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THE CHRISTIAN AND THE "CHURCH"
THROUGH THE ENABLING SPIRIT
And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in
adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they said unto
him, "Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very
act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned:
but what sayest thou?" This they said, tempting him, that they
might have whereof to ac-cuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with
his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So
when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto
them, "He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first
stone at her." And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience,
went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last:
and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When
Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said
unto her, "Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man
condemned thee?" She said, "No man, Lord." And Jesus
said unto her, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."
There's a hymn which we like to sing, especially when we’ve
had a recent glimpse of the ugliness in our own souls, or a reminder
of some shameful thing we've done: "There's a wideness in God's
mercy like the wideness of the sea." What a comfort to be told
once again that God's mercy includes even me! What a relief to be
assured again that the healing stream which flows down Calvary's
mountain avails for my sin.
But there are times when this hymn is utterly out of place ... when
you have no right to sing it. When you are presently involved in
something you know is wrong ... when you are stubbornly clinging
to a path you know is not God's will...to open your mouth and sing,
"There's a wideness in God's mercy like the wideness of the
sea," is blasphemy.
God's mercy is wide, like the sea indeed. But like the sea, it has
limits. There is a shoreline...a point beyond which God's mercy
does not go.
Here was a woman taken in adultery, a sin which according to Jewish
law deserved stoning to death. After a few minutes of silence, Jesus
lifts himself up and finds that the scribes and Pharisees have disappeared.
Woman, where are thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?
No man, Lord.
Neither do I condemn thee.
There's the mercy of God… the woman's sin is wiped away. Now
she stands before Jesus with the same liberty as if she were one
of the holy angels. At this point, however, the mercy of God has
reached its limit. Notice carefully the words with which Jesus sends
her away. Jesus does not say, "I realize madam, that you were
born with a sinful nature. You'll have more problems ... just do
your best; try a little harder." He does not say, "Here's
my calling card. If you get caught again come to me; I'll stick
up for you." Jesus says to this woman words that are as clear
and exacting as they can possibly be: "Go and sin no more."
God is merciful and forgiving when it comes to the life you lived
when you were out in the darkness, far from your Shepherd. Every
sin you committed out there is forgiven and forgotten. But now you
are not out in the darkness, you have come into the presence of
the very Son of God ... you have stepped into the light. Now God
expects you to walk as a child of the light.
For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous
man, who is (actually) an idolater, hath any inheritance in the
Kingdom of Christ and of God.
Once you're in, the same God who forgave your sins now becomes exacting…
exacting about what goes on in your heart:
“Be ye therefore perfect as your father in heaven is perfect
... Love your enemies.... Bless them that curse you."
Exacting about what comes out of your mouth:
For every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account
thereof in the Day of Judgment.
Exacting about what you do with your hands:
Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working
with his hands the thing which is good.
There are many people who really don't believe that God expects
any more of them after they've been forgiven than he did before.
"God must be kidding...how can he expect me to love my enemies
and turn the other cheek? God knows my nature. He knows how weak
I am. He understands that I am at the same time justified and a
sinner."
So we become lax ... we cut a few corners and compromise here and
there. When we feel a little nervous, we open our hymnals and sing
those comforting words: "There's a wideness in God's mercy
like the wideness of the sea ... There is no place where earth's
failings have such kindly judgment given".... and soon we're
feeling better.
But what happens? The demon that God cast out of our lives comes
back with seven other demons more wicked than itself and they enter
and dwell there ... and our last state is worse than our first.
The most pathetic people in the world are not the gross sinners...
they are the people who have stood in the presence of Jesus Christ,
had their sins washed away, and then go right back and do it again…
as scripture says, "Like dogs returning to their own vomit,"
because they did not believe it when Jesus said to them, "Go,
and sin no more ... go and live like a child of the light.”
Many people look upon the church as a kind of spiritual shower room.
We come to church and get washed off ... then we go out into the
world and get dirty. We return in a week or a month and take another
shower, then we go out and do it again. The idea is to keep the
dirt down to a minimum by taking frequent baths. If this is what
your church means to you friend, you're wasting your time. If you're
just running back and forth to your church to get your sins forgiven,
and never overcoming sin or conquering it, you're presuming on God's
mercy. The Jews tried to use the temple that way. They'd sin ...
then they'd run to the temple ... then they'd sin again ... then
they'd run to the temple... until God destroyed their temple.
Remember this: the church is not a shower room where you keep rinsing
off your guilt ... even if every service in your church begins with
a confession of sins ... this is not its primary function. The church
is a place where God gives you power to live a godly life. God wants
to bring you way beyond the point of just having your sins for-given.
