The Departure of the Spirit

King Saul had as much potential to do great thing for God as anyone in human history.  He was hand-picked by God to lead the people of Israel.  He was anointed by God's prophet and guided by God's word.  The story of Saul, however, is largely one of wasted potential.  In spite of all that God had done to prepare him, scripture tells us in 1 Samuel 16:14, "the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul..." 

Whether we like it or not, we must acknowledge that the Spirit left Saul because of his half-hearted commitment to following the commands of God.  He wanted God's will to be done, but he wanted to do it his way.  He was not interested in the instruction God had given in regards to HOW to follow His will.  This seems to be the case within the church today.  We read and write our books and come up with our slick organizations and marketing schemes.  We know that God wants us to win the lost, but we have determined within our hearts to leave Him out of the process.  We want nothing more than to o it by ourselves.  We all work hard to apply the principles of "Natural Church Development" (I still contend that we need "supernatural church development because if it is natural, it's not of God) and every other book that comes along, but is God's will really being done?  I keep hearing from the same people who promote these man-made methods that the vast majority of congregations are in decline.  What good have all of our methods done?

Maybe it's time that we consider the possibility that we have fallen into the trap of King Saul.  In spite of the availability of power through the Holy Spirit, God's call to holiness, and His written word, we continue to try to do His work our way.  As we forge ahead with our plans the church continues to lose influence and authority.  Could it be that in many cases the Spirit has already left and we are so focused on our ideas that we haven't even noticed?

Maybe instead of trying to figure out what WE can do for God, we need to spend some time considering how we can recover our lampstand.

No Apologies

I read an article a few weeks ago that was written by a Nazarene preacher.  He was lamenting the fact that we are so often apologetic about holiness.  People ask us what we believe and we tell them as if we're sorry for it.  We try to avoid the fact that Scripture does not condone sin in any form.  We do everything we can to keep from having to teach that we must live a sanctified life.  We don't want to have to tell people that God has called us to be holy.

My new year's resolution for this year is to teach the truth of the Bible (yes, we must be holy) without making apology for it (Not that I've ever been accused of apologizing).  I am well aware that those who are living in sin can't stand the idea that God has called us to live above sin and made provision for us to do so through Jesus Christ.  I know that they call those who teach that truth arrogant and prideful.  I make no pretense about the fact that the church culture of our day looks down on those who endeavor to live "in the Spirit." 

Since when did those people set the standard?  When did the truth of the Word of God become contingent on whether or not we like it, or agree with it?  The culture may be changing around us.  We know that the culture within the church has changed.  We like to water things down to the point that nobody really knows what we stand for.  Doctrinal teaching may or may not drive people away (I'll never be convinced that it does), but the truth is still the truth.  The words that have been inspired by our Holy God are still our sustenance.  They still keep us and for that fact we should make no apology.

Blessings of the Holy Spirit

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. (Gal. 5:22)"

When Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, He empowered His people with the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit cleanses us, sanctifies us, and conforms our character to that of God. He can provide us with all of the things (and more) listed by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians. Not only can He provide those things, but we fully expect Him to. God has promised these things, and He should provide them in the way that we want them.

Something occurred to me along these lines this week. Can we really expect the blessings of the Holy Spirit if we are unwilling to stand in the truth revealed by Him? The Holy Spirit inspired the Word of God, interprets the Word, and teaches us about the Word. He is God's witness to us in the world today. There are things that are clearly revealed (such as the call to be holy) that are largely ignored by the church in our day. We explain them away and try to diminish the importance of many truths by making lists of "essentials" and "non-essentials" but the fact remains that the Spirit of God inspired these truths.

I think that if we are ever going to see revival among God's people it will come first and foremost through the prayers of God's people; but I also suspect that many of our prayers are in vain because we are not praying from the proper foundation. We do not see the blessings and power of the Spirit in the church because it is not sought with a proper foundation. The truth that is revealed by the Spirit is something that must be applied to our lives as a foundation for everything that happens spiritually.

We have tried for far too long to get by on what we think and what we want. It is time that the church stand on the truth that has been given by God. Look around you. The world, and especially our nation, is in turmoil. We have compromised too many times. We have ignored the truth far too often. If we are to be the holy people that God has called us to be we must be people whose desire is to know the truth that will set us free.