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THE
SPIRITUAL CONDITION
of
the
Christian
Church
By:
Pastor Max Solbrekken
"But
be ye doers of the Word, and not
hearers only, deceiving your
own selves. For if any
be a hearer of the Word, and
not
a doer, he is like unto a man
beholding his natural face in a
glass:
For he beholdeth himself, and goeth
his way, and straightway
forgetteth what manner of man he
was." (James 1:22-24)
 WHAT
IS THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THE
CHRISTIAN CHURCH ?
What
exactly is the condition of the
Christian Church today? The
Christian Church appears to be
suffering from a disease called,
'SPIRITUAL AMNESIA'.
IS
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH HAVING A
'CRISES
OF IDENTITY' OR 'SPIRITUAL AMNESIA'
This
condition, intermittent, other times
complete - seriously retards church
growth and spirituality. It is
not a new condition, however, and St.
James was well acquainted with it.
The
most serious crises of identity, or
'spiritual amnesia attack' happened to
Jesus' secretary treasurer, Judas
Iscariot, who fell for the sin of
'greed and covetousness' and 'stole
from the bag'! (John 12:4-6; John
13:29). Judas Iscariot continued
playing the game and eventually,
"Satan entered into him".
(John 13:27)
JUDAS
ISCARIOT, ONE OF THE CHOSEN 12 DISCIPLES
BETRAYED JESUS FOR 30
PIECE OF SILVER - THEN KILLED HIMSELF
After
Judas had betrayed Jesus for thirty
pieces of silver and saw that He was
condemned to die, he returned the
money to the high priest, saying: "I
have betrayed the innocent
blood." He
then took his own life! (Matthew 27:
3-5)
How
very sad, to see a man who was 'one
of the twelve disciples', who
had been given power to preach the
gospel, heal
the sick and cast out devils,
fall from grace and be lost forever!
(Mark 6: 7,12,13; Acts 1: 17)
ST.
PETER HAD A ''SPIRITUAL AMNESIA'
ATTACK WHEN HE DENIED THAT HE
KNEW
JESUS
At
our Saviour's trial,
St.
Peter also suffered such an
attack, when he was labeled a disciple
of Jesus! On three separate occasions,
he vigorously denied the accusation,
stating that he did not "know
the man"!
Peter even cursed and swore, to make
his point.
IT
ONLY TOOK ONE LOOK FROM JESUS, FOR
PETER'S 'SPIRITUAL AMNESIA' ATTACK TO
BE GONE
The
'necessary
medicine’'for
Peter's amnesia, came in the form of
'one look' from Jesus': "The
Lord turned, and looked upon Peter.
And Peter remembered the word of the
Lord, how He had said unto him, Before
the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me
thrice. And
Peter went out and wept
bitterly."(Luke
22: 61-62)
And his amnesia was gone.
'SPIRITUAL
AMNESIA' IS RELATED TO THE SPIRITUAL DISEASE 'SLUMBER'"
As
with.
Peter, it usually happens at a
very crucial and important moment. It
is certainly related to the spiritual
disease of 'slumber'
in which Peter and the other
disciples were involved, just prior to
his denial of Jesus! When Jesus
needed them the most, in the time of
His greatest agony and conflict, they
fell asleep. And when the Master
awakened them on several occasions,
they were unable to respond..
The
Holy Record states:
"Then cometh Jesus with them unto
a place called Gethsemane, and saith
unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while
I go and pray yonder.."
Then
saith He unto them, My soul is
exceeding sorrowful, even unto death:
tarry ye here, and watch with
Me. And He went a little
further, and fell on His face, and
prayed, saying, O My Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from Me:
nevertheless, not as I will, but as
Thou will.
And
He cometh unto the disciples, and
findeth them asleep, and sayeth unto
Peter, What could ye not watch with Me
ONE HOUR?
Watch
and pray, that ye enter not into
temptation: the spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is weak. He
went away again the second time, and
prayed. And He came and found them
asleep again…" (Matthew 26:
36-46)
ST.
PAUL SAID, "FOR I AM NOT ASHAMED
OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST"
St.
