D.L. Moody, The Secret of Success in the Christian Life, speaks of living in the Power of the Holy Spirit. He says that it's the Holy Spirit, "Who inspired prophets and...continues to animate, guide, and comfort all true believers."
In Chapter 1 of this book (page 27), Moody teaches us that the Spirit of God is what gives us liberty. Which is, as he puts it, "about the last thing we have in a good many of our churches at the present day."
"I am sorry to say that there must be a funeral in a good many churches before there is much work done. We shall have to bury the formalism so deep that it will never have a resurrection.
"The last thing to be found in many churches is liberty. If the Gospel happens to be preached, the people criticize, as they would a theatrical performance. It is exactly the same, and many a professed Christian never thinks of listening to what the man of God has to say. It's hard work to preach to carnally minded critics, but 'where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.' (2 Cor. 3:17)
"A mother may hear a hundred good things in a sermon, and there may be one thing that strikes her as a little out of place, and she will go home and sit down to the table and talk right out before her children and magnify that one wrong thing and not say a word about the hundred good things that were said. That is what men and women do who criticize...
"May God snap these fetters and set His children free, that they may have liberty. I believe He comes to set us free...How many people would like to get up in a social prayer meeting to say a few words for Christ, but there is such a cold spirit of criticism in the church that they dare not do it. They have not the liberty to do it...Now, that is all wrong. The Spirit of God comes just to give liberty, and wherever you see the Lord's work going on, you will see that Spirit of liberty. People won't be afraid of speaking to one another. And when the meeting is over they will not get their hats and see how quickly they can get out of the church, but will begin to shake hands with one another, and there will be liberty there."
As many of you know, I am preaching a series on spiritual gifts. Why? Part of the purpose behind spiritual gifts is to teach us to live in a dependency upon the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If not, wouldn't God have given each of us the same abilities and gifts so that we could all do it? Yes, I believe that God wants us to depend upon Him and since we are dependent upon every part of the body functioning as the church then we must also have liberty for His Spirit to move among us. When that liberty is present then great things can happen.
May the Lord loose us from thinking we have to control everything. Trust in the power, work, and giftings of the Spirit of God. It moves us from formalities to genuine worship and work in the kingdom of God.
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