The Three Temptations - Part 4
There have been many believers who have fallen to the first temptation. Many Christian leaders have fallen to this temptation and have put their own needs and desires ahead of God’s will and His timing. This temptation, if it is not overcome, can take down even the most gifted spiritual leaders. The Apostle Paul was keenly aware of this.
“I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached [the gospel] to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified [as unfit for service].”—1 Corinthians 9:27 (AMP)
Forgiveness
A minister’s fall to temptation can be devastating, not only for his or her own life, but for the lives of those that have been influenced by this minister and may have held this minister in very high regard.
So, what should be our response to a believer’s fall to temptation, especially if the believer has been a respected spiritual leader?
We must respond to these ministers just as we are commanded to respond to all of our neighbors. We must love them.
We must forgive, even if they never say that they are sorry for their actions, like the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8. We must forgive them even if they arrogantly deny any wrongdoing, like the religious leaders who crucified Jesus.
We must forgive our brothers and sisters, as Jesus did, even while they are in the act of killing us.
Forgiveness is a matter to settle in our hearts, regardless of the response of the sinner. If we do not forgive, we will open our lives to the tormentors of anger, unforgiveness, and bitterness. (See Matthew 18:34.)
We must forgive completely and unconditionally from our hearts.
“For if you forgive people their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
“But if you do not forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.”—Matthew 6:14-15 (AMPC)
After Jim Bakker fell to the first temptation, he lost his ministry and eventually ended up in prison.
Sitting in his prison cell one day, he saw a news story that listed the most respected people in America. At the top of that list was the Reverend Billy Graham.
In contrast, Bakker reflected on himself and what people thought of him. He was convinced that he must be the most despised man in America.
Jim Bakker had reached the lowest point of his life. Most of the Church had completely turned their backs on him and written him off.
The day after seeing this news story, a visitor came to see Bakker in prison. It was Billy Graham.
“Billy Graham came into my prison when I was there. He wrapped his arms around me when I was a mess. I was cleaning toilets at that moment and I was at a very low moment in my life,” Bakker said. “Billy Graham walked in and threw his arms around me and said, ‘Jim, I love you.’”
Graham’s wife, Ruth, who passed away in 2007, was no different. After he was released from prison, she even invited him to dine with them in their North Carolina home. “And Ruth Graham is so amazing, it would take me hours to tell. As I got out of prison, I was at the Graham home, I was at the church with Ruth Graham and all,” he recalled. “But they represented Jesus Christ to somebody who the world said was fallen and would never preach again.” (Ong)
Discipline
Discipline for willful sin must take place according to Matthew 18:15-17:
“If your brother wrongs you, go and show him his fault, between you and him privately. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.
“But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two others, so that every word may be confirmed and upheld by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
“If he pays no attention to them [refusing to listen and obey], tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector.” (AMPC)
We must realize that if there is no repentance, harsh consequences await the sinner. If Samson had been subjected to just and wise discipline, it is possible that he could have repented, overcome his temptations, and become someone we would remember as a great leader of Israel. Instead, we remember him mostly for his moral failure.
Discipline is necessary because if sin is not addressed, it will spread until it permeates the whole church. Paul warned about this when he wrote sternly to the church in Corinth about the immorality that they were tolerating in their midst.
“What a terrible thing it is that you are boasting about your purity and yet you let this sort of thing go on. Don’t you realize that if even one person is allowed to go on sinning, soon all will be affected? Remove this evil cancer—this wicked person—from among you, so that you can stay pure. Christ, God’s Lamb, has been slain for us. So let us feast upon him and grow strong in the Christian life, leaving entirely behind us the cancerous old life with all its hatreds and wickedness. Let us feast instead upon the pure bread of honor and sincerity and truth.”—1 Corinthians 5:6-8 (TLB)
Discipline is necessary for leaders who sin, just as much as for anyone else. Discipline must be administered without respect of persons.
Nathan was brought in by God to administer discipline to King David in 2 Samuel 12. This application of discipline led to David’s sincere repentance.
If we recognize sin in the life of our brother or sister in Christ, and we do not confront it as Jesus requires, then we could also share in the same guilt for their sin.
“Correct your neighbor boldly when they do something wrong. Then you will not share their guilt.”—Leviticus 19:17 (NIRV)
Sometimes, believers will discipline themselves with deep repentance, as Peter did after he denied Christ.
If believers will discipline themselves and repent sincerely, then there is no need for them to be disciplined by others.
“But if we evaluated and judged ourselves honestly [recognizing our shortcomings and correcting our behavior], we would not be judged. But when we [fall short and] are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined [by undergoing His correction] so that we will not be condemned [to eternal punishment] along with the world.”—1 Corinthians 11:31-32 (AMP)
“But the tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but was striking his chest [in humility and repentance], saying, ‘God, be merciful and gracious to me, the [especially wicked] sinner [that I am]!’ I tell you, this man went to his home justified [forgiven of the guilt of sin and placed in right standing with God] rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself [forsaking self-righteous pride] will be exalted.”—Luke 18:13-14 (AMP)
Restoration
Rick Joyner had a dream in which one of his children had fallen into a sewage ditch and couldn’t get up.
“And a large crowd gathered around my child and just started scorning them … laughing at them. My child just kept struggling to get up and could not get up. It was the most terrible thing I may have ever experienced in a dream or awake. You know, you just can’t imagine the anguish of a father to see this happening to their child.
“And in my dream, this man came up and helped my child up, got them cleaned up and on their way. And I am in that dream thinking ‘I will give everything I own to this person. There’s nothing I would not do for this person.’ Then I heard the audible voice of the Lord say, ‘Jim Bakker is my kid. Will you help him up?’ And that’s right after he went to prison, when he was languishing in the most terrible conditions you can imagine.” (Joyner)
If there is sincere repentance, there must be restoration, as Paul exhorted us in 2 Corinthians and also in Galatians.
