This is going to be a different post than usual, not fully a teaching, but also a bit of a word mixed in the Lord has given me. I gave a teaching recently about the importance of surrendering the carnal mind. I do not know about you, but I am honestly sick of the casual and powerless Christianity. Go to church once or twice a week, and then blend in with the rest of the world the other days of the week. Are we sitting under preaching that is developed with man’s made methods or is the preaching we sit under led by the Holy Spirit?
So many profess to be Christian, but yet their lives do not reflect the working of the Holy Spirit. If we are new creations then why are we still in love with the things of this world, the things of which are passing away (1 John 2:17). We do not realize how much time we spend focusing on things that do not really matter. Do not get me wrong we all have various obligations in life such as school, work, and family. However, many of us and myself included have fed off carnality rather than spending more time feeding off the things of God.
The Lord wants His people to take worship more seriously this year, and the years to come. This is both in corporate worship and private worship. Too often we have become too led by our man-made devices rather than by the Holy Spirit. In Leviticus 10 we see what happened to Nadab and Abihu when they brought strange incense to the Lord, they were consumed with fire and died. Why? Because they went against what the Lord had commanded them to do when it came to worship. Nadab and Abihu brought innovation to God’s altar rather than what God had already ordained. How often do we get wrapped up in our man-made programs in the church rather than being totally led by the Spirit? Now I am not saying all church programs are bad, I am saying we really need to be careful not to get all wrapped up in programs and our own strength.
Too many people in church pews are more religiously developed than they are spiritually developed. Too many people know how to follow a dead religious system rather than the true leading of the Holy Spirit. Are we to be filled with religion or are we to be filled with the Holy Spirit? I think the New Testament makes that clear. (Ephesians 5:18)
Biblical Christianity as found in the Early Church was not about religion, it is about being in relationship with the Lord. When we are born again, we are put in right standing with God. This is only through the finished work of Jesus Christ. Go back to the Old Testament and look at all the rules that had to be followed with all the sacrifices. Thank God for sending His only Son to be the only final Sacrifice.
We must take the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ seriously. So many people do not understand the depth of what Jesus accomplished on the Cross and through His resurrection and ascension. He paid the penalty for our sins; without Him, we would be deserving of eternal death. Because of His finished work we have authority over sickness and demons. (Mark 3:15, Matthew 10:1, Mark 6:7, Luke 9:1, 1 John 2:13-14, Ephesians 6:11, and Romans 16:20) When we get saved, we do not receive a hell insurance plan. When we get saved, we do not get a pass to live our life however we want, our life is not our own! (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) The Bible tells us to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12)
The Bible says when we get saved, we are a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17) This is spiritually speaking, we were once spiritually dead, but now we are alive. We must learn to surrender to the new creation we are through Jesus Christ, rather than continuing in the sickness of the old dead self we were before Christ. This is why the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is so essential, we must continually be filled with the Holy Spirit. Not only is being filled with the Holy Spirit evidenced by your own private prayer language and other spiritual gifts as the Spirit wills, but it is also about walking in all the Fruits of the Spirit, holy living, and most importantly walking in the love of Christ.
It is time that the body of Christ as a whole and individually begins to surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit.