Christianity Oasis Forum

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http://www.examiner.com/spirituality-in-st-louis/lost-eden-seminary-cemetery-or-christ-us-and-we-christ


Blessings!

Good morning Christianity Oasis! We do hope and pray that all is well with you all this morning.

In part 2 of Lost in Eden we focus on the absolute necessity of having the Holy Spirit in power over all of Christendom. His presence brings unity. His absence brings discord.

Lost in Eden Seminary/Cemetery or Christ in us and we in Christ part 2

Long ago we attended West St. Louis County Assembly of God. It was a blessed church pastored by Reverend John Wilson. In the beginning the pastor welcomed the leading of the Holy Spirit it seemed. The church was blessed and grew to have a large congregation. Then something strange began to happen. Those spiritual men involved in founding the church seemed bothered and one by one left that fellowship. At the same time we were in a job situation wherein we were being persecuted for righteousness sake, for Jesus sake, and for the sake of His gospel. We desired to speak with our pastor about it, but rather than receive that, we were looked upon like a freak born out of time. That pastor wanted no part of our suffering. Suffering as part of the gospel of our Lord was not a part of his theology, and once he got his coffers full, he began to run off those that truly loved our Heavenly Dad, His Holy Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. He really didn’t want a church congregation filled with and led by the Spirit of God.

In part one of this article we discussed common fallacious underpinnings we have found in doctrines long held to be the doctrinal bedrock of most denominations. We have found no single denomination that can be set apart from the rest and pointed out to be the reason most churches are in error in this day and time. Rather, what we have found is that all Christian denominations today walk in significant doctrinal error, the things most problematic being the preaching of a gutted, gutless, and watered down gospel, an example being the story preceding this paragraph. Suffering is not accepted as the will of God in most churches today. In our previous articles on this subject we used the word greedy to describe many ministers of our day. Today we shall add the word cowardice. A gospel that brings only pleasure is a gospel of cowards. We will see how that plays out as things get worse and worse in the days ahead….i.e., more floods, more earthquakes, etc., so forth, and on and on it will go.

If we have the love of God which comes to us by the Holy Spirit, our heart will not fail us for fear of those things coming on the world. The only safe place on this Earth right now is dwelling in Christ and Christ in us anchored by our love for God that He has given us for Him. We do not say that such will keep us from calamity. We do say such will keep us from the fear of death.

We are going to take a look at the two most hurtful doctrinal errors in Christianity today, the first being the nightmarish disunity in the body of Christ, and the other the shameful rejection of the Holy Spirit’s leadership. We will share why the rejection of the one brings about the reality of the other.

First of all, the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is not complicated as most clergy would have us to believe, and there is no intent within it by God to deceive us into believing that it is. Belief is the operative word in Christianity. Belief keeps us alive. Unbelief kills us. Belief is where the power of God begins working in our lives. Our spiritual lives will grow no farther than our believing in Christ will take us. If we reject His teachings through unbelief, and create doctrines out of our own heart we can believe in, or doctrines that will keep us in power and our congregation dumb, we have climbed out on the slippery slope that only leads downward.

That is why when we eliminate the working of the Holy Spirit in our midst through unbelief we have disunity in the body of Christ. Why is this? Why do we eliminate the working of the Holy Spirit in our midst? We get it in our heads that our think tank is better than the Bible’s think tank. So rather than love God enough to stick with His plan of salvation, we get some crazy idea in our head that we, and we alone, have some new revelation that is now the way we are supposed to study the gospel, even though it plainly deviates from the doctrines of our Lord and His Apostles. This new way of interpreting the Bible takes our focus off the Bible, and the leading of the Holy Spirit and places the focus on us. They tell us we are safe if we follow them. They substitute themselves in place of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They tell us God told them they could do so. They tell us Jesus gave them all power over His church. Such is a slippery slope my friends, a very slippery slope.

Acts.13

[2] As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said,Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

And what amazes us the most is that thousands and millions buy into these fallacies. Generally speaking, as soon as we tag our doctrine with a name such as dispensationalist, premillennlial, post m, mid m, Calvinist, and so on and so forth, we have limited the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst. This group believes this, that group believes that. Every way we turn we find differences in beliefs. Most denominations say they believe correctly and therefore all others are filled with heresy. We say all are filled with heresy to one degree or another, and that through their refusal to be taught by the Holy Spirit and those gifts He works through such as apostles and prophets, etc., all will have to give account as to why they wouldn’t follow the leader of the church, that being the Holy Spirit. We do not appoint ourselves ministers of God. The Spirit of God makes us to be what he wills that we be if we submit ourselves to Him.

We were never intended by Christ our Lord to be lifeless drones warming pews each Sunday. We have each been called to find our niche in the Body of Christ by submitting ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We have been called to be Disciples of Christ and be taught the same thing Christ taught His disciples. Paul tells us why. There will be unity. There will be peace. There will be harmony. There will be growth.

Eph.4

[13] Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
[14] That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
[15] But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Paul tells us about our Lord’s intent in 2Tim.3 verses 16 and 17.

[16] All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
[17] That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Paul tells us that what we need to be an effective man of God is entirely contained in the Bible. He doesn’t say, “Well boy, you have to go to the University of Jerusalem to be taught by the scribes and Pharisees before you are able to effectively serve the people of God.

But Jesus tells us that our study of the Bible is only profitable in so much as we submit ourselves to its understanding as it comes to us by the Holy Spirit. Are Paul and our Lord contradicting one another? Of course not! We can’t have one without the other. The Holy Spirit is in the Bible. Jesus sent Him to us to be our leader, comforter and teacher. Paul wasn’t taught by flesh and blood. The Apostle John tells us the Holy Spirit will lead us into all understanding. Why? He will keep us away from the wolves that kill the flock with heresies.

We can study the Bible without the Holy Spirit for thirty years without learning truth. We might get a little piece of it, but as they say, even a blind hog gets an acorn now and then. However, over the course of the same thirty years ANYONE seeking the truth by the Spirit of Truth will gain understanding and wisdom that will keep them off the slippery slopes that go down into the pit. They will also do their part in building up the church. They will grow in love and stature by the working of the Holy Spirit until Christ is in them and they are in Christ. Such is how we bear good fruit, by abiding in Christ, and He in us.

“Oh, but some have gone off that way and gotten themselves into terrible heresy.” We say to you, isn’t that like the pot calling the kettle black? Choosing human instruction over divine instruction does not hold either party guiltless if we refuse to exercise our spiritual senses to discern good and evil. However, if we have chosen to love God, His Word, and be led by the Holy Spirit, we won’t stay off base very long. Discerning good and evil is a process one endures to become an effective minister. Only cowards choose the human way.

Eph.4

[1] I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
[2] With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
[3] Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
[4] There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
[5] One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
[6] One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

There is only one way to heaven. That way, and that way only brings the exact knowledge of God. The exact knowledge of God brings unity, harmony, peace, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption . That way is through our believing in Jesus Christ, receiving and being led by the Holy Spirit, and abiding in His doctrine that speaks of Jesus and confirmed in the lives of our Lord’s Disciples. Without the Holy Spirit there cannot be the unity that comes to us through the love of truth. Rather, there will be splinters, thorns and thistles, and many lost.

We can’t be one with our Lord Jesus or our Heavenly Father without the Holy Spirit. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we reject His leading and insult both the Father and the Son. Our leader must be the Holy Spirit of the Living God! He is where unity in the body of Christ begins and ends. He will make us one with God the Father and the Son if we will yield to His leading. That is the Holy Spirit’s job. Our job is to follow His leading.

End, part 2
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Blessings!
Love, In Christ Jesus, saint