All through the history of the Church we see a fierce and bloody battle, and it is all about spirituality. The devil had been raging war against the spirituality of the Church. Right from the birth of the Church the spiritual ground of the Church had been attached. The devil knows that the Church can only grow on the ground of true spirituality and if he can displaced the Church on this ground then he would stunt the growth of the Church and arrest her mission. Today the devil have succeeded in many ways and Christians no longer know their spiritual ground. But let us look into the battle right from the birth of the Church to this day so that we might be awaken to the reality of this raging battle.

From the time the Church was born she has very little understanding of the spiritual but she was filled with the Spirit and she has access to the spiritual. All that the disciples knew was the physical Jesus, the one who lived and walk among them. God wanted His people to know Him by spirit because He is a Spirit. But the disciples were too blinded by the Jesus in the flesh that they couldn't see beyond that flesh into the spirit where they were born and planted. Then God chose Paul who hasn't known the Jesus in the flesh and sent him to reveal to the Church the Jesus according to the spirit. Paul was sent to establish the spiritual bases of the Church, he was to be use as an instrument to bring the Church from the level of carnality into spirituality.

Through Paul the Church would learn that being a child of the covenant is not base on carnal things such as circumcision but on the spiritual workings of Christ in us when he circumcise us by removing the flesh and reconstituted us into a spiritual people. Right there, there was a shift from the carnal to the spiritual and spirituality was advancing. Another shift took place when the Church learnt that our justification is not by the works of the law, it is not by doing all those physical things prescribed by the law that we earn a ground to fellowship with God. Fellowship with God is not on the ground of our carnal works (works produce by human effort) but on the spiritual accomplishment of Christ. We have shifted from a carnal ground to a spiritual ground.

We approach God on a spiritual ground and fellowship with Him on that spiritual ground. Our spiritual ground is Christ and all he did on the cross. Our relationship with God take place on this spiritual ground and is governed by the principles of the cross. As the Church grow she was shifting to this spiritual ground where she is being established. The devil won't have us on this ground, he wants to bring us back into his own ground (which is the ground of carnality) where he could have dominion over us. And right there the battle line was drawn.

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The Church was severely attached and the attack was concentrated on getting her off her spiritual ground. Looking very closely at all the heresy that rose against the Gospel, they were mainly attacks on the spiritual ground of the Church. The battle that is found in the book of Galatians was all about the devils attempt to bring the Christian from the spiritual ground of depend on the spiritual significant of what Christ has done as the qualification for sonship to the carnal ground of depending on the physical act of circumcision as the qualification of belonging to the covenant. It is a contention to shift the Church until she fall out of her spiritual position.

Look again at the book of Corinthians, what is the contention all about? Paul was fighting as a faithful soldier of Christ to rescue the church in Corinth who had once learnt of the their spiritual position but yet not standing in it. Paul was showing them that they are not in their spiritual position, they have been shifted by the devil and now they need to reestablish themselves in this spiritual position. Now in the book of Colossians, there we found the same battle of spirituality. The church was giving in to human wisdom, philosophy and mysteries. They have left their spiritual position and they started depending a long list of "touch not; taste not; handle not;" (Col 2:21). They've lost their spirit position and they have travel far into the land of carnality. Paul's epistle to the church in Colossi was an attempt to win back the lost and wandering sheep into the spiritual ground from which they were bred.

It has always been a battle of spirituality, a battle to contend against the advancing horde of carnility sweeping through the Church. The devil keep raising up men that would bear the flag of carnality even in camp of the Church of God. The devil keep finding his way through the natural man; the wisdom of the natural man, the ability of the natural man, and the perception of the natural man. The natural man is always trying to get things on to a natural basis. He must bring everything on to the basis of natural reason, human mentality. He must be able to reason the thing through, to comprehend, to compass the thing with his reason. A very great deal of Christianity is just man taking hold of the Bible, of Christian truth, Christian doctrine, Christian things, and interpreting and applying them by natural reason. And these leads to the emergence of something carnal, a caricature, an abomination. The natural man cannot grasp the things of the spirit. Many of what we have in Christianity today is the attempt of the natural man in all his reasoning, wisdom and ability trying to lay hold on spiritual things to comprehend the things of the divine.

