SIN AND SINS

Sin is the one thing that will separate us from God for all eternity. Our sin is never just forgiven oh no, it must be dealt with by God and us. Paul asked the question “who could separate us from the love of God” (see Romans 8:33-39), sadly the answer to Paul’s question is us. Everything in our lives can be dealt with by God, but it is only the sin in our lives that will separate us from God. We have no power to deal with sin in our lives and it is only through God’s grace and mercy can we come to see this truth and the answer to our sin is only found in Jesus Christ. God has already made way to deal with sin in our lives, yet sadly countless of millions of people through the ages have gone off into an empty Godless eternity in their sin separated from Him forever. Oddly today in most churches most people are worried about their sins and work double time to try to take care of them and have never really allowed God to deal with their sin, but unless our sin nature is dealt with our sins will continue to defeat us time and time again. I think one of the biggest misunderstandings in the Bible is the difference between sin and sins and their mutual collaboration of death in our lives if not dealt with correctly. Sin is an anti-Christ nature totally contrary to God and His purpose and will that everyone receives when they are born into this world inherited from Adam because of his rebellion and disobedience to God in the garden. A new born baby has committed no sins but through their mere birth into this world (even into the arms of Christian parents) is stained with sin all the days of their life (being cute, cuddly, and defenseless does not change this truth) and unless they willfully and knowingly receive God’s papitulation (sacrifice or atonement) for sin they will die in their sin and be separated from God forever. Sin is not the individual fleshy acts of: murder, lying, stealing, adultery, etc. oh no these are sins, but sin is doing what God told us not to do. God told us; do not steal and we steal, do not lie and we lie, etc. doing what God told us not to do is the carnal sin nature of disobedience. As He told Adam, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: ¹⁷But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:16) Adam had no sin at creation (and Eve also), but choose to do what God said not to do. Verse 17 is the first recorded time in the Bible where God told Adam he could not do something and of course Adam chose wrongly. When I read these verses I see just how serious God is when He speaks and how we must pay attention to what God is saying. When God’s speaks He always gives us choices. In Deuteronomy He said, “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;” (Deuteronomy 30:15)so to with Adam, “Of “every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.” I believe (some of my friends and non-friends would defer with me) God really allowed Adam to eat “of the tree of knowledge” He said “Of every tree” and He meant it (God always means what He says), but He also said if you eat of the Tree of Knowledge “thou shall surely die.” So too in our lives God gives us choices and consequences to our choices. “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: ²⁰That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days . . . .” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20) Please understand I am not beating up on Brother Adam I do not know what I would have done if I was in his shoes. The writer to the Hebrews explains it like this, “For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: ²⁸So Christ was once offered to bear the sins (not sins, but the sin of many people like you and I) of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (Hebrews 9:26-28) Do you see the difference? And when He (Jesus) returns we shall see Him being without sin not sins. And why not sins? Because our sin nature has been dealt with and now our sins too can be dealt with. Did you know sin was the biggest topic Jesus spoke about while on earth? I wonder why few churches today speak on sin? Who me? I have this ungodly nature that needs to be dealt with by God? Oh no I am okay; I go to church, I sing in the praise and worship team and choir, I pay my tithes, I even pray and fast, oh no God loves me (this is true) all I need to do is be a better person and stopping doing bad things. Well maybe we today do not believe in our sin nature like Joel Osteen and other preachers?

