Introduction:
A On my lamp in my office I have written a post-it two things:
1 Why am I so easy on myself and so hard on others.
2 My job is not to prepare sermons; my job is to prepare people.
3 Today, I’m going to give a third leg to our four leg chair.
a Issues are not the issues.
b Three Spirits (Korah, Absalom, Jezebel)
c Today, When the leader falls into serious sin.
B Pray
I Main Body of Sermon
A There are few things more devastating, trust-destroying than when someone in authority betrays our trust & chooses sin.
1 I remember what it felt like to learn that then President Bill Clinton, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggert, Charlie Kretzer had fallen into sexual sin (hurt, crushing loss).
a Sometimes church conflict/division/mistrust stems from the sins of a pastor/church leadership.
aa Not talking parking tickets, speeding tickets..
bb Serious sins of sexual nature or breaking the law that leads to incarceration.
b Zech. 13.7, “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; and I will turn My hand against the little ones.”
aa The text refers to Jesus, but the effect is the same in the local church.
bb Satan knows that when the shepherd of the flock is struck, “little ones” scatter.
bb Therefore, there will always be more spiritual warfare launched on the leader than that which typically released on the church in general.
c Knowing this, I encourage you to intercede for you leaders/pastors.
aa God never intended for the sheep NOT to protect, inspire, and care for his well-being.
bb Paul asked for prayer, Jesus asked for prayer,
d Unprayed-for pastors are vulneralbe to the battle in unique ways.
aa If you have not stood in prayer for your church leaders, in a small way, you could may have been a contributor to their stumbling.
bb If your pastor/church leadership are excelling, operating in the Spirit, they are answers to your prayers!
cc Let Pastor be in your presence, operate powerfully, anointing, authority . . . Answered Prayer and you and the church are blessed!
2 Look at two examples: David & The Prophets of Old
a 1 Chron. 21.3 “Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guild on Israel?”
aa King David wanted to have census (trust in numbers) and brough plague on Israel (killing thousands)
bb The leader covered the people w/ blessing or curses.
b Lam. 4.12-13
aa Jeremiah proclaimed that the sins of the prophets/priests were the reason the Babylonians were going to dismantle Jerusalem.
bb The leader covered the people w/ blessing or curses.
3 We don’t talk much about pastoral covering because we don’t talk much about pastoral authority.
a The truth is that a true spiritual leader creates a living shelter for the people they serve.
aa When the shelter/covering is gone it is as if we’ve turned off the alarm system & like leaving the front door open . . . giving the enemy access to the church that he would not have otherwise had.
bb Prove it, preach.
b Lev. 4.3
aa The people we’re not guilty of sin but they were effected by their shepherd’s sin & positioned them in a state where they couldn’t receive God’s blessing.
bb There was shame, fear, heartache, confusion, & anger that befell upon the people..
c When a leader is struck, sin exposed, entrapped in serious sin it has a devastating effect on the church.
aa Lots of people get entrapped in serious sin, but if the pastor does then people will leave in masse. (Drugs, alcohol, affairs, etc.)
bb This divide is not caused by the ambition/pride of those leaving but instead by the sin of the leader.
cc For those that leave and those that remain a cleansing is necessary in order to get back into blessedness, His presence.
B If a pastor has wounded the church by falling into sin, it is imperative that the church treat the wounds.
1 Without treatment a spirit of mistrust, cynicism and fear can become a normal part of that church’s thought-life.
a Worse still, if these wounds are not treated they become a beehive of demonic exploitation that leave the church vulnerable to manipulation from the enemy.
b Prov 9.18, AMP “The shades of the dead are there [specters haunting the scene of past transgressions]”.
aa The text is talking about sin that is unresolved.
bb The application is that the sins of the leader can provide the means for demons to “haunt” the church body if we do not find a way to redeem the failure in Christ; to move into a blessed future, we must be cleansed of the unredeemed past.
