The Week In Review

“Why are you feeding the dead?” (Part 5)
March 25, 2007
Preached in Wisconsin by Jewel D. Williams

Singles, I am not leaving you out. The world tells you because marriage is so bad it is best to just shack up with a person first, because then you won’t be caught in a bad marriage, you can test it out first. It seems the right thing to do. I don’t care how right it seems in the world’s eyes, it is not before God. Sex is made for marriage, period and that is the end of that story. There is no way around it, it doesn’t matter how much in love you are, it is not permissible. And God knows you are a sexual being, because he made you. But he also says this desire is to wait to be fulfilled in marriage. So if God tells you to wait, then he will strengthen you to do so. That means God does not want those that are calling themselves children of God, succumbing to sexual sin. When you succumb to sexual sin of any kind, God says to you, stop eating out the garbage. Stop eating that which will kill you, come instead and eat from my bounty.

God says stop listening to those that tell you evil is good and good is evil, and convincing you that the garbage you are eating is really good for you. That relationship you are in is really a good one, when God says, its garbage. If you need to read every scripture about purity, holiness, righteousness and being victorious over sin, then do so until you are full. So when the temptation comes, you will be able to avoid it, because the spirit man is strong and not weak and anemic. Remember these are the people Paul was address in his time, and the message is still of importance today.

Why was Paul giving this message? He was doing so that the people of his time could be conquers over the sin that entangles. He was doing so that not only could individuals live a successful life here, but also that they would be able to reap heaven. So we need to see if everything we do lines up with the spirit or is it lining up with the will of our flesh. Anything that has selfish motives is of the flesh. Paul sums up what our spiritual pursuit should look like in (READ Roman 12).

So I leave us with this today, stop feeding a dead body, church. Do you hear what God is saying to the church, stop breathing life back into that which Jesus came to do away with, the control of sin over our actions and thoughts. This may not seem to be a message of encouragement, because it doesn’t feel good, but it is. It is one to encourage you to release yourselves completely into the hands of God. When we live by the flesh we offend God because we are rejecting his provisions for our lives and are dumpster diving for our food. Let me say to the unsaved, you are losing this battle all the time.

It doesn’t matter how it looks to you, if you do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, you stand before the Lord and are found guilty of sins against a holy God. Paul’s letter told us that in the beginning that every man when compared to a holy righteous God is found lacking. Their destination is total damnation. Yet there is hope today for you, because there is no more condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. You must first confess you are a sinner before a holy God, repent (which is to turn from all unrighteousness, which is anything that goes against God). And then you must believe by faith that he has saved you. Now you must allow God’s Holy Spirit to lead you in all your actions and thoughts.

For those that are saved, Paul’s message did not exclude you. He spoke to the Gentiles and the Jews who had the law of God. As children of God we must turn from following after the flesh and turn to walking in the Spirit. God is calling us to come and take advantage of all the provisions that he has for us. Let us stop offending him in the things we do, say or think. Stop offending him in our marriages that should be a witness to those coming behind us. Stop offending him by saying with our mouths one thing, but our actions speak differently. Stop offending him by calling ourselves one of his children, but acting like an enemy. Stop offending him in our singleness when we tell others by our actions we cannot control ourselves, when in fact we can have control through the spirit of God. Let us stop offending in everything we do.

So today I invite you to come to a place of repentance. First, to repent of whatever you have done that offends God. And then for what you have done to others. When you have done it to the least of these, you have done it unto me. When we have treated others wrong, we also have done it unto God. Is he pleased with our actions, our words, or our walk? If not, then we need to come to a place of repentance. Then when we come, we come to receive from God a renewing of our hearts and mind. Create a clean heart in me, and renew the right spirit within. God promises us that he will revive us if we come and turn from our sinful ways.

If you want a different walk this year and years going forward, then you need to come releasing everything you are holding on to. If you haven’t heard anything I said today, remember this, God says it is time for his children to start following him with their whole hearts. God does not want us offending him anymore with our actions. For those going through a hard place, know that you can completely depend on God and he will see you through, but it calls for you releasing your control into his hands. Let him have the complete control of your life. I stand here today to tell you, I have made up my mind, that nothing is going to separate me from the love of God. I am more than a conquer. And who shall separate me from the love of God? Nothing will, not hardships or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? So no matter what the devil brings I will be more than a conquer. So your situations, your circumstances, your children not acting right, your friendships disappointing you, your marriage falling apart, your job gone, none of these things can separate you from the love of God.

In order to walk in the fullness of this we must stop selling ourselves back into bondage to sin by following the pursuits of our flesh. We must release our will into God’s capable hand and he promises to make us more than conquers because we are trusting, following and leaning on him. Let God be the one that controls your life. I end as I always do with a poem I wrote about 16 years ago.