TODAY’S DEVOTION (THURSDAY 25TH APRIL 2024)
“I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.
Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?
But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.” 1 Corinthians 5:9-12 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 116TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
God has been our immediate present help in time of trouble. He has been our refuge, and underneath our lives, have been His everlasting arms.
We honor Him for all He has done for us, and still do. For giving us life, hope, faith, peace, and His presence. The Bible says, in His presence is fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures for evermore.
He came from Heaven, became man so He could die; and death He died, not on a hospital bed, which would have been very possible, but on the cross. If He had died on any other place apart from the cross, it would have made no meaning in our lives.
But He died on the cross, the right place, at the right timing of God, and in the right season. We give Him the glory for all that. He did not just die, He arose and ascended to Heaven, making it possible for Him to send His holy Spirit on us.
When His Holy Spirit came, He drew us out of this world and brought us into the Kingdom of God, He serves as an executive governor of the King Himself. He called us out of this world because the world is passing away. Mankind was not designed to pass away with the world.
Either you believe it or not, the world is in motion! Everything and everyone seem NOT to be moving, mankind is actually moving.
Sadly, while most people in the world system think they are moving in the right direction, many do not realize that the entire world system is moving towards one direction, and that direction is the direction of the great white throne Judgment.
Only people in God’s kingdom are moving in the right eternal direction; the direction of the New Heaven and the New earth, where righteousness dwells.
EVERYONE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD SYSTEM IS MOVING TOWARDS THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT.
Sadly, the Bible says that people who are moving towards the great white Throne Judgment, will not face a trial that will determine either they will make Heaven Or hell. Our entire life time is the season for trial. We are tried by our choices.
So, the people will not face a trial that will determine their eternal destination. They will rather face a trial that will determine the degree of punishment that is just for them in one destination; the eternal fire.
In simple terms, the world is in motion to bring all in its system to the Day of Judgement.
People who are in friendship or in love with it, either in the Church system or outside the church system, will be sorry on that day. That is why the early Church never maintained friendship with the world. Though the spirit of this world persecuted and tried them severely, but they stood.
But our generation is different. We seem to love the world much more than even God. We maintain friendship with it because of the treasures in it. We fall in love with its system, and even adopt it’s methods in running our individual lives, our Christian lives, our families, ministries, and churches.
That is why we suffer what they suffer, and are now marching in the same eternal direction with it. The Bible admonished us strongly saying;
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:15-17 NKJV
THIS SCRIPTURE MADE IT CLEAR THAT THE WORLD IS PASSING AWAY.
Day in day out, the world is passing away. Its days are numbered and appointed season for existence determined. The Bible implies that all who are trapped in its system will pass away along with it.
But those who are not in its system, people who do the will of God, will abide forever. That is abiding in eternal rest with Christ forever. That brings us to the subject of sound doctrine.
Without sound doctrine, we will remain in deep love with the world.
Do not forget, when you are in love, you want to be intimate. When you are intimate, conceptions are inevitable. The conceptions that usually takes place whenever we are in love with the world, is always dangerous to our eternal destiny.
One word for it all is INIQUITY. Yes, we conceive Iniquity whenever we are intimate with the world. And we get intimate with the world by becoming intimate with people sold out to its corrupt ways.
Once a Child of God becomes intimate with someone who is sold out to the world, to the lust of the flesh, the lust of eyes, or the pride of life, he or she becomes corrupt and begins to lead a life that is far from purity or righteousness.
Sometimes, for the believer, the man or woman who corrupts us are not outside the church. They are right with us, most times, worshiping in the same churches with us, or even serving with us.
For some of us pastors, they even serve us, and corrupt us as they serve us.
The enemy knows how to use whatever he can to sneak them into our space and keep them there, making us do very sinful things, or take decisions that are far from righteousness. Yes, he knows how to use our ignorance, innocence, or desire to help, walk in understanding and tolerance, or the desire to be friendly with fellow believers, to sneak them into our space.
Once they get in, we begin to get corrupt in ways we would never know until it happens. To the pure all things are pure, that is why he succeeds.
YOU WILL SEE THE PERSON’S INTENTIONS AS PURE UNTIL YOU BECOME CORRUPT BY HIM OR HER.
That is why our devotional text says;
“I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.
Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?
But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.” 1 Corinthians 5:9-12 NKJV
Scriptures like this are written to protect us. Yes, they are written to protect our salvation, our purity, our consecration, and etc.
