Romans 5:5 “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

That love is the same Jesus had for the people, it is to do the will of God and focus on people.

Without the Holy Spirits work the gospel is not understood “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance” 1 Thessalonians 1:5

The Gospel preached and being accepted depends on the Holy Spirit “the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit” 1 Peter 1:12)

You cannot have the confession of Romans 10 without the Holy Spirit at work. No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (meaning God come in the flesh (2 Cor. 5:19).

It is by the Holy Spirit that we are born again (Jn.3) According to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5-6) And no one can be changed into the image of Christ without the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.

You cannot have koinonia with the Holy Spirit “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” 1 Corinthians 12:3-4

2 Corinthians 13:14 You are not his possession without the Holy Spirit living in you

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

You cannot know the Lord or have assurance of anything you do, especially salvation without the Holy Spirit.

“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

Ephesians 4:30 The Holy Spirit is he who seals us “for the day of redemption.”

Our Christian life is held together by the Holy Spirit, He is the power to have us live a life pleasing unto the Lord.

“Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us” (2 Timothy 1:13-14)

The desire to serve comes from spending time with Jesus, learning His word. You begin to care about people.

Rom. 12:9-13 “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.”

We can enjoin to what is good but we do not remove ourselves from evil.

Soft spokenness does not mean there is true humility, more people get fooled by this outward action. Nor is it someone saying in prayer “I humbly ask this in your name.” Being quiet when wrong or evil is being done is not humility, it is cowardice.

True humility is willing to yield to the words of truth and to admit one can be wrong and seeks what is wrong and right. Christian maturity is seen when one quickly repents, goes to the one they offend, finding out their offense and asks for forgiveness. If they make excuses and justify themselves then the Holy Spirit does not have control over their heart, they are acting carnally.

1 Peter 5:2-3: “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”

A true shepherd does not abuse the sheep, nor does he ever try to settle the matter by stopping dialogue and bring sheep to court. Again this shows the person is not controlled by the Holy Spirit and in rebellion to God and his word. This is happening far too often these days.

Pastors are not to be our go between to God. No one is except Jesus. They do not always have Godly advice, in fact some do not act Godly or biblical in their actions (GBC). They will tell you it’s their way or the highway. That’s not true shepherding that’s what cults do in their shepherding.

I’m not trying to be a hardened critic but a realistic observer, with a biblical view. What I’m seeing is distasteful, disgusting display of how people are being treated, abused under these teachers. Yes, you can have pastors teach good doctrine and still abuse people. Which does bring into question what they really believe. Pastors can say what is right from the pulpit and never live by the same words they tell others. There are those rare individuals that do, whom are truly called to the ministry. They do not just read the scripture with expression to their congregants, making a few comments. They actually have a message from the Lord to lead the sheep.

Pastors can be passionate about something and be wrong, pastors can also be calm about something and be right. We trust the pastors to do the right thing but very few do because their lives are not in order, they have an integrity problem, not a doctrinal problem. Don’t let emotions persuade you by their speech or enthusiasm. Listen to the content. Just because they speak loud, or with authority does not mean they are speaking the truth. Watch what they do when situations arise. Do they try to make peace with the two parties at any cost, or do they pursue the truth to find out if someone is wrong. True reconciliation can only come by the truth being made known, not hidden. I can tell you that the church is damaged from all this going on as people hearts are being broken and there is no accountability for any of the people who do this. The accountability factor is near zero from men’s actions that are supposed to be held to a higher standard.

When people make decisions and do things wrong in their personal life that is far different than the actions of leaders in the church that affect other people’s lives. I can speak from personal experience on this. I had trusted in pastors, leaders in churches whom not only made a wrong decisions but lied to me affecting my whole family. God witnesses all these things and will repay.

Those of you who feel abandoned and been wronged, I fully understand the wilderness journey you are now on. You wonder if you can ever trust someone again.

In this time of apostasy, which is a test for all the believers (before the whole world is tested), we must be watchful over ourselves, not just in doctrine but how we react, that we continue to bear the fruit of the Spirit and not stunt our spiritual growth (keep ourselves in the love of God). We need to remember people are more important than doctrine. In stating this I do not mean to diminish the importance of doctrine but to keep our focus on what really matters; God loves people.

What I have learned is that the problems we see do not just concern doctrine, the word. It has much to do with our motivation actually ministering to men’s hearts in genuine sincerity. Once that is not part of the basis for ministry we can grow cold and are able to be misled in so many other different areas. Certainly this is not the only process that makes us this way. When the truth is not found being practiced in the church (the world is already void of the truth) then the world is easily established in that church. So what is done is not done in love, nor has the love of the truth.

The church has become a stage for many who are actors, and the performance they give, they deserve an encore. These men operate the church from their pride but present themselves as humble. They pray in the open and show their works to all (on TV) or from the pulpit. Serving people without being noticed shows one is genuine.

Gal. 5:13 “but through love serve one another.” Love is caring, it is the motivator for good works done in Christ.

Serving means one must have humility and are not self -serving. Interpreting everything that happens as if it is about them. Rom. 16:18 “For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.”

True ministry is not just by words. There are pastors who will do anything to keep their job, the Bible calls them hirelings. Some have housing paid by the church, or cars, in fact many have it all done for them and live a life hardly becoming of a shepherd. They take advantage of the people. There must be honesty and accuracy of truth in their message for it to reach people, or the Holy Spirit will not use it.

Col. 3:23-25 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.”

Heb. 9:14 “how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

Without this clean conscience we cannot have a testimony to others.

1 Peter 5:5 “and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."If we want to be use we must have self control of our heart.

We do these things not for the rewards in heaven (God forbid that’s our motivation) but for the need to affect people on earth that will carry into eternity. It can be difficult to make progress with those who are caught in the enemies web of deceit, it takes patience to persevere with people who are blind. In working with people in ministry I tell them if someone is lost deep in the forest of false doctrine where there is no sunlight, we must take them by the hand and walk them out.

2 Tim. 2:25-26 “in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”