Now sins (not sin) are different, but come from our sin nature. Sins are individual fleshly acts of our carnal sin nature that we have not allowed God to purge from our lives. And always deals with a willful and knowing choice. I do not know about you my friend, but every time I do something not of the LORD I know it. The precious Holy Spirit convicts us of these ungodly acts, a most blessed thing indeed. Paul goes into great detail to explain sins and how to allow God to deal with them in our lives, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. ¹⁸But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. ¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, ²⁰Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,²¹Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:16-21) Please know this is not an all inclusive list. Our sins like our sin must be dealt with by God and us. Like with our sin God made a way to deal with our sins, “Whom God hath set forth (Jesus) to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;” (Roman 3:25) and in 1 John we read, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation (sacrifice, atonement) for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) Now we have no choice (like we have with sin) with our sins, if our sin nature has not been dealt a death blow then we will have no choice but to “fulfill the lust of the flesh” and will always commit fleshly acts against God and man. We cannot help ourselves, man has no internal will power or ability to stop sinning. Man has no ability to control his desires or emotions. The only way to control our emotions and desires is to allow God to deal with our sin nature regenerating (give new life to) our soul, mind, and spirit. This my friend is a most difficult process of God in our lives and just saying words does not do it even if many lost denominations teach this wrong doctrine. There must be remorse (maybe even tears), a sorrow for what sin has wrought in our lives. There must be a true confession in our own words and our own heart, not others words. We must confess (agree what God is saying about us is true and God is saying, “we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)) from the bottom of our sin sick heart and soul we have a sin nature that needs to be dealt with by God and recognizing God has always done His part (through His Son Jesus dying on a cross) we now are doing our part so that our sins too can be cut down in our lives. Paul and John share this same truth, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. ¹¹For the scripture saith,” (Romans 10:9-11) and from John, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10) Today we make it so simple by “just repeat (the sinner’s prayer) after me” and your sins will be forgiven, well that is not what Paul told the church at Colossi, “Mortify (kill or put to death, same Greek word we get the word mortician) therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: ⁶For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: ⁷In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.⁸But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.⁹Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;¹⁰And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:” (Colossians 3:5-10) Here is another list of sins. Once we truly are converted (not just repeating the sinner prayer which is not found in the Bible) our sin nature has been dealt and we now have the strength to allow God to work in our lives to be able to kill our sins (with our help) replacing them with His righteousness, peace, and joy. As Christians we are not to be down in the mol grubs and the dumps, but steady and sure in all things knowing God (no matter what the situation or circumstance) is able to give us beauty for ashes. You would ask where do the ashes come from? Well, in the Old Testament when the sacrifice has been burnt up only the ashes remain and we are the sacrifice. No ashes no beauty in our lives as simple as that.

One of the last times Jesus was talking with the Disciples He told them, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. ⁸And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹Of sin because they believe not on me; ¹⁰Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; ¹¹Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” (John 16:7-11) Please notice Jesus’ words here, “he will reprove the world of sin” not sins. And why not sins? Because our “sin” nature must be dealt with first (by God and us) before our sins can be dealt with. So many people look at God and say He is mad at me, well that is the furthest from the truth, God gave (giving is at the heart of the Gospel) His only begotten Son (Jesus Christ) God could give nothing more precious to save a sinful man from their sin and once sin takes root and is established in lives, relationships, and places sins manifest and bear great fruit and until the seed of sin has been uprooted and the ground (our heart) has been cleansed from its crimson stain sin and our sins will remain and give life to death in us and we in others. It all boils down to whether we desire for God to cleanse our heart and lives, He has done His part He is not mad at us the war is over on the earth and in the heavens, but now is raging within our mind and thoughts. Sin or sins, sinner or saint it all depends not on God, but on have we allowed God to work in our lives (as He so desires) or not. Written by David Stahl

BUT THE SPIRIT GIVES LIFE

Of all of the articles I have written lately my last article “Another Pastor is Killed” by far has garnered more email comments than any article in a long long time. I really was surprised by the number of comments; some against (maybe 10%), but the majority (almost 90%) were strongly in support of my article and many requested more teaching on this subject, because they said it is taboo to talk about such things and certainly not Christian to address manipulation and character flaws when uncovered. But maybe that is why many churches today have revolving doors, people coming and going, because of the lack of honor and integrity they find in most churches. How can God be glorified in this? This and my last article should also serve as a warning to those in church leadership who take their responsibilities carelessly and shiftless before God and the people. So I asked the LORD about a follow on article and He gave me the green light. Please understand I am not trying to beat up on Faith Covenant actually I feel sorry for them the leadership ought to have known better. My heart is to see them repent and come clean before the people and God before it is too late.

Now there is so much about how God operates and the things of the Spirit that are so far beyond my ability and understanding, but I like that. After all who wants to serve a God they can figure out? One (of many) of the things I am amazed about is how God can kill us and at the same time make us alive? In 1 Samuel we read, “The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.” (1 Samuel 2:6) In the New Testament we see the same concept and Spiritual principle by looking at the law through the prism of sin and grace. “And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: ⁵Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; ⁶Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter (to write with reference to rules and requirements), but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” (2 Corinthians 3:4-7) How could rules and requirements kill us? Well, Paul was not talking about the writing of rules and requirements to do things in God, but was talking about the rules and requirements we self-apply to ourselves to be sufficient in God. These attributes and characteristics my friend will kill the Spirit of God in our lives. Every time we step outside the framework and ways God has established for our lives to operate we begin to operate in these self-applied sufficient characteristics and qualities. And God must be able to kill these self-applied sufficient characteristics and qualities, through His dealings and judgments, in our lives so He can make us alive to His precious Holy Spirit flowing in us and out from us to situations and circumstances in our lives. When we incorrectly function in a given situation the letter of the law is strengthened and the Spirit of God grows weaker in us. And the longer we go in this direction the weaker the Spirit is in us. God will never be able to strengthen us with might in the inward man if we continue to walk contrary to God’s ways. Now I am not talking about sin alone here, but I am also talking about operating in the things found in the Spiritual realm. Those things of: wisdom, honesty, integrity, judgment, and mercy to name just a few. In church today we seem to be good at signing, playing instruments, dancing, thinking we bring down the Spirit so He can bless us, but how good are we at walking in the Spirit so that He can bless others in our lives? So that things can operate correctly in the Spiritual realm for the good of the local Body of Believers? As things are done on earth so they are also done in heaven. Yes my friend I think we will have a lot of explaining to do when we get heaven. Whatsoever we bind (gathered up like sheaves tied together in a field) on earth shall be bound in heaven. I would think we will be surprised (not at sin because we know when we sin) to what have we bound in heaven?

