Happy Sabbath. This is a sermon I preached a while back; I pray it blesses those who read it.
Ac 3:1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; 3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked a alms. 4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. 5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. 6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. 7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
In her book Christian Service, Ellen White recalls a dream that she had. In this dream, she was out walking with a large group of people and they were looking for berries to pick. She said that they seemed to be in a city, for there was very little vacant ground; but around the city there were open fields, beautiful groves, and cultivated gardens. And a large wagon laden with provisions for the group went before them. And she states that soon the wagon halted, and the party scattered in every direction to look for fruit. All around the wagon were both high and low bushes, bearing large, beautiful whortleberries; but the company were all looking too far away to see them. She said that she began to gather the fruit near by, but very carefully, for fear of picking the green berries, which were so mingled with the ripe fruit that she could pick only one or two berries from a cluster. Just then two or three of the party came sauntering around where she was
picking the fruit. They were chatting, and seemed to be much occupied with each other's company. Seeing her, they said, "We have looked
everywhere, and can find no fruit." They looked with astonishment at the quantity she had. Sis. White said, "There are more to be gathered from these bushes." They began picking, but soon stopped, saying, "It is not fair for us to pick here; you found this spot, and the fruit is yours." But she replied, "That makes no difference. Gather wherever you can find anything. This is God's field, and these are His berries; it is your privilege to pick them." but after a little while, she was picking berries alone again. Occasionally, she would hear talking and laughing from the direction of the wagon and she would call to those there and ask ' What are you doing?' And they would answer her saying "We could not find any berries, and as we were tired and hungry, we thought we would come to the wagon and take a lunch. After we have rested awhile, we will go out again." But," she said, "you have brought in nothing as yet. You are eating up all our supplies, without giving us any more. You cannot eat now; there is too much fruit to be picked. You did not find it because you did not look close enough. It does not hang on the outside of the bushes, you must search for it. True, you cannot pick it by handfuls; but by looking carefully among the green berries, you will find very choice fruit." Her small pail was soon full of berries, and she took them to the wagon and told them, "This is the
nicest fruit that I ever picked, and I gathered it near by, while you have wearied yourselves by searching at a distance without success." Then all came to see my fruit. They said, "These are high-bush berries, firm and good. We did not think we could find anything on the high bushes, so we hunted for low-bush berries only, and found but few of these." Then she said, "Will you take care of these berries, and then go with me to look for more fruit on the high bushes?" But they had made no preparation to care for the fruit. There were dishes and sacks in abundance but they had been used to hold food. Sis. White says she became tired of waiting, and finally asked, "Did you not come to gather fruit? Then why are you not prepared to take care of it?" One of the people with her responded saying, "Sister White, we did not really expect to find any fruit where there were so many houses, and so much going on; but as you seemed so anxious to gather fruit, we decided to come with you. We thought we would bring enough to eat, and would enjoy the recreation, if we did not gather any fruit." Sis. White answered, "I cannot understand this kind of work. I shall go to the bushes again at once. The day is already far spent, soon the night will be here, in which we can gather no fruit." Some went with her, but others remained by the wagon to eat. In one place a little company had collected, and were busily talking about something in which they seemed much
interested. I drew near, and found that a little child in a woman's arms had attracted their attention. She said, "You have but a little time, and might better work while you can." The attention of many was attracted by a young man and a young woman who were running a race to the wagon. On reaching it, they were so tired that they had to sit down and rest. Others also had thrown themselves down on the grass to rest. Thus the day wore on, and very little was accomplished. At last she said: "Brethren, you call this an unsuccessful expedition. If this is the way you work, I do not wonder at your lack of success. Your success or failure depends upon the way you take hold of the work. There are berries here; for I have found them. Some of you have been searching the low bushes in vain; others have found a few berries; but the high bushes have been passed by, simply because you did not expect to find fruit on them. You see that the fruit which I have gathered is large and ripe. In a little while other berries will ripen, and we can go over the bushes again. This is the way in which I was taught to gather fruit. If you had searched near the wagon, you might have found fruit as well as I. "The lesson that you have this day given to those who are just learning how to do this kind of work, will be copied by them. The Lord has placed these fruit-bearing bushes right in the midst of these thickly settled places, and He expects you to find them. But you have been altogether too much engaged in eating, and amusing yourselves. You did not come to the field with an earnest determination to find fruit.