Paul identified the problem, putting
it in proper perspective, in his
letter to the church in Rome: "For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also
to the Greek." (Romans
1: 16)
HOLD
FAST THE FORM OF SOUND WORDS.
In his epistle to Timothy, the great
apostle, admonishes: "Hold
fast the form of sound
words..." "That
good thing which was committed unto
thee keep by the Holy Ghost, which
dwelleth in us."
Then,
he shares some very sad news:
"This thou knowest, that ALL
they which are in Asia be turned away
from me; of whom are Phygellus
and Hermogenes. The Lord give mercy
unto
the house of Onesiphorus; for
he oft refreshed me, and
was not ashamed of my
chain."
(2 Timothy 1: 13-16)
PAUL'S
IMPRISONMENT EMBARRASSED AND
FRIGHTENED SOME BELIEVERS
Paul's
imprisonment had embarrassed and
frightened some of the believers,
and Timothy was undoubtedly becoming
fearful that he also might be
subjected to beatings, imprisonment
and death.
BE
NOT ASHAMED OF THE TESTIMONY OF
OUR LORD
In
the letter to his young disciple, Paul
writes: "For God hath not given
us the spirit
of fear; but of
power,
and of
love, and of a
sound
mind. Be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,
nor of me His prisoner:
but be thou partaker of the
afflictions of the gospel according to
the power of God." (2 Timothy
2:7,8)
DEMAS
SUFFERED 'SPIRITUAL AMNESIA'
DEMAS
suffered a devastating attack of 'spiritual
amnesia', which quite probably
led to his eternal damnation. In his
letter to Timothy, the great
‘warrior of the cross' writes:
"Do thy diligence to come shortly
unto me: For
Demas hath forsaken me, having loved
this present world, and is
departed unto Thessalonica.."
Again,
Paul reports: "At my first
answer, no
man stood with me, but ALL MEN
FORSOOK ME:
I pray God that it will not be laid to
their charge. Notwithstanding,
the Lord stood with me, and
strengthened me; that by me the
preaching might be fully known, and
that all the Gentiles might hear: and
I was delivered out of the mouth of
the lion." (2 Timothy 4:
16,17)
LOVE
NOT THE WORLD, NEITHER THE
THINGS THAT ARE IN THE WORLD
The
Bible warns: "Love
not the world, neither the things that
are in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not
in him. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, and the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life, is
not of the Father, but is of the
world." "And the world
passeth away, and the lust thereof:
but he that doeth the will of God,
abideth forever.." (1
John 2: 15-17)
Pastor
James of the first Pentecostal Church,
in Jerusalem, put a HUMAN FACE on the
problem of spiritual amnesia! He
divided people into two classes: the 'hearers
and doers' and the
'hearers only'. He said
that those who hear the Scriptures and
give only mental assent, can be
likened to a man, looking at his face
in the mirror, and shortly forgetting
what he looked like!
HOW
COULD ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN
'BORN AGAIN' SUFFER 'SPIRITUAL AMNESIA' ?
Could
a man forget whether he had a beard or
was clean - shaven? Or whether he had
black hair or blond, or if his eyes
were blue or brown? Of course not! But,
spiritual amnesia is just as absurd
and ridiculous.
How
could anyone ever forget the life
transforming experience, of being
Born - Again? The release from
condemnation and guilt, as our sins
were washed away by the precious
blood of Jesus Christ! The
peace of God flooded our spirit and
soul, and God's love swept through our
entire being as Jesus
made Himself real to our hearts, and
the Holy Spirit introduced us to our
Heavenly Father.
IT'S
IMPOSSIBLE FOR A SINCERE CHRISTIAN
TO FORGET BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY
SPIRIT
It
is impossible for a Christian - unless the conscience is seared - to
forget the glorious experience of
being filled with the Holy Spirit.
JESUS
SAID: "But
ye shall receive power (authority)
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you, and ye shall be witnesses unto
Me..."
"In
the last day, that great day of the
feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If
any man thirst, let him come unto Me
and drink. He that believeth on Me, as
the Scripture hath said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living
water. But this He spoke of the
Spirit, which they that believe on Him
should receive..."