Now I know this is a hard lesson to learn and I know I am not there yet. Please hear me and hear my heart. Grace and mercy never trumps righteousness and truth. God has a complete counsel He operates through. Many in the church today operate in only the grace and mercy partition and willfully miss out on righteousness and truth. It seems truth and righteousness today has little importance in our lives. Why worry about being held accountable for our works and deeds we have mercy and grace to take care of our sins, shortcomings, and even our character flaws. The more we are brought face-to-face with truth (especially about ourselves) and righteousnesses the more we will be able to walk in and handle the things of the Spirit correctly. Jesus told the disciples, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. ²⁴God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24) We seem to go after what we call the Spiritual things (praise and worship, etc.), but woefully fall short of the truth part. Well how do we worship God in truth? By doing and saying truthful things. It has nothing to do with singing, dancing, leading intercessory prayer groups, etc., but it is our heart condition that God brings into question. When we operate in truth God can make our spirit alive to righteousness and kill our earthly, carnal ways. Now here is the challenge how do we operate in truth and not offend people? In my last article the heart condition of the loving pastor was to “seek peace with all men” (a noble desire) and cause no offense, but to do this the LORD would have had to impel the sword of the Spirit into all hearts concerned to kill us so He could make us all alive. This my friend is a painful process most (if not all) Christians avoid like the plague. We seem not to want to offend people well the preaching of the Gospel is an open offense to the world and all who are of the world. If I teach or preach the word of God and have not offended you then I have failed to use the word of God correctly as a mirror to reveal your heart and intents. And it is how we respond to this offense inwardly that will determine whether God can kill us and make us alive. Notice the order, the killing comes first and the making alive comes second. The more complete God can kill us the more complete He can make us alive in newness of His life. Oddly the more we get offended by God and His word the more of the life of God we can come in to. One thing about Paul I always admired was his ability not to be a PC Christian. His truthfulness overshadowed his witness of the Gospel and he never held back his feelings. In 1 Timothy there is no doubt who Paul delivered unto Satan, “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: ²⁰Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.” (1Timothy 1:19-20) Today we would have bleeped the names, but not so with Paul. He wanted everyone to know who he was talking about. We too must hold fast and call a spade a spade. Before you can cut the head of a snake off you must identify the snake and before you can stop the snake from biting people you must cut the head of the snake off. Also in 2 Timothy we find Paul again not hiding the truth, “Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: ¹⁰For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. ¹¹Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. ¹²And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. ¹³The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. ¹⁴Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: ¹⁵Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.” (2 Timothy 4:9-15) When we call a spade for what it is we are protecting the unknown hearts and starting the reconciliation process. Remember the goal in “speaking the truth in love” is so that they (the ones in err or error) can grow up in all things. Our concern is always for the one who is walking away from the truth. Make no mistake my friend offense will make us either go towards or away from the truth. At the heart of every issue is an issue of the heart and our heart must always be towards reconciliation and restoration. When I speak on offense I often share, “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. ⁸And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.’ (1 Peter 4:7-8) Now this is true, but it is our charity (or love) that is to cover the sins of sinners and babes in the LORD, those personal attacks and words they direct our way. It is the love we have allowed God to develop is us that covers our heart and ears from the words and deeds, but our charity or love is NOT to cover church doctrinal issues that would lead people in error. An “error” is to make a mistake that can be easily corrected with limited damage to a relationship, a human flaw, but “err” (Strong’s #4106, to cause to stray, to lead astray, lead aside from the right way) is something more diabolical and sinister. To “err” is when we intentionally for our own personal gain lead someone astray from the truth of the word of God. Oh no my friend these issue are to be addressed openly before the church when uncovered. James tells us, “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; ²⁰Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19-20) After we are truly convinced of our sins being forgiven the next greatest thing that will get us into trouble with God is Spiritual authority. When we move in direct rebellion (like when we force a pastor to resign) to God’s leadership we “err” and God is paying attention. It is the biggest deal in our lives to God and He closely scrutinizes us in it all the days of our lives. Most Christians have little knowledge of Spiritual authority, but I promise you my friend if you get Spiritual authority wrong it may cost you your life. When we started the church in Germany some Africans brought in a Nigerian pastor to lead a rebellion to take over the church, well God protects His word and His children. One Wednesday night in a home this Nigerian was holding a meeting with some of our folks and as he was speaking he dropped over dead. They wanted me to claim his body I said no and he was cremated in Germany never to be buried in Nigerian soil, but here is the real sad part of the story. Right before his death he came to a service to hear me speak and realized he was wrong, but could not set aside his ambitions and what was already set into motion. He confessed this to others leading the rebellion and seeing his sudden death they left the church in fear, see Acts 5:11.

