Morning Thoughts |
Morning Thoughts |
| I Corinthians 12:3, "Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." This morning, our minds are focused on the question, "When is something led of the Spirit of God?" Many times, we see things that appear sincere either in public worship or individual service, and our minds, as mortal creatures, wonder if that action was properly motivated or emotionally driven. Perhaps vocal outbursts in public worship are the easiest example here. I have been asked on numerous occasions, "Should we say, 'Amen' or just keep silent?" My standard answer is that if you feel burdened to say it, then say it. If you feel no inclination to do so, do not force it. There are times in my experience when the Spirit of God moved people to shout during service, and at other times, it "seemed" (to my perspective) that it was forced by the individual or driven by emotion or adrenaline. While I am not the judge and authority on what is and what is not, there are some simple, basic principles declared by Scripture that cannot be ignored or circumvented in this area of thought. Paul is about to go into some detail with Corinth about matters of church gifts, church practice, church order, and the manner and motivation of each. Before getting detailed-oriented, Paul sums the general premise of observation about these things in two beautifully coupled thoughts. They are polar opposites of each other, but yet, they are the clear bounds and guidelines of observation about these things. While these two things appear quite simple upon a casual observation of the verse, they really say quite a lot. Even though these two things do not answer the question every time for us whether something is Spirit-led or emotionally- The first thought that Paul brings out is that no one is being led of the Spirit to call Jesus accursed. While that thought is quite simple to comprehend, let us think about someone's work in relation to their character and person. When someone's natural occupational habits are those of good work quality, punctuality, loyalty, honesty, integrity, and respect, we get an idea of the character of that person. Good employees demonstrate a good work ethic borne out of an honest and upright heart. So, when someone attacks the work ethic of a person, they are, in essence, attacking the core character of that individual. Today, many people openly laud the name of Jesus, but His work they seek to discredit. One of the most alarming things to me today is the overwhelming tendency in the religious world to accept that Jesus may have just been a good man. The denial of Christ's Deity is gaining more and more steam in religious circles today. When someone attacks Christ's Deity, they are essentially calling Him accursed as He plainly declared Himself Divine. (John 8:58, John 10:30, John 17) Second to this, they deny the words of the Saviour about His own work. He is completely satisfied with the work that He did on the cross, as His own words declare, "It is finished." What happens if a "sermon" basically declares, "It is not finished" when exhorting the sinner of something to do to see heaven's pure world? What happens if the sermon exhorts the the child of God to continue in something to avoid falling from God's saving grace? These thoughts bring accursed status to Christ on the basis of denying His satisfaction in His own work. To call Jesus accursed is more than saying so with the tongue. If we deny His work, His Person, or His honest character, our communication is uttering that dreadful thought. But, today, we also have the growing thought of "non-religious spirituality." Many are living in a "spiritual way" without formal religion or church affiliation. Today, it is heralded (and even condoned by some orders of people), "It does not matter what church you belong to or even if you belong and go to church, what matters is Jesus and loving Him in whatever we do." Such thoughts are void of heavenly understanding as Paul adamantly states in Hebrews 10 to not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is. What is forsaking the assembly akin to? Paul clearly asserts that forsaking the assembly is counting the blood of Christ wherewith we have been sanctified an unholy thing. It is trampling underfoot the precious blood that redeemed us from all iniquity. That is serious, and it is nothing less than calling Jesus accursed by our actions! Moving into the second thought, Paul contrasts that while the Spirit of God is not present in movement, guidance, and inclination for the first, He must be present for the second. No sermon that includes the first thought can be guided and led by the Spirit of God, but no sermon can be preached declaring that Jesus is the Lord without the Spirit of God. No person can live and walk by faith declaring (by their speech and actions) that Jesus is the Lord of glory that saved wretched sinners like me without God's Spirit already there. What has always been intriguing to me is that people are basically trying to get "dead, alien sinners" to do this very thing to get the Spirit of God. The sinner is told, "Call upon the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved and receive the Holy Spirit." Paul reverses that notion by saying the Spirit must be with you and in you to be able to do those very things. When someone desires to follow after righteousness, peace, joy, and charity, the Spirit must be present. When we assemble in God's house to worship Him, the Spirit must be present for it to have power and be acceptable in God's sight. As with the first thought, there is more to saying Jesus is the Lord than just verbally saying, "Jesus is the Lord." Our actions and speeches could call Him accursed before, and our actions and speeches call Him Lord in this thought. One of the most pivotal thoughts (to me) in this is the question, "Do we trust Him?" We can speak of believing on Him and in Him (which are upright actions to be sure), but just how deeply does the question of trust go? To believe in someone means to acknowledge that they have the ability. There are people that I know of who possess the ability to build houses, and I believe that that can build houses (they have demonstrated it by past performance). Yet, some of these house builders are the ilk of person that I would not trust to build my house if I were in the market to build one. The reason that I do not trust them (while I believe in their ability) is that they have not shown themselves trustworthy or perhaps their manner and disposition are such that I would have a difficult time working with them. We need to believe in God (acknowledge His ability), but we also need to trust Him (have confidence in what He says and commands). Consider Peter walking to Christ on the water. He certainly believed that Christ had the ability, but He had to trust Him to step out of the boat. We certainly understand that Jesus has the ability as our Lord and Master, but we honour and extol Him in our lives when we trust what He says (as One who cannot lie) and step out and walk by that (faith). When we engage in the walk of faith as God's children, our steps are declaring that we believe He is the Lord: faithful and true. How does one engage in such righteous behaviour? While we exercise our will in the new man during such times, the Spirit of God's presence and inclination is a direct necessity according to Paul. Therefore, when we are engaged in worship of a public manner or activities of a personal or individual manner, may we seek by our actions and speeches to declare Jesus the Lord in our lives. May our thoughts not run astray to count what He has done for us an unholy thing and thereby call Him accursed. Finally, if we feel the Spirit's leading to do something we have not done before (such as shout in a service or lend aid to a total stranger), let us engage in that effort and not quench the Spirit. But, if we feel absented from the Spirit, may our prayers be instant and earnest that His presence be renewed unto us that we would be found praising Christ in our every endeavour. May the rich gifts He has bestowed upon us be found honouring His matchless name, work, Person, and commands unto us. In Hope, Bro Philip  |