You must hereafter work with more zeal and earnestness, and with an
altogether different object in view, or your labors will never be successful. By working in the right way, you will teach the younger workers that such matters as eating and recreation are of minor importance. It has been hard work to bring the wagon of supplies to the ground, but you have thought more of the supplies than of the fruit you ought to carry home as the result of your labors.
Hard words.
And reading them forces me to examine myself... to examine my walk with
Christ; to examine the role I play in the reaping of souls for the kingdom. To assess the efficacy of what we are doing as a body to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified in order to ensure that the people of God are fulfilling the commission of God.
And frankly, what I find disturbs me. There are things in me which hinder my ability to spread the gospel, that cause a warring in my members as the apostle Paul puts it, things which God is still working out in me. And if I am not vigilant, if I'm not prayed up and powered up on a daily basis, these things can and will get between my soul and my savior. And one of the greatest dangers I face is developing a 'get-over' spirit. And what is a get-over spirit? Exactly what it sounds like. We African-americans, as a people, have had the slang phrase 'get over' in our vernacular lexicon for some time, with several connotations. One meaning is when you use it to mean survival or ekeing out one's day to day existence or managing to come through some trial in your life; in such a case you are just "trying to get over". But there are 2 other connotations, one past tense and one present, which are decidedly more negative in their implied intent. The first is used in the past tense to describe when someone has received some undue gain or has managed to profit at someone else's expense; we would describe it, usually with a little awe or envy or both in our voices, by saying that you 'got over' on this person or that one. And the one which I must remain vigilant against is the present tense expression of the phrase where it would be applied to my posture towards God, in other words, I have to be mindful that I am not trying to get over on God, or that I am not manifesting a 'get over spirit'.
I've got to get over the 'get-over'.
What is a 'get-over' spirit? A person with a 'get-over' spirit can be here Sabbath after Sabbath without fail, singing the songs of Zion, kneeling with their brothers and sisters for prayer and saying amen at all of the salient points of the sermon then get up and leave just as empty spiritually as they were when they got here. A person with a get over spirit will show up for Sabbath School and never study the lesson, desire to hold a church office as long as no work is involved and think that worship is a good thing in as little doses as possible.
To manifest a get over spirit, we only need to have a form of Godliness
but deny the power thereof...
To manifest a get over spirit we need only to, like the seven women of Isaiah 4:1 insist on eating our own bread and wearing our own apparel yet still insisting that we be called by Christs name...
If we have a get over spirit, then we can take off and put on our christianity as we see fit, gaudily showing it off at church and hiding
it away as soon as the benediction is said. We dont have to worry about
spiritual growth or any obligation to God... because we have all the
spiritual depth of a puddle and thats the way we like it...
What is a get over spirit? There is a lyric in a song sung by the gospel group 'Anointed' that is supposed to be a representation of a conversation that someone is having with God, when it's noone but that believer and God and all the facades are removed and all the masks are dropped, and in this song, the believer makes a confession to God that 'I dont serve you like I used to, because I'm too busy serving me'. We see people with a get over spirit all through the bible... Cain had a get over spirit... Jacob had a get over spirit... the mixed multitude in the wilderness had a collective get over spirit...Judas Iscariot had a get over spirit John Mark had a get over spirit... but the person I want to concentrate on today has a more benign form of this get-over spirit than those I just mentioned. It is this more benign form that is rampant in our churches today. But like tumors, just because it is benign doesnt mean it cannot kill you if allowed to grow unchecked. In our scripture text, in Acts chapter 3, we see a classic struggle unfold; a struggle which many sitting here today are in the midst of. That struggle is the battle between the get over spirit and the Holy Spirit. Reading from verse one it says:
Ac 3:1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour
of prayer, [being] the ninth [hour]. 2 And a certain man lame from his
mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into
the temple; 3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple
asked an alms.
Looking at this passage there are several points to recognize. First, we see, in a place that was so appealing to the eyes that its very name
was Beautiful we see the unattractive sight of a handicapped beggar. And in spite of the inherent beauty of the gate and its surroundings, this beggar had very little ability to either enjoy or appreciate it. His condition was such that this gate that everyone else walked through with ease may as well have been a brick wall because he was stuck at the gate. Being stuck at the gate meant that even though he was of the lineage of the sons of Jacob and dwelt in the Promised Land, his ability to receive the fullness of the promises of God that others were receiving was limited, at best. being stuck at the gate also meant that he was not able to participate in the worship of God because of his condition. he could watch from the gate, so close to being in the right place but still not yet fully there, able to see others receive the blessings of participating fully in the worship of God, but unable to partake in those blessings himself.
