HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TURNED OVER TO SATAN

Hello there my most dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus. Now I know the above picture doesn't have much to do with today's subject, but I included it because it is so cool looking. Let's pray... Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. We come before you with humble hearts. Hearts that desire to Love and be Loved. Oh help us Holy Spirit to love with the Love which God has placed in our hearts. We thirst for righteousness and we shall be filled. Open our spiritual eyes and ears that we can now come together to be washed by the Word. Changing us into the image of our Beloved...Jesus, our Lord. We praise You and worship You for your undying mercy and loving kindness. In Jesus Name we ask and pray....AMEN.

Let's look at I Corinthians5:5 "hand this man over to satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord." Mind you that this was a brother who willfully sinned and was unrepentant. Oh boy, look at I Corinthians 5:11,12 "But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. Expel the wicked man from among you." Bear with me while we explore two more verses along the same lines. I Timothy 19,20 says "holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to satan to be taught not to blaspheme."

And finally lets look at what Jesus Himself said about this subject. The subject still about turning over a rebellious and unrepentant brother or sister to satan for the saving of their soul. In Matthew 18:15-17 we find Jesus teaching on this subject, "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or tax collector."

Wow! What are we to make of these verses? We sure don't hear much about this kind of stuff in the church nowadays. But we should. I am sure that the early church wasn't ignorant about such things, so why then do we not follow their lead in all areas? I guess this kind of message wouldn't be too popular. It might offend some and the attendance would suffer. I guess that would be more important than saving a soul from eternal damnation. We have so much to learn about the way God sees sin and the way He deals with it. He calls rebellion witchcraft. He considers believing equal to obedience. Well, my my, His Word also says that if we love Him then we will be obedient. Without holiness no one will see the Lord. Jesus is coming for a church without spot or wrinkle. Yes my fellow brethren, we are in the covenant of grace, but our church (for the most part) has perverted this Holy thing into a once saved always saved attitude. God is Holy and He demands obedience and He always will. End of discussion. And yes, thank Him for the gift of the Holy Spirit because without Him we wouldn't be able to be holy or obedient.

Remember Moses? At one time God asked Him to speak to the rock and it would bring forth water for His chosen people. Moses got angry with the people and he struck the rock, twice. He didn't speak to it like he was commanded. For this God said he wouldn't enter the promised land. Seems kind of harsh but that is the way God chooses to operate. The consequences of our actions of rebellion (disobedience) always come. But they come from a very, very loving God. A Father who sees that all sin separates us from the intimacy he desires to have with us. Didn't He say that our evil earthly fathers discipline us for our good and how much more then does He discipline (chastises, whips etc) us whom He died for and loves with an undying love? The chastening of the Lord doesn't last forever and it is intended to produce in us fruits of righteousness. Oh I hate it when the whip comes down (and God chooses any method of discipline that suits Him) but I have joy knowing that God loves me and the beating I take will save my soul and bring me back to His everlasting arms. Hopefully with the fear of the Lord in my heart. Not one that fears God because He is mean, but a son who will ultimately tremble at His Word. A place of ultimate surrender. Not just the words " I surrender all," but with a will and works that declare such a heart change. It is called TRUE REPENTANCE folks.

What does it mean to be turned over to satan? I surely don't know it all but I can tell you a few things from my own personal experience. I believe the original intention was to remove the prayer covering from the person. We are still to love and be kind to the brother but the Word specifically states that we shouldn't even eat with such a one. Now that might mean communion or intimate fellowship of any kind. It really doesn't matter right now as far as this story goes. I am not currently hooked up with a local Body (still looking). But that doesn't stop the long arm of God. To be honest, I don't think our churches today would treat me the way the scriptures command concerning rebellion that continues to creep into my heart. But God makes allowances for that too. Micah 7:14 says "Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood." I am NOT by any means saying it is OK not to be a part of a local Body. This just happens to be where I am right now.

I have been turned over to satan many times here recently. Not concerning a sin which the Body calls "one of the big ones." Let me tell you a little secret. With God all disobedience is sin...PERIOD. For now it is suffice to say that I have rebellion in my heart which seems to creep in from time to time. Even now I have a knowing and tugging inside my heart which is giving me hope that very soon the Holy Ghost will give me and the entire Body the much sought after grace to come to the end of ourselves once and for all. Until then we try, fall, get back up and try again. With me I can feel the rod of my Master over this sin through the destroyer which He created. My thoughts get confused. Anger abounds toward God, myself and others. I say and think the most awful things. Wondering if I am saved. If I have done something which has caused God to turn His back on me. Desiring to give up. Wishing I had never been born. King David and I have this part in common. Anyway, the hardest part is being in a place where I am not one with God in Christ Jesus. Without His covering the demonic buzzing in my soul is horrendous to say the least.

But there is good news my dear ones. God always shows back up with great mercy, tenderness, love and hope. He always does. I grow closer to Him because of His rod. I come out more determined than ever to continue down this road to an eventual posture of absolute surrender. The work He began in me will continue until He completes it. For some of us this prize which we run for comes later rather than sooner. But it will come. Now that is good news indeed. I understand your pain. And now I pray that through this writing the Holy Spirit will give you hope too. We are going through this race together. And from reading the end of the Book, I discover that we WIN.