The world hates Christians as Jesus said it would. But there is another side to the story. As Paul states in both his letter to Timothy and to the Corinthians there are Christians that God is going to give up to Satan because of their sin. In I Timonthy 1:20 Paul turns over Alexander and Hymenaeus to Satan because they gave up the good fight for the Gospel even though they were Christians…Paul says, “I turn them over to Satan to be taught not to blasphemy.” In I Cor.5:5, Paul does the same thing and says, “Hand this man over to Satan, so that his sinful nature may be destroyed.” Then in the book of I Corinthians 11, Paul, states, “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord….(which most pastors never mentions)…For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep.”
During my early years as a believer God sent me over to Prestonwood Church where I was led to protest the celebration of Halloween, the worship of the pastor Billy Weber, and the actions of some of the leaders. They were rewarding some big donors who were divorcing their wives for “new” younger women. Ironically this is what brought Pastor Billy Weber down after he had affairs with 6 “attractive†women, and I was there in the whirlwind. Yet there were many blessings. I refused all rewards of leadership and eventually ran into Billy at Hillcrest church where he had been restored….and we shook hands in a friendly embrace just months before he died of a brain tumor. Now if Billy had lived, think how it would have hurt today’s church especially in the “Me Too” movement. As it went…Prestonwood moved to Carrollton and is now one of the biggest and strongest Baptist churches in the South.
And this draws attention to the church of today which may not be the church that God expects in this kingdom age drawing towards the End Times. My belief is that God is going to put the weak church of today through many tests and trials until it puts God and the Gospel first in its agenda and motivation. There are many churches including Prestonwood that are afraid to confront the congregation with the Stark Truth of the Word of God so as to humble the proud and stubborn minds. I would dare to guess that most members there and elsewhere still trust in evolution for the logic of their faith and thinking. When you do, you lose the concept of SIN and the need for repentance…after all there was no Garden of Eden, no Adam & Eve and No Original Sin. This is logic that stands on the lies of the world and the sands of time with foolish merchants of the gods of this world. This will continue until the leaders stand up in public for the Lord and for the Truth. Each person needs to recognize the depravity of man and the need for Christ. We are not inherently good-Â no indeed, we are in complete and utter need of a Savior….and his name is Jesus Christ
“If we endure we will reign with Him (Jesus Christ), if we are faithless He will remain faithful”…..all those men died as believers. Even though they were temporarily given over to Satan.