Workers of Lawlessness – Part 2

03/17/2009

Gal 5:19 to 21 -Now the works of the flesh are clearly revealed, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, fightings, jealousies, angers, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revelings, and things like these; of which I tell you before, as I also said before, that they who do (practice) such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

I John 2:3 to 6 “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” “Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.”
And by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments.

I John 3: 5 to 9 “But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins. And in Him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him.”
“Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

Several years back there was a miraculous dead raising in Reinhard Bonnke’s crusade in Africa. This remarkable resurrection of Daniel Ekechukwu, the African Pastor caught the attention of many as it was well documented. Even though the miracle by itself was an outstanding testimony of God’s great power there was a sobering message that pastor Daniel was given during the time he was out of his body. I would like to highlight on certain aspects of the message, as it is very much needed in our times and falls within the guidelines of scripture.

Now, in looking into this we need to be aware of God’s mercy and grace. However, His mercy and grace must be balanced with truth (truth – in this context God’s righteous requirements ). Truth is revealed through God’s word and is not determined by our likes or dislikes. When we don’t have truth and emphasize on mercy and grace we might end up promoting lawlessness , on the other hand truth in the hands of a person without love (mercy and grace) can be damaging as well.

Truth says sin leads to death and there is a consequence. Mercy and grace say there is time for repentance and one can be set free. However there comes a time were truth is no longer subject to mercy and grace but to justice. If we don’t get ourselves up during a time of mercy and grace, how can we stand in the time of judgment brethren?

In the experience that pastor Daniel Ekechukwu had, he was taken to hell. In it there was a pastor in hell because he stole some church money. This might send shivers down some spines. Others might try and reject this as not true but truth says in I Corinthians 6:10 that thieves will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now we don’t know the entire circumstances that led to the pastor’s fate, however this must be clear that any kind of habitual, willful and unrepentant sin can place our eternal salvation in jeopardy (Galatians 6:21).

This is a wake up call for all us; especially in regards to this example. How have we as the church handled money? If we are manipulating people to give to us that is stealing. If we are not using the money for the purpose that people give to us for and we use it for our own, then that is stealing. It doesn’t matter what our status quo is, sin is sin in God’s eyes and the consequences are the same for all whether a pastor or a layman. As a matter of fact those in authority will be judged more severely than the rest according to scripture.
Brethren let us be warned that God will hold us to account in this matter just like in any other. If we think that the blood of Jesus insures us on our wrongdoings and therefore are loose in these matters we are grievously mistaken. The blood of Jesus and our faith does protect us but only if we have the heart to follow carefully the guidelines in scripture. If we violate them willfully we could face severe consequences.

One of the other surprising things that happened during that experience is as follows. (Previous to his death in the car crash the pastor had fought with his wife and had refused to forgive her withholding love).

As the pastor and the angels were watching the events unfold in hell, the escorting angel told pastor Daniel, “If your record is to be called now, you will be thrown into hell.” Pastor Daniel immediately defended himself saying, “I am a man of God! I serve Him with all my heart!” But a Bible immediately appeared in the angel’s hand, and it was opened to Matthew 5 where Jesus warned that if one calls his brother a fool he is guilty enough to go into the hell of fire (see Matt. 5:21-22).

Pastor Daniel knew he was guilty for the angry words spoken to his wife. The angel also reminded him that Jesus said that God would not forgive our sins if we do not forgive others (see Matt. 6:14-15) because we will reap what we have sown. Only those who are merciful will obtain mercy (Matt 5:7).

The angel told Daniel that the prayers he prayed as he was dying in the hospital were of no effect, because he refused to forgive his wife even when she attempted to reconcile on the morning of his fatal accident.

In looking into this incident one has to be aware that the Pastor was given a second chance as he came back to life. That is God’s mercy and grace. He provides us with enough opportunities to repent and change our evil ways. On the other hand the truth that he faced an impending eternity in hell because he refused to forgive his wife should also be taken into account. This is in the context of scripture as the Bible says clearly, only if we forgive men their sins our sins would be forgiven.

While God would take each situation into account according to its merit when judging, it is important that we understand that willful scriptural violations can be costly as such. Speculations on the eternal consequences can be debated, however our duty is to walk in obedience to God’s commands, one of which is walking in forgiveness.

If we lower His standards on purity and integrity on the false assumption that God is loving we are in grievous error as our God is also holy and expects us to be holy like Him. Anything less than that standard should be rejected. While we may stumble at times and may never be perfect in everything it shouldn’t deter us from getting back up and aiming for perfection.

In conclusion let us be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect.

Heb 12:27 to 29 -And this word, “Yet once more,” signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, so that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for also, “Our God is a consuming fire.”