A gentlemen once said, “The signs of getting older are first you forget names, then you forget faces. Then you forget to pull up your zipper.” Can anyone relate to that? How many of us like to get older? As we do, it seems more maintenance needs done to this mortal body. Then we experience memory failure, aches and pains, and so much more. Over all, when we lack something we once had and enjoyed, don’t we wish we had it back? You don’t miss it until its gone!
But then, there are times whereas we get older, we can actually act and think rather quickly and sharp. An elderly farmer in Florida had a large pond down by his fruit orchard. One evening he decided to go down to the pond and take a five gallon bucket to pick some fruit.
As he neared the pond, he heard young kids voices shouting and laughing, having a good time. As he came closer, he saw them swimming and carrying on in the pond, so he made his presence known to them and then they all scrambled to the deep end of the water. One of the children shouted to him, 'We're not coming out until you leave!'
The old man thought for a second and said, 'I didn't come down here to watch you swim or to make you get out of the pond.' Holding the bucket up he said, 'I'm here to feed the alligator!' I could just imagine what those kids thought and did after that! Nothing wrong with his mind!
How many have heard the statement, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it! When we get a check-up, usually we want to think, everything is ok! No changes! I’m feeling pretty good, so why bother getting it done! Though, it’s quite possible that our health is not really up to par as we may think! This is when we sometimes get a surprise or alarming diagnosis, and we think to ourselves, “Where did that come from?” And you know, this same prognosis is the same for each of us when it comes to our Spiritual health.
In one Peanuts comic strip Sally was struggling with her memory verse for Sunday. She was absorbed in her thoughts trying to figure it out when she remembered, “Maybe it was something from the book of Reevaluation.”
She never did find the memory verse, but this does give us a well-grounded thought that even though we ‘think’ everything is ok with our spiritual journey as a Christian, we should always approach God with the intent of reevaluating our spiritual health to make sure they are in line with His truth. We are in a time of LENT, which also means for us to experience a ‘Spiritual Renewal.’ You may ask why have spiritual renewal when everything seems ok! Well, a lady at a local church asked the Pastor, “Why do you keep having revivals when it doesn't last?" The Pastor said, "Why do you keep taking baths?" Something to think about!
In starting our journey today, we are reading from Paul’s letter to the people of Rome. In the 8th chapter, Paul gives several spiritual reaffirmations of what it means for us to not only be free from sin, but to flee from it, as a result that sin will most certainly destroy us. In addition, we are to acknowledge that our journey should result from a spiritual awakening. Our journey in this life should look forward to God’s final triumph to overcome evils of the world, and assures believers that no matter how powerful your circumstance may seem, nothing can separate us from God.
In this letter, Paul introduces us to two kinds of people. Those who ‘live according to the flesh’ and those who ‘live according to the spirit.’ Both of which are a choice. One is definite to a means of destruction, the other is of righteousness, the ever-present spirit of God. Think about this question. How can we experience a spiritual awakening, if we do NOT seek Christ, worship Christ, and serve Christ in the spirit? Listen to what Paul tells us. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Notice the words of dwell, mind and spirit. We are to dwell in God and God to dwell in us. We are to keep Christ in our minds as the mind that is set on flesh is hostile, or death to God. We are to have the Spirit of Christ as this is the only way to worship, serve and live according to the Spirit. You see friends, in order to live a Christ centered life, we must start off with doing three things. Acknowledge we are indeed sinners. Ask God to save us from our sin. Then one the hardest thing, we must turn from our sinful ways, to become a new creation. Without these first steps, there is no hope.
I read a story of a young girl who accepted Christ as her Saviour and applied for membership in a local church. “Were you a sinner before you received the Lord Jesus into your life?” inquired an old deacon. “Yes, sir,” she replied.
“Well, are you still a sinner?”
“To tell you the truth, I feel I’m a greater sinner than ever.”
“Then what real change have you experienced?”
“I don’t quite know how to explain it,” she said, “except I used to be a sinner running after sin, but now that I am saved. I’m a sinner running from sin!”
The only difference between a sinner and saint, is one is forgiven, and the other is not! One does not have the rock or anchor to hold onto, the other does. One does not have any everlasting hope to live eternally with their sins forgiven, the other does. One cannot meet God when they are judged and hear the words, Well done, good and faithful servant. The other does.
