2 Words in 1

By Reason of Use
Freedom in the Spirit

 

By Reason of Use

There was a church that was lukewarm. It seems, that they had become complacent; being somewhere in the middle, was good enough. Not too cold, and not too hot. The Spirit, cited several of the reasons, why they were likely this way. They had it too good; they thought they didn’t need anything. They might have been strong and vibrant at one time, but their experience had weakened; and they didn’t know it. Perhaps, they had even lost interest. Somewhere along the way, they sat down.

The Church, is supposed to be able to discern; what is good, and what is bad. There should be a lot of mature saints, siting in every assembly. It would never occur to some of us that we might attend church for many years, and not actually be mature. Now, that’s going to offend some folk. I have to look at what the writer said about that. He determined that many of us should be teaching others. In other words, we’ve been around long enough that we should have grown up in the Lord. I’m not totally sure why people would still be on milk after all this time, but, he said they were.

Only to make the point, let’s say that we have spiritual muscles. It is not different from the physical sense. Unless we use these spiritual reflexes on a regular basis, we lose their strength and tone.

We have senses in the Spirit, just as we have senses in the natural. The people who can actually discern what is right or wrong today are those who have been exercising those senses. We’ll likely all agree that you do not become acute in the Spirit if you don’t work at it. Sitting back and letting someone else feed us, has cost us more than we even realize. The scripture says, we are still babies in the Lord. We can’t take strong teaching or sound doctrine.

We need to question any situation that has not exhorted us to study for ourselves. It is possible to stop thinking in the Spirit and walking in the Spirit. The spiritual man is in need of constant renewing. Many people today are afraid of allowing the gifts of the Spirit to operate fully, as they were intended. Why is that? If the saints, sitting in any congregation, are mature in the Spirit, mature in the Lord as they should be and were meant to be, all of them could discern what is right in God’s house. Each one of them would know what is in order there, and what is not. But not, if they have not been using what they were given to use; hence, by reason of use.

Something tells me, that when each one of us stands before the Lord, on that Day, at our turn, we will not be able to blame anyone else for what we have, or have not done. Those who have itching ears, can only cater to those who are dull of hearing .

I can’t afford today to hope for the Spirit to tell someone else, everything I need to hear. I need to hear the Spirit, for myself. The more I exercise, the keener I can become. It’s not that others cannot teach me anything; but, it’s that my exercise and will cause my own spirit to agree, with what the Spirit has said to them. Only by the Spirit, will I know, if it is from God, or if it is not. The scripture says, I have to practice.

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Freedom in the Spirit

“Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” 2 Corinthians 17.

Perhaps, we might do well, to consider the definition of the word ‘liberty.’ It means: the condition of being free from restriction or control, a right or immunity to engage in certain actions, without interference.

It seems likely, that if the Spirit does not have the freedom to move as He desires, no one else in the Spirit will have it either. If we’re not following the leadership of the Holy Ghost, there will be no true liberty; no room to operate in the manner the Spirit truly desires to operate.

There was a time…. Now, I hear those who say that we should not look back and that we needn’t talk so much about how things were once. Maybe, it would be beneficial, to allow others to voice, what they have learned. You cannot or should not live in the past; but you cannot just brush the past under the table either. I understand the philosophy, but if your never look back, you won’t have a clear idea, of how far you have come. And, you will not be able to understand, how you got to the place you are; especially if you’ve made some kind of mess. We need to learn, from our mistakes.

There was a time, when the moving of the Holy Ghost was absolutely the most important thing, in every meeting. Actually, it was the most important thing in our entire lives! Even now, if the Spirit of the Lord does not truly undertake in many of our situations, we are lost; there just isn’t any hope.

I heard it again some minutes ago by a dear brother; the Holy Spirit of God can do more in moments than we could ever even attempt in our lifetime. I hate to say this, but I think some people, have forgotten their place. While we are talking about how it used to be, there was also a time when we did not dare think we could just do whatever WE wanted to do, in God’s house.

I know we’re supposed to be talking about freedom in the Spirit; but, we have lost the fear of the Lord. We like to sling mud at those we feel who have seared their conscience; when we have done it also. It stands to reason, that where there is no fear of the Lord, there is no freedom in the Spirit either. When those two folk were smitten down for lying to the Holy Ghost, great fear and awe came upon the people; and the church grew mightily. It’s the beginning of true wisdom. The lack of it might explain why some want to operate their program; regardless of what the Spirit wants.

We once allowed the Holy Ghost to stop the service; to halt everything. Or, things could take off in a completely different direction. The minister might be preaching, and the Spirit would quicken something to them, and they would drop their notes and comments, and follow the Spirit into a totally different avenue. That’s when real power falls.

When we yield to the Holy Ghost, He likes it. And He responds accordingly; with power and true deliverance, that we did not have until then.

Today, I want to rejoice, when the Spirit wants me to rejoice. But, I also want to weep and travail, when the Lord wants me to do that. I want to go where He leads. That, is where the action is. When we give the Spirit freedom, we will never go wrong.

 

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Robert Blackburn