Lovely piece.
It is bad that these days, many Christian groups or churches are too mechanical in their teachings. They are so given to "does and don'ts" than worshiping God in Spirit. They want to fix everything under the law and excuse some of their weaknesses by it. That is why you hear many argue on whether masturbation, alcoholism, pornography, clubbing etc are sin. Now, many equate God's blessings with material wealth.
So many practices are being smuggled into the church daily, and people are so gullible that they swallow all the poisonous substances embellished with few Biblical truth to make it palatable, because you can only poison a dog with it's food.
So many of us are so weak to be on guard but so infallible to accept corrections. Any unteachable believer, cannot follow God.

From the Epistles To The Corinthians 1

Now we are looking very closely at the epistles to the Corinthians in order to bring out the significant and the meaning of the battle revealed there. This church was planted in a city known as a place for pleasure seekers. This city provided a lot of indulgence for the carnal man and it has succeeded in actively engaging the carnal man. But despite the super-activeness of the carnal man the cry of the spirit for freedom could still be heard. As a result Paul was able to meet hungry souls when he brought the Gospel of salvation to Corinth. A church was soon plant on the spiritual ground established through the Gospel that Paul preached and Paul left the city with the assurance of their spiritual stand.

Surprisingly after some year Paul received news that the spiritual status of the church in Corinth had degraded. What went wrong? There was strife, division, adultery, incest and all kinds of evil. All these are clearly marks of carnality and spiritual degradation. They have lost their spiritual position, Paul understood this and brought the battle straight to the issue of spirituality. Right from the beginning of the epistle we can see the emphasis on spirituality and Paul was constantly trying to differentiate the carnal from the spiritual to show them were they stand.

"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1Cor 1:25).
"Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:" (1Cor 2:6-7).
"Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." (1Cor 2:13)
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1Cor 2:12,14)
"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ." (1Cor 3:1).

There we have it, the comparison between the spiritual and the carnal. The church in Corinth seems to have lost there spiritual perception that they could not tell the difference between the spiritual and carnal. Paul had to make clear the dividing line between the spiritual and the carnal so that they could see how far they have cross the line. Paul uses chapter one and two to show them how far they have left there spiritual position. What had happened to the church in Corinth is similar to today's Christianity. We have lost our spiritual perception and we can't tell the difference between that which is spiritual and that which is carnal. The reason we've lost our spiritual perception is because we've left true spirituality, we've cross the line and journeyed down into the land of carnality. Who would save us? Who would God use as a light to guide us back to our spiritual position?

FROM THE EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS (2)

Now we are in chapter three where Paul pointed to them the spiritual ground they have left, this spiritual ground was their foundation. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (1Cor 3:11). Christ was their foundation and Christ was the spiritual ground that they were planted. The moment another ground is introduce and another foundation is laid then we have left true spirituality and the devil have defeated us. We must be careful on what ground we are standing and on what foundation you are built. Take time, reflect back and ask yourself this question, are you truly planted on a foundation that is non other but Christ?

Still in chapter three Paul begins to dealt with individual areas where they have deviated from there spiritual position. The first that Paul talked about was division. Christ is one, Christ cannot be divided and if truly they are standing on true spirituality then they can't have division in their midst. Christ is one body and in him there is perfect harmony so where did they find division? It simply shows that they have left their spiritual position in Christ. They have falling into the ground of the devil where division exist in it rich varieties. Look at the world since the sin of Adam and what do you see? Brother turning against his fellow brother, division, schism, disintegrating, contradictions, conflict, in-group and out-group discrimination, denominational segregation and much more. These are nothing but signs of carnality, a result of the shifting from spirituality into the land of carnality where the devil rules. Do you find this sign in Christianity today? Do you see that division and schism is in much abundance among the Lord's people? This could only mean one thing, we have left our spiritual position and we are being defeated in the battle for spirituality.

