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Craig Groeschel has a book out by the name of IT. The book is a powerful and explosive book
about what is IT – have you lost IT – and how do you get IT back. I loved his book; I also
heard him speak at Hillsong Conference on this subject as well and was really impressed with
his message. I was also deeply challenged.
I’ve always thought of myself as having loads of passion. I always considered myself as being
zealous for the Lord and motivated to serve Him no matter what the deal. But there have
been times in my life when I was flagging in my zeal.
I’m sure you’ve all experienced flagging in zeal over some areas of your life:
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There are times when we lack the enthusiasm in our marriages
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Many of us have felt times when we’ve been bored with our jobs
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We’ve experienced a dwindling in motivation over our studies
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Have you ever been tired of your garden or lack motivation in going to the gym?
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Have you ever said about something – “It’s just not worth it – I give up!”
Have you ever been involved in things that just sap your energy and you think “I quit – this
just isn’t fun anymore and this is no longer satisfying.”
What about in your relationship with God?
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Have you ever felt like you’ve just lost heart?
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Maybe you feeling despondent towards God, His word and your church attendance
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Have you ever been through “a trail of your faith” and at the end feel totally exhausted.
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Have you ever thought – “”I’ve lost IT!” I’ve lost my zeal – I’ve lost my passion.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to be addressing this issue in our lives because for many
of us it is a common occurrence and something we need to really watch.
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Jesus in Matthew 24:12-13 makes an astounding and powerful comment; “Because of the
increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end
will be saved.”
Matthew 24:12-13 in TLB says, “Sin will be rampant everywhere and will cool the love of
many. But those enduring to the end shall be saved.”
The Message Translation is quite clear, “For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil
will do them in—nothing left of their love but a mound of ashes. Staying with it—that's what
God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry, and you'll be saved.”
What Jesus is saying is that sin has the ability to rob us of our love, our zeal and our passion
for God. He says that “our love will grow cold” – there will be nothing left of our love but a
mound of ashes! How descriptive of our own personal experiences?
What cause us to feel despondent? What cause of to falter? What are the forces that make
us want to give up and quit? What is it that makes us lose IT?
Jesus says that one thing that is for sure to dampen your passions is “the overwhelming
spread of evil.” In the NIV it says it this way that it is “the increase of wickedness” – the
Living Bible is blunt – it is sin that make our love cool. Sin robs us of our passion!
Let’s stop here and think about this.
The sinfulness of sin lies in the fact that ultimately our sin is against God, even when the
wrong we do is to others or ourselves. David the psalmist said it this way in Psalms 51:4
“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”
Ephesians 4:30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for
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the day of redemption.”
Isaiah 63:10, “Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit.”
1 Thessalonians 5: 19 “Do not put out the Spirit's fire.” Do not quench the Spirit’s fire – do
not extinguish, douse, smother, throw cold water on or stifle the Holy Spirit – don’t
suppress, restrain, curb or hold back
To grieve in the original Greek language means to cause distress, to be heavy, to cause
sorrow, to make to be sad – in our own usage it means to don't make the Holy Spirit feel sad,
be distressed – don’t hurt the Holy Spirit or make Him feel afflicted – don't cause pain.
Can my actions have such power on the Holy Spirit?
Is the Holy Spirit so sensitive to my actions, attitudes or behaviour?
Can my actions stifle the work of the Holy Spirit?
Like any relationship we set the standards of intimacy – like in any friendship we decide the
boundaries – how close to the Holy Spirit do you want to walk – How intimate with the Holy
Spirit do you wish to be? Sin robs us of our passion!
Paul puts it this way; Galatians 5:16-17, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify
the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit
and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so
that you do not do what you want.” Galatians 5:25-26, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us
keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each
other.”
Your actions determine your level of intimacy, closeness, confidence or friendship with God.
I want to be quick to say that even though we might cause grief to the Holy Spirit this is in no
ways compromises His love for us – a grieving parent over a prodigal son our love never
wanes – but our relationship suffers. Sin robs us of our passion!
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Our sin is the culprit – it is no longer a wall of hostility between us and God – no, salvation
has dealt with the consequences of sin – my sins are forgiven and I now have received
eternal life with God through Jesus Christ – as far as closeness, intimacy and friendship sin
still has an ability to blunt my fervour, cause my zeal to flag and actually rob me of passion.
Sin affects me and my relationship with the Holy Spirit – sin affects my ability to remain close
to the Holy Spirit because it detracts me – it diverts my attention and creates emotions
within me that are at odds with walking with God. Sin robs us of our passion!
Sin is a powerful concept found in scripture – I know it is an old fashion word these days and
conjure up some imagine of a Hell Fire preacher but it is a powerful biblical word rich in
history and meaning.
