Walking in humility, repentance and a greater anointing
Humility is a key to seeing God move and for Him increase you in the anointing.
Biblically speaking, Humility has a lot to do with fasting and vise-versa.
Fasting had to do with mourning.
Jesus was asked: why don’t your disciples fast. He said: how can the guests of the bridegroom MOURN while he is with them.
Matthew 5:4 says: Blessed are those that mourn...
Jesus was not talking about a morbid sorrow that results in a person becoming depressed, discouraged, and feeling hopeless.
He was taking about us loathing sin.
But Some of us who claim to be followers of Jesus are very comfortable with sin: we hold on to anger, gossip, power-plays, office-theft, pride, bragging, fighting, flattery, lust, sexual sins, pornography, breaking promises, and a variety of other sins. A sharp response. A pattern to over-indulge. A failure to give thanks. A lustful glance. An ill-judgment passed. A tendency to over-spend. A bent towards impatience. A cowering to speak.
The problem is aggravated by some preachers and teachers who encourage us to be become insensitive to our sins. They speak about grace as if it is a license to sin.
The apostle Paul struggled with his sin. He was sensitive, but he also rejoiced in God’s forgiveness.
Jesus was not talking about a preoccupation with sin, but a sorrow that occurs when we sin, which leads us to a confession and a forsaking of that sin.
The apostle Paul shows this balance in the following passage:
Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (NASB) Rom. 7:24-8:1
Paul called himself The chief of sinners.
Spurgeon said: The holier a man becomes, the more he mourns the unholiness which remains in him.
Luke 6:25 Jesus said, "Woe unto you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
James 4: 7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.…
The book of James was written to encourage believers back to faithful living:
James 1:21
Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
James 4:8-10
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
James 5:19-20
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
James wants his readers to feel the weight and heinousness of their sin, and to mourn over it.
But why as believers should we mourn? Why should we weep over our sin?
1. Sin is deadly (James 1:15)
15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
James 5
20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering hwill save his soul from death and iwill cover a multitude of sins.
2. Sin is defiance against a holy God
Sinning is believing a false promise from the world above a true promise from God.
All our sins find their origin in the desires rooted inside our hearts (James 1:14–15).
When was the last time we looked our sin in the mirror and came away broken?
When was the last time we felt the gravity of our sin as betrayal against a holy God?
Rarely do we weep. Our hearts are callously numb.
Though justified by the blood of Christ, we are still infiltrated with sin, and most of the time we appear okay with it.
We need help.
We need reminders.
Here’s one: Rom 8:13....For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
The gospel becomes glorious when the depth and power of our sin is understood as grievous.
When we see a clearer glimpse of our sin we behold a clearer glimpse of the cross. The horror of our sin magnifies the beauty of Christ’s sacrifice.
But instead of killing our sin we are feeding it.
Instead of loathing our sin we are loving it.
Instead of destroying our sin we are desiring it.
The result: We belittle the cross and deceive ourselves.
The quickest way to lose the wonder of the gospel is to lose sight of the depth of our sin.
Yes, we should be weeping. We should be appalled, disgusted, shocked, and grieved in the depths of our hearts over our sin. All our sin is treason against God.
Not just the prideful, lying, stealing, and lusting sins but sins of the tongue, sins of anxiousness, sins of bitterness, sins of partiality, sins of complacency, sins of jealously, sins of impatience, and sins of arrogance. We should grieve over them all.
We mourn over our wicked sin by seeing it righty before a holy God.
True grief over sin comes from contemplating our Savior, not comparing our character to those around us.
The quickest and most consistent way to grieve over our sin is by seeing Jesus for who he is and the worthy life he calls us to live.
Read his letters to the churches in the book of Revelation.
Acts 8:9-24
The story of Simon the sorcerer
V13
he had faith
He believed
He was baptised
He forsook his divination
But he was not saved
His faith was not saving faith
Acts 10
Cornelius..
he was a good man
He was a prayerful man
He believed in the right God
Jeremiah 9:1 "O that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people."
There was so much grief in him that he couldn't weep enough.
Jeremiah was grieved over the anticipated judgment of God on the people that he loved.
Some Ways to Mourn Over Our Sin
1. Spiritual mourning names particular sins.
Stating them clearly without excuse and without evasion.
Admit they are an offence against God.
Get used to identifying particular sins when you read the Bible. You will begin to see what God sees, and you will get to know what grieves and offends him.
Once you have named the sin as being really in you, you are ready to enter into spiritual mourning.
2. Spiritual mourning involves heartfelt sorrow.
Take a long, hard look at the cost of this sin, and you will enter more deeply into spiritual mourning.
First think about other sins into which the sin you are mourning has led you: sins of deception and pretence.
Then consider what this sin of yours has cost others.
Finally, think about how costly the sin you are mourning was for Jesus, as he bore your transgressions on the cross.
3. Spiritual mourning is infused with hope.
When you mourn your sins, seeing them for what they are, it can be easy for you to despair. Instead remember that when God shines the light on your sins, his great purpose is to lead you to Jesus, the friend of sinners. In him you will find hope.
Hope is a signature mark of spiritual mourning, and it arises from faith in Christ and all that he has accomplished through the cross.
4. Spiritual mourning will lead you to forsake sins.
Spiritual mourning is the key to breaking sin’s compulsive power. This is why we can speak of spiritual mourning as being a blessing. Do this work of spiritual mourning thoroughly, and you will have strength to overcome the sin that has defeated you, and to forsake it at the cross.
When a sin has become habitual or when its repeated pattern has become engrained as an addiction, spiritual mourning will be your key to breaking its compulsive power, and it is for this reason that we can speak of the blessing of spiritual mourning.
Do this work of spiritual mourning thoroughly and you will have strength to overcome the sin that has defeated you, and to forsake it at the cross.
Altar call...
