By JOHN WILSON
Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever (Jude verses 11-13).
Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him (Genesis 4:8).
Not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous (1 John 3:12).
IN almost 20 years of serving the Lord as a pastor I have seen and experienced many things that should never occur in church.
Over the years I have learned that there are things we do that hurt us personally and things we do that hurt others.
Some are unintentional but some are expressly meant to hurt other people. It is the latter that I wish to address and it is to these that the above Scriptures pertain.
The Church as a body
The church is an organism, made up of living individual people, just as the physical human body is made up of individual cells. I am referring to the body of individuals who make up the family of God.
Church government and ministry are separate issues. The book of Acts shows us that believers have gathered together for fellowship and teaching from the beginning. The church is not perfect as it is made up of people who are not perfect. Yet it is amazing how people are so quick to pick out the faults of others while being totally blind to their own.
And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (Matthew 7:3-4).
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Sometimes rogue cells infect the body and cause disease and even destruction; cancer cells are a good example. Jesus uses the parable of leaven to show us how just a little bad can corrupt the whole. When I was young we had a saying; “Sticks and stones can break my bones but names will never hurt me.” How wrong is that saying! At least the hurts from sticks and stones do heal after a time but some hurts from words never heal. One of the biggest mistakes made by Christian people is to blame the pastor for the church’s failings. It is people who comprise the church and it is they who the world sees as being representative of the church. The pastor is only oneof the people. But, true to form, we all need a scapegoat to blame for our own failings. This of course is typical of modern psychiatry, which tells us to blame everyone but ourselves and never accept personal responsibility.
I write from personal experience and the experience of other pastors who have come to me broken, downhearted and feeling rejected. I do accept that there are unscrupulous pastors who hurt their sheep and take advantage of them but I assure you they are a minority. As in all callings there are “bad eggs”. Isn’t it strange that people are always willing to write letters about bad experiences with church leaders and yet we read very few, if any, commending the good? The following true incident always saddens me when I think of it.
One of my daughters when she was a teenager was struggling with her faith as all young people do at some stage in their life and I decided to try and sort out the problem. I asked her if she still believed in Jesus. She looked at me and said, “Of course I do Dad, but I do not know if I still believe in church.” I was alarmed and asked why? Her eyes welled up with tears as she started to cry.
Between sobs she explained, “Yesterday someone put a letter through our letterbox while we were out. I saw it was addressed to you Dad and it had no stamp. I knew what it would say because when people leave the church it is the way they do it. They never come and tell you or Mum themselves. I knew when you both read it you would be hurt and I hate seeing that look on your faces. You sit there every morning with the church phone list and pray for these people by name and I have seen you crying for them and yet this is how they return the love you and Mum have for them. They always say God told them to do it but why would God tell them to hurt you if He made you the pastor of His church?”
Now this is a side of the pastor’s life very few see. The point I am trying to make is that our actions sometimes hurt others. My daughter is still going on with God and attends church every Sunday but the hurts will always be there.
History has shown us that persecution of the church often brings revival. The enemy has learned that attacking the church front on will not destroy it. So he tries to corrupt from within.
He does it by false doctrine promoted by false teachers and false prophets, the mark of Balaam and he does it by having members of the body attacking each other in gossip and character assassination, the mark of Cain. Jude writes of two types of people that are obviously within the body and calls them “spots in your Love feasts”. Some have gone in the way of Cain and others in the way of Balaam. What are the characteristics of these people? Why do they seem to cause Jude distress? For the reason, we must look at the characters of Cain and Balaam themselves.
Cain
Cain was the first human murderer. Not just murder, which is bad enough but he committed fratricide, the murder of his own brother.
Jesus said; to him,
“‘You shall love theLORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-39).
God banished Cain and marked him for what he did to his brother. In Church we are considered a family and each of us are brothers and sisters. We have been adopted into the family of God. As a parent and grandparent I am very upset if my children or grandchildren fight with one another. As our Heavenly Father, what pain must the Lord feel when His children fight and hurt one another. We may not physically murder one another but we do just as badly, we assassinate the character of our brothers and sisters and in doing so become like Cain.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34).
One of the ways that the world will know that we are of God is by the way we love one another, not as the world but like Jesus who died for those who sinned against Him. I have often thought that this is the reason there is no revival because we do not show the mark of God in that we fail to express the love of God to each other. The world needs answers but how can we say we have the answer when we behave no differently to the world and strike out at those we disagree, or have a personality clash with?
