Godly Warnings Are an Expression of Love

God is love (1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:16).  And He gives warnings motivated by love.



Hypothetical Example of Preparing a Sermonette against Being an Accuser of the Brethren


Suppose you are assigned to give a sermonette during an upcoming Sabbath service.  You are planning and looking for ideas of what to say.

Let's say you have decided to speak against a spirit of hostile criticism towards the Church of God, its leaders, its ministers, or its members.  You want to encourage a spirit of peace, love, and cooperation.  You want to speak against those who are always putting people down, criticizing others, and finding fault with others.

You have already thought of some scriptures you can use.  Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10) - that is a good one.  It shows that a spirit of accusation comes from Satan.  Judge not that you be not judged (Matthew 7:1-6) - another excellent scripture to support your point.  You might also use the lesson of getting the beam or plank out of your own eye before correcting a brother (Matthew 7:1-5).

But now you want an idea for a real-life example, either something that has actually happened or a hypothetical example of something that could happen in present-day life, something that shows the harm of criticizing others - something that will help drive the lesson home.  So you are thinking about that, turning it over in your mind.  You have been working on that for a few days.

About that time you are driving on a rainy night on a narrow, winding road.  You are traveling a bit slower because of conditions.  Then you notice some flares up ahead.  You slow down even more, much more.  Then suddenly you turn a bend and there it is - a car stalled in your side of the road.  You try to stop but the road is slippery.  But by a narrow margin you avoid the collision.  You realize that if you had not slowed down because of the flares, you would have had an accident.  You give God thanks for protecting you.

Suddenly you realize that you have the example you have been looking for!  The flares!  Someone lit those flares to warn other drivers!  That's it.  Whoever lit those flares was telling you that you are driving too fast and need to slow down.  That is criticism!  That is negative.  He was accusing you of driving too fast.  He was like Satan, the accuser of the brethren, when he put up those flares.  He was finding fault with you for driving too fast.  That is wrong.

Sounds strange, doesn't it?

No, of course you would not think this.  Whoever put those flares up probably saved you from a serious accident.  They did it out of love.  It was not a bad thing.

Then you think, perhaps there are Bible examples of those who have a spirit of criticism like Satan accusing the brethren.  You review events in the Bible.

You think of Jonah.  Did he not have a spirit of accusation, of fault-finding, when he told Nineveh that it would be destroyed for its sins (Jonah chapters 1, 2, and 3)?  But the people listened.  Like the flares in the road, Jonah warned the people and they repented and changed and escaped the disaster that was coming upon them.

You think of Noah, a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5).  He lived in a wicked world (Genesis 6:5-8).  Since Noah was a preacher of righteousness in a wicked world, he must have warned the people they were sinning.

Lot apparently told the people of Sodom of their sins, for they said he kept preaching at them (they said he kept acting as a judge - see Genesis 19:9).

What about the prophets who warned ancient Israel of their sins?  Did they have a spirit of accusation like Satan, the accuser of the brethren?  God Himself says, "Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1).  Also God specifically commands us to warn the wicked in Proverbs 24:11, Ezekiel 3:16-21, and Ezekiel 33:1-9.

One could think of John the Baptist, who said to the Pharisees, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Matthew 3:7).  Or Jesus Christ, who harshly rebuked the Pharisees (Matthew 23:13-36).  Both called them snakes, not very complimentary.  Were they, like Satan, accusers of the brethren?  Were they being negative, putting people down?  Were they fault-finding?

Would any of these examples of giving warnings be a good example of someone having a spirit of accusation, of negative criticism, that we should avoid?

On the Day of Pentecost, Peter told the crowds that they crucified Jesus Christ (Acts 2:36).  In effect, Peter called them murderers.   Was that being critical and negative?  But many repented at his preaching and were converted (Acts 2:37-41).

God promises a blessing on those who turn sinners from their ways (James 5:19-20).

Do you get my point?

Satan is indeed the accuser of the brethren, but warning the wicked to turn from their ways is not what Satan is about.  Giving warnings for good is not wrong, in fact, it is commanded.

God commands us to warn others, and He teaches the giving of warnings by His personal example of giving warnings in the Bible from Genesis through Revelation (Genesis 2:16-17, Revelation 22:18-19).



Differences between Godly Warnings and Satan's Accusations - Differences in Motivation


There are differences between wrong criticism like Satan accusing the brethren and right warnings as God gives and commands us to give for the good of others.

One difference is motivation.