Paul continued to drive in his point even down to chapter four. He began to show them the foolishness of glorying in man. We exhort men and boast that we belong to them. Some claim they are of Methodist, they are children of Wesley; another claim they are Lutheran, followers of Luther; yet another says they of of Peter the first Pope and we all ally ourselves with mere mortals. Who have bought us with a price? Who are we called to follow? Who is Lord over all? Isn't is Jesus Christ? We must pledge our allegiance to no other but Christ. It is foolishness and carnality that make us take pride in man. No matter how mightily God had use a man, no matter the quality that a man has we should always keep our eyes focus on Christ alone. Following a servant of God is not the same as following Christ. The old testament is far different from the new, for God has now put Christ in us so that we can each personally follow Christ. You don't need to ally yourself with another man but you must pledge your full and complete loyalty to Christ alone. Awaken from your foolishness, awaken from the tomb of carnality where the devil lies have buried you. Awaken into life, for true spirituality is life.

Inspiration


The Girl With 4 Boyfriends
.

Once upon a time there was this girl who had four boyfriends. She loved the 4th boyfriend the most and
adorned him with rich robes and treated him to the finest of delicacies. She gave him nothing but the best.


She also loved the 3rd boyfriend very much and was always showing him off to neighboring kingdoms. However, she feared that one day he would leave her for another. She also loved her 2nd boyfriend. He was her confidant and was always kind, considerate and patient with her. Whenever this girl faced a problem, she could confide in him, and he would
help her get through the difficult times.


The girl's 1st boyfriend was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions in maintaining her wealth and kingdom. However, she did not love the first boyfriend. Although he loved her deeply, she hardly took notice of him.
One day, the girl fell ill and she knew her time was short. She thought of her luxurious life and wondered, I now have four boyfriends with me, but when I die, I'll be all alone.


Thus, she asked the 4th boyfriend, I loved you the most, endowed you with the finest clothingand showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?' 'No way!', replied the 4th boyfriend, and he walked away without another word.


His answer cut like a sharp knife right into her heart. The sad girl then asked the 3rd boyfriend, 'I loved you all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?'
'No!', replied the 3rd boyfriend. 'Life is too good! When you die, I'm going to marry someone else!' Her heart sank and turned cold.


She then asked the 2nd boyfriend, 'I have always turned to you for help and you've always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?' 'I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!', replied the 2nd boyfriend. 'At the very most, I can only walk with you to your grave.'His answer struck her like a bolt of lightning, and the girl was devastated.


Then a voice called out: 'I'll go with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go.' The girl looked up, and there was her first boyfriend. He was very skinny as he suffered from malnutrition and neglect. Greatly grieved, the girl said, 'I should have taken much better care of you when I had the
chance!' In truth, you have 4 boyfriends in your lives:


Your 4th boyfriend is your body. No matter how much time and effort you lavish in making it look good, it will leave you when you die. Your 3rd boyfriend is your possessions, status
and wealth. When you die, it will all go to others. Your 2nd boyfriend is your family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for you, the furthest they can stay by you is up to the grave.


And your 1st boyfriend is your Soul, often neglected in pursuit of wealth, power and pleasures of the world. However, your Soul is the only thing that will follow you where ever you go. Cultivate, strengthen and cherish it now, for it is the only part of you that will follow you to the throne of God and continue with you throughout Eternity.


Thought for the day: Remember, when the world pushes you to your knees, you're in the perfect position to pray. Share this on to someone you care about - I just did.


Happy Juma'atul - Mubarakah.