But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful (Luke 6:35-36).
And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 24:12-13).
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The world needs answers but how can we say we have the answer when we behave no differently to the world and strike out at those we disagree, or have a personality clash with? |
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This verse in Matthew is one of the descriptions of the end times by Jesus and certainly describes many believers today. Paul provides us with a wonderful description of love in his epistle to the Corinthians:
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; butthe greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:1-13).
Cain rose against his brother despite a warning from the Lord.
So the LORD said to Cain,
“Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it (Genesis 4:6-7).
In these verses we find two reasons why many believers fail to love one another as the Lord commands us. Firstly there is anger, and secondly there is envy. Cain’s anger was directed against Abel for his own failings. His sacrifice was a wrong sacrifice because he would not put in the effort that the sacrifice demanded.
Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them (Genesis 3:21).
God made the first blood sacrifice. It is not possible to take the skin off an animal without shedding blood. Significantly the word “skin” is used; not “wool”.
Adam and his sons had been instructed on the price of sin. Abel was a shepherd yet Adam’s family were vegetarians. He raised sheep for their wool for clothing and, as many commentators suggest, also for the animals needed for sacrifice. Cain would have had to go to his brother and get a sheep from him for his sacrifice. It may be that this galled him having to go to his younger brother. So anger was born in his spirit. The Lord knew this and warned him that sin was being nurtured in his heart but he could overcome it, or become its slave.
He envied his brother’s acceptance by the Lord and his blessing. It is no different today. People envy others who are being blessed by the Lord when they seem to be missing out. What they fail to see is that the reason behind the blessing is usually because they have been obedient at a cost to themselves.
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He, who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? (James 4:1-12).
James really hits the nail on the head about dissention and division within the church body. We often judge standards we ourselves cannot hope to attain. It is not about judging false doctrine or immorality that James is talking here, but the verbal attacking of character. Doctrine and immorality have clear definitions by which we can be judged but our character has but one standard and that is God’s standard. Scripture is clear that no one meets that standard.
As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practised deceit; The poison of asps is under their lips; Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:10-20).
When we judge someone’s character as proud or arrogant, the only standard we can legitimately judge by is the Lord’s standard. But by doing that we also condemn ourselves for we too fall short of the glory of God.
In my years in the ministry I have seen so many people hurt by gossips who find fault in others and glory in telling people about it. The saying we had when I was a boy; “Sticks and stones can break my bones but names will never hurt me”, has many times been proved wrong. Words can be such harmful weapons in the hands of a malicious person.
I have read many articles criticising pastors for their failings and some rightly so. But what has happened is that some people see this as a justified basis for attacking every pastor. For every corrupt pastor I can assure you there are many who are faithful and hard working. We hear of the money preachers and their extravagant high living but never hear of the thousands who work for very meagre salaries that most in the church would never work for. We very seldom hear of the great number of hours the average pastor works or the strain upon his wife and children.
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James really hits the nail on the head about dissention and division with the church body. We often judge one another by standards we ourselves cannot hope to attain. |
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I have seen my wife (and children) maligned and badly hur t for no other reason than they were my family. Their misfortune in life was to have a husband (father) who was in the ministry.
The best example of what I am trying to show through Cain can be seen in many ministers’ lives.
Those who act like Cain and Balaam assassinate their characters. They and their families are expected to live to a standard that Scripture clearly states only God can keep.
I have had to minister to many pastors over the years that have been almost destroyed by congregations. I have seen their families break up because the wife could no longer take the strain of being falsely gossiped about.
The body of Christ is made up of individuals with different personalities, gifts, callings and even appearance. I thank the Lord for this because the church would be a boring place indeed if we were all like me!
It is our individuality that makes the Lord’s church such a great thing to be a part of and we should thank God for this rather than pull down those who are different to us.
Balaam
Then he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying: “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me!6Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed (
Numbers 22:5-6).
Balaam was recognised as a prophet who could af fect nations. Some believe he was not a prophet of God and others that he was backslidden. Either way he used a gift he had for gain. Not all gifts are from God and neither are all signs and wonders from God.
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).
In the New Testament we are told of a time that is to come with specific false signs and wonders from Satan. Of course Satan has been around since before the creation of man and earth and has been working his evil ways. In the Old Testament his work was towards the destruction of Israel because Messiah would come from them.