Satan hates humanity.  He hates the brethren he accuses.  He wants to destroy them.  He is not motivated by love.  He criticizes to hurt and destroy.  He wants to discredit us in God's sight.  He wants to destroy reputations.  That is his motive.

But when God gives warnings in the Bible, or when we deliver God's warnings to someone who needs them, the motive is different.  The motive is love.  God warns us for our good.  He warns us in the hope that we will repent and turn from our sins so He does not have to punish us or exclude us from His kingdom.  And when we warn others, love should also be our motive.  We should warn each other to help each other.  And when we warn the world of their sins, we are warning for the good of those who hear our message.



Differences between Godly Warnings and Satan's Accusations - Differences in Method and Delivery


Satan accused Job of obeying God for selfish reasons.  But Satan did not give that accusation to Job personally.  If he did, one might think he was trying to help.  Satan did not go to Job privately and say, "Are you not obeying God for selfish reasons?"  Satan was not trying to help Job with his problems.

When Aaron and Miriam criticized Moses, they apparently talked to each other, not to Moses (Numbers 12:1-2).

If we see someone doing something wrong and we think we can help that person by talking to them about the problem, we should, whenever possible, go to that person in private and not embarrass that person in front of others.  There can be exceptions a minister might make (1 Timothy 5:20), although ministers have to be careful in today's legal climate.

If it may be a general problem in a group, a problem that many people in the group may have, and you want to help those people with a sermon, split-sermon, sermonette, or article, going to every individual in person would not be practical.  It is that way when someone gives a corrective message to a group or to many individuals in many groups.  It is that way when we warn the world.

But in those cases you are simply teaching a principle of God's way of life, and each individual can examine himself to see if the message applies to him personally.

Exposing evil so people can correct their mistakes and turn from sin is a principle taught in the Bible.  "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them" (Ephesians 5:11).  That principle should be applied in messages to the Church of God and in messages to Israel and the world when we preach the true gospel and the Ezekiel warning to the public.

As God says, we should tell the people their sins.  "Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1).  This applies to what we say to the world and sometimes what we say in sermons and articles to the Church.



Should We Maintain Unity?


God loves unity, and there are many passages in the Bible that teach that.  We should avoid creating unnecessary division.  See Psalm 133:1-3, Romans 12:18, and Romans 16:17.

But more than unity, God wants obedience.  God would rather have division between those who obey and those who disobey than unity with everyone disobeying.  Obeying God is more important than maintaining unity.  Those who separated from Living Church of God over face masks and singing understand this.  I am not passing judgment here over whether this was an issue worth separating over, but those who chose that path understood the general principle of putting obedience to God above unity.

We must obey God more than man (Acts 5:29).

Those who built the tower of Babel wanted unity, but God upset their plans (Genesis 11:1-9).  Pilate and Herod were enemies, but after Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, they became friends (Luke 23:6-12).  Somehow, in the matter of the crucifixion of Jesus, they achieved a kind of unity, but it was not unity with God.

Christ said He came, not to bring peace, but a sword.  "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household' " (Matthew 10:34-36).

Those who are openly sinning should be rebuked and put out - see 1 Corinthians 5:1-13.

Warnings and correction motivated by love do not cause division in the Church of God, but how some members react to right correction and warnings, becoming hostile and refusing to listen, can cause division.

We should certainly maintain unity as much as possible while being faithful to believe and obey every word of God.  "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men" (Romans 12:18).  We do this and maintain unity by not criticizing the leadership and ministry of the fellowship we attend by contradicting them or talking against them in conversation with other brethren in the same fellowship.  If we have a problem with a minister that requires that we speak up, we should talk to that man privately and confidentially, not behind his back with others members.

Sometimes God causes separation for His purposes.  Such separation can be peaceful or not.  It often should be peaceful, but is not.  An example of peaceful separation would be the division of labor between Peter and Paul, which they both agreed to (Galatians 2:6-10).  An example of separation that was not peaceful was the separation of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:36-41).  Perhaps God had other work for Barnabas to do that God wanted separate from Paul's work.

Peaceful separation should not be regarded as division or contention.



We Must Give Warnings


We must warn the wicked to turn from their sins and we must warn the righteous to continue to live righteously, for two reasons: God commands it (Proverbs 24:11, Ezekiel 3:17-21, Ezekiel 33:1-9, and Isaiah 58:1) and for the sake of loving our neighbors as ourselves and loving our brethren in the Church as Christ loves us (Matthew 22:36-40, John 13:34, John 15:12).


For further reading, see my post titled, "Satan Accuses, God Warns", dated July 29, 2024.