A Message to The Church

Be One for Jesus' Sake. All of God's children may not be perfect yet in doctrine, holy living, and powerful performances. But if they are truly "bloodwashed" members of the Body of Christ, they are our blood brothers and sisters, and we must treat each other as such. There is no place for jealousy, resentment, condemnation, judgment, strife, bigotry, religious conceit, or any other impure motive or action among the members of the Body of Christ. Jesus paid a tremendous price to have His Church with Him and unified. If we really love and appreciate what Christ has done, then for His sake, let us love one another and be one great, united family of God.

Bill Hamon, The Eternal Church: A Prophetic Look at the Church--her History, Restoration, and Destiny, rev. ed. (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 2003), 300.

Church, this is what God is saying now:

There were two trees in the middle of the Garden, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and The Tree of Life. Then, "The Lord God commanded him, “You may eat the fruit from any tree in the garden. But you must not eat the fruit from the tree which gives the knowledge of good and evil. If you ever eat fruit from that tree, you will die!” (Genesis 2:16-17, International Children's Bible). And, of course, we all know that they chose to eat of the forbidden tree anyway.

But we, Church, still have the choice to eat from the one tree or the other. Jesus took the place of the Tree of Life. He said, “I am the way. And I am the truth and the life. The only way to the Father is through me." (John 14:6 ICB). Then why do so many Christians judge their brothers and sisters in Christ? Do you think you know what is good for them?  Do you think you have to tell others what to do?  Do you live by a set of rules that must be followed or do you live in the freedom that Christ has given? Do not think you can tell others what is good and what is evil and still be able to eat from the tree of life. Even if everything you say is true and correct, if it is not in Love, if it does not bring Life, then it is not of God. The reason the angel had to drive Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden is because God did not want them to eat from The Tree of Life in their sinful state. Because, hear me Church, that is what Hell is like. It is eternal judgment.

Why are so many people driven from the structural church? They usually are because there is someone, maybe the whole church, that thinks it is their job to point out every flaw in a person's life. Mostly, people know that they are screwing up if they truly belong to Christ. The Holy Spirit is the one who corrects. And when He does it through the Body, it must be done in Love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-2 says, "I may speak in different languages of men or even angels. But if I do not have love, then I am only a noisy bell or a ringing cymbal. I may have the gift of prophecy; I may understand all the secret things of God and all knowledge; and I may have faith so great that I can move mountains. But even with all these things, if I do not have love, then I am nothing." (ICB).

For those of you who want to argue, yes, I know that there are times when we must correct people who are not living according to God's plan. But, that doesn't mean it is your job to look for every misspoken word or ignorant sin. We must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and be sure it is He who is telling us to speak, not our own feelings of self-righteousness. Our example is when Jesus dealt with the woman taken in adultery in John 8:1-11. First He had to deal with her accusers, then He offered her no condemnation. "God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17 ICB). If God didn't want to judge the world, and Jesus forgave the world, then why do we take it upon ourselves to do what is against God's wishes? Whoever is without sin, let them cast the first stone.

"So now, those who are in Christ Jesus are not judged guilty. I am not judged guilty because in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made me free. It made me free from the law that brings sin and death. The law was without power, because the law was made weak by our sinful selves. But God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son to earth with the same human life that others use for sin. He sent his Son to be an offering to pay for sin. So God used a human life to destroy sin. He did this so that we could be right as the law said we must be. Now we do not live following our sinful selves, but we live following the Spirit." (Romans 8:1-4 ICB).

It is the job of the Holy Spirit to convict people of their sins, as opposed to the Devil who wants to bring condemnation. "When the Helper [Holy Spirit] comes, he will prove to the people of the world the truth about sin, about being right with God, and about judgment." (John 16:8 ICB) Shall we get in the way of the Holy Spirit and try to do His job for Him? God is hindered in the work He wants to do in others when we get in His way. But more importantly, He cannot speak to us when we are so busy trying to tell everyone else what to do. If you have anything to say to someone, say it with the Word of God. That is where the truth is. And while you are in there, find out what God is saying to you.