God wants to make you into the very likeness of his Son.
God is not exaggerating when he says, "Go and sin no more ....
Be ye perfect ... Love your enemies." Stop shaking your head
and saying, "I can't," and learn that there is such a
thing as an enabling Spirit. There is a Spirit who enables you to
go and sin no more.
As many as received him, who believed on his name, to them gave
he power to become sons of God.
There is a Spirit who enables you to love your enemies, who enables
you to bless them that curse you, who enables you to do the will
of God.
For ye were once in darkness, but now ye are light in the Lord.
Walk as children of light... for the fruit of the Spirit is in all
goodness and righteousness and truth.
Notice how the New Testament describes the Holy Spirit as the Enabler.
He is the Spirit of Love.
For the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit
which is given to us.
In ourselves we have no power to love, but the Holy Spirit makes
it possible to love with the love of God.
He is the Spirit of Prayer.
For we know not how to pray as we ought but the Spirit himself maketh
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
He makes it possible for us to lift up our souls to heaven.
He is the Spirit of Adoption.
"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, 'Abba,
Father.’”
The Spirit makes us to know that we are sons of God, and enables
us to say, "Father."
He is the Spirit of Utterance.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word
with boldness.
When the Spirit gets control of your tongue, it begins to glorify
God... and to behave itself. Every time it steps out of line, the
Spirit will convict it.
When Christians hear the commands of Jesus Christ and fail to carry
them out, there is only one reason: It is because they are not living
under the power of the Holy Spirit. There is no excuse for this.
We can live under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit all the
time.... he has been given to abide with us forever. All you have
to do is place yourself under his authority.
There are three ways in which this is done. You come under the authority
of the Holy Spirit in the gathered fellowship ... the Holy Spirit
moves upon believers when they gather as he does at no other time.
When you come to church, don't just come to have a spiritual rinsing
... come to receive power. Come to be renewed by the Holy Spirit.
Come asking God to fill you with the enabling Spirit, that you may
go forth into the world and do his will. When the fellow-ship prays,
don't just stand there and let the pastor do the work. Enter into
it with all your heart ... concentrate ... think ...let your spirit
go out and join the other spirits in truly corporate prayer, and
the Holy Spirit will begin to move upon the unified gathering with
supernatural power. When the congregation sings a hymn or the liturgy,
do not permit your mind to spin around in neutral ... enter into
the corporate praises of God. As your spirit eagerly goes out to
join the others in praise, the Holy Spirit will renew within the
fellowship the very sanctifying presence of Christ.
You will come under the power of the Holy Spirit in daily meditation.
I do not believe that there has even been a person who has lived
under the authority of the Holy Spirit who did not engage in some
kind of disciplined daily meditation. The example of our Lord is
enough to show the necessity of daily fixing the heart upon God
afresh ... listening to his word ... opening the mind to his light.
Whenever such a discipline is mentioned, there are always those
who claim to satisfy this need by praying while they shave or while
they're doing the dishes. It's fine to pray while you are doing
these things, but you're insulting God and cheating yourself if
you try to make dishwater or shaving cream prayers a substitute
for a period of single-minded, concentrated waiting upon God alone.
If you want to live under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit,
make a place in each day to receive the Spirit of God into your
heart afresh.
A third discipline which will enable you to live under the authority
of the Holy Spirit might be called the discipline of the indwelling
word.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.
Let it dwell in you, not as something merely memorized, but in all
wisdom.
The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life.
The example of our Lord and the apostles indicates the value of
being steeped in the word ... Moses and the prophets just flowed
from their lips.
You don't have to carry little memory cards with Bible verses in
your pocket ... though that may have its value. But just start calling
to mind through the day the words of Christ that are already familiar
to you. Ask yourself from time to time, 'What is the Spirit of Christ
saying to me?" Against the background of your work or your
problem or the book you may be reading there will arise a phrase
from a psalm or sentence from a prophet or a verse from the Sermon
on the Mount, or some advice from an apostle. You will be amazed
to find how much of God's counsel is already stored in your heart,
and you didn't even realize it. Those words are Spirit and life.
Receive the Spirit in the gathered fellowship, in daily meditation,
through the indwelling word. When you begin living under the power
of the Holy Spirit in this way, the fruits of the Spirit will appear
in daily life in all goodness and righteousness and truth. God indeed
gives power to live up to his exacting demands. Whenever the Spirit
goes with you, it is possible to "go and sin no more."
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