THE PRICE OF COMPROMISE

By Helen Jesze, 4th March 2016

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, but if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,”

1 John 1, 9

“Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy…”

Jude v. 24

A man and his wife lived in the Middle East and wanted to buy a house. They agreed with the owner on the price, and signed the contract. The former owner then said, “There is only one thing I would ask of you. I would like to put a nail in the wall of the living-­room.“ Well, the couple thought that was strange, but they agreed. So the man hammered a large nail into the wall.

A few days later, the wife said to her husband, ”That man came by today and hung a hat on the nail.” Every few days he came again until there was quite a selection of objects hanging there, but the worst thing was when he came and hung a dead donkey on the nail! In the hot climate, the stench from the donkey and a swarm of flies soon filled the house and the man and his wife had to leave, which was what the former owner wanted anyway!!

Our life is like a house. Before we gave our life to Jesus our former owner was satan. He constantly tries to get an advantage over us even after we have become a Christian, and establish a bridgehead or foothold in our life, and he does this by various ‘nails’ which we allow him to put in our ‘wall’. One big nail is ‘compromise’.

Some forms of compromise are not necessarily sin. They fall into the category of being unwise or better not done. Other forms definitely fall into the category of sin or will soon lead us there. “White lies”, stretching a point, saying or doing it because ‘everybody does it’, without any conviction or truth behind our words, will lead us into problems. Little leopards become big leopards, little sins become big sins.

ONE DAY A HAT CAN BECOME A STINKING DEAD DONKEY!

Somebody said: temptation is like a path you keep going up, and the thing you are being tempted with is at the end. If you keep going to look, to listen, to fantasize, to smell, to sniff, to remember – one day, you will step off the path and succumb to that temptation. If you were a drinker, don’t drink again to prove you’ve been set free. George was preaching at a church in Switzerland and afterwards a couple took us out for a meal in a restaurant. The man ordered a large bottle of wine and we ordered orange juice. He became angry because we would not drink with him.

We said, “It is your choice to drink wine and it is our choice to drink juice. That should not be a problem.” Before his conversion this man had been an alcoholic and he was now trying to show that he could drink reasonably. The more he drank, the redder his face became and soon he was talking and shouting so loudly, the manager turned him out of the restaurant.

Don’t take alcohol or drugs again to prove you can handle it. Whatever your problem was before you got saved, that’s where satan will attack you first. God wants to help us, give us strength, protect us, but we must make choices to steer clear of those things.

Jesus could have compromised with satan when he was tempted in the wilderness. He could have had the kingdom without the cross, but that would have made him subject to satan, and we would never have been saved. Compromise with the devil never pays – ​it costs us!

Matthew 12, 34 tells us: “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” What our heart is filled with will eventually come out through our lips and actions.

Every action starts with a thought, which we toss aside or entertain and feed. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Therefore God said:

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it proceed the issues of life,”

Proverbs 4,23

Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived wrote thousands of proverbs, yet he did not DO what he said and wrote. His greed and lust caused him to have 700 concubines and 300 wives!

Sometimes we wonder how it can be when we hear of a Christian or someone in ministry falling into deep sin. The Bible says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” 2 Cor. 4,7.

It is possible to preach and minister under a great anointing of the Holy Spirit (which comes out of your spirit), yet live in sin, a carnal Christian, being ruled by your senses, emotions, having no stability or conviction, tossed different ways, compromising instead of obeying the Word. God may allow this for a while, for he wants to give us a chance to repent and change, because of His grace and longsuffering. But if we do not repent, it may all come out.

Loneliness in ministry can lead to compromise. We were taking a visiting preacher back to his hotel after a meeting. He suddenly looked at me with a tortured expression on his face and said,“Shall I go into the town tonight, Helen?” “No, Brother, you go to your room, ring up your wife, go to bed early and we will pick you up in the morning,” I replied.

I recognised he was being tempted and was able to encourage him to stand against the temptation. Preaching itineraries and hotel rooms can be lonely. When the anointing lifts, you are aware of your humanity. Satan will try to take advantage. “Submit yourselves therefore unto God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you!” (We always cleanse a hotel room before we sleep there and cover it with the blood of Jesus, because many of them are filled with demons of lust, being used for all types of sexual practices and being used by people who are having affairs.)

The little black dot

A preacher told how he visited a church and was talking to the pastor and his wife. God often allowed him to see into the spirit world, by the “Word of Knowledge” and “discerning of spirits”, and he saw in the spirit a black dot in the head of the pastor’s wife. A few months later he visited them again and saw the dot had got bigger and was now down in her heart, with a little creature like a monkey sitting on her shoulder and whispering in her ear.