Second, we see that there was nothing wrong with this man in many areas
of his body; he could see, hear, touch, speak and think without inhibition. he could move his arms and his upper body. in fact, the only thing that was wrong with this man was that his ankles had no strength, and that rendered him lame. Yet in spite of all of this wholeness in comparison to his single area of weakness, this single area of weakness had a detrimental effect on his entire being. And we can relate to his state of mind. How many times have we allowed an area of spiritual weakness to become the sole determiner of how we live as professed Christians from day to day? How many times have we allowed our fear or our bitterness or our apathy or our selfishness, areas of weakness all, to determine the effectiveness of our witness? How many times have we missed out on Gods blessings because we are looking for a hand out instead of a hand up, someone to pass the buck to rather than to pray for strength with, looking to get over on God rather than getting real with ourselves. We walk around, physically whole for the most part and spiritual paraplegics, unable to do the most basic of things for ourselves. unable to study our lessons every day and unable to make time to pray every day and unwilling to make ourselves
available to be used by God except on our terms and on our terms alone
and even on those terms, there is not an isaiah among us, willing to stand and say here am I, Lord; send me when God calls for people to do the childrens story or to stay back after church and fellowship with the saints or to go door to door to hand out flyers or tracts.
Weve got to get over the get over.
So we see this man in Acts chapter 3, doing his best to look pathetic in order to inspire someone to throw a few coins his way. He despises
everything about himself... his condition which has made him dependent upon the charity or the pity of others, those who give him alms, the
alternating looks of sadness and disgust that they give him when the toss a few coins in the dust for him to scramble after, those who are physically whole and who are able to partake in that which is denied to him. Here he is, carried to this same spot, day after day... which begs the question of why...why did he keep coming to this place, knowing the ulcer it ate in his spirit day after day. the question he needed to ask in his self assessment was what am I here for. And that is an important question that we need to ask ourselves.
Why do we show up at church Sabbath after Sabbath?
if we are showing up to hear the special music or to hear the elders or the Pastor speak, then we are operating out of the same mistaken mindset that this man at the gate made when he was carried to the gate Beautiful that day.
He was looking for the wrong thing. He came seeking alms. He didnt come
expecting healing. He was looking for a handout rather than a hand up. And like this man, we tend to look at the people we encounter in like fashion. Because we have this get-over spirit, we are looking for what they are going to do for us. Because we have this get-over spirit we are looking for what we can get from them. and because we have this get-over spirit we go through life with a chip on our shoulder, with an attitude that shows we are unconverted and our minds are unrenewed and its everybody and anybodys fault but our own. Because we have this get over spirit, we are not capable of getting to the place where God can truly bless us and where we can achieve true spiritual growth and where God can set us apart for true ministry by ourselves and therefore our failures are always SOMEONE ELSES FAULT. but the truth is its our fault because we are expecting somebody else, somebody who is just as impotent as we are to provide that which God and God alone can provide in our lives. And we compound our error when we blame that person for failing us and for causing us to fail.
So... how do we get over the get-over spirit in us and give the Spirit of God the room it needs to begin working the transformation by the renewing of our minds that God needs to effect in us so other will see His effect on us? Turning again to Acts chapter 3 and starting at verse 4, we read:
Ac 3:4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on
us. 5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of
them. 6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I
have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and
walk.