FROM THE EPISTLE OF CORINTHIANS (3)

Let now go into chapter five as Paul moved on to identify ways that they have deviated from true spirituality. Here in chapter five we see Paul addressing the brethren in there midst that was committing incest. It seems like the church in Corinthians are even proud of the fact that someone was committing incest in there midst and Paul just couldn't believe this was happening. The major problem was that they were not resisting this carnaliy. True spirituality fights against any form of carnality. "For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit, and the [desires of the] Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature); for these are antagonistic to each other [continually withstanding and in conflict with each other], so that you are not free but are prevented from doing what you desire to do." (Gal 5:17). If the church in Corinth is tolerating such carnality it simply shows how far they have journeyed from true spirituality. Now Paul had to ask them to deal with that carnality. If they lost their spiritual position they would have done something about it long before Paul was brought into the issue.

A lot of Christians today love hearing things like this, they always want to contend against those who they think are going our of line. And many of us have attack fellow brethren in such brutal way. But look very closely how Paul ask them to dead with the issue. He said the person indulging in such carnality must be ostracize from the rest of the body. Some churches today also love to excommunicate brethren but we must also look at the condition of the early church. Now the members of a community of believer as at that time have a very close tie. They do everything together, they met almost everyday (if not everyday), they distribute money and food among each other and they struggle to survive together. That epoch was a very hard time, things were not as easy as they are these modern time and these community of believers learn to survive to gather, they were a team. Therefore to them being ostracize from the rest of the body is a very terrible thing and Paul recommended this because it would humble the person and cause him to repent.

"deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." (1Cor 5:5). The purpose of ostracizing this person was not mainly to punish him for what he had done but to make him repent. Paul also went further to warning them about the danger of harboring such carnality. It has the ability to spread and corrupt the whole member. If only we could understand the principles laid down here in chapter five the Church today would be able to purge out every form of carnality in her midst. There are much more to talk about concerning the principles set here but we have to move on to chapter six.

FROM THE EPISTLES OF CORINTHIANS (4)

Remember we are still talking about Paul pointing out ways by which the church in Corinth have deviated from their spiritual position. And also Paul was making an attempt to reconcile them back to this spiritual position. In chapter six Paul went on to talk about their dispute and how they were taking each other to court. We must understand that Paul was a man greatly concerned about the unity of God people - and this is true of every spiritual person. Look at the gospel of John chapter seventeen and you would see our Lord Jesus crying and asking the Father to make the Church strongly united. The unity of the Church is in the center of our Lord's heart and it is the greatest desire of every man who is truly spiritual. So here we see Paul bringing up the issue of unity again.

There was strife among the believers in Corinth, this is a mark of carnality. And what is even worst is that they couldn't settle the misunderstanding among each other. These were followers of the One who "hold all things together" (Heb 1:3) yet they couldn't even hold themselves together and preserve the unity. It's a shame a result of loosing their spiritual position. They were destine to judge angels yet they couldn't judge themselves. Jesus explained that the unity of the Church would be a testimony to the world about who he is (John 13:35). But here are these believers fighting against each other in front of unbelievers, showing the world how divided they are. They have lost the testimony and they are giving Christ a bad name, these is what happens when we loose our spiritual standing in Christ.

What more they were committing adultery, sleeping with prostitutes and they even have the boldness to say that there is nothing wrong with it they are simply satisfying the desire of their body, there body need sex. This believers have no idea who they are, their minds are so carnal that they could not see that they are a spiritual people. They said just as the stomach needs food so also their body needs sex and their is nothing wrong with finding satisfaction with prostitutes. They are so focus on satisfying their flesh, what about the spirit, do the spirit not need some satisfaction too? But they were too concern about the flesh that they didn't notice the spirit has a need. Paul went on to tell them that even that body they claim they were satisfying does not belong to them. No, it belong to Christ therefore they can't do as they like with it.

When we got born again the body becomes a property of the spirit, it becomes a slave to the spirit therefore it must be subjected to the will and the biding of the spirit. The needs of the body cannot supersede the needs of the spirit. But here they are putting the needs of the body first, what carnality! The carnal man is so concern about his body, so busy and occupied with him body. He spend his whole day trying to earn money to feed his body, maintain his body and take care of it. He then seek to satisfy the hunger and desire of his body, in fact he lives for his body. But we are spiritual people and it should be the other way around. We should be concern and occupied with that which is spiritual.