Thoughts were coming to her: “You are a beautiful woman, with a beautiful voice. If you weren’t married to this pastor, just think where you could be now! You could have the world at your feet!” This dear lady continued to listen to the voice of the enemy until soon after, she left her husband, turned her back on Jesus and the Christian life and became a nightclub singer. Martin Luther said: You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head but you can stop them from making a nest in your hair!

Fight them off in the Name of Jesus, those thoughts and suggestions from satan!

We need to watch what we see and hear. It is dangerous to watch hypnotism programmes, occult, horror or sex films, or to look at unsuitable or porn magazines; the spirit within us should recoil or feel uneasy, if we do so. ​But in time, like the proverbial frog that is put into cold, then warm, then hot water, if we continue to do this, we ​will not notice it any more​. It is then that we switch into receptive mood, for we have opened an inward door in our mind and heart, breaking down our defence; we can be attacked or taken over by the spirits influencing those programmes or reading matter; fear, depression, lust and many other negative things can be the result.

Some Christians even put a pile of pornographic magazines under their bed, referring to them during love­making, to spice up their marriage. This will not help but may destroy it ­­ and what woman wants her husband looking at pictures of other women instead of at her?! God can help you become an exciting, tender lover for your spouse.

Personal responsibility

​A Christian lady committed adultery and on hearing this, a friend went to see her. “Oh,” she said, “it’s not the first time. I’ve done it five times, but it won’t happen again, for I’ve had a demon of adultery cast out of me!” There was no repentance, no sense of guilt or sorrow for her sin. Galatians 5 says adultery is a sin of the flesh (our old sinful nature), not a demon. However, if we constantly open a door by wilfully sinning in this way, one of satan’s ‘helpers​’ can come in and ​will ​then need to be cast out. Every Christian has his and her personal responsibility and must make choices for right or wrong.

Let’s guard our hearts! It’s better to put a fence at the top of the clif , rather than send an ambulance to pick up the pieces at the bottom.

Just a bit of fun! – Our friend Terry (name changed) worked with computers. One day he thought, “Just for a bit of fun I’ll see what type of girlfriend the PC will pick out for me, as my ideal partner.” He typed in what kind of woman he wanted and then put the printout in his pocket saying,“I’ll go and tell her about Jesus!” This lady lived very close to his home and asked him in. She was a divorced vicar’s wife. Unfortunately Terry did not tell her about Jesus but they soon started an affair. He completely went away from the Lord, his marriage was destroyed, he lost his home, living in a tiny little room and his ‘lady­friend’ soon left him.

Work or ministry colleagues – Women are no longer just at home. They lead an active, independent life. They have jobs, money, can drive. Birth­control methods give them the possibility of sexual adventures with no­one being any the wiser. It is important to guard our heart and attitude towards colleagues, people we work with every day, especially those of the opposite sex. If you feel attracted to them don’t accept lifts from them, don’t go and have a coffee, wherever possible don’t be alone with them. You may even have to get another job, but God will honour you for this.

“I don’t love him any more!” – ​Pastor John Osteen was counselling a young woman who wanted to leave her husband, for she had fallen in love with a man at the office. When she was packing her cases to go, her husband followed her into the bedroom, locked the door and began to preach to her. She became furious but she could not open the door. In the early morning she broke down, crying: “Why did I want to leave? ! I love you! As you prayed, a black cloud lifted off of me, and now I can see clearly again!” Their marriage was saved. What had happened? Her compromise had opened a spiritual and mental door to satan, and spirits of deception and lust had taken over her mind. Now she was set free and saw it was only a deception.

Keep our eyes on Jesus – We need to keep our eyes on Jesus, especially when we see such things happening. Men and women may compromise and fall, but God remains the same. God is a God of restoration but only when we see it for what it is, and truly repent. He will set us free and wash us clean of every stain. Then we must forgive OURSELVES and start again. Our faithful God and His Son Jesus Christ will help us every day!

​Prayer: Lord Jesus, thankyou for warning me by your Holy Spirit when I am compromising, and help me to turn away from it.

Set me free from everything that would seek to bind me, for ”whom the Son sets free is free indeed”.

Wash me with your blood afresh today and open my spiritual eyes to every ruse of satan, where he would try to trick me.

Thank you, Jesus, for pouring your strength and discernment into my heart today. Amen.