(Acts 1:8; John 7:37-38)
The
word that Jesus used to describe the
impact of the Holy Spirit in the life
of a believer is 'dunamis',
out of which we get the word
'DYNAMITE'! St. Paul's prayer for
the Church;
best describes
the Holy Spirit's impact upon a
believer.
"That
the God of our LORD Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give unto you the
Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of Him." "The eyes
of your understanding being
enlightened; that ye may know what is
the hope of His calling, and what the
riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints."
"And
what is the exceeding greatness of His
power to us - ward who believe,
according to the working of His mighty
power, which He wrought in Christ,
when He raised Him from the dead, and
set Him at His own right Hand in the
heavenly places,"
"Far
above all principality, and power, and
might, and dominion, and every name
that is named, not only in this world,
but also in that which is to come: And
hath put all things under His feet,
and gave Him to be Head over all
things to the Church, Which is His
body, the fullness of Him that filleth
all in all." (Ephesians
1: 17-23)
JESUS
MADE A COMPARISON BETWEEN
THOSE WHO
HEARD HIS WORD AND ACTED AND THOSE WHO DID NOT !
THE
WISE MAN BUILT HIS HOUSE UPON A
ROCK.....THE FOOLISH MAN BUILT HIS
HOUSE UPON THE SAND.
Jesus
drew a comparison between those who
heard His Word and acted upon it and
those who did not! Here are His
timeless Words: "Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of
Mine, and doeth them, I will
liken him unto a WISE MAN who built,
which
built his house upon a rock:
And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and
beat upon
that house; and
it fell not; for it was founded upon a
rock."
"And
every one that heareth these sayings
of Mine and doeth them not, is likened
unto a FOOLISH MAN, which built
his house upon the sand: And
the rains descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat
upon that house; and
it fell: and great was the fall of
it."
(Matthew 7: 24-27)
Jesus
said: "Hearken; Behold a sower
went out to sow: And it came to pass,
as he sowed,
some
fell by the wayside, and the
fowls of the air came and devoured it
up."
"And
some fell on stony ground,
where it had not much earth; and
immediately it sprang up, because it
had no depth of earth: But when the
sun was up, it was scorched: and
because it had no root, it withered
away."
"And
some fell among thorns, and the
thorns grew up, and choked it, and it
yielded no fruit. And
other fell
on good ground, and did yield
fruit that sprang up and increased;
and brought forth, some thirty, and
some sixty, and some an hundred."
(Mark 4: 3-8)
JESUS
MADE IT PLAIN THAT WHEN THE
WORD OF
GOD IS SOWN, IMMEDIATELY THE DEVIL
COMES TO STEAL THE WORD
In
this parable, Jesus made it plain that
when the Word of God is sown, immediately
the devil comes to steal the Word.
(John 10:15)
Our Lord stated that Satan came
to "steal, kill and
destroy". (John 10:10)
The
seed that was sown on STONY GROUND
speaks of those "who
have heard the Word, immediately
receive it with gladness; And have no
root
in themselves, and so endure but for a
time: afterward when affliction
or persecution ariseth for the Word's sake, immediately they are
offended." (John 10: 18,19)
The
seed sown AMONG THORNS refers to: "such
as hear the Word, and the cares of
this world,
And the deceitfulness of riches, and
the lusts of other things entering in,
choke the Word, and it
becometh unfruitful."
(John 10:18,19)
And
finally, the seed that fell on GOOD
GROUND are:
"such
as hear the Word, and receive it, and
bring forth fruit, some thirty fold,
some sixty, and some an
hundred." (John
10: 20)
JESUS
DOESN'T RECOGNIZE THOSE "WHO
RECEIVE THE WORD WITH GLADNESS
BUT
FALL AWAY"
JESUS
doesn't recognize those "who
receive the Word with gladness, but
fall away"
or those who
"hear
the Word and become unfruitful because
of the cares, pleasures and lusts of
this world" as
GENUINE believers.
Our
Lord separates believers –
"such
as hear the Word, and receive it, and
bring forth fruit" - into
three groups: "some
thirty fold, some sixty and some an
hundred."
JESUS
DESIRES FRUIT IN HIS FOLLOWERS
JESUS
DESIRES FRUIT in His followers! He
stated: "I
am the true vine, and My Father is the
husbandman. Every branch in Me that
beareth not fruit He taketh away: and
every branch that beareth fruit, He PURGETH
it,
that it may bring forth more
fruit."
