Archive | 12:05 pm

Judgment Against The Church

12 Mar

1 Peter 4:16-18

 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

There are many that cringe at the thought of judgment hitting the ‘house of God.’  They fight statements that say that the church is under judgment.  They hold onto to error and teach people that the church is ‘under attack’ and ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church’ every time another scandal about a leader in church comes out, or their actions are brought into scrutiny.

Or criticism.

Criticism and judgment are two words that have taken on a bad meaning in what is known as the ‘church’ today.

To criticize means ‘to pass judgment on the credibility of a thing.’  To judge means ‘to objectively, wisely and authoritatively form an opinion upon. ‘

Another word in the dictionary for JUDGE is TO DISCERN.

I hear many pray for the ‘gift’ of discernment.  They erroneously think that discernment is this ethereal force we pull out of the air that breathes upon us and automatically gives us wisdom on all things.

And, yes…the Holy Ghost DOES give wisdom.  But obtaining wisdom is a PROCESS.  Sometimes, the Spirit will give words of wisdom…that is wisdom that comes from God.

But the Holy Ghost is also a TEACHER.  And the process of obtaining wisdom is by way of KNOWELDGE.

You obtain facts.  You obtain truth.  You measure it against the authenticity of the Word of God.

Sometimes, a LOT of times, actually, we get knowledge based upon EXPERIENCE.  Now experience NEVER trumps the Word of God.  EVER!

But the Word of God says ALL things work TOGETHER for the good of those who love the Lord…who are called according to HIS purpose.

God is so amazing that He can take everything in our lives and allow us to work for our good.  By allowing us to learn from them!

Life is a learning process.  Lifelong pursuit.

We gain knowledge by what we have experienced.  We gain wisdom by knowing HOW to apply the knowledge we have gained.

Knowledge are FACTS.  TRUTH.  Pillars.  Foundation.

The Bible is stock FULL of facts.  Events.  Circumstances.

But how we apply the Word to our lives….THAT’S wisdom!

Even in our mess ups, if we are willing to allow God chastise us and show us where we messed up, then He can cause that thing to turn around and be for your good!!!!

But its when we don’t confess our sins-individually or collectively-that God has no other choice but to pronounce judgment!

The corporate lack of discernment in the Institutional Church is because of the mass denial of truth…and the masses denial of judging ourselves as individuals.  The very nature and culture of the I.C. is such that it lends to covering up sin more than it does to dealing with and healing sin.

And the only way healing of sin comes is when it is confessed.

Because many fail to judge themselves as individuals, they gather together corporately to further play along in this mass denial of sin in the camp.

And since they won’t deal with sin, but deny it, and cover it up…with programs, conferences, mega ministries, making stars out of preachers, religious cliches and phrases and gross error…THEY LOVE NOT THE TRUTH as stated in Romans 1, God has given them over to reprobate minds.

So that they have to believe the LIE!

No discernment is operating because NO TRUTH is there.  In the buildings.

Only lies and cover-ups.

So God HAS to pronounce judgment on the church…He said He would in the Word…and because the church won’t pronounce judgment on HERSELF!

God gave her space to repent…and she would not.

It became easier to placate sin, to make excuses for it, to cover it up, to blackmail one another, and to murder one another…than to deal with the harsh reality that…

GOD HAS JUDGED THE CHURCH!

In ‘Come Out of Her, My People,’ Pamela Sheppard goes into detail about the judgment the church is facing today and what you as a believer can do to get OUT and not be partakers of her plagues.

The nature of a plague is that it spreads rapidly.  Plagues are contagious.  No matter what measures one takes to not catch a disease, if it is highly contagious, they will get it, sooner or later.

Remember getting the chicken pox as a child?  If a sibling or someone else in the house got it, it was only a matter of time before someone else would get it, too.  No matter what measures were taken to prevent it from spreading.

The plagues in the church are not airborne.  They are spirit-borne. Spirits transfer.  No matter how anointed you are, no matter how holy and righteous you are, no matter how obedient to the Word you are, if you stay in that contaminated atmosphere long enough, sooner or later, that ‘chicken pox’ is going to get you, too!

You could have stayed celibate in your church for 23 years.  If you stay there, you will fall into sexual sin.

You could have been faithful in tithes and offerings all your life.  If  you keep ‘sowing’ into a church or TV network that’s under judgment, your finances will get WORSE.

You could have done all the right things in church, faithful, hard worker, the whole nine.  But if you stay there and YOU KNOW God said GO, judgment WILL hit your house.

You could be on the road preaching 8 times a week.  But if God said DON’T GO, you better not go!  The enemy got a trap waiting for you!

You could sing like a mockingbird, bring tears to balling and wailing all in the floor…but if God said STOP SINGING-cuz they’re not worshiping ME-you better zip it!  And don’t sign another contract!

