Summary of sermon by Erlo Stegen, 27 Sep 2015
Gal 6:7
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
Another translation says “do not allow yourselves to be deceived”.
We read in Gen 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Even if satan comes to you and questions what God said, you should realise that you should never listen to him. Do not allow satan or those from the devil to deceive you. Don’t allow satan to control you and dangle you about his little finger. Many children play with their parents like that, and it’s a very painful thing. It’s also a pity when teachers allow their students to play around with them. Those teachers who do not have God’s Spirit are the ones who proclaim that children are basically good. Well the children will play around with them.
Satan was very clever, but it was Lucifarian cunning. It’s a pity that there are those who consider themselves intelligent, but they do not know true Godly wisdom. A person who is haughty and arrogant of their intelligence or success, such a person is a tool in the devil’s hand and have the same cleverness as the devil has.
We read in 1Cor 6:9-10
“9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
The first sin mentioned here is the sin of “porneo” in Greek. Are there those who look at things that expose the nakedness of others? Then it speaks about idolaters and adulterers and homosexuals, who will not inherit the kingdom of God. Today it is claimed that the gay lifestyle is natural, and people indulge in this sin everywhere, even in church! But the Bible says that we should not be deceived. Soon God’s judgement will be upon the whole world. He will come down and call every single person to give account before Him.
We read in Jude 1:12-13 of those who are wandering stars that have gone lost.
“12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.”
In the Bible the preachers and ministers of the Gospel are the stars. What a pity when they go lost and are wandering about, while in charge of congregations. Yet they promote the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah were totally burnt to ashes that there was not a trace left, and so it will go with those who practice this sin of homosexuality and these preachers who promote this lifestyle and lead others astray.
There are so-called Christians who are just like these people in Jude, uprooted trees, wild waves of the sea, without fruit, twice dead. They cast up the foam of their own shame. The blackest darkness is reserved for them forever. Such ministers will reap a double hell, forever.
What does it matter if you’re in jail here on earth for 10 or 20 years? But how terrible to be in hell’s jail forever and ever.
Jesus said that if your right hand causes you to stumble, it’s better to cut it off and cast it from you, and go to heaven than go to hell with both hands (Matt 5:30). Your right hand symbolises that which is most precious to you.
How can a preacher go astray as just described? The love of money leads them astray. In 1Tim 6:10 it’s written, “the love of money is the root of all evil”. The money itself is not in itself sinful. It is the love of money where sin enters. Instead of preachers spreading the Gospel they see what they can get out of people and send them to hell. Also those who do not seek God’s will in what they do, but look for the highest paid salary are under the same judgement.
These people are fallen stars, just like Lucifer the morning star was cast out of heaven.
Judas Iscariot went to the religious leaders and asked them how much money they would give him if he delivered Jesus over to them. Jesus was crucified as a result of that. Are there those who are going astray because of money? The Bible says that those who have things should be as if not possessing them (1Cor 7:30). But those who walk the way of Balaam going after money, are in hell.
In a certain school, a certain pupil hated a certain strict teacher and one day set an animal trap for him in a dark passage to catch and destroy his leg. The teacher always walked with a stick and fortunately the stick went into the trap and was caught and broken in pieces by the trap. The school governing body sought for the culprit but he was never caught. Years later the teacher received a remorseful letter from a former pupil. He stated how he was the one that set that trap and thought that he was very clever and had taught him a lesson. But he was drafted into the army and seriously injured during an army operation, so that both his legs had to be amputated on the battle field under tremendous pain. He thought to hurt that teacher but God intervened and he lost his legs.
John Lennon of the Beatles declared that they were greater than Jesus and that Christianity will decline and disappear, and he reaffirmed his remarks time and again over the years. But eventually his life came to a sudden end when he was shot and killed.
The punishment of sin does come, even if it might take many years in some cases. Whatever you do or think, remember God is in heaven and He sees it. What a person sows he will reap.
German Translation
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