(God does not love Satan or backsliding, but God does love backsliders, enough to turn them over to Satan, so that they may suffer sorrow).
Sitting Together In Heavenly Places
God speaks to everyone during worship services where God is being glorified by faithful preachers and the people are worshiping in spirit and in truth. Sadly, not everyone is listening for, or listening to God. We should hear God through the anointed preaching, singing, testifying, praying, exhorting and holy quietness. Sometimes God speaks to us about passages, which are read, but not actually addressed by the preacher. When this happens to me, I do not allow myself to miss what God is saying through the preacher, but I take hold of the other enlightenment also.
Last Sunday evening Pastor Clint (at the Free Grace Wesleyan Church, on the Island) read from 1 Timothy 1:18-20 (among other passages) and preached on the importance of remaining faithful. As we read verse 20, another thought came to me.
1 Timothy 1:18-20
(18) This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
(19) Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
(20) Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Becoming Shipwrecked
If our beliefs do not purify our lives then our lives will be tainted. This is what happened to Hymenaeus and Alexander, to the extent that they became shipwrecked. God not only loves us so much that He sent His Son as a sacrifice for our sins, He continues to love us even if we backslide (notice verse 20).
They Turned From Faith
According to God, Hymenaeus and Alexander did not hold to faith, but rather put it away and became shipwrecked. This is not the picture of a lost sinner who continued in sin. This is the picture if a sinner who got saved and then turned from faith to disaster. Also, God said (through Paul), that these two men should be given over to Satan so that they might learn not to blaspheme. Notice, following false doctrine is blasphemy.
Redemption And Warning.
Those who follow false doctrine will backslide from saving faith, but they can also be restored.
* God Is Faithful...
* God is loving and faithful to the sinner, to the backslider.* God reached out to Adam after Adam ate the forbidden fruit.* God reached out to Cain after Cain killed his brother.* God reached out to Abram (Abraham) after he rejected God's plan.
* God reached out to Israel and His chosen nation time and again, after they had gone back into sin.* God reached out to king David after he had committed adultery and murder.* God reached out to Peter after he denied Christ.
Concerning Backsliders, God said,
1 Corinthians 5:5
(5) To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Redemptive
Turning a fallen believer over to Satan is not simply for punishment or chastisement, but it is redemptive. When people turn back from following (trusting and obeying) God, they can be turned over to (released into the care of) their new master (Satan). We do this with the hope that the losses imposed on them will drive them back to submission and faith. God prefers to draw us to Himself through His blessings, but if we will not respond to His manifested kindness, then He will allow us to suffer under the hardness and harshness of Satan. We can either turn to God because of the kindness of His grace or because of godly sorrow through affliction. We make the choice.* If You Have Not Followed God Fully* If you have turned from following God.* If it has been an extended time and if there are a great number of failures, sins in your life.
then God loves you and calls you back to Himself.
Pray,
Dear Lord, forgive me of my wandering, my disobedience, my selfishness, my rebellion.
I am sorry for my sins and I don't want to keep sinning against you.
Forgive me, restore me, renew me, cleanse me, fill me, empower me, lead me.
Dear Lord, I need you.
I believe in your salvation.
I believe in your deliverance.
I believe in You.
In Jesus name…