Now we must be careful not to confuse doctrinal issues “err” with personal issues. I have a friend (I still call him friend), but not so with him. One day he asked me a question that related to his character and I told him the truth, which caused him to turn his back on me and Karen. I was amazed I looked at him as a mentor in the LORD (maybe that was my mistake), but still his offense was too great to get over so he severed our relationship of over 30 years quoting from Romans, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” (Romans 16:17) Now I agree with Paul we must first judge and second separate (order matters) ourselves from them and if the pastor we must move them from the church over doctrine issues that would lead people astray, but never ever over personal issues or character flaws. We have no doctrinal differences and to me I still love him, but his offense seems too great to consider restoration. I hope and pray in 2012 he changes his heart and once again we can call each other friends. For this to happen we both must allow God to kill us the more so that He can make us alive. Written by David Stahl

ANOTHER PASTOR IS KILLED

Well another pastor is killed. Many of you know we have moved to Sneads Ferry, North Carolina how glad Karen and I were and so thankful when God led us to the church He wanted us to go, but now I see it was only to support the pastor as he was being forced to resign (through no fault of his, but did so to keep the peace), to notify the unknowing people of the ungodly words and deeds (as directed by God) of the board members, and give the board leadership a warning from the LORD to repent before it is too late. Now when I say “killed” I do not mean this literally just in the heart and eyes of the people. Did you know when we usurp the Spiritual authority of a Pastor that God has put in place we are killing the pastor in the hearts and lives of the people just as if we put a gun to their head and pulled the trigger. Did you know when we destroy someone’s witness, good name and character we have said in our heart I would desire to take their life and kill them first with words, actions, and then if that is not satisfying enough often people literally (even though not intending to) take the physical life of someone. In this case it was only the killing in words and actions of one of the humblest people I have met (especially being a pastor) in a long long time. Usually it is overseas where we meet humble pastors, so this fellow was a rare breed indeed. In the short four or five months we have observed him Karen and I really admired his gentleness, humility, and he also was a very fine preacher. Now we know God will take care of this pastor and we also know God will take care of the other folk (board members) that rose up in direct Spiritual rebellion to him.

