Word of the Week by Penn Clark

ARE YOU DEAD YET?

In Genesis 2:17, the Lord promised Adam that if he ate of the tree he would die: "…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

Yet when Adam’s teeth broke through the skin of the fruit, he did not fall over dead. He still had a pulse. In fact, it would be several hundred years before he would actually return to the dust he came from. Adam died physically at age 930, but he really did die the moment he took that first bite. He died spiritually.

In Romans 8:1, the apostle Paul wrote to Spirit-filled Christians giving them almost the same warning God spoke to Adam: “For if you live according to the dictates of the flesh, you will surely die.”

Christians can have been born-again, but spiritually dead, depending on what part of their being they yield to most. For that matter, entire churches can experience spiritual death.

Before we were born-again, we were dead in our sins. When received Jesus we experienced our first personal revival or awaking. Yet even though we were once alive onto God in Christ, it is possible to die again, otherwise Paul would never have written this warning to the Christians at Rome. Neither would Jesus have told the church at Sardis that while they thought they were alive, He actually considered them dead. They were dead but did not know it. There is nothing deader than a dead Pentecostal church. Jesus had also warned the church at Ephesus that if they did not repent He would remove their candlestick, which was their light, life, and liberty.

We die when we give ourselves over to our flesh, rather than to the Spirit of Christ within us. To be carnally-minded (inclined to yield to the flesh) produces spiritual death:

Romans 8:5-9 "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His."

Remember, the apostle Paul was warning Spirit-filled Christians that this could happen to them if they were to become given over to their sinful nature again: “For if you live according to the dictates of the flesh, you will surely die.” (Romans 8:1)

MORE THAN A MATTER OF FORGIVENESS

One woman prayed, as she fell into the arms of another man, “Father, forgive us for what we are about to do.” Today, many Christians commit sin thinking that all they have to do is ask for forgiveness afterwards. Don't be deceived by this deadly trap. While you can be forgiven for anything inside of sixty seconds, it may take a long time to recover from the spiritual death that is at work in us afterwards. For some, they don’t fully recover or get back the freedom they once had. They become dead men walking.

The fact is the devil does not really care if you actually sin or not, as long as you experience spiritual death and believe you are separated from God. That is all he is really after.

For that matter, the biggest issue with the Father is not so much whether we sin or not, but how we respond when we do. Do we run from Him or do we run to Him? This is the message of First John, chapters one and two. "Don't sin... but when you do... come to Jesus. This is how we begin to experience newness of life again, but sometimes it takes time.

WHAT DOES DEATH LOOKS LIKE?

Separation from God: After Adam died, God came down in the cool of the day to have fellowship with Adam, but this fellowship was broken that day. Adam removed himself from God’s presence. Genesis 3:8,9 "And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, `Where are you?’"

Loss of Hearing His Voice: There is no evidence that Adam ever heard from God the same again. Genesis 3:10 "So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

The First Fear: All of our fear goes back to Adam. Not all fear is proof of spiritual death, but chronic fears can be in indicator. Genesis 3:10 "So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

Loss of Position and Placement: Genesis 3:22-24 "Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"; therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life."

You are no longer used by God the same way. He removes you from the standing you once had. Sometimes people see how God still provides for them and mistakenly takes it as a sign that everything is alright with Him. This is not a confirmation, it is a consolation. In Genesis 3:21, we see where God continued to provide for Adam even though everything had changed between them. "Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them."

The gifts and callings from God are not something that He takes away from us. The fact that they still operate is not proof of God’s blessing on our behavior. This factor has been the down-fall of many people in ministry. Sampson was gifted but carnal. At one point in time, he did not realize that God was no longer with him.

SOWING ALL OVER AGAIN

It will require that we sow to the Spirit again, which is doing what we should have done in the first place:

Galatians 6:7, 8 "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

Little steps of disobedience can cause spiritual death in the same way that little steps of obedience can cause life to flow again: Sowing to the flesh or sowing to the spirit, reaping death or life is all within our power and not something that God determines. We can have a lot more spiritual life, light, and liberty if we would just sow towards it. The idea of sowing is not doing one big thing; one big act of contrition or sacrifice, but consistently doing those little things that we know please the Lord. This can lead to a spiritual revival.

HOW TO KNOW IF YOU ARE DEAD

You are not breathing: The word spirit and the word breath is the same word in the Greek. There must be an inflow and an outflow of the Spirit to indicate that we are “breathing” life. Are you being affected by the Spirit and are you affecting others by the Spirit? Usually this is characterized by a marked decline in your giving on every level.

You are cold: Is your heart cold? Is your faith is cold? Are your prayers are cold? The opposite of this is what we call being “on fire” with zeal or passion.

You are unresponsive: Are you unresponsive to what He is saying and doing in your midst. You are unaffected by worship or preaching. If you sit through a time of worship wishing you the meeting would move on to the next part, but when it comes, you cannot wait for that part of the meeting to get over either. Then when the meeting is finally over, and you cannot wait to get out of church or go on to the meal. If this is your condition you should admit that you are a dead man walking. You no longer sense His presence, while others around you seem to be feeling something. You no longer feel Him drawing you near to Himself. If anything, you can live your life without Him or tend to avoid Him… yet still go to church.

You cannot see or hear: Dead men do not see or hear. If you are dead, the scriptures will no longer speak to you. You do not have any sense of consistent personal revelation from God’s word. You listen to message after message but they no longer touch your heart or spur you on. Your heart is not warmed by the word. You cannot remember the last time you heard the voice of the Lord. You do not have a compelling vision for your life.

You are no longer moving: You are not getting anywhere. You are not really growing. You are dealing with the same issues you always had. Your life does not change. You are not in motion, going toward the revealed will of God nor do you have the ambition to pursue His purposes.

You stay the same: You may repeatedly ask for forgiveness, but never really change. You eat, but have no real spiritual appetite or sense of spiritual satisfaction.

Personal revival is what happens when we come back to life. In fact, the word revival means to make alive or restore to life. If you are dead, you are a candidate for revival. You just have to admit it to begin the process. The same is true in our churches, where we do not see the signs of life then we need to be resuscitated by having Him breathe new life into us. Acknowledge your true condition; ask Him to draw you back to Himself. Ask Him to grant you repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth. Insist that He work a lasting work in you, changing whatever needs changed. Repent of the smallest thing that comes to mind, make things right with everyone you can, start giving and going again, whether you feel any different or not. If you sow to the Spirit you will reap life, if you do not quite the process.

Romans 8:5,6 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

With every blessings, Penn