’t care how many rooms our new sanctuary will have in it. The souls in hell don’t care how many cell groups our church has grown into (which by the way are run by so-called leaders who don’t even know where to find the book of Judges if they had to). The souls in hell don’t care about the fads we are so engrossed in. The souls in hell are in eternal torment right now because they are lost forever without God. The souls in hell have no one to blame but themselves of course, but I can’t help but ask if the church were to come back to the cross, would there be fewer souls in hell than there are now?????? I think the answer to that question is YES.
And that is what brings me to the subject of this journal. While wondering in the wilderness, Israel found herself under a plague. She had been under plagues this one before, but this one was threatening to destroy her totally off the face of the earth. And neighbor, there is a plague among us right now in the modern church if we will but recognize it. I want to look briefly in these two journals (this will be continued in part two) at the REASON, the RESULT of the plague and the REMEDY for the plague. It’s a message for us today in the church.
The Reason
Numbers 16:41 - But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord. [42] And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. [43] And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
The setting for my story takes place one day after God had destroyed the company of Korah. Jude called it the “gainsaying of Core,” which I will allude to briefly here but will save a more in-depth teaching of in a future journal.
Korah the Levite, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath (Exodus 6:18,21,24), began a rebellion against Moses, with Dathan and Abiram cooperating, because they wanted more authority in the congregation and contended that Moses and Aaron had too much. They caused 250 of Israel's chief princes to rebel (Numbers 16:1-3).
Numbers 16:1-3 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: [2] And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: [3] And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?
Ultimately, 14,700 died (Numbers 16:49) besides the original rebels and their families (Numbers 16:29-34), and the 250 princes (Numbers 16:35).
Numbers 16:49 - Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
Numbers 16:29-34 - If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord hath not sent me. [30] But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord. [31] And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: [32] And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. [33] They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. [34] And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. 35 And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
The reason this plague upon Israel was SIN. The reason for this plague upon Israel was rebellion. Listen friend, SIN IS THE PROBLEM. Sin is the reason we are in the mess we’re in today in church.
Another rabbit we have been chasing recently in the church is the teaching of the generational curse. We have brought people forward and rebuked spirits out of them thinking the poor soul will somehow leave the session free from all their generational problems. But the generational issue is not the issue. It may be part of the issue but the problem is SIN.
Husband, the reason your marriage is suffering and you’re not happy at home is not because of your wife – it’s SIN. When you look at other women and lust after them you will never find fulfillment in your spouse. You will always be comparing her with others – LUST IS SIN. Wife, the problem in your marriage is not your husband – it’s SIN. Greed is SIN. Arrogance is SIN. Unforgiveness is SIN. LUST IS SIN. Sexual immorality is SIN. Indulgence is SIN. An uncontrollable tongue and anger are SIN. When you berate and condemn your spouse all the time and never lift them up – its SIN!
Recent figures show that there are as many divorces in the church if not MORE than in the world. WHY? Because we in the church have stopped treating rebellion against God as sin. Preachers are telling wives they’re justified to leave their husbands and that husbands are justified to leave their spouse. Divorce is no longer a sin – it’s an option. DIVORCE IS NOT AN OPTION. I’ve been divorced and I can say that without blinking. I’m sick to this day over the failure of my two marriages. I’ve cried a million tears over the regret and remorse of what happened in both instances. But at the time I was going through the issues that led to the breakup of both I never once admitted to myself that SIN was the problem. It was always other things that I used to justify the problems in the marriage.
No matter how we gloss it over, the problems that lead to DIVORCE are SIN. It may be one spouse’s sin or the other’s but the bottom line is SIN is the issue. And if we will start addressing the matters that are before us in the church as such we will see a change in the divorce rates. THERE IS A PLAGUE IN THE CHURCH TODAY just as there was a PLAGUE in the camp of Israel. The reason for the plague was Israel’s murmuring and the reason many are being destroyed in the church today is because of murmuring. Murmuring always degenerates eventually into BLAME. We blame others for our own failures and sin. When that doesn’t make us feel any better we then turn our rebuke to God Himself and blame God. (Seems like our first parents did the same thing didn’t they – Adam blamed Eve – Eve blamed the serpent, etc. – Just a thought)
But when we get through blaming and murmuring the problem remains and we are the same fallen, broken, carnal, backslidden, blind, arrogant, rude PEOPLE we were before the vicious cycle began. When we get through blaming our spouse for the failure of our marriage – we still have the same issues in ourselves don’t we? That's why so many go out and get remarried quickly only to find out that the problems we ran from in the previous marriage have followed us into the next one - and guess what - the problem was not THEM - it was US!
Paul Yongi Cho’s church is Seoul, South Korea is one of the largest Pentecostal churches in the world. He has probably seen thousands if not millions of couples come to him with a variety of problems over the years. When couples DO come to him for counseling he refuses to see them. His answers to them have been the same for nearly 30 years of the church’s existence- Fast, Pray and REPENT. Fast, pray and repent – umm…. what a concept in the church today.
You mean brother Chris my husband and I don’t need to go to marriage counseling and a psychologist? You mean if we seek God and repent of the sin that’s causing the problem the problem will be solved? You mean there is not a formula for a happy marriage – just loving Jesus and allowing His love to flow through us to each other?????? That’s exactly what I’m saying neighbor. And preacher, God Almighty is going to hold you accountable for the number of marriages that He placed within your care that you broke up with ungodly advice just because you wanted to appease one spouse or another. This is not spiritual tiddly winks – this is eternity. This is not something that is to be taken lightly. And there is a plague gone out among us and people are being destroyed by it.
