AUGUST 22 “INTIMACY AND SPIRITUAL WARFARE IN THE CHURCH – PARTY SPIRIT”

Apostle Paul described three categories of men. One, the natural man who does not know God and does not care for the things of God -1 Corinthians 2:14. The carnal man, he is a believer whose life is fleshly, self-relying and self-pleasing in nature. He does not walk in full fellowship with Christ – 1 Peter 2:2. Then there is the spiritual Christian whose life is yielded to Christ and whose will is in subjection to the will of God – Galatians 5:22.

The immaturity of the church at Corinth prevented Paul from feeding them with “meat” on his first visit. Their immaturity and their unfitness to understand any serious doctrine was responsible for their mutual jealousy and disagreement about their teachers. Young Christians, that is new converts, should see their teachers as instruments in the hands of God to nourish them to maturity. Mature Christians should also see themselves as God’s servants, cooperating with God according to various graces God has deposited in them to bring up the immature Christians. Young converts should thank God for their teachers and should not be a victims of party spirit, which is the work of the flesh.

Any church where there is party spirit is an indication that the spirit of the world has come in. It leads to spiritual warfare; Christians will be struggling for supremacy, self-glorification and self-gratification. The work of evangelism will be neglected, and the unity of the church will be destroyed. The church will not grow. This was why Paul discouraged the attitude of party spirit; we too should discourage it. Christ foresaw this and he prayed about it in John 17:22 “The glory which thou hast given me, I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one.” We should therefore follow the injunction in Hebrew 12:2a, “Looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith”

PRAYER: My savior and Lord, I pray that your church will never allow the spirit of the world to enter her. Your prayer and desire is for unity to prevail. Remove any party spirit in any one of us in Jesus’ name, Amen.