This is remarkable even before you get to the actual miracle because of how they led up to it. Here we see this handicapped beggar, who daily
would play on the guilty consciences of others for his daily bread; they coming to be blessed of God in worship, entering the temple in all of its magnificence through the gate called beautiful and because of all of this, they were somewhat predisposed to look favorably upon this beggar. But even in their benificence, they rarely would look on those which begged alms. peter, however, not only looked at the man, he requested of the man that he look at him, that he have the beggars full and undivided attention. See Peter, at one time was an object lesson in having a get over spirit; so much so that Jesus had to let him know how much that spirit had him bound and held him back from the place that God reserved for Peter by telling him in the garden of Gethsemane that He would deny Him before the [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] crowed. but Jesus also told Peter that Satan desired to have him, so he could sift him as wheat. Jesus said because of this the He had prayed for Peter and that *when he was converted* that he should strengthen the brethren. And through Christs arrest in the garden and Peters cutting
off Malchus the high priests servants ear, and Christ being taken before the high priest, Peter was still in denial about his get-over spirit until the [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] crowed and he looked across the courtyard at Jesus and Jesus looked at Peter and when their eyes met, Peter recognized that He had to get over the get-over spirit and his conversion was then complete. That was why, as it says in the bible he then went out and wept bitterly, because he realized that his bravado was a front, that he had been getting over, going through the motions but careful to not get put in a position where he had to examine himself honestly. So Peter, looking at this beggar, and being full of the Holy Ghost, knew the spirit that consumed the man because it was
the same spirit that he continued to struggle with even after he had
received the Holy Ghost.
He knew, because it takes one to know one. And the beggar, we see in
verse 5 was expecting Peter to do something ostentatious, to make some
kind of display before giving him alms so he could appear holy and pious before men. so I can imagine his shock when Peter continues speaking in verse 6 and tells him silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee And then Peter gave the man that which he had never received but had seen others partake in. He gave him Gods blessing in the name of Jesus christ of Nazareth and commanded the man to rise up and walk. Now, the bible does not state whether this man recognized Peter and John as disciples of Christ, but when Peter invoked the name of the Savior, he tapped into power from on high and this man, seeing Jesus having come ,day after day, to the temple healing and preaching and teaching gave Peter his full attention when the name of Jesus was stated. So in fighting off the get- over spirit, we have to first, allow ourselves to be cognizant of the fact that we are standing in the need for intervention from God. And to do that we have to recognize that there is something inherently wrong with our Christian walk, that there is some area of weakness in us that is
stunting our spiritual growth. Second, we have make ourselves available
to God because miracles happen to those who know they need themAND who make themselves available to receive them. That is why the devil would much rather see us active and busy and like Martha, the sister of
Lazarus, careful and troubled about a great many things. When we are
preoccupied with our surroundings, our circumstances or our condition then we are not in the place of being available when the man of God walks by or comes to speak a word from Him. And lastly, we need to call on a name that is stronger than the devils name... that is stronger than the spiritual impotence that makes us unfruitful... that is stronger than our problems and greater than our need. And that name is Jesus. But calling on it alone is insufficient; we have to allow it to be put into action in our lives. What seperated Ellen White in her dream from the others in that group was that her actions were dictated by her drawing power from the name of Jesus and because she was yoked up with Christ, her focus was singular on Gods work. Without that same power, we will continue to be those people in the group who were just along for the ride. We will continue to to be unfruitful and continue to make excuses for our lack of success and we will continue to rationalize in our minds that since we are a peculiar people that there
should only be a few of us anyway. Without the power of Jesus put into
action in us we will continue to call ourselves ambassadors for Christ while never putting ourselves in a position to fulfill our calling because it lies too much outside of the realm of our comfort. We also have to commit ourselves daily to seeking, speaking and living the truth. Seeking the truth involves effort in reading and study so that we continue proving all things and holding fast what is good. Speaking the truth requires our exercising the requisite due diligence to develop the skill to rightly divide the word of truth and our praying without ceasing for the boldness to be an ambassador for Christ. Living the truth means resolving to cultivate integrity and habits of the heart that model the very truths we hold dear. Like the beggar at the gate we must get over the get-over spirit and stop looking for something for nothing, stop seeking alms and start expecting healing and then when God has delivered that healing weve got to let everybody we come across know what He has done for us, to let everyone we come across know that sometimes God extends the place of blessing to
include those who cant get there from here. And once that blessing has
been received we have to recognize that God has now put us in the position where we can be His instrument to help lead others to that place where they can receive the healing and the spiritual blessing that God has in store for them.. Like Peter, once we have gotten over the get over spirit in us we can then be a tool in the hands of God to help someone else do it too.It is then that our efforts will become fruitful, because we will then possess that which we need to reap the harvest in the vineyard where God has set us and we will have cast off that which was holding us back. once we realize that its not by might or by power... not by intellect or ability, not by toil or trial... but only by Gods spirit working on us and in us... Then and only then will we be able to get over the get over spirit.
