A Warning To The Immature & Carnal
By: Apostle Skhumbuzo Sangweni
Study Scripture: (Matthew 24: 19) And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
We today can interpret the above text to mean, that the Lord is displeased with leader who keep their people in immaturity and as spiritual babies. In the Scriptures, two of the worst curses are to have arrogant, immature, or unrighteous leaders and prophets speak words to tickle the people’s ears, or who only say what they think the people want to hear. The prophecies about the end of this age speak of a similar devotion of many. There are a number of things that separate the wheat from the tares at the end. There is a separation going on presently in the body of Christ where those who will only listen to what they want to hear are being given over to immature or unrighteous leaders.
Weak, immature Christians gravitate to the preachers who tell them what they want to hear, not what they need to hear. The greatest preachers and teachers in history, who accomplished the most for the gospel and the kingdom of God, were those who brought much conviction and repentance to the church. The strongest Christians have always been those who embraced the message of repentance when it was needed.
If our leaders prove to be immature or unrighteous, we would be wise not to condemn them or others for this, but look to ourselves. What caused us to follow such people? To possibly answer this, consider this rebuke from the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians:
For you, being so wise, bear with the foolish gladly. For you bear with anyone if he enslaves you, if he devours you, if he takes advantage of you, if he exalts himself, if he hits you in the face (II Corinthians 11:19-20).
It is remarkable how many Christians still gravitate more toward those who minister in a control spirit than to those who minister in the Holy Spirit. Carnal people will follow carnal authority and reject true spiritual authority. Just as many people are conditioned to respond to the hype of television advertisements, many Christians respond more quickly to hype than to the anointing, and actually believe that hype is the anointing.
Now if you think that I am being negative, please consider that some truth is negative, and some of the most important truth at times is negative. If we cannot hear it, we will not find the Lord’s salvation. If we do not accept the negative truth that we are sinners, we will never repent of our sins and turn to the cross.
John the Baptist had to preach repentance to prepare the way for the Lord, and the Holy Spirit is about to come as the One who convicts us of our sins to prepare for the coming move of God. If we are not willing to be convicted of our sin or our irrational and continuing immaturity, we will miss the greatest move of God.
