11/27/2018
Is the church we attend living in the full power of Christ, and the Holy Spirit, or have we let our own humanity take it captive? That is a very big question, and one which Paul asked the church in Galatia, but let’s make it a bit more manageable by asking ourselves... “am I living in the full power of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, or is my flesh determining the direction of my faith?”
“Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
Galatians 3:2-3 ESV
We like order in our lives, and we like to have control over them. One of the hardest things a person can do is to get up in the morning and not know what that day will bring, or how he will address it. We are comfortable when we have a plan... even when that plan is contrived. We are this way in our faith as well. Listening each day to the Holy Spirit, and doing God’s will as He gives it to us, new each and every morning, places us precisely in this position of being uncertain of what our day will bring... it requires us to trust and lean on God as He controls what we will face that day. So as individual men, and churches, we attempt to make something routine, and manageable out of our faith and the practice of it.
“Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"?”
Galatians 3:5-6 ESV
Much as the Galatians found comfort in falling back on the old dependable and manageable law, we take our faith and construct laws for it. We take communion and build a structure around it, we take baptism and legalize it to the point that we can only go down in its waters with a shark cage about us. And, we do the same in our personal relationship with God, we pray in the morning, again before each meal, and at bedtime. We go to church on Sunday morning between 9:00 and 12:00. We might have a bible study once a week, but seldom discuss the Word of God outside of that. We call our pastor when we are sick, or need prayer, but rarely any other time, and we almost never have a friend with whom we pray, or debate scripture on a daily basis. These are all limits we set on our faith... buildings we construct around the Holy Spirit as He tries to guide us as God would have us go. None of these things are bad... they just set boundaries around our faith, and around a boundless God. It is for this reason that Paul challenged the Galatians to knock down the walls, and have faith as Abraham did , and we should challenge ourselves to do the same...
“So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
Galatians 3:9 ESV
I don’t believe anyone would classify Andrew Murray, a prolific writer and man of God who was educated in the Orthodox faith, and became a pastor in the Dutch Reformed Church, as being radical, or even Pentecostal, but he saw the church moving towards rationalism, and formalism, at the expense of the Holy Spirit, and it bothered him. Even though he was not a Holy Roller, he saw the Holy Spirit as essential in the life of a Christian, and the will of God as the absolute foundation of every believer’s life. Listen to what he writes concerning our subject this morning...
“If the Galatians who received the Holy Spirit in power were tempted to go astray by perfecting in the flesh what had been begun in the Spirit, how much more believers today who barely understand that they have received the Holy Spirit, or if they do, seldom think of it and seldom praise God for it!” - Andrew Murray
So, as Paul wrote to the Galatians, and Andrew Murray wrote to the church of his day, what should we believe about the role of the Spirit in our faith, lives, and church today? Can we accept their challenge and tear down the containers we have built around the will of God, and the movement of His Holy Spirit in ourselves? Are we comfortable enough in Jesus Christ to give him the unfettered reigns to our life? Or, do we still need to wake up each morning believing that the structure we have built for our faith allows us to experience God’s amazing power, and to do His will in all its fullness?
Let’s ask ourselves... Am I experiencing the unbridled power of God, and is His will the same as my will for this day? This is the question we should ask at this moment, and in fact we should ask ourselves this question each day when we rise and pray to the Lord... “what would you have me do today Father, and what gifts of the Spirit will you provide me to accomplish it?”
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your will in my life, and your Holy Spirit that guides, and gives me understanding of it. Thank you for your Son Jesus whose name gives my prayers power, and my life of faith the freedom from sin required to approach you... pure, and righteous... washed clean by His blood. Help me Holy Father to resist building structures in my life in an attempt to contain you. Help me instead to trust in you completely each day and to lean on you for my direction and provision. Let my being, and my church, be the vessel of your Holy Spirit, and teach through Him to seek you in all your power and glory. Knock down these contrived walks, laws, and religious comforts, that I have built to placate my own will, and to comfort me in my flesh, then open my faith to you in all of its immeasurable strength. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God whose will in my life is perfect, and yet beyond my simple understanding. Praised be your name Father, and unchained your power over my life.
“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”
Galatians 5:24-25 ESV
Rich Forbes