2 Corinthians 5 IN STEP WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
A complicated matter
I’ m sure that many of you have attended a service or a meeting somewhere, sometime where the pastor or speaker make the following statement: “come to Jesus, and all you problems will be over”.
I’ve been thinking about this statement, and you know, I have come to the conclusion that if this statement is true, then there must be something radically wrong in my life, because I think that the contrary might rather be true in my own life!
In my experience, life became much harder and more difficult the day I became a Christian.
Saint Augustine used this metaphor to describe our pre and post conversion experience. He said that we are like horses, and before we are saved, Satan is the one who rides on the horse. Once we are converted, Christ is the one who rides the horse, but the problem then is that Satan is not willing to give up the saddle, and he keeps trying to regain control of the horse.
If I think back once again to my pre-conversion days, the one thing that I remember is the fact that I was able to do pretty much whatever I wanted to do, and because I had no real regard for right and wrong in biblical terms, I was able to suppress my conscience to such a degree that it never really bothered me when I did something that was contrary to what Scripture teaches or commands us.
Now again, when you become a Christian something happens, because with the rebirth of the human soul, comes the rebirth of the human conscience, so suddenly the things that never really bothered you before, will now become a searing pain in the heart whenever you do something that is against that which we are taught in the Holy Scriptures!
Let me explain it in a different way. In you unregenerate life, you didn’t care about following God or about obeying His will. Once you are saved you come to the realisation of just how important it is to be in line with Gods providential plan for your life and you realise that life is so much more than just a good time, and fun, and doing things which bring earthly pleasure.
You realise that you are in a battle of life and death, and that everything you do has an impact and a bearing on your eternal destiny.
Now, that’s all good and well, but there is a problem, because when you become a Christian, although you also become a new creation, and although your conscience is regenerated, there is still an element of the old you that stays behind, and your compulsion, and I will even dare to call it your desire to sin is still present in your mortal framework.
Your natural inclination to sin is not removed, and now you have this constant and raging battle in your life to do what is right but at the same time you have this almost undeniable and unsatisfiable desire for the things of the former life! (Rom 7: 18-19)
So basically we now have the situation, after we have received the gift of repentance and eternal life in which we are torn between two opinions, or between two ways of life.
This is what we are going to be having a look at for the next few weeks, and to begin with this morning I want to tell you that the Christian life is a complicated matter.
So, in our desire as saved individuals, in our battle against the forces of evil and in our constant battle against our own flesh and blood and evil desires, we have this incredible yearning to life lives that are holy and acceptable to God, and it is exactly this battle that I will be addressing in this series.
Before we can get into any of it, I must lay the foundation for you, and we must understand where we are heading. The only way, and yes, there is only one way in which we will achieve our God given desire to follow Him truly and fully, the only way to do that is to be in step with the Holy Spirit, every single step of the way!
With Him, we will be victorious; without Him, we will fail, and the purpose of this new teaching series is to teach us and show us, how we can be in step with the Holy Spirit, even, and especially in times of trial and temptation and hardship and even in times of failure.
Alright, but let’s get back to what I was saying, and this is such a reality that it is actually quite scary. The Christian life is a complicated matter. There is no peace and quiet, there is no retreat from hardships and there is no escape from temptation!
Those are all a reality now, and will remain a reality until the day you die, or until Jesus returns on the clouds.
Ok, so now that we have this incredible negative hanging over our heads, let me take it a step further, because you see, a negative is not always a negative! Sometimes we need a negative to show us the way, to teach us vital lessons and to guide us on the right way. This negative that I have shared with you this morning is one of those, and the thing that we must learn from all of this is the fact that if I am going to follow God, if I am going to devote my life to Him, if I am going to overcome the forces of evil, if I am going to resist the temptations that will come my way, if I am going to stand firm in the face of adversity, then I must know that when it comes to the Christian life, it is all or nothing!
You see dear friends, God is a God that plays for keeps, He doesn’t beat around any bushes, He doesn’t tolerate any half-hearted efforts, and if I am going to follow Him, I must do so body, soul and spirit. (I know we’ve all heard all of this before, but this morning I want you to hear it again, and I pray that you will hear it with new ears that give new understanding – To stand firm, you must give your all to God.)
