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Speaking against God's people
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By:
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randyw
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Mood:
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Edifying
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Date:
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07/14/2008 12:06:21
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Music:
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None
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In my time as a Christian I have seen many things that I love and some things I dislike for the better of change. Have you seen a Christian fall from grace? Or have you seen a church in poor conditions physically or spiritually? What did you do about it? I have often asked my self or commented "that's not right" or look at what this person did. I then get into a whole realm of disliking the person or place by opinion and judgment till I notice my whole being itself is ready for war. Am I right? In my anger, I speak at other people and get people to be on my side in opinion of the circumstances I have a case against. Still, am I right? This all depends on the topic for what I could be mad at. Well, according to this I have seen one of the biggest follies in accordance to the daily Christian life of brothers and sisters. That is: When it comes to the speech of another Christian or spiritual condition of a person or place our people resolve the issues in factions, words that put others down, and disputes that lead to broken fellowships than mending fellowships. You can go to churches, you can search the internet, the gossipers of the towns, on you-tube, and casual fellowship conversations with people and ask them the "what's going on" within the Body of Christ. More or less you will here words from Christians discouraging ministries, speaking horribly against pastors, and judging people and places by the "natural eye" utilizing the wisdom of man and personal opinions against God's people rather than the spirit of love, mercy, and life. The downside of what we do in pride, because I have been guilty, is to put down someone else in a resolution to disagreement or for position. This is the main tactics of politicians who battle for a position or for an influence among people.
In the book of Samuel, there is the testimony of the first king of Israel whose name was Saul. Saul was anointed to be king over Israel after a period of time of having no king at all. Israel had judges to rule over the land and judge the controversies that would come about within the people. This is where Samuel the prophet comes into play because he was an "overseer" for God in it's time period. Samuel is also the man appointed to anoint Saul, in accordance to the people request for a king. In his tenure, Saul is famously known for the disobedience to the Lord, and the tearing of the kingdom from him and giving it unto David. After that event, Saul was still king of Israel for a number of years. In as much, there are many situations where the King Saul did many horrible things before the sight of God which further justified God's judgment. During the testimony of Saul, his character and behavior to the anointing of David and his acts as the following king of Israel increasingly made him very unpopular. One of the most amazing things about David though was the fact that almost every time he was given the chance to strike back in vengeance upon Saul he never struck him or killed him. In the scriptures it says: 4 David's men said to him, Behold the day of which the Lord said to you, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hands and you shall do to him as seems good to you. Then David arose [in the darkness] and stealthily cut off the skirt of Saul's robe.
5 Afterward, David's heart smote him because he had cut off Saul's skirt. 6 He said to his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this to my master, the Lord's anointed, to put my hand out against him, when he is the anointed of the Lord. (1 Samuel 24:4-6)
Furthermore,
7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there Saul lay sleeping within the encampment with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the army lay round about him.
8 Then said Abishai to David, God has given your enemy into your hands this day. Now therefore let me smite him to the earth at once with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.
9 David said to Abishai, Do not destroy him; for who can raise his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless?
10 David said, As the Lord lives, [He] will smite him; or his day will come to die or he will go down in battle and perish.
11The Lord forbid that I should raise my hand against the Lord's anointed; but take now the spear that is at his head and the bottle of water, and let us go. ( 1 Samuel 26: 7-11)
In David's reaction to Saul having a chance to take revenge upon a person that was doing him wrong. He never took it into his own hands to judge Saul by death. It is, the Lord and the Lord only who has the power to raise and destroy people, kings, nations, and kingdoms. He did this through his holy prophets and those who walked according to his ordinances to placate this type of authority. By David's anointing this was given to him.