The word sin is a bible word that means missing the mark, it means to fall short of the end, it
is used to mean transgression, iniquity, wickedness – it is an all encompassing word that
implies a falling away from what is right, godly and pure by actions we perpetrate.
Sin has an effect on us. There is no denying this truth. When we sin it produces guilt.
Following on from guilt is remorse, shame; an often time there is self-reproach and we go on
a guilt trip. Sin robs us of our passion!
Sin affects our spirit. We feel disgraced – I know the grace of God is sufficient but sin’s affect
is powerful and remorseless! We sense dishonour, we feel humiliated and embarrassed. Sin
discredits us, it brings us into varying degrees of disrepute and it defames us. Sin condemns
us – I know we are forgiven but sin still has its affect – we feel slammed, smacked, censured,
exposed and convicted! Sin robs us of our passion!
Sin robs us of our passion for God. Sin robs us of our zeal for God’s house too! I find it
amazing – when someone is involved in sin their first response is to stay away from church –
withdraw from fellowship – they change churches in the hope their sin won't be found out –
they make excuse why they can’t go back into church – one guy told me the walls would
cave I on him and we’d all be killed.
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1 John 3:21-22, “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before
God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what
pleases him.”
You can’t express passion and have a condemned heart – you can’t be zealous for the house
of God when your heart is condemning you over sin’s your committing.
Sin simply robs us of our passion – sin robs us of a zeal for God’s House – when our heart
condemns us over sins we can’t have a Heart for the House. We lack confidence before God.
So how do we lose our passions? Sin takes it away – sin steals our zeal, sin embezzles our
enthusiasm and it thieves our motivations for God and His House.
Sin is multifaceted:
Ultimately all our sin is against God – done in His presence and committed before Him and
against His word, His guidance and is law.
1. We can sin against ourselves:
1 Corinthians 6:18-20, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are
outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that
your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.”
Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Your heart is
the repository of life – it is the centre of your being, you life and its expressions – so guard it
from unforgiveness, bitterness, jealousy, offence and hatred.
Make sure your heart is clean from all sin; pray this prayer found in Psalms 139:23-24,
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there
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is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Don't live in worry always being anxious – but trust in the Lord and do good.
2. We can sin against others by slandering them bearing false witness, lying about them,
speaking evil of them, betraying them and being unfairly critical. We sin against others when
we judge them unfairly and speak all manner of evil against them – spreading rumours –
telling lies – holding grudges and living in unforgiveness.
3. We can allow sin to make a strong hold over our lives – we live dominated by sin,
addicted to sinful activity. It can be anger or negative thoughts, it can be sexual immorality
or improper sexual conduct – it gets a foot hold in our lives and we are dominated by it and
wonder where our zeal and passion went – we let sin take root in our lives and wonder why
our enthusiasm for God’s house just vanishes.
4. Finally we can just get too acquainted with sin we get comfortable. We become lazy and
allow other priorities to crowd out God’s agenda. We become lackadaisical, apathetic,
careless and too laid back!
You say that this is only a little sin - Song of Solomon 2:15 says this, “... it’s the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards.”
We just become too casual with the presence of God, too comfortable with church and our
level of involvement – we become proud thinking we’re doing alright when in fact we’ve let
slip our zeal for God – we don't serve in the house anymore and have become once a Sunday
Christians – what I mean is our attendance has just drop off and we no longer find the house
of God exciting, we no longer find the presence of God exhilarating and no longer find
corporate worship and the preaching of the word stirring.
God has something to say about this kind of experience:
Matthew 24:12-13, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
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but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
He who stands firm to the end will be saved; he who stands firm – who preserves, who
remains firm, who keeps standing – will be saved.
Victory comes to the one who just keeps standing! Passion can be maintained by the one
who keeps going, who never gives up, who never quits and who just stands firm until the
end!
Romans 12:11, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord.”
Romans 12: 10 – 21 is a powerful scripture that can motivate us to “never lack in zeal but to
keep your spirit fervent by serving the Lord” and then goes on to give us some pretty clear
guidelines on just how to serve.
Jesus knowing and understanding how easy it would be to lose our passion made a number
of comments to the early church in the book of Revelation:
Revelation 2:1-4, “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him
who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lamp stands: I
know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate
wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have
found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have
not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.”
Revelation 3:14-17, “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of
the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that
you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are
lukewarm-- neither hot nor cold-- I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am
rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realise that you are
wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
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How do I get IT back?? Throughout the 7 letters Jesus encourages His church to repent – to
change their minds about sin.
Acts 3:19 says so clearly, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped
out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”
Acts 2:38, “Peter replied, "Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
What is IT? IT is the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in your life – you’ve either grieved
Him or you don’t even know Him yet – now is your time.
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