"Abide
in Me. and I in you. As the branch
cannot bear fruit of itself, except it
abide in the vine; no more can ye,
except ye abide in Me. I
am the vine, ye are the branches: He
that abideth in Me, and I in him, the
same bringeth forth much fruit: for
without Me ye can do nothing."
"If
a man abide not in Me, he is cast
forth as a branch, and is withered;
and men gather them, and cast them
into the fire, and they are
burned." (John 15: 1-6)
JESUS
PUTS BELIEVERS IN 3 CATEGORIES:
30% - 60% - 100%
Jesus
places believers in three categories:
thirty percent, sixty percent and one
hundred percent! The famous American
Evangelist, D.L.
Moody said: "The FIRST
CLASS", are those who got to
Calvary and there got life. They
believed on the Son and were saved,
and there they rested satisfied. They
did not seek anything higher..
THIRD
CLASS - 30% CHRISTIANS
Moody
continued: "You
might safely say, I think, without
exaggeration, that 19 out of 20
Christians have just got life and
have settled down, and have not sought
for power."
SECOND
CLASS - 60% CHRISTIANS
The
SECOND CLASS, Moody calls, 'a better
class of Christian' asserting
"the
secret of the Holy Spirit's coming
in power to the believer is the
individual's complete surrender to
the Saviour. And we do not need to
wait upon God to do something for us.
Hes waiting for us to yield ourselves
to Him."
FIRST
CLASS - 100% CHRISTIANS
Moody
points to John 7: 37,38, where we
read: "out
of whose belly (innermost being) shall
flow rivers of living
water." He
says: "This
is the BEST CLASS;
this
is the kind of Christian we ought to
be."
A
number of years ago,,
Rev. Ray Brubaker of 'Good
News Behind The News', wrote
the article, 'God's
Message to This Generation', in
which he gave his personal testimony
of being miraculously healed and
filled with the Holy Spirit! He quotes
great preachers, who have been used of
God, because they were empowered with
the Blessed Holy Spirit.
He
says: "As Moody stated, 'Pentecost
was only a specimen day', Moody
calls attention to the fact that for
thirty years our Lord lived in
obscurity in Nazareth. Then, there
came a day when we read where Jesus
was "full
of the Holy Ghost."
JESUS
SAID, "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS
UPON ME"
Coming
back to Nazareth after His victorious
encounter over Satan, in the
wilderness we read where He entered
the temple and read from Isaiah.."the
Spirit of the Lord is upon Me."
From thence,
"for three years we find Him
preaching the kingdom of God, casting
out devils and raising the
dead..."
MOODY
concludes:
"If
the Son of God has got to be anointed,
do not His disciples need it, and
shall we not seek it, and shall we
barely rest with conversion?"
When
there were those who took exception to
Moody's reference to receiving the
Holy Spirit, or his messages on the
baptism of the Spirit, TORREY relates
how Moody would reply: "Why
will they split hairs? Why don't
they see that this is just the
one thing that they themselves
need?"
DO
CHRISTIANS KNOW WHO WERE ARE ?
Being
a follower of Jesus is serious
business. Let us strive to live for
Him, in such a manner that we are in
the one
hundred percent category,
because we love Him and desire to
bring forth godly fruit!
GOD
KNOW WHO WE ARE 'IN CHRIST' AND
THE DEVIL KNOWS WHO WE ARE 'IN CHRIST'
The
sad fact is that God knows who we are 'in
Christ' and the devil knows who
we are 'in
Christ',
but we don't seem to know who
we are 'in
Christ'.
DO
YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE 'IN CHRIST'
My
Christian friend, 'Do
you know who you are in Christ'? In
the event, that anyone reading this
message, does not know or has
forgotten who you are in Christ, let
me inform you or refresh your memory,
of your standing before God and man!
