This morning while listening to, 'When Victory Seems Lost and Faith is Weak', I heard Bro. Kenneth E. Hagin tell the story of a man who at the age of 43 was on his deathbed. When he went to pray for his healing, God interrupted and assured him the man would die. Immediately Bro. Hagin began to intercede, to no avail. God graciously explained the reason he would die is because he refused to judge himself, and repent. God even went on to explain that this was not the first time He’d given him an opportunity to come clean. After leaving his wife for his mistress, the man fell off a ladder and broke his back. Many times in critical situations, people typically reach out to God or ask for forgiveness. This man did neither. Yet God still healed him during his unfaithfulness.
What Happens to Unrepentant Adulterers?
After hearing that story, I began to wonder what happens to unrepentant adulterers? What happens when a man leaves his wife for his side chick and doesn’t see anything wrong with it? How does his life turn out? Proverbs 7 answers those questions for us; only it tells the account of a married woman, engaging in an extramarital affair. While her husband is on a business trip, she decides to go have a good time. While hanging out, she begins to aggressively seduce a young gentleman. So much so that she kisses him while providing a brief description of her bedroom.
‘So she caught him and kissed him; with an impudent face she said to him, ‘…I have spread my bed with tapestry, colored coverings of Egyptian linen. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.’
Not only that, but she brazenly invites him to have a one-night stand. Proverbs 7:18 says, ‘come, let us take our fill of love until morning...' At this point, what’s a man to do? She even tells him, ‘…my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey; he has taken a bag of money with him, and will come home on the appointed day.” If you're a guy, would you take her up on her offer to have a one-night stand in her husbands home? This gentleman did. But remember when I posed the question; what happens to unrepentant adulterers? Proverbs 7:22, 23 lets us know that, 'Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, till an arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, he did not know it would cost his life.’ In other words, after their encounter, he fell ill. The scripture even says he was stricken with liver disease. This could mean that he suffered from; Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Hepatitis A, B or C, Cirrhosis of the Liver, Alcoholic Hepatitis, or Hemochromatosis1. Who knows? Whatever the cause, one thing’s for certain, because he didn’t judge himself, he became terminally ill.
Unfortunately, his story is very similar to the man Bro. Hagin tried to pray for. He, too, never judged himself for his wrongdoing. He never admitted to God that he was wrong for their affair. And I know what you’re thinking. “This is different. The man in the book of Proverbs didn’t cheat on his wife. She cheated on him. ” True. But that doesn’t make him any less of an adulterer. It takes two to commit adultery which means all parties are adulterers. So what happened to her? Proverbs 7:27 says, ‘Her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death.’ If her house is the way to hell, it is certainly safe to conclude that she went there as well.
The End of Adultery
Bro. Hagin got to see what so many may never get to. He met a person on the other side of adultery. The other side, as in the life they live after the thrill is gone. Oftentimes, we hear of people who left their spouse and went on to have great relationships. Some even re-marry, have other children and live good lives. We see that and think maybe there’s nothing wrong. We’ll even overlook the fact that there is something innately wrong with that individual; in that they’re unfaithful in their core. So much so, they'd deceive and leave someone they were in covenant with. This can also lead us to believe that maybe God wanted them to be together. Maybe God decided He wanted those people to be with their side pieces. But while that 43-year-old man lie on his deathbed, the decision had already been made. At his funeral, many will say that God decided it was time for this man to die young. Yet it wasn’t God’s decision at all; it was his. It was his decision to leave his wife. It was his decision not to seek forgiveness, and it was his decision not to repent. And because he decided not to judge himself, he went to an early grave.
With that in mind, the next time you see a celebrity couple or someone you know in the same situation, remember: there is a consequence that can ultimately lead to death. If you or someone you know is having an extramarital affair, repent. Judge yourself and ask God to forgive you. You may be enjoying yourself now, but there will come a time when that enjoyment may cost you your health, life, and ultimately, your salvation.
Pray this with me: Heavenly Father, will You please forgive me? I’ve gone outside of my marriage and have been unfaithful to my spouse. I didn’t know this thing was affecting my health or my life. So Lord, I judge myself, and ask that You’d please cleanse me of all feelings and attachments I have to ___________________. Lord, help me to be faithful to my spouse, and more importantly, faithful to You. In Jesus’ name.
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