Many believers long for a life of consistency
and victory over sin.
But unfortunately for many, the Christian life is
an up-and-down experience of an inconsistent
walk with God, which I call Elevator Christianity.
Elevator Christianity is where our walk with God
is like an elevator.
One day, you are up in the penthouse
suite, enjoying victory and close fellowship with God.
And then, incredibly, the next day or so,
you are down in the basement of defeat
through sin.
Rather than enjoying a life of consistency with
God, you keep falling into old sin patterns.
And this results in an up-and-down
walk with God.
It's frustrating and tiring as we become sick
and tired of a life of inconsistency.
In order to enter a more consistent, victorious
walk with God, we need to end Elevator
Christianity.
And to do this, we need to pinpoint
the problem that goes along with it.
Proverbs 28.13 declares, He that covereth his
sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and
forsaketh them shall have mercy.
We need to come to the realization that
confession and repentance are different from one another.
Our text says that, Proverbs says, to confess
and forsake sin, we need to do both.
But many individuals only stop at confessing sin.
Let me use the illustration of the practicing
Catholic who goes to a priest to confess
sin.
He'll walk into a church and there find
a confessional booth.
And there, that person will enter it and
make a confession of specific sins to a
priest, who then will offer them forgiveness if
they do penance.
Penance means for the Catholic that they will
have to go back to their pew and
sit there with their rosary in their hand
and say five Hail Marys or seven Our
Fathers, depending on how the priest determines their
penance for that particular sin.
Next time they commit the same sin, they'll
come back to the church, return to the
priest, and repeat the same process of confession
and penance.
But before we point our theological finger at
the Catholic, there's a lot of Baptists who
pretty much do the same thing.
We keep falling into the same sin over
and over again.
We keep confessing it to God, but never
turn from it and have no victory over
it.
There's much confusion, friends, between confession and repentance.
In confession, one keeps drifting back and repeating
the same sin over and over again.
In repentance, you turn from it completely.
As long as Ephraim was joined to his
idols, God left him alone.
The prophets called on the people of God
to forsake their idols and sin.
Any sin that you fondly coddle in your
bosom or tolerate in your life will hinder
God's best for you.
There must be a clean break with that
sin.
It must be cast away as a filthy
thing.
Like in Isaiah 30.22, it says to
break off from one's idols.
You shall defile also the covering of thy
graven images of silver and the ornament of
thy molten images of gold.
Thou shalt cast them away as a monstrous
cloth.
Thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.
The first way to end elevator Christianity is
to pinpoint the problem of our up and
down walk with God by distinguishing what Proverbs
28.13 declares in the difference between confession
and repentance.
We must do both.
Now that we have pinpointed the difference between
confession and repentance and acknowledge our need for
both, we can now focus our attention on
the second aspect of how to end elevator
Christianity and that is through the spirit-filled
life.
Listen friends, the Christian life is impossible to
live in the flesh.
We must have power from above.
Ephesians 5.18 declares, And be not drunk
with wine wherein is excess, but be filled
with the Spirit.
And it is here, in this part of
the message friend, that I want to take
the time to speak on the doctrine of
the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
This can be a real turning point in
your life for ending elevator Christianity.
There is victory for the believer who is
willing to bow daily and hourly to the
sovereignty of Christ and to the authority of
the Word.
We receive the Holy Spirit at the time
of our conversion.
But we must realize that the Holy Spirit
can be present without being president.
He can be dormant without being dominant.
He can be resident without reigning.
Sin is a harming and hindering element for
the Christian.
Because of sin, the Holy Spirit can be
quenched and grieved in a believer's life.
But when sin is exposed and self is
executed, the Holy Spirit can fill to overflowing
and anoint with authority and power.
This fullness of the Holy Spirit is not
only a blessing to be experienced, but an
imperative to be obeyed.
God gets serious with those who get serious
with Him.
I like what R.
A.
Torrey taught in this regard.
He said, if you want more of the
Holy Spirit, then be prepared to let the
Holy Spirit have more of you.
Well, I hope this little message friend on
ending elevator Christianity will result in a deeper
and more consistent walk with God all for
His glory.