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E V E R Y D A Y L I G H T
Daily readings to help you see Jesus' light in your life
by Selwyn Hughes
Too Cramped for Comfort
"'where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (v.17, NKJ)
-- For reading & meditation: 2 Corinthians 3:1-18
We continue looking at the view of the Church as a religious or
divine institution. Those who see the Church in this light believe
(as we said) that the Church exists independently of the
congregation. It is easy to see how anyone holding this view of the
Church will have little interest in the subject of spiritual revival.
They will be interested not in commotion or fervency, but in order
and stability. They will not merely regard revival as irrelevant, but
as downright messy, even injurious. It interferes with the smooth
functioning of the services and cuts across the well-established
forms and ceremonies. The revivals of the past have always been
opposed by those who have seen the Church as an institution, for the
work of the Spirit cannot be brought under human control. A revival
can be untidy and undignified, with people crying out in the midst of
a sermon, or striking up a hymn at a seemingly inappropriate time.
Whenever institutional Christianity has been faced with a movement of
the Spirit that did not fit into its preconceived ideas of how the
Church should function, it has immediately set its face against it.
During the Middle Ages, when the Church as an institution was at its
strongest, the Spirit tried to break in and reveal Himself to His
people, but as history clearly records, the leaders resisted these
breezes from the Spirit. As a result, those who felt the Spirit's
touch abandoned the institutional church and met together to enjoy
Spirit-directed activity and worship. I do not think God despises
institutional Christianity; it's just that sometimes it gets too
cramped for comfort, and He has to move out.
PRAYER:
O Father, help me to have a right view of the Church for I see that
the way I look at this, and every, issue affects all my attitudes.
And help me to take Your way, even though it cuts across my nature.
Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
Matt. 9:16-17; Acts 5:12-42; 8:6; Isa. 61:10; 1 Pet. 1:8
1. What did Jesus teach?
2. What does revival bring with it?
Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
http://link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.7.26371.1.1698058
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Copyright 2002 Selwyn Hughes, CWR, Waverley Abbey House,
Waverley Lane, Farnham, Surrey, England. Come to
http://link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.7.26371.2.1698058
for more inspirational devotions by Selwyn Hughes.
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