What is man on the other hand, to take matters into their hands according to their own judgments and the avoidance of the council of the Lord's might? The Bible says that, "God's mercies endure forever." The way of the world is I have to power to do all, which is false. Therefore we as Christians can by no means take matters into our own hands to reject, refuse, repudiate, decline, deny, rebuff, repel, renounce, discard, throw away, exclude, eliminate and jettison any other people of Christ out of order with what Jesus taught. This is not God; it is a Lucifer based approach in judgment, elitism, and isolation. It's speaking death more than life.
Through Saul disposition against his own son-in-law, David's respect for the man of God still was impeccable, though another of God's anointed was trying to kill him. The Lord did take severe judgment on Saul and it came by the death of him and his son Jonathan in war. When the news was brought to David, he went into a period of weeping, fasting, and prayer. Why? Why, give a period of sorrow for a man who tried to kill him and his family. I could understand weeping for Jonathan, who was the son of Saul and help David escape death from his own father. That makes sense. However, I believe David wept, fasted, and prayed because of what was happening to Israel as a whole, including the king. That is an example of the heart of a King, from God. Did you know that further on David, who was still married to one of Saul's daughters, Micah, was despised by her for his worship to God? So, David gives us an example of behavior to toil and trouble against people or families that are of God and anointed as well. He regarded them still as of God's body. 7 When he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. I answered, Here I am.
8 He (Saul) asked me, Who are you? I answered, An Amalekite.
9 He (Saul) said to me, Rise up against me and slay me; for terrible dizziness has come upon me, yet my life is still in me [and I will be taken alive].
10 So I stood up against him and slew him, because I was sure he could not live after he had fallen. So I took the crown on his head and the bracelet on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.(A)
11 Then David grasped his own clothes and tore them; so did all the men with him.
12 They mourned and wept for Saul and Jonathan his son, and fasted until evening for the Lord's people and the house of Israel, because of their defeat in battle.
13 David said to the young man who told him, Where are you from? He answered, I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite.
14 David said to him, Why were you not afraid to stretch forth your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? ....
15 David called one of the young men and said, Go near and fall upon him. And he smote him so that he died.
16 David said to [the fallen man], Your blood be upon your own head; for you have testified against yourself, saying, I have slain the Lord's anointed. ....
17 David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, (2 Samuel 1:7-17) David reacted totally different to the Amalekite than he did for Saul. In as much as his reaction was brute, he spoke of God's anointed people in a way of defense and reverence for whom God chooses and calls his, no matter what. This was the mark of God's King. There was another example of this type of zeal for the Lord from another King. This was Jesus in the dealing with the money changers.
12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. (Matthew 21:12-14) What is the point? Love God enough to stand up for him in the midst of people and defend God's people because they are still our brothers and sisters. Do we always regard a sinner as a sinner with a legalistic hammer? Mary Magdalene and Paul would have never been who they were after. So, we have a calling in the New Testament and an impartation of the Holy Spirit to comfort, edify, and exhort the body of Christ. Yet we use our language, our intellect, and our conversation to put down other people, ministries, and churches that God allowed to be here. It takes so much pride to put down someone for the exaltation of you. Rather, it is much greater in the eyes of God to remark in the forgiveness of the mistakes of men and the mercies of God. This is the fruit of love.
16 Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a [purely] human point of view [in terms of natural standards of value]. [No] even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, yet now [we have such knowledge of Him that] we know Him no longer [in terms of the flesh]. ....
17 Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!( 2 Cor 5:16-17)....
Let's further address people in love, mercy, kindness and fruitfulness. Let's encourage the body of Christ to build more places that exalt God's manifestation here on Earth. Let's be Christians and fulfill what we are called to do and love our brother as we love ourselves. In conclusion, let's be careful of negative words that come from an evil heart of judging people instead of the fruit that manifests. Can we use healthier scriptural ways of being able to kick out the money changers and heal the people according to the word of God. Let's be life and not be death, especially in the same kingdom that we represent.
Your Brother in Christ, ....
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2008 Realistic Imaginations.com....
R.Williamswww.realisticimaginations.com
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For any prayer requests please email me at: inquiry@realisticimaginations.com
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