In His service,
Mr. J
Ac 3:1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; 3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked a alms. 4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. 5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. 6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. 7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
In her book Christian Service, Ellen White recalls a dream that she had. In this dream, she was out walking with a large group of people and they were looking for berries to pick. She said that they seemed to be in a city, for there was very little vacant ground; but around the city there were open fields, beautiful groves, and cultivated gardens. And a large wagon laden with provisions for the group went before them. And she states that soon the wagon halted, and the party scattered in every direction to look for fruit. All around the wagon were both high and low bushes, bearing large, beautiful whortleberries; but the company were all looking too far away to see them. She said that she began to gather the fruit near by, but very carefully, for fear of picking the green berries, which were so mingled with the ripe fruit that she could pick only one or two berries from a cluster. Just then two or three of the party came sauntering around where she was
picking the fruit. They were chatting, and seemed to be much occupied with each other's company. Seeing her, they said, "We have looked
everywhere, and can find no fruit." They looked with astonishment at the quantity she had. Sis. White said, "There are more to be gathered from these bushes." They began picking, but soon stopped, saying, "It is not fair for us to pick here; you found this spot, and the fruit is yours." But she replied, "That makes no difference. Gather wherever you can find anything. This is God's field, and these are His berries; it is your privilege to pick them." but after a little while, she was picking berries alone again. Occasionally, she would hear talking and laughing from the direction of the wagon and she would call to those there and ask ' What are you doing?' And they would answer her saying "We could not find any berries, and as we were tired and hungry, we thought we would come to the wagon and take a lunch. After we have rested awhile, we will go out again." But," she said, "you have brought in nothing as yet. You are eating up all our supplies, without giving us any more. You cannot eat now; there is too much fruit to be picked. You did not find it because you did not look close enough. It does not hang on the outside of the bushes, you must search for it. True, you cannot pick it by handfuls; but by looking carefully among the green berries, you will find very choice fruit." Her small pail was soon full of berries, and she took them to the wagon and told them, "This is the
nicest fruit that I ever picked, and I gathered it near by, while you have wearied yourselves by searching at a distance without success." Then all came to see my fruit. They said, "These are high-bush berries, firm and good. We did not think we could find anything on the high bushes, so we hunted for low-bush berries only, and found but few of these." Then she said, "Will you take care of these berries, and then go with me to look for more fruit on the high bushes?" But they had made no preparation to care for the fruit. There were dishes and sacks in abundance but they had been used to hold food. Sis. White says she became tired of waiting, and finally asked, "Did you not come to gather fruit? Then why are you not prepared to take care of it?" One of the people with her responded saying, "Sister White, we did not really expect to find any fruit where there were so many houses, and so much going on; but as you seemed so anxious to gather fruit, we decided to come with you. We thought we would bring enough to eat, and would enjoy the recreation, if we did not gather any fruit." Sis. White answered, "I cannot understand this kind of work. I shall go to the bushes again at once. The day is already far spent, soon the night will be here, in which we can gather no fruit." Some went with her, but others remained by the wagon to eat. In one place a little company had collected, and were busily talking about something in which they seemed much
interested. I drew near, and found that a little child in a woman's arms had attracted their attention. She said, "You have but a little time, and might better work while you can." The attention of many was attracted by a young man and a young woman who were running a race to the wagon. On reaching it, they were so tired that they had to sit down and rest. Others also had thrown themselves down on the grass to rest. Thus the day wore on, and very little was accomplished. At last she said: "Brethren, you call this an unsuccessful expedition. If this is the way you work, I do not wonder at your lack of success. Your success or failure depends upon the way you take hold of the work. There are berries here; for I have found them. Some of you have been searching the low bushes in vain; others have found a few berries; but the high bushes have been passed by, simply because you did not expect to find fruit on them. You see that the fruit which I have gathered is large and ripe. In a little while other berries will ripen, and we can go over the bushes again. This is the way in which I was taught to gather fruit. If you had searched near the wagon, you might have found fruit as well as I. "The lesson that you have this day given to those who are just learning how to do this kind of work, will be copied by them. The Lord has placed these fruit-bearing bushes right in the midst of these thickly settled places, and He expects you to find them. But you have been altogether too much engaged in eating, and amusing yourselves. You did not come to the field with an earnest determination to find fruit.