When Israel murmured in the wilderness they brought judgment on themselves. And the plague was on the brink of wiping out the entire nation. The reason was sin and our problem in the church today is SIN.
Parents, that the problem with your rebellious son or daughter. It’s SIN. It’s not he’s “misunderstood,” it’s not he’s from a bad environment, it’s not that he’s not had the breaks other kids have had – that rebellion in his heart is SIN! Mister, the reason you steal money from your company is not that you are trying to make ends meet - you're stealing because there is GREED in your heart. The reason people in the church today are as dishonest, greedful, mean, rude and as wicked as the world at times is not anything short of one simple word - SIN!
We can slam our fists on our pulpits and say it's the homosexuals, the abortionists and the liberals who have ruined America. No, it's the modern church who has stopped believing God and gone astray from the teachings of her foundation. It's the modern church where sin is no longer preached again - it's applauded.
The Power Of Sin
We no longer understand sin’s power over fallen humanity. When Adam and Eve fell they took the entire human race with them. Adam’s rebellious heart was placed in every single solitary human being after him that was born.
Romans 5:12-19
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Sin has a damnable power to it that carries DEATH with it. It gets its momentum and juice if you will from the domain of darkness and Satan. Even the smallest sin can bring devastating consequences to your life Christian. It has a power to it. You already know this who are reading this. That's why we came to Jesus when we first got saved. We recognized our inability to save ourselves and rid ourselves of the sin power in our lives. But Satan has a way of getting us to believe that once we're saved that if that same sin issue arises in our lives again then since we are no born again, sin does not have the same power over us it did before. In one sense it don't but in one sense it's just as deadly if we yield ourselves to its nature and power.
Think about it. If you steal one dollar, it’s very hard to stop at one – you wind up stealing two. If you tell one lie, that lie turns into 5 lies to cover the first. If you take one look at a dirty magazine or see a pornographic picture of a member of the opposite sex it’s hard not to dwell on that image and want to see more till the cycle becomes vicious and you’re addicted to pornography and filth. Before long you're acting out your fantasies and before you know it you're in affair after affair. It all starts with ONE sin!
That’s why taking one drink of alcohol is so dangerous. Most recovering alcoholics will tell you that their descent into oblivion began with one sip. And that that one sip became a craving which led them to become addicted to alcohol. And by the way – I’m not really writing this today to the sinner man out there – I’m writing this as a WARNING to God’s chosen people – the church. You see a lot of people in the church today with the exact same bondages the world has. There is a PLAGUE among us church and it's not getting any better with all our activity! That’s the power of sin. People sit in our services on Sunday morning after getting high on drugs or drink the night before. Then the preacher preaches a dead sermon that does NOTHING to convict that person of their sin so they feel like they can go back out and live like hell itself and it’s ok. But friend SIN MUST BE and WILL BE JUDGED by GOD! You may think you’re getting away with it for a season but you’re not.
That’s the dark side of sin that you don’t hear preached about anymore. That’s why all the denominational tenants of faith in the universe can’t stop it. That’s why all the money in the world can’t buy you a formula to stop it’s power. That’s why all our basketball programs, our softball teams, our activities on our calendar can’t stop it. God’s people don’t understand why all their efforts to get free from the powers of darkness are not working after they come to Christ. It’s simple – they’re treating their problems as something other than SIN.
THE REASON FOR THE PLAGUES AMONG US IS SIN. That’s why the preaching of the Cross is so important and we will look at that more in depth in part two of this journal.
In Closing
I feel a strong anointing of the Spirit on me as I write this today. I know many who have taken the time to read this entire journal have heard from heaven in some form or fashion. Not because I’m the one doing the writing but the words I write are anointed by the Holy Ghost.
In the past I’ve been very guilty of chasing rabbits. I’ve preached things to people that really didn’t matter to a hill of beans. Those “things” didn’t set one captive free, didn’t save one single soul, didn’t heal one sick body nor did it deliver one person who was in need of deliverance. Because of the failure of the church's leadership to address the sin issue in the church our people are dying!! Israel’s existence was at stake when God’s anger came forth from the Tabernacle in the form of this plague. The result of this plague and the remedy are what we will deal with next.
Neighbor it’s getting late today. If you have unconfessed sin in your life you are carrying DEATH inside of you. That death is not mere physical death but a spiritual and eternal death that will ultimately cost you your eternal soul if you do not repent of that sin today.
You may hide this sin from your spouse. You may hide this sin from your pastor. You may hide this sin from those who work with you. You may hide this sin from your parents and those whom you love the most. You may be one person in public and secretly when the doors are shut and the lights are off be another person altogether – bound by the powers of darkness. Neighbor, I have good news today - you can be free! You need to know that Yeshua loves you and He is not angry with you for your failings. But His love is sent to you today in the form of conviction so that you may repent of these things before that sin separates you forever from HIM in eternity. If you are saved, the same Christ that saved you from you sin in the beginning is the same Christ waiting to set you free today as well! He’s not changed!
That’s the horror of hell – eternal separation from God. Hell is real today. The plague is real today. The sin that is causing the plague is real today. And the blood of Jesus that can cleanse every stain is real today as well. Come to Him and be saved and delivered in Yeshua’s name. AMEN.
Romans 5:16 - And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. [17] For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) [18] Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. [19] For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.