NEWS Spiritual Guidance
Here's another meditation on Spiritual guidance inspired by some remarks by T. Austin-Sparks. May it be light to you. Sparks says (note: bold added for emphasis):
"But note this, dear friends, the Christianity with which we are familiar is very largely constituted on the old dispensation. Do you see how Christianity goes to work now? It begins by building religious buildings. They are called churches, of course, a false name entirely. The Church is not a building made with hands. And then they set up a certain order in it. And then they appoint certain officers to do the work. When they've got the building, and when they've got the officers, the minister and all the others, and when they have got their order of service, then they ask the Lord if He will come into it. The organization comes first. The outward thing comes first. It all builds upon the principle of the soul. It is all a matter of reason and emotion and doing. That is Judaistic Christianity.
It is just the reverse with God's method. Where does God begin? God does not begin with churches even if they are companies of people. He certainly does not begin with buildings. And He does not begin with ritual, or with a system of things. And He does not begin by calling a congregation together. A congregation is not God's beginning. God begins by a work of the Holy Spirit in individual lives. It may just be one to begin with, and then another and then another. And if those two or three find themselves in one city, they are joined, not because they have accepted Christianity, but because they have the one Spirit in them. That is the beginning of the Church in that place.
And what is true of the beginning, has got to be true of everything afterwards. Man's hands must be kept off the things of the Spirit. Man must not try to form something that is of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, Who began this, is perfectly capable of forming what He wants. Hence our responsibility is to be led by the Spirit, to always seek the guidance of the Spirit. And until we are sure that the Holy Spirit is really guiding us, we keep our hands off. We will do nothing about it. This thing must be of the Spirit. This is the order of this dispensation."
Being led by the Spirit is what it is all about, beloved. We must be broken and let go of our wills and desires so that the Spirit can lead our hearts. After all, God is Spirit. Sadly, Christianity has largely become a soulical enterprise, much like its predecessor, Judaism. Judaism and Christianity as practiced today aren't the way to Christ. He - the Holy Spirit - is the way. As the Lord said:
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6).
"Me" in the Scriptures is always the Holy Spirit speaking. No one comes to the Father except through the Holy Spirit. That is the truth. The Holy Spirit is our guide into Christ. The Holy Spirit only comes of the ground of death, burial and resurrection via the Cross. That natural man must be born anew to gain entrance into Christ and into God's kingdom. A soulical man simply cannot enter into Christ. The kingdom of God is composed entirely of crucified flesh. Love is crucified flesh.
Being born anew is entirely a spiritual thing. When our spirits connect with God (who is Spirit) through revelation, we become alive in Christ. The Scriptures become Pure Light. We see things the natural man cannot see. Being born anew is associated with being broken, dying to self, letting go, and allowing Love to shine through your heart. Without guidance from the Spirit, it is impossible to follow God and walk in love. Until we connect with the Holy Spirit, we are nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The Lord's method, says Sparks, is the reverse of what we see in Christianity today. Oh, how soulical men - those of uncrucified flesh - love to tamper with Spiritual things! Man insists on doing a great many things for God in Jesus' name in his own power. The results are often disastrous. We see anger, frustration and death everywhere. People giving up and throwing Love out of their lives and even their own countries. We see love growing very cold in the world. Forget about so-called global warming, It is the global cooling of love in the world that is truly tragic!
The natural man must never try to form something that is of the Spirit. The Spirit is our only Instructor, our Teacher, our Light. The Spirit is all we need to walk in love.
May you led by the Spirit.
Agape,
Steve
"But note this, dear friends, the Christianity with which we are familiar is very largely constituted on the old dispensation. Do you see how Christianity goes to work now? It begins by building religious buildings. They are called churches, of course, a false name entirely. The Church is not a building made with hands. And then they set up a certain order in it. And then they appoint certain officers to do the work. When they've got the building, and when they've got the officers, the minister and all the others, and when they have got their order of service, then they ask the Lord if He will come into it. The organization comes first. The outward thing comes first. It all builds upon the principle of the soul. It is all a matter of reason and emotion and doing. That is Judaistic Christianity.
It is just the reverse with God's method. Where does God begin? God does not begin with churches even if they are companies of people. He certainly does not begin with buildings. And He does not begin with ritual, or with a system of things. And He does not begin by calling a congregation together. A congregation is not God's beginning. God begins by a work of the Holy Spirit in individual lives. It may just be one to begin with, and then another and then another. And if those two or three find themselves in one city, they are joined, not because they have accepted Christianity, but because they have the one Spirit in them. That is the beginning of the Church in that place.
And what is true of the beginning, has got to be true of everything afterwards. Man's hands must be kept off the things of the Spirit. Man must not try to form something that is of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, Who began this, is perfectly capable of forming what He wants. Hence our responsibility is to be led by the Spirit, to always seek the guidance of the Spirit. And until we are sure that the Holy Spirit is really guiding us, we keep our hands off. We will do nothing about it. This thing must be of the Spirit. This is the order of this dispensation."
Being led by the Spirit is what it is all about, beloved. We must be broken and let go of our wills and desires so that the Spirit can lead our hearts. After all, God is Spirit. Sadly, Christianity has largely become a soulical enterprise, much like its predecessor, Judaism. Judaism and Christianity as practiced today aren't the way to Christ. He - the Holy Spirit - is the way. As the Lord said:
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6).
"Me" in the Scriptures is always the Holy Spirit speaking. No one comes to the Father except through the Holy Spirit. That is the truth. The Holy Spirit is our guide into Christ. The Holy Spirit only comes of the ground of death, burial and resurrection via the Cross. That natural man must be born anew to gain entrance into Christ and into God's kingdom. A soulical man simply cannot enter into Christ. The kingdom of God is composed entirely of crucified flesh. Love is crucified flesh.
Being born anew is entirely a spiritual thing. When our spirits connect with God (who is Spirit) through revelation, we become alive in Christ. The Scriptures become Pure Light. We see things the natural man cannot see. Being born anew is associated with being broken, dying to self, letting go, and allowing Love to shine through your heart. Without guidance from the Spirit, it is impossible to follow God and walk in love. Until we connect with the Holy Spirit, we are nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The Lord's method, says Sparks, is the reverse of what we see in Christianity today. Oh, how soulical men - those of uncrucified flesh - love to tamper with Spiritual things! Man insists on doing a great many things for God in Jesus' name in his own power. The results are often disastrous. We see anger, frustration and death everywhere. People giving up and throwing Love out of their lives and even their own countries. We see love growing very cold in the world. Forget about so-called global warming, It is the global cooling of love in the world that is truly tragic!
The natural man must never try to form something that is of the Spirit. The Spirit is our only Instructor, our Teacher, our Light. The Spirit is all we need to walk in love.
May you led by the Spirit.
Agape,
Steve
posted by Steve at
9:31 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home