You must hereafter work with more zeal and earnestness, and with an
altogether different object in view, or your labors will never be successful. By working in the right way, you will teach the younger workers that such matters as eating and recreation are of minor importance. It has been hard work to bring the wagon of supplies to the ground, but you have thought more of the supplies than of the fruit you ought to carry home as the result of your labors.
Hard words.
And reading them forces me to examine myself... to examine my walk with
Christ; to examine the role I play in the reaping of souls for the kingdom. To assess the efficacy of what we are doing as a body to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified in order to ensure that the people of God are fulfilling the commission of God.
And frankly, what I find disturbs me. There are things in me which hinder my ability to spread the gospel, that cause a warring in my members as the apostle Paul puts it, things which God is still working out in me. And if I am not vigilant, if I'm not prayed up and powered up on a daily basis, these things can and will get between my soul and my savior. And one of the greatest dangers I face is developing a 'get-over' spirit. And what is a get-over spirit? Exactly what it sounds like. We African-americans, as a people, have had the slang phrase 'get over' in our vernacular lexicon for some time, with several connotations. One meaning is when you use it to mean survival or ekeing out one's day to day existence or managing to come through some trial in your life; in such a case you are just "trying to get over". But there are 2 other connotations, one past tense and one present, which are decidedly more negative in their implied intent. The first is used in the past tense to describe when someone has received some undue gain or has managed to profit at someone else's expense; we would describe it, usually with a little awe or envy or both in our voices, by saying that you 'got over' on this person or that one. And the one which I must remain vigilant against is the present tense expression of the phrase where it would be applied to my posture towards God, in other words, I have to be mindful that I am not trying to get over on God, or that I am not manifesting a 'get over spirit'.
I've got to get over the 'get-over'.
What is a 'get-over' spirit? A person with a 'get-over' spirit can be here Sabbath after Sabbath without fail, singing the songs of Zion, kneeling with their brothers and sisters for prayer and saying amen at all of the salient points of the sermon then get up and leave just as empty spiritually as they were when they got here. A person with a get over spirit will show up for Sabbath School and never study the lesson, desire to hold a church office as long as no work is involved and think that worship is a good thing in as little doses as possible.
To manifest a get over spirit, we only need to have a form of Godliness
but deny the power thereof...
To manifest a get over spirit we need only to, like the seven women of Isaiah 4:1 insist on eating our own bread and wearing our own apparel yet still insisting that we be called by Christs name...
If we have a get over spirit, then we can take off and put on our christianity as we see fit, gaudily showing it off at church and hiding
it away as soon as the benediction is said. We dont have to worry about
spiritual growth or any obligation to God... because we have all the
spiritual depth of a puddle and thats the way we like it...
What is a get over spirit? There is a lyric in a song sung by the gospel group 'Anointed' that is supposed to be a representation of a conversation that someone is having with God, when it's noone but that believer and God and all the facades are removed and all the masks are dropped, and in this song, the believer makes a confession to God that 'I dont serve you like I used to, because I'm too busy serving me'. We see people with a get over spirit all through the bible... Cain had a get over spirit... Jacob had a get over spirit... the mixed multitude in the wilderness had a collective get over spirit...Judas Iscariot had a get over spirit John Mark had a get over spirit... but the person I want to concentrate on today has a more benign form of this get-over spirit than those I just mentioned. It is this more benign form that is rampant in our churches today. But like tumors, just because it is benign doesnt mean it cannot kill you if allowed to grow unchecked. In our scripture text, in Acts chapter 3, we see a classic struggle unfold; a struggle which many sitting here today are in the midst of. That struggle is the battle between the get over spirit and the Holy Spirit. Reading from verse one it says:
Ac 3:1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour
of prayer, [being] the ninth [hour]. 2 And a certain man lame from his
mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into
the temple; 3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple
asked an alms.
Looking at this passage there are several points to recognize. First, we see, in a place that was so appealing to the eyes that its very name
was Beautiful we see the unattractive sight of a handicapped beggar. And in spite of the inherent beauty of the gate and its surroundings, this beggar had very little ability to either enjoy or appreciate it. His condition was such that this gate that everyone else walked through with ease may as well have been a brick wall because he was stuck at the gate. Being stuck at the gate meant that even though he was of the lineage of the sons of Jacob and dwelt in the Promised Land, his ability to receive the fullness of the promises of God that others were receiving was limited, at best. being stuck at the gate also meant that he was not able to participate in the worship of God because of his condition. he could watch from the gate, so close to being in the right place but still not yet fully there, able to see others receive the blessings of participating fully in the worship of God, but unable to partake in those blessings himself.