When situations like this come up in churches we seem to take a fallback position of letting peace reign at the cost of truth and righteousness, which are God’s position in situations like this. We think God is love and love must reign, well that is not the picture of God’s heart in these situations. Did you know love is not always soft and gentle? Did you know Jesus was not always gentle and meek? When the Bible talks of Jesus being meek and lowly (Matthew 11:28-29) it is referring to His character and attitude toward people, His heart condition, but the Bible often tells of times when Jesus rose up in anger to exhort His spiritual wherewithal to expose wicked men and men who would take advantage of people and situations of life. Jesus was master at dealing with the religious folks of the day, but Jesus always dealt harshly with the religious people who ought to know better. Speaking of the scribes and Pharisees Jesus never left any doubt where He stood with these religious liars and thieves. In Matthew we read, “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. ³⁴O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Matthew 12:33-34) and again in Matthew we read, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. ²⁸ So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:27-28) and continuing “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, ³⁰And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. ³¹Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. ³²Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. ³³Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Matthew 23:29-33) It does not sound like Jesus was trying to keep the peace here. Of course not, Jesus was exposing and uncovering the evil that was in their hearts and the manipulation and deceitfulness of their motives. In these church situations our traditional religious teaching wants to give grace and keep the peace, but we are to give grace to the sinner and the babes (they do not know any better), but those who have walked with the LORD for some time ought to know better we must hold their feet to the fire and hold them accountable for their words and deeds, yet this is not what we see in most if not all churches. We have this perverted view of doing the right thing in God by not wanting to offend or hurt someone’s feelings, we always want to keep the peace. Jesus was a peace maker (this is true) so we too must be a peace maker, well not so fast Jesus was also man of righteousness and truth, He was the living truth on earth and always did the right thing. He did not spare feelings or mince words Jesus always shoots from the hip and aims at the heart of the issue, our heart. When we go after saving the emotions and feelings of people (thinking we are keeping the peace) we actually are causing greater division and strife among the body of Believers by not exposing and uncovering the truth. Just the opposite outcome my friend in reality because we have now covered up wrong ungodly practices and motives of some people. In Acts Chapter five when Peter dealt with Ananias and with Sapphira his wife he did not try to cover up their actions, but dealt directly with them holding them accountable. My friend, in God there are consequences for our actions, especially in the church when we are leaders. The consequences for Ananias and with Sapphira out from their disobedience to God and Peter (God’s indirect Spiritual Authority) was, “Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. ¹¹And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.” (Acts 5:10-11) So too this will be our outcome if we move in disobedience to God, but please notice the outcome God was looking was not peace or togetherness, “And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.” God was not picking on Ananias and Sapphira, but used this opportunity to let the people know He means what He says. My friend the agape type of love everyone wants to have flowing in their lives means dedicated and at the core of its essence is divorced of all human emotions, thus is was not an emotional propitiation for Jesus when He went to the cross it was a mature selfless action of sacrifice. This is why we must speak the truth (not looking to keep the peace and share feelings) in love. If we do not speak the truth people will not “grow up” in all things. We need to stand up for the truth in all situations (even church disputes and disagreements) and speak the truth (what is really going on) and not spare the liars and truth breakers, but spare the innocent and those not knowing what is going on by exposing and uncovering the deception and manipulation of those in rebellion. In Ephesians Paul instructs us, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; ¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” (Ephesians 4:15-16) If we do not speak the truth in love (that does not mean in keeping the peace) God’s idea for speaking the truth is so that spiritual development and maturity can happen within the individual members of His Body. This is why church after church continues to strive for position and placement within denominations and why church leadership continues to strive and dispute with pastors they (both all times) are immature and want their way instead of God’s way. But only when speaking the truth again and again will the precious Holy Spirit have an opportunity to be heard in situations such as church splits and the killing of pastors. Pastors if God has put you in a place of Spiritual Authority then stand your ground and speak the truth in love. Be like a tree planted by the rivers of life and be not removed. God cannot use timidity and remember peace at the sake of truth and righteousness is devilish. There is a placed for humbleness, but when that does not work we must speak the truth in love and then God will show up to protect His word and His children. In Numbers we see what happens when God’s authority is questioned, “So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. ²⁸And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. ²⁹If 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. ³⁰But 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. ³¹And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: ³²And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. ³³They, 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.” (Number 16:27-33) Before this Moses fell on his face three times to intercede, but God had nothing to do with Moses’ words. And please notice it was not just the rebellious leaders it was also, “their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.” Over 250 people were killed by God for Korah’s and the other elders rebellion, remember rebellion not against Moses, but against God. When we rise up in word and deed against a pastor God has put in place (God’s indirect Spiritual Authority) we are rising up against God. God is serious about His Spiritual Authority the Bible is full of verses that warn us of speaking and moving against God’s Spiritual Authority. Here are two examples: in Galatians Paul warn us, “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” (Galatians 5:15) and in Proverbs we read, "Forwardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. ¹⁵Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy. ¹⁶These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: ¹⁷A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁸An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, ¹⁹A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” (Proverbs 6:14-19) It is not about speaking against a man, but God and His Spiritual Authority and if you get this wrong you may be dead wrong. I have seen this time and time again over many years of serving the LORD. I have personally seen God take people literally out from life to protect His word and His children.

The LORD got me up three days in a row between two and three o’clock (Thursday through Saturday) before the Sunday I shared these words at Faith Covenant Church (FCC), “Count the cost! Take heed! Ichabod! Ichabod! I am greatly angered at the leadership. Woe unto you Faith Covenant Church. Leadership your days are numbered, my punishment is coming, repent, others quickly take your families and run out of this death before it is too late.” Thus says the LORD. Make no mistake my friends these words apply to any church that rises up in rebellion to a pastor that God has put in place. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and the rest of the leaders thought they were chiding and railing against Moses but they (like the FCC leadership) were wrong it was God they were rebelling against and my friend God always shows up to protect His word and the people He has invested His Spiritual authority in. As I look back on this sad time the only regret is I did not share my heart as clear and God’s words as forceful and stern as God wanted me too. Sadly in the end another pastor has been killed in the eyes of the people and God’s authority and glory has been pulled down again on earth. Written by David Stahl