Spiritual Rebellion
This has been a bitter sweet week for me. I have had a wonderful time with the Spirit of God as I have prepared my sermon for Sunday, but then received tragic news of moral failure in ministry. Although not new revelation or theology, it is so important that we understand that a relationship with Jesus has be about His glory not my felt needs.
Many are leaving the church and abandoning the core tenets that have been the foundation of belief. They were raised by Christian parents, but they feel boxed in by denominations or doctrines; others are turned off by right-wing politics; others are rethinking abortion, homosexuality or even the need for marriage. They want a kinder, gentler, softer Christianity that is acceptable to secular culture rather than one that confronts and contradicts it.
An entire generation is being lured down a different path—one that mixes Christianity with other religions, throws out biblical morality and celebrates spiritual rebellion. It is one of the greatest challenges the church faces today. Not only that, we have young adults who have been raised in a Pentecostal church where the gifts of the Holy Spirit have not been encouraged nor are they allowed in the church service and these young people do not see the need for them any longer. Those things were for a different time and no longer seen as acceptable in the twenty-first century. We have a generation of young adults who need to repent and get back to the altar.
2 Tim 4:2-4
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
NIV
We are deaf if we don’t hear the alarm bells ringing. America’s faith is waning and dark spiritual forces are at work behind the scenes. Most of what is coming out of the Emergent Church Movement today is clearly heresy. You can be sure of this, any teaching that denies the Lordship of Jesus Christ, promotes immorality, focuses too much on money, and encourages the mixing of religions is false teaching.
My encouragement to those young adults who have been told that the move of the Holy Spirit is different in the twenty-first century, go read the book of Acts and 1 and 2 Corinthians and see how God moved in the first century to turn a world upside down. God never changes, only the hearts and minds of man as they try to figure out how to meet their own needs. Find a church where the gifts of the Holy Spirit are still practiced and encouraged. The benefits are beyond imagination and the relationship you will build with the Holy Spirit will transform your life forever.
After service this past week a fellow, who has been attending for a few weeks, told me, “It is so refreshing to hear tongues and interpretation again in the church.” I heard that a young lady said after the service, “I have never heard tongues and interpretation given by two different people. It brought tears to my eyes.” Even though there are those who would like to see what God has given to the church, to be build it up and edified, go by the waste side. The hope for the world in the twenty-first century is Jesus Christ as Lord and a Pentecostal Church full of the supernatural working power of the Holy Spirit and God’s glory shining out of the lives of His people.
If we believe that the Apostle Paul had the inspiration of the Holy Spirit when he wrote scripture then let’s listen to what he had to say.
1 Cor 14:26-27
26 What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.
NIV
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