Second, we see that there was nothing wrong with this man in many areas
of his body; he could see, hear, touch, speak and think without inhibition. he could move his arms and his upper body. in fact, the only thing that was wrong with this man was that his ankles had no strength, and that rendered him lame. Yet in spite of all of this wholeness in comparison to his single area of weakness, this single area of weakness had a detrimental effect on his entire being. And we can relate to his state of mind. How many times have we allowed an area of spiritual weakness to become the sole determiner of how we live as professed Christians from day to day? How many times have we allowed our fear or our bitterness or our apathy or our selfishness, areas of weakness all, to determine the effectiveness of our witness? How many times have we missed out on Gods blessings because we are looking for a hand out instead of a hand up, someone to pass the buck to rather than to pray for strength with, looking to get over on God rather than getting real with ourselves. We walk around, physically whole for the most part and spiritual paraplegics, unable to do the most basic of things for ourselves. unable to study our lessons every day and unable to make time to pray every day and unwilling to make ourselves
available to be used by God except on our terms and on our terms alone
and even on those terms, there is not an isaiah among us, willing to stand and say here am I, Lord; send me when God calls for people to do the childrens story or to stay back after church and fellowship with the saints or to go door to door to hand out flyers or tracts.
Weve got to get over the get over.
So we see this man in Acts chapter 3, doing his best to look pathetic in order to inspire someone to throw a few coins his way. He despises
everything about himself... his condition which has made him dependent upon the charity or the pity of others, those who give him alms, the
alternating looks of sadness and disgust that they give him when the toss a few coins in the dust for him to scramble after, those who are physically whole and who are able to partake in that which is denied to him. Here he is, carried to this same spot, day after day... which begs the question of why...why did he keep coming to this place, knowing the ulcer it ate in his spirit day after day. the question he needed to ask in his self assessment was what am I here for. And that is an important question that we need to ask ourselves.
Why do we show up at church Sabbath after Sabbath?
if we are showing up to hear the special music or to hear the elders or the Pastor speak, then we are operating out of the same mistaken mindset that this man at the gate made when he was carried to the gate Beautiful that day.
He was looking for the wrong thing. He came seeking alms. He didnt come
expecting healing. He was looking for a handout rather than a hand up. And like this man, we tend to look at the people we encounter in like fashion. Because we have this get-over spirit, we are looking for what they are going to do for us. Because we have this get-over spirit we are looking for what we can get from them. and because we have this get-over spirit we go through life with a chip on our shoulder, with an attitude that shows we are unconverted and our minds are unrenewed and its everybody and anybodys fault but our own. Because we have this get over spirit, we are not capable of getting to the place where God can truly bless us and where we can achieve true spiritual growth and where God can set us apart for true ministry by ourselves and therefore our failures are always SOMEONE ELSES FAULT. but the truth is its our fault because we are expecting somebody else, somebody who is just as impotent as we are to provide that which God and God alone can provide in our lives. And we compound our error when we blame that person for failing us and for causing us to fail.
So... how do we get over the get-over spirit in us and give the Spirit of God the room it needs to begin working the transformation by the renewing of our minds that God needs to effect in us so other will see His effect on us? Turning again to Acts chapter 3 and starting at verse 4, we read:
Ac 3:4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on
us. 5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of
them. 6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I
have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and
walk.
