What Kind Of Spirit Do You Have

What Kind of Spirit Do you Have?

By

Bishop Melvin Maughmer

OPENING: - One of the greatest hindrances you will encounter in your Christian walk is that of the religious spirit. Religious spirits endeavor to interfere with the free flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives. They can be hard to discern simply because they are religious; they are pious, even hyper-spiritual. Their influence can spread through every aspect a person’s life and church like yeast in a lump of dough. That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 16:6 “Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees”. The religious spirit is a demonic spirit that influences a person, or group of people, to replace a genuine relationship with God with works and traditions. When people operate out of a religious spirit they attempt to earn salvation by adopting nonbiblical beliefs, traditions and customs.

At the early part of Jesus’ ministry, He gives seven blessings on the righteous. Matthew 5:3-10 we find the portion of the Sermon on the Mount which is the Beatitudes. It is the first of the Five Discourses of Matthew and takes place shortly after Jesus has been baptized by John the Baptist, finished his fasting and spiritual battle with Satan in the desert. In this message Jesus says to the righteous “Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven, they shall be comforted, shall inherit the earth, shall be filled, shall obtain mercy, shall see God, and shall be called the sons of God”.

Near the end of His ministry He declares eight woes on the unrighteous or self-righteous Pharisees Matthew 23 13–31 because WATCH THIS:- They shut up heaven, took advantage of widows, misled men to eternal destruction, were covetous of worldly things, refused to show compassion, were inwardly corrupt and afflicted the righteous.

SCRIPTURE:- Matthew 23:1-31 focus verses 13 -31. There are 2 words that I feel I need to highlight in the beginning of this message, they are Hypocrite and Woe.

The word HYPOCRITE is according to Webster’s Dictionary a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion, a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.

The word WOE is according to Webster’s Dictionary is a condition of deep suffering from misfortune, affliction, or grief, ruinous trouble calamity affliction.

The reason why Jesus declared these woes upon the Pharisees is because of Religious Spirits. A religious spirit is a demonic force that wages war against the grace of GOD in our lives and the acceptance of JESUS' work as true fulfillment of GOD'S covenant between GOD and man that hinders us from developing a relationship with God. As stated, religious spirits endeavor to interfere with the free flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives. They can be hard to discern simply because they are religious; they are pious, even hyper-spiritual. Their influence can spread through every aspect a person’s life and church like yeast in a lump of dough.

The problem with religious spirits is many times those who have religious spirits don't come close to the behavior they read about with the Pharisees, so they don’t believe they have religious spirits operating in their lives.

Proverbs 18:14 says “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear”? Religious spirits cause our spirts to become wounded and if not taken care of who can bear?

We must understand that we are a Dichotomy, we have dual natures or spirits. We have a flesh nature/spirit and a spiritual nature/spirit, and they are at war with each other. Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would”.

The sad thing is many times the spirit natures looses in the battle because how can it fight against the flesh when the flesh eats better and lives better. Many times, the spirit part of us only eats once a week and that is a drive thru meal. We often spend a great deal of time making sure the flesh get exercise and is taken care of properly, not that we are a body builder or athlete but, we walk, golf, ride bikes, etc. to ensure the flesh is good, but when it comes to the spirit side of us all we do is pray 2 to 3 minutes before we fall into the bed and go to sleep. Sometimes we shout out a Hallelujah or Thank you Jesus because that could have been an accident, but it wasn’t.

UNDERSTAND:- Having a religious spirit is so destructive to our intimate relationship with GOD and ultimately the effectiveness the church is supposed to have in the world. Just like the flesh and the spirit, are contrary toward each other so is religion and relationship. That is why religious spirits work so hard to hinder true meaningful relationships between GOD and us.