Submission

As Ezekiel stood among the exiles by the Chebar canal he saw a vision.  He saw four figures, each with four faces.  They represented the people of God - each face representing the banners of the tribes of Israel.  The details of the creatures in the vision are important, but there is one that jumped off the page at me the other day.  "And each went straight forward.  WHEREVER THE SPIRIT WOULD GO, THEY WENT, without turning as they went." (Ezekiel 1:12) 

Even in this Old Testament vision given to the disobedient captives the people of God (represented by these images) are guided by the Spirit of God.  They go where they are led by the Spirit without turning to the side, without stopping to admire and  chase the worldly things around them. 

The whole of Holy Scripture teaches submission to God's Spirit, and as Christians we claim the Bible to be authoritative.  The Word of God, inspired by His Spirit.  I believe all of those things to be true.  But if that's the case, why are we so afraid to submit to Him?  Why do we continually refuse to give up our control of things and let God be God?  This is why we don't see the holy people of God.  Holiness is God's love and His character showing through our lives.  If we do not submit to Him, how can He make us something better than we were before?  Without a full submission we simply cannot live the lives that God requires us to live.

Our refusal and fear of submission make no sense whatsoever when we really take the time to think about it.  How many people have ever had everything turn out exactly like they wanted it to?  How can that be since "we're in control?"  No matter what methods we employ to control our circumstances, things never happen like we had thought, or hoped, they would.  Yet we have convinced ourselves that we know better than God.  He created the universe, sent His son to die for us, performed all of the miracles that we read in Scripture, and we still will not submit.  The danger is this:  Historically, when the people of God refuse to submit to God they are judged.  Over and over again this has taken place.  This is the place in which we find Ezekiel.  We can keep telling ourselves that we are smart enough and powerful enough and rich enough to guide ourselves, but history has proven different since the beginning of time.  If we are ever going to see a revival of holiness within the church, and awakening of God's people, it will be when we learn to submit EVERYTHING to God.

Is Sin Really So Bad?

Over the past few weeks I have taken notice of a lot of the sin around me. I've been watching as I see people (even within the church) live as though there is no such thing as sin. Worse yet, they live as though there is no consequence for sin. The Bible tells us, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, AND DEATH THROUGH SIN, and thus death spread to all men..." (Romans 5:12) The consequence of sin is death. Spiritual death. Separation from God. Could God have given us any more clarity on the issue through His Word? Over and over throughout the inspired word we read that SIN IS BAD! Yet we act like sin is alright.

The divorce rate among the church is as high as that of the world. Despite what some of us seem to think, the Bible does indeed teach us that divorce is not the will of God. We expect it from sinners, but it happens among professing Christians, and even in some instances clergy. Professing Christians are just as guilty of fornication, and gossip and other sins as anyone else. Notice that I said "professing Christians" and not Christians.

In spite of our ignorance (often willful ignorance) of God's Word, it still teaches that we are to live above these things. "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be DONE AWAY WITH, that we should no longer be slaves of sin." (Romans 6:6)

The point is this. The Spirit of God does not dwell in darkness. Too often those who claim to be the church dwell in darkness. We condone it by teaching that "we're all sinners." When we do that, we're condoning something that brings death. When we condone it within the church we're bringing death to the body of Christ. There are thousands of people who claim to be Christians who will not give up their sin. They still want to continue to look at pornography, they want to drink, or gossip, or control a church that is God's. They want to live like the world. You cannot be a worldly Christian. Those terms are mutually exclusive. If we are ever going to see revival in the church it will be because we have become serious about seeking holiness "without which NO ONE WILL SEE THE LORD." (Hebrews 12:14)