To live a spiritual life friends means we must be and remain in it; this is where a spiritual awakening needs to happen. You may not know this, but in Paul’s first letter to the people of Corinth, ch 11, Paul uses the Lords supper as a guide for us to reflect upon ‘WHY’ we are to do a self-examination.
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a person must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For the one who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not properly recognize the body. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number are asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
As a good Christian soldier, we should take upon ourselves the responsibility to become worthy with self-examination as to live for Christ, and serve for Christ in all manners worthy of our faith; mainly by revising our spirit, examining ourselves, be awakened and not asleep as Paul tells us. Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Luke “But stay alert at all times, praying that you will have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”…Now I say this, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Nothing on this earth can inherit the kingdom of God except what is imperishable, our spirit.
Clovis Chappell, a minister in the 1800s, used to tell the story of two steamboats. They left Memphis about the same time, traveling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. As they traveled side by side, sailors from one vessel made a few remarks about the snail’s pace of the other. Challenges were made and the race began.
Competition became vicious as the two boats roared through the deep South. One boat began falling behind because it did not have enough fuel. There had been plenty of coal for the trip, but not enough for a race. As the boat dropped behind, an enterprising young sailor took some of the ship’s cargo and tossed it into the ovens. When the sailors saw that the supplies burned as well as the coal, they fueled their boat with the material they had been assigned to transport. They ended up winning the race but burned their cargo. Think about at what expense do we burn our cargo that God has entrust us to carry? Our job is to see that this cargo reaches its destination, not destroyed before it gets there. This is when we hear the terms suffer, pain, agony, and other words of distress are exemplified. How much cargo do we sacrifice in order to achieve the number one slot? How many of us never reach the destination because of the aggressiveness of a competitive nature to ignore God just to get ahead in life?
Pablo Casals was considered the greatest cellist to ever live. When he was 95 years old he was asked why he continued to practice 6 hours a day. He answered, “Because I think I’m making progress.”
So this morning, I wanted give you some helpful steps and insight on how to gain and enthrone a spiritual awakening in your life.
First, we MUST become sensitive to sin. Christ tells us in Revelation 3:2 that we are to be watchful, as I mentioned before. We are to be ready and on guard when sin enters our life, it is NOT to be ignored, but dealt with. Jesus did not give us permission to fall asleep at the wheel so to speak, but rather just as God told cain, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” This stands true today.
Next, we MUST be submissive to the Holy Spirit. When we fail to live in the power of the Holy Spirit while continuing sinful habits, this actually starts to quench Gods spirit in us, and then we start the journey of separation from Him. Pauls letter to the ephesians tells us “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Sin is personal to God; it pains Him deeply and sadly. Remember it is the power of the Holy Spirit that enables us to engage our sinful culture from a position of redemption and receive the word of God in a life changing way.
Then we MUST be subjective to the authority of Gods Holy Word. Jesus charges His people to know the word of God and to obey it! We must allow it to govern our personal lives, as well as our corporate. By this it means the lives of our churches and individuals. Hiding Gods word, not reading or studying it, letting it sit proudly on our coffee table is not enough. It must be read, followed, and lived by.
Finally we MUST repent of our sins. While hypocrisy and pride are seemingly common characters of today’s culture, it is however too late for many who do NOT admit their sins to God and do NOT have genuine repentance. When reading from the Gospel of Matthew the words, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ What should this mean to us today? It should mean everything!
Our spiritual awakening friends is also to always to remember that even when God entrusts us with work to do for His kingdom, we are still subject to the falls of the world. We are corruptible flesh, to live with an incorruptible spirit, made only possibly by Gods Holy Spirit.
Just like reading from the Prophet Ezekiel, the entire valley of dry bones, God can and will restore our spirit if we call upon Him. If we have a dry and parched desert in our spirit, it is only by way of Gods everlasting Love through His Holy Spirit that we can actually find spiritual renewal. Dried up spirit, like the bones, that then can become full of life once more. Let it be so friends to acknowledge, allow God to render to us His everlasting love that can and will restore each of us to where we need to be. As the scripture tells us “…without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him.” Amen.