IF
YOU ARE BORN AGAIN, YOU ARE:
1)
A Child of God
"Behold,
what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us, that we should be
called the sons of God...Beloved, now
are we the sons of God.." (1 John
3:1,3)
2)
An heir of God; a joint heir with
Jesus
Christ
"The
Spirit Himself bears witness with our
spirit, that we are the children of
God: And if children, then heirs;
heirs of God and joint heirs with
Christ; if so be that we suffer with
Him, that we may be also glorified
together." (Romans 8: 16,17)
3)
A king and a priest unto God
"And
from Jesus Christ, Who is the faithful
witness, and the first begotten of the
dead, and the prince of the kings of
the earth. Unto Him that loved us: And
washed us from our sins in His own
blood, and hath made us kings and
priests unto God and His Father; to
Him be glory and dominion forever and
ever. Amen." (Revelation 1:
5,6)
4)
A temple of the Holy Spirit
"Know
ye not that ye are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in
you? If any man defile the temple of
God, him shall God destroy; for the
temple of God is holy, which temple ye
are." (1 Corinthians 3: 16,17;
1Corinthians 6: 19; 2 Corinthians 6:
16)
5)
Bone of Jesus' bone and flesh of His
flesh
"For
we are members of His body, of His
flesh and of His bones."
(Ephesians 5: 30)
6)
A member of the body of Christ
"Know
ye not that your bodies are the member
of Christ? Shall I take then the
members of Christ, and make them the
members of an harlot? God
forbid." (1 Corinthians 6: 15;
Ephesians 5: 23,30)
7)
An ambassador of the kingdom of God
"Now
then we are ambassadors for Christ, as
though God did beseech you by us: we
pray you in Christ's stead, be ye
reconciled to God." (2
Corinthians 5: 20)
8)
A representative of Christ and His
gospel
"And
all things are of God, Who has
reconciled us to Himself by Jesus
Christ, and hath given to us the
ministry of reconciliation. To wit (that
is) that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto Himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto
them; and hath committed unto us the
ministry of reconciliation." (2
Corinthians 5: 18,19)
9)
A lively stone in the building of God
"Ye
also, as lively stones, are built up a
spiritual house, an holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ." (1 Peter 2: 5)
10)
An epistle of God seen and read
of
all men
"Ye
are our epistle written in our hearts,
known and read of all men. Forasmuch
as ye are manifestly declared to be
the epistle of Christ ministered by
us, written not with ink, but with the
Spirit of the living God; not in
tables of stone, but in fleshly tables
of the heart." (2 Corinthians 3:
2,3)
11)
An Overcomer through the blood of
Christ
"For
whosoever is born of God overcometh
the world: And this is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our
faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that
Jesus is the Son of God," (1 John
5: 4,5; Romans 12: 21; Revelation 2:
7)
12)
More than a conqueror through
Jesus Christ
"Who
shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect? It is God that
justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?
It is Christ that died, yeah rather,
that is risen again, who is even at
the right hand of God, Who also maketh
intercession for us"
"Who
shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay,
in all these things, we are more than
conquerors through Him that loved
us." (Rom. 8:33-38)
God
says:
"My people are destroyed for
lack
of wisdom." (Hosea 4: 6).
This treatise has been prepared with
the assistance of the blessed Holy
Spirit, in order to help correct the
devastating problem of 'Spiritual
Amnesia', in the 'Body of Christ'.
PLEASE
READ THESE WORDS AND ALLOW
THE BLESSED HOLY SPIRIT TO WORK IN
YOUR LIFE AND HEART
PLEASE
STUDY the words that I have shared
with you - from the depths of my
heart
- and allow the blessed Holy
Spirit to work mightily in your heart
and life! Believe these words: "But
my God shall supply all your needs
according to His riches in glory by
Christ Jesus. Now unto God and
our Father, be glory for ever and
ever. Amen," (Philippians 4:
19,20)
"Therefore
I say unto you: What things so ever ye
desire, when ye pray, believe that ye
receive them, and ye shall have them.
And all things, whatsoever ye shall
ask in prayer, believing, ye shall
receive."
(Mark 11:24; Matthew 21: 22)
)
"Now
unto Him, Who is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that
worketh in us,
Unto Him be glory in the Church
by Christ Jesus throughout all ages,
world without end." (Ephesians 3:
20, 21)
And
St. Peter declared, "Repent and
be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins, and ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost". (Acts 2:38)
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