The holocaust also was his working because if he destroyed the Jewish people they could not return to Israel, as they must for Messiah to come a second time. We now know that his plan backfired and actually brought about the second Exodus to the land covenanted to Israel through Abraham.
Cursing people does not just mean putting a specific curse upon them. Balaam was to curse Israel for financial gain. He was to speak out against them as well as put a curse on them robbing them of their blessing. It is said in Numbers that the people Balaam cursed were cursed, and those he said were to be blessed were blessed. This tells us that not all blessings are Heaven-sent because Balaam was not from God. Some see Christianity as a means to get wealthy; a place to find people willing to part with their money for a promised blessing. These preachers are easily recognised because they talk more about money than Jesus.
When we speak falsely about people we are in fact cursing them.
How are we doing that?
When we speak badly of someone we give the person we tell a false impression about that person and he or she will think that we have spoken the truth. They will then go through their life thinking that the person we talked about is really like we said. This ill-report will spread and the person we have spoken ill of will be cursed in the sense of having to live among people who think they are what they are not.
The opportunity to correct this misconception about their character will most probably never happen, as the lies will be spread further and further.
You may justify yourself by believing that what you have spoken about the person is true, but in fact it is most probably only your opinion of them at best. Only God can discern the heart and thoughts of men. Our opinion of people is usually based on our interpretation of something they have said or done; this does not make it true. How many people today have people thinking ill of them unjustly because someone gossiped about them? How many people’s characters have been assassinated because of unfounded gossip based on envy, greed or another’s bad judgement? The church of God should be a place where we find love, acceptance and forgiveness not a slaughterhouse of character.
One of the things I have learned in ministry is that some people pull others down because it is the only way of lifting themselves. Hate and envy are emotions that cause actions that cost others some form of sacrifice, where love demands an action from us that usually costs ourselves the sacrifice.
False teaching, false doctrine and false prophecy are also the sign of those that have gone the way of Balaam. How many people have been led astray because they have come under the ministry of men and women who by their false teaching have cursed the body of Christ? They do it for financial gain as did Balaam. It can be seen in their lives as they live in luxury way above those they are supposed to shepherd. Living in mansions, driving luxury cars and even their own private jet-planes while pensioners in their flock struggle to find enough to eat or warm their homes in winter; all the time telling people it is the Lord’s will that they all should prosper and the way to that prosperity is to give their money to them and their ministries. I still cannot believe that people actually read their Bibles and believe such charlatans!!
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A kingdom divided cannot stand. So we must come together in the love of God and the unity of the Holy Spirit to shine the light of the Gospel into a dark and sinful world. |
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The enemy has put lies into the body by taking a truth and distorting it. It has two ways that it can have a negative affect on the body. The first is that people believe the lie. The second is that people reject the lie and the truth that the lie was based upon. Just look at the prosperity teachings of today. There is a biblical truth contained in the idea that in giving we will receive. There is no biblical truth guaranteeing you will become rich through giving. What will happen is that people will believe the false doctrine or they will reject it and also reject that giving is part of our faith. This then affects the body of Christ in two ways not just one.
What is the answer to people who have gone in the ways of Cain and Balaam?
Love and truth are the answers to both of these spots in our love feasts”. Love because when we love one another we will not hurt each other, and truth because it will shine its light upon the lies and heresy. The church of God will continue until the return of Jesus, that I know. But if I read the Scriptures correctly the Church will not be as it is today. Jesus is coming for a bride without spot or blemish.
I believe that there will come a time when the true church will be driven under-ground through pressures to conform to political correctness. This may seem to be a long way off but do not be deceived. What is happening in Europe politically is already heading in that direction. When we see part of the Church of England openly accept homosexuality as an acceptable way of life and some of its ministers publicly denying the virgin birth and resurrection of Jesus then the standard is being set for us all politically, and the church will suffer for it.
Jesus said the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church of God and I believe it! We may have some struggles ahead of us and we will make mistakes, pastors and congregations alike, but we will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony; provided we love not our lives unto the death.
A Kingdom divided cannot stand. So we must come together in the love of God and the unity of the Holy Spirit to shine the light of the Gospel into a dark and sinful world in order to see people delivered from the bondage of sin. We are after all God’s vessel of love to the world.
I conclude with these three Scriptures that sum up how we should behave to one another in Church.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:16-17).
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10).
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:7-11).
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Appeared in Issue CETF NR 29 JULY 2004
"...contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" -- Jude v3
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-Last revised-
Monday, October 09, 2006