2 Years ago, near Niagra Falls (NY), several companies were authorized to bury toxic waste in “air tight” containers deep under ground.
a Before long the toxins began to leak & seeped to the service.
aa Affected animals, water supply, babies, people.
bb The toxins were too powerful to bury.
cc If they would have been disposed of properly in the first place they wouldn’t have had this terrible problem.
b I believe people (& churches) do something similiar.
aa Somebody hurts us, wrongs us, a pastor or someone else & instead of letting go and letting God make it up to us . . . we bury it.
bb Stuff hatred, resentment, distrust, cynicism, bitterness in an “air tight container” and bury it in the recesses of our heart/subconscience, “I’m done with that! I’ll never pick that up again.”
cc We can’t live w/ poison inside & not expect it to eventually do us harm.
c If these issues are not cleansed/redeemed they have the potential to affect new members who were not even here when the issues arose.
aa Same feelings of mistrust, cynicism, fear are passed on to the next generation.
bb Simply replacing pastors does not bring healing; what needs replacing is the cloud of heaviness that remains in the church.
d Unless we are cleansed of the effect of our negative experience, the filter of our mistrust might disqualify us from recognizing godly leaders when the Lord brings them to us.
II The Cleansing River of Forgiveness
A Lev. 4.3, tells us the O.T. anticidote for the leaders sin: kill a bull or a goat!
1 We have a Sacrifice for sins greater than the blood of bulls & goats.
a Until we apply the blood of Jesus to our needs, the need remains to negatively affect us.
b We must present ourselves before God for examination.
aa As we yield to the Holy Spirit, one of the great graces He pours upon us is to make all things news.
bb On a personal level, this renewal is only as effective as our ability to forgive those who have hurt us, and let go of our heartache.
cc If we do release hurt feelings, past hurts we can be delivered from becoming hard hearted & we change our future.
2 In Daniel 3, Daniel represented Israel in repentance before God.
a Today, I personally repent to you on behalf of any church leader who has fallen or misrepresented Jesus to you.
aa I ask for your forgiveness.
bb Leaders have fallen, caused distress & heartache, burdened you w/ a yoke that was not a yoke of Christ but a yoke of oppression.
b For the sins of all, I ask you for your forgiveness.
B As God gives you grace, please release the specific man or woman of God who misused his/her spiritual authority or betrayed the solemn responsibilities entrusted to him or her.
a Forgive leaders who have fallen or failed your expectations.
b Until you let the hurt go, you will not experience the state of blessedness God has for you.
Conclusion:
A Preachers come and go. They don’t really affect me.
1 Those are the words of pride, spiritual arrogance for sure a wounded heart.
a You may operate in blessing, but there is a blessing that God has for the church.
aa Only for the church, only available for the church that is in unity.
bb Jer. 23.4, Promise that God would bring pastors to churches. (It is a big deal to God to bring Pastors to churches.)
b There is a corporate blessing coming to the church that is greater than individual blessing.
aa It carries a unique reward for those who overcome offenses & persevere in fath for each other and their leaders.
bb It is a Pentecost anointing.
2 Pentecost is in a few weeks: Jewish feast/Inaugration of the church.
a What did the 12 disciples do when Jesus was crucified on the cross? (Hid, weren’t found, dropped the ball)
b On Pentecost, 120 people in the Upper Room, that 50 days before Jesus served Lord’s Supper at.
aa 108 had to overcome the failings of the original 12.
bb They were all in one accord!
c Out of anointing of unity, God touches multitudes, turns cities, and empowers His people with the life of heaven.
3 Closing IL
4 Lord, I forgive those leaders whose failings have caused my heart to harden. Lord, grant them — and me — new grace. Grant that we all could know Your awesome power of renewal. Father, I commit to Your hands the cleansing of my soul from the effects of fallen leaders. Restore us all into the power of Your glorious presence. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Notice to Sermon Central Users:
My name is Mike Fogerson, and I pastor a Southern Baptist Church in Chester, Illinois. I have been a long-time user of Sermon Central and truly appreciate its content and contributors. Some of the best sermons I’ve ever preached have been reworked material from this website. As you use the material from my sermon bank, understand that it is work that has been done from not just myself, but from hundreds of other pastors as well. If you see part of your message, or a bunch of your message with my name on it and this upsets you, please email me and I will quickly respond and cite you as the main source. My intent is not to claim someone’s work as my own. I am disclaiming up front that I use the resources from Sermon Central and appreciate the tool. I simply want all those who use my work to know that some of these messages were inspired by the Holy Spirit working through other pastors. Because I do use the messages of other pastors I waive all claims of originality or origin of creativity for the messages posted under my messages. I pray God blesses your preaching ministry for the glory of His Kingdom.
Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