“For such a one this censure by the majority [which he has received is] sufficient [punishment].
“So [instead of further rebuke, now] you should rather turn and [graciously] forgive and comfort and encourage [him], to keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive sorrow and despair.
I therefore beg you to reinstate him in your affections and assure him of your love for him;”—2 Corinthians 2:6-8 (AMPC)
“Brethren, if any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also.
“Bear (endure, carry) one another’s burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete what is lacking [in your obedience to it].”—Galatians 6:1-2 (AMPC)
A minister who has fallen to the first temptation may never be restored to his or her former ministry position. That decision is up to the leaders to whom he is accountable. But even if the minister is never restored to the original position of ministry, they must be restored to fellowship if there is sincere repentance, just as the prodigal son was restored into fellowship with his family.
The prodigal son was not given another chance at his inheritance after he returned to his father. That inheritance was gone. He had misspent all of his inheritance and lost it, but he was completely restored to fellowship after he returned to His father in sincere repentance.
We do not have the right to carve out members of the Body of Christ and exclude them from fellowship with other believers if they demonstrate sincere repentance.
“And now there are [certainly] many limbs and organs, but a single body.
“And the eye is not able to say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
“But instead, there is [absolute] necessity for the parts of the body that are considered the more weak.
“And those [parts] of the body which we consider rather ignoble are [the very parts] which we invest with additional honor, and our unseemly parts and those unsuitable for exposure are treated with seemliness (modesty and decorum),
“Which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so adjusted (mingled, harmonized, and subtly proportioned the parts of) the whole body, giving the greater honor and richer endowment to the inferior parts which lack [apparent importance],
“So that there should be no division or discord or lack of adaptation [of the parts of the body to each other], but the members all alike should have a mutual interest in and care for one another.
“And if one member suffers, all the parts [share] the suffering; if one member is honored, all the members [share in] the enjoyment of it.
“Now you [collectively] are Christ’s body and [individually] you are members of it, each part severally and distinct [each with his own place and function].”—1 Corinthians 12:20-27 (AMPC)
If a church or a ministry refuses to restore a believer to full fellowship after demonstrating sincere repentance, it is a sign that that ministry values the organization more than the people in it.
Believers who refuse to forgive and to love ministers who fall to the first temptation need themselves to be held accountable and corrected for their grievous sins of unforgiveness, bitterness, and resentment.
In January, 1977, Roland Buck was taken to Heaven where God allowed him to look through the books that recorded the life stories of the saints of God. Roland was privileged to look through the book of Abraham’s life. As he did, he noticed that some events were missing.
“One thing I could not find was the places where Abraham stumbled. When Abraham lied to the king of Egypt, saying that his wife was his sister, it was not recorded there! The time his faith was weak and he laughed because of unbelief in God’s promise that a man of his age could be a father, was not recorded there.
“God, where is the other book?” “I have no other book for the believers.” “Where did you write about the failures of Abraham which I have seen recorded in your own words in the Bible?”
“I have no other book. I DO NOT RECORD FAILURE IN HEAVEN!” (See Hebrews 10:17-18). (Buck)
God revealed to Roland Buck that He does not record failure in Heaven. Sadly, many of us keep detailed records of the failures of others. We must repent of holding our brothers and sisters hostage to their past failures.
As the old saying goes, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” We cannot overcome evil by responding with more evil. We cannot accomplish the will of God by responding to sin with more sins of unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, anger, and hatred leading to cutting off our brothers and sisters from fellowship.
In fact, if we insist on holding our brothers and sisters hostage to their past failures, we align ourselves with Satan and join with him to accomplish his work as the Accuser of the brethren. (See Revelation 12:10.) We bring curses upon ourselves and our children as Ham did in pointing out the faults of our leaders rather than covering them in love. (See Genesis 9:20-27.)
We can only overcome evil with good.
“Don’t let evil overcome you. Overcome evil by doing good.”—Romans 12:21 (NIRV)
Ultimately, our best response to any minister who falls to temptation is to treat that person as we would want to be treated, according to the golden rule that Jesus gave us in Luke 6:31:
“And as you would like and desire that men would do to you, do exactly so to them.” (AMPC)
Forgive them, apply godly discipline when it is needed, restore them to fellowship when they sincerely repent, and help them to learn how to overcome the temptations that caused them to fall!
“My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you strays from the truth and falls into error and [another] one turns him back [to God],** **let the [latter] one know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will save that one’s soul from death and cover a multitude of sins [that is, obtain the pardon of the many sins committed by the one who has been restored].—James 5:19-20 (AMP)
Remember, God will show mercy to those who show mercy. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. We have no right to demand perfection in the lives of ministers if we ourselves are not perfect.
“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”—John 8:7 (AMPC)
“Good people might fall again and again, but they always get up.”—Proverbs 24:16 (ERV)
“Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].”—1 Peter 4:8 (AMPC)
References:
Buck, R., Hunter, C., & Hunter, F. (n.d.). My Visit to the Throne Room (Ch. 4, pages 49-61). Angels on Assignment. Retrieved November 15, 2022, from https://angelsonassignment.org/throne_room.html
Joyner, R. (2014, July 20). Rick Joyner: The story of Jim Bakker and Billy Graham. YouTube. Retrieved November 15, 2022, from https://youtu.be/hmODwm7KSvs
Ong, C. (2018, March 7). How Billy Graham showed love to televangelist Jim Bakker while he was in prison. Retrieved November 15, 2022, from https://www.christiantoday.com/article/how-billy-graham-showed-love-to-televangelist-jim-bakker-while-he-was-in-prison/126914.htm