FORM THE EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS (5)

We now find ourselves in chapter seven were the issue of marriage is dealt with. Among the believers in Corinth, it seems like there was that argument about whether to marry or not to marry. The believers were being troubled about the issue of marriage. Paul answer was that it doesn't matter, in fact marriage isn't even real just as this world isn't real. It all passes away, they are all vanity. Paul explained that it doesn't matter if you are married or not just as it doesn't matter if you are circumcise or not, or if you are a slave or a free man. All of that doesn't matter, in fact according to Paul marriage is nothing just as "circumcision is nothing" (1Cor 7:19). It is carnal people that make such a big deal out of marriage, look at us as Christians we are so concern about the issue of marriage.

We hold several seminar about marriage, we talk so much about it. The average single Christian is so concern about who to marry and who not to marry, how to know the chosen who and how to know God's will. In fact there are ministers who claim there main calling is to teach God's people about marriage and help them find the right partner (I'm not saying they are false). I mean, we make such a big deal out of marriage and we get so occupied with the issue of marriage while there are other more important things of the kingdom. Marriage is only going to last as long as we are on earth, there is no marriage in heaven. Paul never systematically taught about marriage the way many preachers do today, because it is not an issue, it is not as complex as we have made it to be. We are spiritual people and the only marriage in the spiritual world is the marriage between Christ and the Church. All other marriage is not in our reality, it's just a thing we do while we are yet in this flesh. Apart from Christ's marriage no other marriage is recognize in heaven (Matt 22:30). We are children of the world to come and no marriage contract is recognize in the world to come for death cancels every marriage contract (Rom 7:2). Why then do we make such a big deal out of marriage when the Bible says we shows fix our mind on that which is eternal?

Paul tried to explain that there are things that the Lord desire and we should give ourselves to the fulfillment of the Lord's desires not get entangled in the issue of marriage, making it so complex than it really is. But yet Christians talk so much about marriage, about being a parents and having a family as if these are the reasons why God has called us. I'm not saying those things are not important neither is Paul assuming such but we must learn to focus on what really matters. We are spiritual people, so let focus on spiritual things. Marriage is not spiritual, the only spiritual marriage that exist is the marriage between Christ and the Church. So stop this emphasis and all this talk about marriage for it is only a mark of carnality. Let us focus on that which is spiritual, let us relocate to our spiritual position and be the spiritual people that we are.

FROM THE EPISTLE OF CORINTHIANS (6)

Chapter eight Paul brought in the issue of eating food that were dedicated to idols. There were those who are very knowledgeable and they were expressing their liberty without considering the ones that are being affected by it. They had knowledge but no love and a person like that is not a spiritual man. People think that because they have knowledge they are spiritual. Spirituality is not in the amount of knowledge you have but in the amount of Christ you can express. God is love and they were lacking in love, this means they were lacking in spirituality. Paula explain that spirituality is being able to denial yourself of certain right so that you won't cause a brother to stumble.

Paul exemplified this in chapter nine, he denied is right because what matters to him the most is the Lords desire. Although his calling as an apostle was challenge he didn't defend himself but like a sheep led to the slaughter he was humble. This is the sign of true spirituality, it is expressing Christ's humility even in the face of opposition, criticism and slander. And in chapter ten Paul gave some encouragement and some wisdom concerning certain things. But let just move on to chapter eleven.

THE BATTLE FOR SPIRITUALITY: FROM THE EPISTLE TO CORINTHIANS (7)

In chapter eleven Paul addresses the issue of women refusing to cover their hair during meetings. Paul put forth his argument why women should cover their hair while praying or prophesying. Before we go further we have to understand that women covering hair during prayer and while prophesying is a custom practice by all the churches as at that time. Paul say so himself, "we hold to and recognize no other custom [in worship] than this, nor do the churches of God generally." (1Cor 11:16). Like we've said before, Paul was a man who care a lot about the unity and the uniformity of all God's people.

