THE BIBLICAL CURE FOR SPIRITUAL DISEASES
TEXT: PROVERBS 3:5-8
Sermon preached by Rev. Bonface Nyangolo on 26th April 2020.
As panic spreads all over the country due to floods, the economy, the pandemic and other things that cause fear, it may be appropriate to draw attention to spiritual diseases, which pose serious risks to us all.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.” Proverbs 3:5-8
We cherish health for our bodies but most people tolerate disease in their souls. Holiness is to our soul and spirit what health is to our bodies. We are body, mind and spirit. Our thoughts affect our emotions. Our understanding affects our decisions, as it is all interconnected. Many people today are living far below their potential and failing to fulfil their purpose, or accomplish their destiny, because of spiritual diseases.
I have identified the following spiritual diseases which pose serious risks to believers:
1. Sleeping Sickness
A widespread epidemic prevalent throughout large sections of the Church is sleeping sickness. It results in members being inactive, passive, neutral, lethargic and apathetic. Consequently numerous blessings are lost, countless opportunities are missed and enormous dangers arise unnoticed. “How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep – so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler and your need like an armed man.” Proverbs 6:9-11. “His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, and loving to slumber.” Isaiah 56:10.
2. Lockjaw
This condition paralyses the jaws of believers when the opportunity to witness arises. “…always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…” 1 Peter 3:15.
3. Amnesia
This tragic ailment usually occurs in worldly company when some Christians just forget who they are and what they are doing here. Consequently they act like they are part of the world, laughing at the world’s jokes, listening to the world’s music, repeating the mantras of the world and behaving as if they are of the world. “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world, makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4.
4. Deafness
Some people are so spiritually deaf that they do not even know if God talks! They are deaf to God’s Commandments and to the Bible’s warnings. They are rebellious to the government directives, rebellious to God, rebellious to their pastors and rebellious to their parents. They do not hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit speaking through their conscience. They do not recognize the clear Words of God as recorded in the Bible. When God speaks, they look blankly and declare: “I never heard a
thing!” “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” Hebrews 3:15.
5. Blindness
This affliction affects an unexpectedly large amount of churchgoers who are blind to the dangers around and the traps of the devil right in front of them. In fact they have a great difficulty seeing the difference between the lies, traps and deceptions of the devil and the will and Word and warnings of God. “But even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe lest the light of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ, who is the image of God should shine on them.” 2 Corinthians 4:3-4. “We grope for the wall like the blind and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as at twilight; we are as dead men in desolate places.” Isaiah 59:10. “Having their
understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” Ephesians 4:18.
6. Lameness
Then there are those lame disciples who experience some inexplicable paralyses of the legs when there is any activity to be undertaken in God’s Kingdom. Where Jesus leads, they do not follow. “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” Mark 8:34.
7. Scurvy
Due to a lack of spiritual meat as found in the Bible and spiritual fruit, these spoilt, undernourished, self-indulgent believers develop a scurvy that rots away their spiritual life. “And I brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” 1 Corinthians 3:1-3.
The Cure for Spiritual Diseases
The Scriptural cure for all these spiritual diseases is a healthy dose of daily obedience to the Word of God. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6.
1. Trusting God wholeheartedly
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart…” We must love the Lord our God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind and with all of our strength. We need to be wholehearted Christians, not half-hearted, or heartless.
2. Bible-Based believers “…and lean not on your own understanding.” We must never trust in just what we think we know. We are not to follow our heart, we are to follow the conviction of the Holy Spirit as our conscience is captive to the Word of God.
3. Prayerful Study of God’s Word
“In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” We need to put first things first. The Bible before
breakfast, Scripture before supper (John Corson says; “read your Bible and pray every single day”. Humble prayer and seeking
God’s guidance through diligent study of His Word before making any important decisions.
4. Wisdom from Proverbs
“Do not be wise in your own eyes…” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. God alone is all knowing, everywhere present and all-powerful. We need to study the Word of God daily. There are 31 Chapters of Proverbs, one chapter for every day of the month. It is wise to begin our day with readings from the Bible.
5. Fear God
“Fear the Lord and depart from evil.” We must not fear man. We must fear God. When we fear the Lord then we are freed from the fear of man. Either we will fear God and not man, or we will fear the opinions of man and fail to truly fear God. Either we will seek to please God, or we will seek to please man. Either we will fear man, or we will fear God. If we fear God, then we will discover it is the beginning of wisdom and this will enable us to choose wisely and depart from evil.
6. Spiritual Health
“It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.” Holiness is to our spirit what health is to our bodies. The body, mind and spirit are intricately linked. Our spiritual health will have an effect on our physical, mental and emotional health. “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.” Proverbs 17:22.
7. Lukewarm Believers Make God Sick
These are the words of Jesus to the church at Laodicea; “I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot, I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say ‘I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing’ – and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked… as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” Revelation 3:15-19”.
8. Biblical Repentance
The Lord Jesus Christ began His public ministry with these words: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17”. Repentance deals with the root of all of our problems, dryness and failure – because Repentance deals with sin. We are not helpless victims. We are guilty sinners. God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Sin is death (Romans 6:23). Sin separates us from God.
The message of the early Church, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19.
Full Repentance
The Bible emphasizes three aspects of Repentance:
1. Conviction: A change of mind.
2. Contrition: A change of heart and
3. Conversion: A change of life.
Repentance involves a change of mind, a change of attitude and a change of conduct. Head, heart and hands. Repentance is more than a change of mind and a change of heart, it involves a change of habits, lifestyle and behaviour. “God… now commands all men everywhere to Repent.” Acts 17:30.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in His Law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in season, its leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the
Judgement, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” Psalm 1:1-6.
A Call to Confession
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declared to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the Blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His Word is not in us.” 1 John 1:5-10.
“Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead and Christ will give you light.” Ephesians 5:14.
“Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.” 1 Thessalonians 5:6.
He Gives More Grace
“He gives more grace when the burdens grow greater.
He sends more strength when the labors increase.
To added affliction, He adds His mercy.
To multiplied trials – He multiplies peace.
“When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed before the day is half-done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father’s full giving has only begun.
“His love has no limit, His grace has no measure.
His power no boundary known unto men.
For out of his infinite riches in Jesus,
He gives and gives and gives again!”….Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond’s Livingstone Fellowship.
Conclusion:
1. Prayer of Repentance
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved” Romans 10:9; If you are ready I encourage you to take a step of faith and give your life to Jesus, make
the following prayer.
“Lord Jesus, I need you. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive you as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life.
Make me the kind of person you want me to be” AMEN.
Rev. Bonface Nyangolo: Centre Senior Pastor