Remember the plagues in Egypt?  ALL who were disobedient to God suffered the plagues, man, woman and child.  NO one was spared!

If the Israelites had not followed the instructions of the Lord to the TEE, they would have suffered right along with the Egyptians in those plagues.

The church was given space to repent and she would not.  So she is under judgment…and all the ‘attacks’ you see going on in the I.C. are nothing more than plagues.

Do you want to partake of her sins?

If not, then it’s time you came OUT of the church.  She is under judgment…

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To Judge…Or Not To Judge…?

12 Mar

“Judge Not, that ye be not Judged…” (Matthew  7:1)

We all are very familiar with this scripture-especially in today’s religious climate of being ‘anti-judgmental.’ It is almost a crime in the church to judge anything or anyone.  Even in the world, people who have NEVER opened the bible or attended church…who don’t even believe in God-quote this scripture…

And they ALL do so OUT OF CONTEXT.

I find that this is one of the most misinterpreted, yet overly quoted verses in the bible.  Most of the time, it is quoted when one’s life is brought to scrutiny and careful criticism. Or the actions of another.  Because of the very nature of most people, they don’t like to be judged.  They don’t want folks to know their issues, their sins, their flaws or shortcomings.

So they use this scripture (Im mostly referring to church folks right now) to justify not judging sin…which is the FIRST step in discerning it.  This fosters an unhealthy, sinful fear of judging (that God does NOT condone).  Of judging others, or even THEMSELVES!

I have figured out that the reason MOST people are afraid of judging others or refrain from doing so is NOT because they are aware of their own sin…but b/c they are hiding from their own sin!  Most people are terrified of coming clean and being real with themselves…so they can’t possibly be real with another!

So because everyone is comfortable in their shields and walls of denial, EVERYONE now automatically puts up this defense of ‘we are not to judge anyone….’ to justify not dealing with sin.

They turn around and make Matthew 7:1 a doctrinal statement, instead of reading it in its proper context and really getting what it is saying.

What that scripture is saying is that if we judge, we need to be prepared to be judged.  NOT run from it, or be afraid of it.  This scripture is NOT to be used as a blanket statement that automatically protects people from being judged.

In 1 Corinthians 6, the Lord tells us that we are going to judge angels and even the world.

1 Corinthians 6:3-5

Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Do you know what that means?

That means that if we’re going to be judgers of angels and the world in the future, then how much MORE should we judge things in THIS life NOW????

That means we are to judge even MORE things, circumstances and (YES) people IN THIS LIFE!

The religious devil has done a crafty job of making many people believe that it is a sin to judge, when, in fact, the Lord says THOSE WHO ARE SAVED and SPIRITUAL judges ALL things. (1 Corinthians 2:15)

God has admonished those who are saved that they are going to judge angels.

So it is NOT a sin to judge.

The Greek word used for ‘judge’ in 1 Corinthians 6:3 is ‘krinō,’ which means, ‘tobe of opinion, deem; to pronounce an opinion concerning right and wrong; to approve, esteem, to prefer.’

To judge then means to make a proper or correct assessment (of either oneself or another) that something (or someone) was right or wrong in a matter.

When we confess our sin, we are, in essence, making a judgment…against ourselves.

When someone commits a crime and confesses to it, they go before a court and a judge…NOT to be judged, but to receive the proper punishment for said crime.  Since the person has already admitted guilt, all they can do is throw themselves upon the mercy of the court.  No judging of evidence, no pondering of the facts, no CSI is needed.  They have confessed…

Well, when we confess our sin, we are honest with God, ourselves and others.  Once we do that, NO ONE can judge us, for we have judged OURSELVES and found ourselves guilty.

Then when we realized we have sinned, then we know to take it to God and confess to Him….and ask for forgiveness, repent.

Throw ourselves upon HIS MERCY!  Go before HIS MERCY SEAT!

That is the ONLY way we can obtain grace when its needed.

The self (or public) pronouncement of sin is not an indictment of death.  Unless you don’t repent.  Unless you don’t confess it.  Unless you continue to sweep sin under the rug and act like its not there, or it doesn’t exist.

I wrote an article a week or so ago about God exposing our sins.

I know most is not comfortable with this topic.  But it is in the darkness of hiding sin that the enemy is allowed  free access into our lives, into our very souls…as well as those around us.

It is why whole congregations are led by openly gay pastors and pedophiles.  It is why whole flocks are demonized instead of delivered…it is why children of unrepentant parents invariably suffer because of the choices of their parents.  It is why spouses have to carry the burden of wayward husbands and wives who won’t repent of their sin.

NO one wants to repent and come clean anymore.  No one wants to be honest about where they are.  So whole houses are subverted and corrupted.

To Judge…Or NOT To Judge????

THAT IS the QUESTION!!!

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