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Posted: 11/02/2009 at 8:21am
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God’s True Worshippers
By Duane Stewart
While much of Christianity still finds itself under and bound by the law of fleshly commandments, God, through the sending of His Son, desires to release and set free those still bound. With God making available a new covenant for His people, most remain locked under the law of an old covenant. This allows the freedom of the new birth to lie dormant within as they strive to remain under the bondage of the carnal mind.
Heb. 7:16 & 19 declares, “Who (Jesus) has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. …. For the law made nothing perfect (complete); on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God”.
Serving God according to an outward commandment or law has become the common place activities of many groups who meet weekly in the name of God. These activities are proving to be weak and useless in providing full access to God’s presence. Meanwhile God’s desire, through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, is to annul and usher in a new and better, a different order.
While there was a purpose in the law of fleshly commandments, this purpose was not given to establish a way of life for the people. These fleshly laws were and are intended to only reveal sin. It is to be a temporary measure used to convince people of their need of justification and of their inability to save themselves. In understanding the inability to save themselves they can thus turn to Christ, who becomes their progressive savior.
Gal. 3:19, “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed (Christ) should come to who the promise was made:…”.
Thus, these people need to move beyond the law of a carnal commandment to the Seed, the Christ. Is it not so that most gatherings maintain their existence through ritualistic activities of worship and order which has become the trademark of their organizations. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit moves to establish another order, an order of anointing that releases the freedom of worship and praise unto God.
Gal. 5:14, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; you shall love your neighbor as yourself”.
Christian freedom is not the removal of moral restraints, but freedom to serve. The true gospel exchanges the oppressive bondage of legalism for the higher bondage of love. Gal. 5:18, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law”. The one’s who are led by the Spirit will do what is right freely, and not by the compulsion of a law.
If many of the programs that are being promoted among the church of today are the results of carnal minded rituals, is God pleased? Much of what people see and hear among many of the gatherings is nothing more than carnal minded inspirations to draw and please the people who desire nothing more than to be entertained. Entertainment in that their programs continue on as usual, rituals that are promoted by carnal minded ministers to feed the appetites of a carnal minded people. That is, to have church as usual without upsetting or offending the members.
Ezekiel 13:3 shouts out this truth in declaring, “Thus says the Lord God: woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!”. These are those who use their own intellectual training and follow their own spirit, rather than listen to God who desires to lead them. Where are the ministers that are willing to allow the Holy Spirit freedom to order the flow of each church meeting? God’s order, when yielded to, moves outside the box of repetitious rituals, to manifest the presence of God among the whole assembly.
I Cor. 14:26, “How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, and has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification”.
The things of the Spirit then are intended for every member of the body of Christ, not just an elite few. Even as Paul encourages Timothy, we are to stir up, to keep the fires of the soul ablaze. We are to minister to the fullest use of the spiritual equipment which God has given.
II Tim. 1:6, “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands”. I Tim. 4:14a, “Do not neglect the gift that is in you. …”.
The word declares that there shall be a period of time when a separating from the truth would take place. A time would come when sound doctrine shall become the exception instead of common place. God declares that a people would depart from the faith by ministering a denial of the essential doctrines of Christianity. False teachers would arise to teach doctrines inspired by deceiving spirits. In leading the people astray they would claim divine inspiration as they abandon God’s word and spiritual truths.
I Tim. 4:1-2, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,”.
While we see these positions being fulfilled and ministered among the Christian community today, God has given us a promise. This promise is that He will establish a divine order people as He pours out His Spirit upon that people. (Read Joel 2:28-32).
The out pouring of His Spirit upon “all flesh” is the promise given by the Father. “All flesh” refers to every category of person, not every individual. The three categories within any culture include gender, age, and class. This speaks of man, women, young and old alike and the spiritual gifting of the Holy Spirit is available for all God’s Spirit-filled people. The coming of the Spirit was not to be relegated to the apostles and their contemporaries only but is promised unto all who would receive.
Acts 2:39, “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call”.
While there are many people who continue on with “church as usual”, there is a remnant that is becoming “living sacrifices” for the sake of Christ. They, while living among those who conform to the mind-set of this carnal world, present themselves unto God for His use. In this they are being transformed by the renewed mind which is committed to the ideals, the order, of the kingdom of God. Transformed kingdom living calls for lives marked by humility and service through giftedness to the body of Christ.
We are reminded in scripture that just as the physical body is made up of many members, each with a different function, the church likewise is a body of many members which are all closely related and constitute a unity in Christ with each individual member having separate functions and responsibilities.
Now, this “many membered body”, in order to be perfect, must allow each member the right to function. Each must be given liberty to minister in their place as the Holy Spirit directs and anoints. Not allowing any one member to dominate and become ritualistic in ordering the service, but each one freely moving as God directs through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Possible? NO, not by the carnal mind, but YES, as the Holy Spirit is given freedom and liberty to order and anoint each vessel according to His purpose in glorifying God.
The problem many groups face today is that carnality displays itself with the need to dominate and rule over the people. For this cause, in the name of Jesus, it rules the service to feed its need to control. In controlling, it refuses to give place for the Holy Spirit to have freedom. When there is a lack of freedom in the Holy Spirit, there is no life being manifested, there is no light shining unto that perfect day. Without increasing revelation, darkness rules as the controlling minister gripes the people in a vise of spiritual death.
Thus, a people groan, a people travail and God is hearing their cry. In hearing the cry, God is mindful of His purpose, His deliberate plan, proposition and design which is to enable a people to be conformed “to the image of His Son”. For this cause He has called a people, a first fruits to come forth by the act of justification. In the coming forth because He has justified them, He also glorifies. Thus we see a harvest coming forth. The first fruits are on the scene and the full harvest is now to come forth.
Eph. 4:11-15, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry. For the edifying (building up) of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ”.
This is speaking of true ministry at work in the church which begets vital, spiritually functional people throughout the whole church family.
Eph. 5:18-21, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God”.
Edited by Moderator on 11/02/2009 at 8:23am
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Topic: God’s True Worshippers - Duane Stewart