Paul, having planted the church in Corinth pass on this custom to them but due to childishness and carnality the church in Corinth deviated from this custom. Paul in his attempt to preserve the unity and uniformity of the churches tried to convince them they should return back to the custom. We must understand that the problem wasn't really about women covering hair but the issue was the spirit of rebellion and schism brewing up from their carnality. Here lies another mark or sign of carnality; rebellion, wanting to do things your way, to separate yourself from the rest of the brethren and be your own man. Such pride, it's the spirit of rebellion and division and the Holy Spirit point at this very thing, using it to reveal how they have deviated from their spiritual position.

I know many churches today have make a big deal out of this, implying that refusal to cover your hair in church as a woman would cause you to go to hell. Paul never imply such a thing all he said was that, "Now if anyone is disposed to be argumentative and contentious about this, we hold to and recognize no other custom [in worship] than this, nor do the churches of God generally." (1Cor 11:16). Paul wouldn't have say this about something that has to do with eternal life, he wouldn't have taken it so likely.

Life is a very solemn thing to every spiritual person, they don't joke with the issue of like. Let take a look at how Paul handle things that have to do with eternal life; "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to and different from that which we preached to you, let him be accursed (anathema, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment)! As we said before, so I now say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel different from or contrary to that which you received [from us], let him be accursed!" (Gal 1:8-9). Twice Paul pronounced a curse not just upon man but upon angels and any being that try to steal away our eternal life. Paul takes the issue of Life strictly but when it come to an ordinary custom he says "if you like go ahead and argue with me but I have said my own and that is how we all do it". No pronouncements of curse just levity. But today we have taken this thing as if it's a matter of life and death and that is carnality. Carnality always emphasize on things that doesn't really matter, it is a strategy of the devil to keep us occupied with useless things while he slowly creep in and totally destroy us.

THE BATTLE FOR SPIRITUALITY: FROM THE EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS (8 )

From verse seventeen of chapter eleven and the subsequent chapters Paul started addressing the lack of spirituality in their meetings. The Holy Spirit was laying his hand on that which was carnal in the way they meet, trying to pull that carnality out and establish them on the spiritual ground where they were born. The issue was that their meetings were so divided, the King James Version use the word "heresy". Heresy means division, any form of division from the rest of the body is heresy. So there was division even when they gather as a body - like we've earlier established division is a mark of carnality. Paul firstly mentioned the Lord's supper as one of the area by which this division is expressed.

From this letter it seems like they were having the Lord's supper without the presence of the whole body. It seems like the poor were being cheated and excluded from eating the meal and also people where eating too much and getting drunk. The Lord's supper then was different from the way we do it today. Then a full meal enough to satisfy a man was served and alcoholic wine was also serve as the blood of Christ (yes they were drinking alcohol and they didn't count it as a sin). It was like a family get-together where they eat, drink, play, laugh and feel that unity. They experience what it means to be a family, a body that share the same blood and live by the same life. Every of their meetings where not done in a hall but in a home setting so as to pass across that feeling of being a family, that is why they call themselves 'brother' and 'sister'. Then those words were not a religious cliche but they say it from their heart, they actually meant it.

Anyway, the issue was that carnality was entering into the Church and the Corinthian were now doing the Lord's supper carnally. Concerning this Paul said, "So when you gather for your meetings, it is not the supper instituted by the Lord that you eat," (1Cor 11:21). According to Paul, what they were doing was not the Lord's supper at all. The Lord's supper is a spiritual thing, it is not mainly the eating of bread and drinking of wine but it is the acknowledgement and the experience of our unity as the body of Christ. The carnal man takes that which is spiritual and brings it to the realm of carnality. Paul then tried to remind them of what the Lord's supper is trying to reestablish that event or meeting on the spiritual ground where it belongs. Paul also warned them on the judgment that would come on them if they continue to do the Lord's supper carnally.

can there be restoration in this generation?