Oh yes, all scriptures are written to protect us. But this very one was written to protect us from fellow believers who have not experienced the salvation, or transformation we have experienced, hence are still immoral, covetous, extortioners, idolaters, and etc.
When they come close to us, they can make us immoral like they are, covetous, idolaters, or turn us into extortioners like they are.
There are so many righteous and pure preachers who have been made sexually immoral by members who live in their space. Yes, some have been made covetous, turned into extortioners, and idolaters.
THIS IS A VERY SAD DEVELOPMENT IN THE BODY OF CHRIST, AND MORE SAD FOR THOSE WHO MADE THEMSELVES THE TOOLS OF DEFILEMENT.
These are preachers who were pure, holy, righteous, and very discipline, but were gradually brought into the trenches of indiscipline, sin, iniquity, and trespass, either by those who worship in Churches they pastor, serve them as staff members or amour bearers, cross their paths in the course of ministry, or got married to them.
Oh yes, there are so many servants of God who have been made sons of hell or moved from being the best vessels of God in God’s kingdom, to becoming the worse by those they married, or people working with them closely.
Some have been defiled, desecrated and made immoral, covetous, and etc. by the women or men they married. More sadly, this is not just limited to preachers, but active and righteous church members who joined the kingdom of God.
I can’t forget a young woman who shared with me how a brother approached her for a relationship that looked harmless on the outside but was subtly leading to the bed when she was just two months in our church.
She said she was shocked that such people exist in our Church.
There are consecrated Christians, pure and righteous breed of the Most High God in so many churches, who have become corrupt by people in our churches, who have not experienced the consecration that the word of the LORD gives.
People who sit with us, sing with us, pray and fast with us, and even fall under the anointing in most cases, but are still sold out to the corrupt systems of this world by heart, have become the most dangerous folks in church today.
These men and women have either not experienced God in spirit and in truth, or truly made up their minds for Heaven. That is why out of their belly still flows waters of sexual immorality, covetousness, idolatry, and all kinds of filth despite being in church.
Due to the covering of spirituality, religiosity, and etc., you will never know they lack a true commitment to righteous living, until they desecrate you. The lethal ones have great confessions of faith, and Pentecostal garments but no commitment to the faith.
That is why most of those they desecrate are carried away.
THE BIBLE SAYS WE MUST MARK THEM AND KEEP THEM OFF OUR SPACE.
I believe God is calling every believer in church not to allow themselves to become instruments of defilement in the lives of others, because there will be judgment, very severe judgment for them.
They sit with us in our churches but are not sold out to the LORD. They are still sold out to the ways of the world. They still love the world and can do anything their flesh tells them to.
The rule for those who want to be saved from this breed still remains unchanged. It says “we are not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.” That is how serious it is.
If we break this clear rule of the LORD, we will have ourselves to blame on the final day. The rules say we should simply keep them out of our lives and spaces. That is the only way. It did not say pray, fast, or talk to someone about it. It says, do not even eat with them.
If we want to pray for them, we should do so while they are outside our spaces. God wants them saved but He has His way of doing it. Now, to those who have been in Church, but are still sexually immoral, or covetous, or idolaters or reviler, or drunkards, or extortioners, the Bible says we should not even eat with you. Do you like it that way? I guess you do not.
Now, you have a choice to make this morning.
You have to decide either you want to remain all that, outside the covenant of grace and be treated that way, or you want to tear that garment away and meet the LORD through days of fasting, feasting in the word, and crying unto Him, to come out with a new nature. You must decide.
You must decide not to be an instrument of defilement in the lives of others.
YOU MUST DECIDE NOT TO BE STUMBLING BLOCK IN THE SALVATION OF OTHERS.
Let no one go to hell because of you. Let no holy man or woman of God become unholy because of you. Let no holy child of God become unholy because of you. Do not earn such reputation in the Kingdom of God.
There will be consequences.
I want you to understand that one major spirit that defiles God’s holy people using those who worship with them, especially in the same Church, is the Balaam and Jezebel spirits. Those two occurred in the old Testament and are still very much around today through those who yield to carnal passions to defile others.
You must avoid being used by them because if you do not, understand that God has decreed judgment in His word on people who do such things, and it might fall upon you. We are in warfare, do not be a willing tool in the hands of the Devil.
Also, do not forget that it is not the will of the LORD that any of us should perish. So, make the right decision today!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR US TODAY!
“But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.” Revelation 2:14-16 NKJV
“Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.
Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.
I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.” Revelation 2:20-23 NKJV