Ministers of Deliverance
Dearly beloved of God, every one reading this post was at one time guilty before God, dead in sin, enemies of God, and headed into the wrath of God, BUT due to God’s great love and the riches of His grace we now stand before Him in Christ, saved, redeemed, justified, sanctified, saved from the wrath to come, and we will be glorified with Christ.
None of us had a leg to stand on before God, BUT God by His grace and mercy gave us a standing before Him in Christ when we were yet dead in sin, and now we are as he is.
What do we have to boast about? We certainly have nothing to boast about before God or the Lord Jesus Christ.
We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ; who will make an arrogant boast then?
If it were not for the grace of God, His mercy, and His goodness to us in Christ we would yet be dead in sin, without God, and without hope in this world.
Dearly beloved, there is no one among us who does not constantly need God’s grace and His mercy, love, and forgiveness.
When one of our fellow members in the body of Christ stumbles, we should cover over his sin quietly, and restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; not put them on trial so that they feel as though they are under constant evaluation. That, I believe, would be to think evil. We ought to be healers, not finger pointers.
Oh, self-righteousness, such a deceiver is he!
Ah, what is the worth of a soul? Our Heavenly Father gave His only begotten Son for each sinner, even for you or me.
Jesus Christ gave his life for sinners. We should treat one another with the same concern as our Father showed us in Christ. He is the forgiving Father, even with prodigal sons.
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual should restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself if perhaps you also are tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. If a man seems to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Let each prove his own work; then he will have grounds for boasting in himself alone and not in another.
The servant of the Lord must not fight, he should be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those who oppose themselves; perhaps God will give them repentance unto acknowledging the truth and they will become sober again from the trap of the slandering devil, even those who have been captured by him for his will.
Servants of the Lord minister on his behalf; they help people and minister deliverance to those in need. They do not make people feel as though they are on trial and treat them as if they were under constant evaluation. How does that help anyone?
Let me ask you a question, how did Jesus Christ treat Judas after he betrayed him? Restoring is a minister’s work. Condemning people when they need deliverance is wrong.
I am reminded of the story of the alcoholic that showed up at Dr. Wierwille’s church one Sunday morning. He had a sermon prepared on the abuses of alcohol, and the sin of excessive drinking should this alcoholic ever show up. He preached that sermon with all his strength that morning.
Afterwards, as the poor alcoholic shook Dr.’s hand after the service, the alcoholic said to him with tears in his eyes, “I came to church this morning to find out how to get out of what I am in, but all you did was put me in deeper." Crying he said, “If you want to know about alcoholism, I can tell you more than you will ever know.”
Dr. went back to his office and prayed and asked God to forgive him. He promised that he would never preach another negative sermon, he would never condemn anybody again. “Why? I want to teach people how to tap the resources for the more abundant life, not the less abundant life.”
Dearly beloved, ask God for the wisdom of how to help each person in need. He will show you how to minister deliverance to them.
Psychiatrists would lose their license if they violated a patient’s confidence; we ought to keep what others confide in us in a lock box if we expect God to continue to work with us.
Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone, dearly beloved. Let us walk in love as Christ did with every sinner, even with the Apostle Judas who was one of the twelve.