This is remarkable even before you get to the actual miracle because of how they led up to it. Here we see this handicapped beggar, who daily
would play on the guilty consciences of others for his daily bread; they coming to be blessed of God in worship, entering the temple in all of its magnificence through the gate called beautiful and because of all of this, they were somewhat predisposed to look favorably upon this beggar. But even in their benificence, they rarely would look on those which begged alms. peter, however, not only looked at the man, he requested of the man that he look at him, that he have the beggars full and undivided attention. See Peter, at one time was an object lesson in having a get over spirit; so much so that Jesus had to let him know how much that spirit had him bound and held him back from the place that God reserved for Peter by telling him in the garden of Gethsemane that He would deny Him before the [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] crowed. but Jesus also told Peter that Satan desired to have him, so he could sift him as wheat. Jesus said because of this the He had prayed for Peter and that *when he was converted* that he should strengthen the brethren. And through Christs arrest in the garden and Peters cutting
off Malchus the high priests servants ear, and Christ being taken before the high priest, Peter was still in denial about his get-over spirit until the [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] crowed and he looked across the courtyard at Jesus and Jesus looked at Peter and when their eyes met, Peter recognized that He had to get over the get-over spirit and his conversion was then complete. That was why, as it says in the bible he then went out and wept bitterly, because he realized that his bravado was a front, that he had been getting over, going through the motions but careful to not get put in a position where he had to examine himself honestly. So Peter, looking at this beggar, and being full of the Holy Ghost, knew the spirit that consumed the man because it was
the same spirit that he continued to struggle with even after he had
received the Holy Ghost.
He knew, because it takes one to know one. And the beggar, we see in
verse 5 was expecting Peter to do something ostentatious, to make some
kind of display before giving him alms so he could appear holy and pious before men. so I can imagine his shock when Peter continues speaking in verse 6 and tells him silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee And then Peter gave the man that which he had never received but had seen others partake in. He gave him Gods blessing in the name of Jesus christ of Nazareth and commanded the man to rise up and walk. Now, the bible does not state whether this man recognized Peter and John as disciples of Christ, but when Peter invoked the name of the Savior, he tapped into power from on high and this man, seeing Jesus having come ,day after day, to the temple healing and preaching and teaching gave Peter his full attention when the name of Jesus was stated. So in fighting off the get- over spirit, we have to first, allow ourselves to be cognizant of the fact that we are standing in the need for intervention from God. And to do that we have to recognize that there is something inherently wrong with our Christian walk, that there is some area of weakness in us that is
stunting our spiritual growth. Second, we have make ourselves available
to God because miracles happen to those who know they need themAND who make themselves available to receive them. That is why the devil would much rather see us active and busy and like Martha, the sister of
Lazarus, careful and troubled about a great many things. When we are
preoccupied with our surroundings, our circumstances or our condition then we are not in the place of being available when the man of God walks by or comes to speak a word from Him. And lastly, we need to call on a name that is stronger than the devils name... that is stronger than the spiritual impotence that makes us unfruitful... that is stronger than our problems and greater than our need. And that name is Jesus. But calling on it alone is insufficient; we have to allow it to be put into action in our lives. What seperated Ellen White in her dream from the others in that group was that her actions were dictated by her drawing power from the name of Jesus and because she was yoked up with Christ, her focus was singular on Gods work. Without that same power, we will continue to be those people in the group who were just along for the ride. We will continue to to be unfruitful and continue to make excuses for our lack of success and we will continue to rationalize in our minds that since we are a peculiar people that there
should only be a few of us anyway. Without the power of Jesus put into
action in us we will continue to call ourselves ambassadors for Christ while never putting ourselves in a position to fulfill our calling because it lies too much outside of the realm of our comfort. We also have to commit ourselves daily to seeking, speaking and living the truth. Seeking the truth involves effort in reading and study so that we continue proving all things and holding fast what is good. Speaking the truth requires our exercising the requisite due diligence to develop the skill to rightly divide the word of truth and our praying without ceasing for the boldness to be an ambassador for Christ. Living the truth means resolving to cultivate integrity and habits of the heart that model the very truths we hold dear. Like the beggar at the gate we must get over the get-over spirit and stop looking for something for nothing, stop seeking alms and start expecting healing and then when God has delivered that healing weve got to let everybody we come across know what He has done for us, to let everyone we come across know that sometimes God extends the place of blessing to
include those who cant get there from here. And once that blessing has
been received we have to recognize that God has now put us in the position where we can be His instrument to help lead others to that place where they can receive the healing and the spiritual blessing that God has in store for them.. Like Peter, once we have gotten over the get over spirit in us we can then be a tool in the hands of God to help someone else do it too.It is then that our efforts will become fruitful, because we will then possess that which we need to reap the harvest in the vineyard where God has set us and we will have cast off that which was holding us back. once we realize that its not by might or by power... not by intellect or ability, not by toil or trial... but only by Gods spirit working on us and in us... Then and only then will we be able to get over the get over spirit.
In His service,
Mr. J
giggle.
