I am a Property of Jesus - Part 6 - Dr. Charles Mahlangu

Have given me the excuse to sink to such
A level of depraved bitterness and hatred?
I hate those other brothers so much
I have to pretend when I greet them
I hate what I have become.


Given the demands for routine every day Christianity
"The Lord has created a hunger for reconciliation"
The word of God is amazingly comprehensive
Even when it is tough!

I see now where I have allowed my tongue
To cause a rift between me and my brother
I have taken it upon myself to resolve this issue
Which is an abomination to the Lord."
When was the last time you heard a sermon
Directed to THOUGHTS
To MOTIVES of the heart
To ATTITUDES of godliness in this life
To matters of deep-seated MENTAL defences
To excuses Christians make to avoid obedience
To athleticism in the THOUGHT domain
To gymnastics!


For our sermons tend to dwell on trivial pursuit
Of ephemeral exterior blessings
Versus internal transformation of MINDSETS and behaviours
Our testimonies tend to be subjective
Empty
Glorification of the lust of the eye
As well as the pride of life!
We thank God for what He is doing to us, for us!
When we petulantly demand our own ways
Like children we emulate so much!
Listen to our songs!
Examine the theology of our worship
It's me, me, mine, glory, hallelujah!
It's inconceivable to worship without glorifying the ego
For the songs are not about sanctification that much!
Or questions about God's demand on us
Or matters of godliness
Or issues of CRITIQUING the invasion of sin in subtle forms
Even when choruses attempt to use Scripture
The subject is personal happiness
Personal fulfilment in pleasure
Personal enhancement
Personal wealth or "good things"
God will do good things for you!
The songs are not about my stewardship!
That is too demanding to THINK about being a slave!
The songs are not about being bondservants!
They are not about being prisoners of Christ all the time.
They are not about my obligation to forgive my brother
Or to meet his physical, material needs now


Dichotomous Christianity has invaded the believer
So that to be Biblical is too costly or transcendent
To be mediocre is prized as being spiritual
For the struggle is not to integrate the Word
In thought, habit, action and experience
The contemporary demand is to be ordinary
When it comes to Biblicism
"You don't want to be neurotic about what the Bible says.
Enjoy Jesus!
Think less, enjoy more!
Float in the Spirit"
Precious little referred to the volitional!
The need for totality in following Christ
In allowing control in all of our lives
Be it matters social, cultural, political
Be it domestic in the home, the nucleus of society
Be it in matters vocational


The New Testament was written to remind the redeemed
That the Redeemer wanted desperately to invade
Every inch of life.
Yet Diane deliberately and arrogantly
Excludes Christ from her romance
For Christ calls fornication an abomination
The whole Bible thunders against sexual promiscuity
Diane wants the facade of being a follower of Christ
Without giving her all to the Lord
What kind of Lordship is that?
Did Baal demand only 20 or 30 percent of devotion?
Did Ashtoreth demand of her Canaanite devotees
Only a part of their lives?
What about the burnt bodies of children sacrificed
To Chemosh?
The devotees of these man-made Satanic gods
Gave a hundred percent devotion to a their masters.


Yet Diane would have us believe
That God the Father lives in her
Along with God the Son
As well as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
Who owns the temple (Diane's body)
All live in her as a New Testament believer.
"If you are the temple of the Holy Spirit
Don't you find it, doesn't it strike you
As the height of incongruity to misuse
The Spirit's body - which is you, Diane?
Isn't it the very essence of confusion
To disabuse the property of the Lord
To copulate with your boyfriend
At the slightest impulse?
When you pledged allegiance to Jesus Christ
As the Lord of Lords and King and Kings in you
You lost property rights to indulge
Your body into sin!
Technically, you don't have a body any more!
Yet with all the bravado of sin and pride
You misappropriate the Spirit's property
To fulfil your lust that can never be fulfilled
Anyway!


Didn't you find that, doesn't it strike you
As the epitome of imbecility?
You have the temerity to lie, cheat and worst of all,
Steal the Lord's property
While claiming to have "peace" with God
When you read the Word?
Dichotomous imbecility!


No freedom!
Diane, you have no freedom!
You lost all individual human rights
When you pledged your allegiance to Jesus Christ
To follow him in totality with no conditions
You have no democratic rights in Christ
You have no individual egocentric privileges any more
For even your volitional powers are no longer
For the pursuit of personal direction!
Someone took over as the sole arbiter of your life
You have no personal agenda of life any more
Someone is presiding over his agenda of interests
Demanding your powers of vocational choices
Demanding the keys of your life as it were
Since he has presided over your destiny
Seeking even future choices of marital spouse
Seeking even to control the choice of your vocation
Seeking to move you anywhere in the world
To fulfil His design for your life.
For remember, Diane, that you chose to make Him king.
In doing so then,
You surrendered your democratic inalienable rights
To espouse
To embrace
To acknowledge His agenda as yours unambiguously.


For that reason Paul could say:
"Even though I live
Yet it is no long I who live
But Christ lives in me
The life I live in the flesh I live by faith
Believing in the Son of God who loved me and
Gave himself for me" Gal 2:20


"For me to live is Christ
And to die is gain"


What a new agenda of interests to follow!
He could encourage the Colossian Christians
Who needed constant reminding like you:
“As you have received Christ Jesus
So walk in him accordingly”
Learning the new demands
Adjusting to His new leadership style in your lives
Submitting to His modus operandi
So that eventually His agenda is fully produced
In your behaviours and lifestyle concretely!
When the Christians were beginning
To experience difficulties in the new faith


To be continued

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 05, 2010 . You can leave a response and follow any responses to this entry through the Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) .

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