(Want to know why Christians fall and fail? Yes because they stop reading the bible and stop praying and stop coming to church and all of that, but those are all consequences of a greater and deadlier action – they begin to flirt with sin, and the moment you flirt with sin, your life is not devoted to God entirely, and dear friends – you will fall!)
(As I was preparing this sermon, God also brought to my attention things that I now realise have been unbelievably dangerous and misleading, one of which I have often said in my life as a pastor – when people come and ask me about certain habits and forms of entertainment, I have often said that I think that those things are probably not right, but at the same time that they will not lead to hell. While in principle I still believe my conclusion, I have come to realise that if it is wrong – it should not form any part of my life!!!!!!! Whether it will keep me from heaven or not is irrelevant – if it is preventing or keeping me from being 100% devoted to God, I must discard and dispose of the things that are a hindrance in my life!)
So, if we are to have any hope of living lives which will be pleasing to God, we need to understand first of all, that been a Christian is a complicated matter, and that there is a battle raging in our members, and that we are going to have to make a conscious decision to truly and fully devote our lives to God.
That is also exactly what Paul was telling the church in Philippi as we read in Philippians, chapter 2, verses 12 and 13.
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
So on the one hand we can clearly see that our salvation is a gift from God because Paul says that it is God at work in us, but note also that Paul places great emphasis on our responsibility following the call of God, namely that we should work out our salvation, but note what he says then – “with fear and trembling”. Friends, we are busy with s serious matter.
Christianity is not something to be taken lightly; it is not something which forms part of our ‘other’ life. Spiritual growth is hard, and you can be sure – it is a labour! It’s a joyful labour with great rewards, but be sure none the less, that it is a labour! Paul uses the word ‘work’ very specifically!
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews uses another metaphor in chapter 12 verse 1: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us”
Now let me ask you, and I know a few of you will immediately understand my question: What race do we run with endurance, with patience, with perseverance? A sprint? Or a marathon? Of course a marathon, and so what the writer is saying is that the Christian life is like a marathon. It’s something we need to keep at, it’s something we need to keep doing, because the only way to complete a marathon, is to....keep going. (Finding Nemo – trying to find the son, and the father gets discouraged, so Dory says... “just keep swimming...”)
Paul says in Philippians 3:12 that he has not yet achieved the goal he desires, and remember that I said that we will never achieve it in this life, but Paul says that he has not yet achieved his goal, so for that reason he “presses on”! Of course the word ‘presses’ has the definite undertone of ‘effort required’. (If I ask someone to move this table, how will the move it? By looking at it? By thinking about it? By wishing it would move? By reading books about moving tables? By praying about moving the table? NO!!!!!! Maybe all important considerations, but at the end of the day, you’ll have to get up, walk to the table and press against it in order to move it!!!!!)
Friends, spiritual growth does not come about by idle actions, it comes about by pressing on, by crucifying the self, by devoting my life to God, by doing what Scripture teaches us and commands us, by running the race, and by pressing on, even when we don’t feel like it, even when we feel down, even when we feel negative, even when we feel like giving up, or maybe I should say especially in these times we need to press on!!!!
Let’s go back to what Paul was saying: “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Forgetting what lies behind, the failures, the falls, the victories, the overcomings, why? Because it’s all unimportant, and we need to strain forward, and press on to the goal that lies ahead.
I close with this, but what is the goal? Heaven? Yes certainly, but also something more – the calling to which we have been called by Christ Jesus our Lord which is holiness, and a life acceptable in His sight! That which Jesus died for, that which God called us to, not just a desire to avoid hell and reach heaven, but a life, here and now of commitment, of perseverance, a life which reflects the love of God, a life which reflects the glory of God, a life which is an example of the life Jesus Himself lived on earth.
Dear friend, is your life acceptable in His sight? Are you living a holy life? Do all your actions show your desire to be what God has called you to be?
If not, then I hope and pray that you will join me this year as we embark on this marathon, this marathon to grow spiritually, to become more like Jesus, to strive for the goal He has set before us.
