In the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth he reveals to us yet another power that a true man of God possesses.  Here we find that a man in the church has been carrying on a sexual affair outside of marriage.  An additional and equally serious problem is that the people are allowing the man to remain in the church.  Undoubtedly the man had been “saved by grace” so that it was okay for him to continue to sin because Jesus, through His death, was enabling him to get away with it.

I was recently asked what I thought about a mainline church system allowing sex deviants to join the “body of Christ.”  I replied that the problem involved not only sexual sins but all manner of sin, that the problem has been around for hundreds of years, and that it infects every church now in existence.  Since the founding of God’s church in 31 A.D., the church has not merely allowed sinners into the body, but HAS NOT REQUIRED THEM TO STOP SINNING AS A CONDITION FOR ACCEPTANCE.  The apostles began facing the problem early on.  Read 2 Cor. 11:4 and Galatians 1:6-9.  “Inclusion” has been a problem for the church for a long time.  Today the mantra is “Come as you are; stay as you are; Jesus loves you just the way you are.”  All one is required to do is “love Jesus.”

True conversion (total reversal of one’s life) is not required in order for a professed sinner to become a member in good standing within most Catholic and Protestant churches.  The leaven is allowed to remain, thereby leavening the entire body, just as Paul warned would happen.  To be accepted within one of the hundreds of churches existent today one need only accept Jesus as one’s Savior, complete a prescribed ritual and be baptized.  At that point the fix is in–next stop, heaven.  In that Jesus took all of the saved one’s past sins upon Himself upon getting instantly “saved,” one’s future sins are of no consequence, provided the church sinner repents after each inevitable (Adam-caused) sin.  One fellow told me that he repented BEFORE sinning–a religious “preemptive strike” no less.  Another said that he SAVED UP his sins over time and repented of them periodically.  I guess this could be called a “sin dump.”  Apparently, as long as the church sinner “loves Jesus” he/she is tight with Him and can sin with impunity, as long as he repents in a timely fashion.  This Satanic attitude permeates professing Christendom.  One reader could not believe that our future depended on our obedience to God’s Word.  Faith, we are assured, is all that is needed because the fix is in, it’s all good, I’m okay, you’re okay, we’re all okay because Jesus makes our sins go away as fast as we can repent of them.  Read The Message of the Cross.  key word–Message.

Paul did not like what was going on in the Corinthian church and had some choice words for the congregation concerning their “I’m o.k., you’re o.k., we’re all o.k. as long as we love Jesus” attitude toward the adulterous man (1 Cor. 5:6-13).  I will let Paul speak for himself: “And you are puffed up (proud of your “inclusiveness” and “broad-mindedness”), and have not instead mourned (for your own wickedness) so that God would remove the adulterer from among you.” Notice that the congregation was as guilty as the adulterer for their “inclusive” attitude toward him.

Here we will see what a true man of God can do in the face of rebellion toward God.  Listen to what Paul says next: “Though I am not with you physically, my spirit is with you.  Concerning what this man has done, I have judged him as if I was there with you.”  Notice that they should have JUDGED the man and put him out of the church.  “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together ALONG WITH MY SPIRIT, and the power of our Lord Jesus Christ is present, I (Paul) WILL DELIVER THE MAN UNTO SATAN FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF HIS FLESH (DEATH) in hopes that his spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (5:2-5).

Let us do some “fine print” studying relative to this scenario.  Paul was angry with the people for allowing the man to remain in the church.  By condoning his actions the people revealed that they had been thoroughly leavened.  In verse 11 Paul verbally chastises them for their attitude toward the man and his acts, which showed that they were no better than he was.  In verse 13 Paul commands that they get their spiritual act together, then put the adulterer out of the church.  Hopefully, he would get right with the Lord before Satan killed him.  Again, WHO turned the man over to Satan for physical punishment–PAUL.

What Paul did to the adulterer seems harsh.  But he meant business relative to sin in the church because God means business relative to those who call themselves by His name.  Note that he did the same type of thing as recorded in 1 Timothy 1:20.  Here we find that two men–Hymenaeus and Alexander–have been leading people away from the faith.  Paul states that he has delivered them to Satan for punishment so that they will learn not to blaspheme.  In 2 Tim. 2:17 Paul makes a statement in which Hymanaeus and “canker” are mentioned together.  “Cankor” refers to cancer or gangrene.  Obviously, because of what he had done, Satan had afflicted him with cancer.

I have noted before that God has told me on three occasions, two of which involved visions, that He was going to kill specific people for ignoring what I had told them.  All three died within two months of His telling me what He was going to do.  They each died for no medical reason.  They were living one minute and were dead the next.  Recall that a couple–Annanias and Sapphira–lied to Peter and dropped dead immediately (Acts 5).  As I said, God means business.  His apostles are all about doing His business, which can involve the deaths of church sinners.  Recall also that Paul caused a man to be blind for three days (Acts 13:6-11).  And how can we forget Elijah’s confrontation with the 400 prophets of Baal (1 Ki. 18:17-39).

The day is coming, and soon, when true men of God will be called upon to do incredible things and will see the effects of their faith come to pass immediately and publicly as a world-wide audience looks on.  People will die instantly at the command of holy men.  The dead will be raised at their command.  Mountains will move, waters will dry up, trees will wither and food will multiply because of the commands of God’s holy apostles.   Men will declare a regional or world-wide drought and proclaim the length of time it will be in effect.  Rain will come only at their word.  Men will walk on water.  God’s true messengers will be miraculously transported from one place to another.  How do I know these things will happen?  BECAUSE THEY ARE PROMISED BY GOD IN HIS WORD.  With the exception of the moving of a mountain, all of the acts mentioned above have been done and are recorded in the Scriptures.  These and many other deeds will be done by God’s men IN THE SIGHT OF THE WORLD’S PEOPLE.  But the result will not be a mass turning to God as one might expect.  In fact, the opposite will take place as the Scriptures foretell.  There will be great contention between God’s true Very Elect saints and the people among whom they live.  In the end, a world-ruling government will declare war on them and move to eradicate them.  Only by performing a mighty miracle will Christ save His people in the end.

God’s apostles and those who follow them will be hated by the world.  Satan’s people will blame them, not their own sins, for the supernatural ravages they are suffering.  God’s people will have food while the world starves.  Their land will receive rain while drought consumes the areas around them.  Holy men will perform Elijah-type miracles to show the world whose God is the true God.  And still the world will reject Him.  L.J.