The ManicaPost
Evangelist Peter Madondo
DEATH from time immemorial has been a menace among humanity. The mere mention of the word death can trigger an array of frowns and discomfort among many.Physical death can be pronounced when the heart stops pumping blood to other parts of the body and when lungs stop taking in and exhaling air. While a certified medical practitioner is required to certify the death, have we ever give spiritual death a thought.
Spiritual death can be defined as a cessation of communion with God. We cannot define spiritual death without mentioning the word separation. When anything is separated from its source of power, death becomes inevitable. Imagine a tree being separated from a water source and an electric gadget from electricity. The ultimate result will be death.
Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death…” When one lives a sinful life before God, he ceases to exist in the sight of God. As l mentioned above, if one stops breathing, death occurs. This is the same situation when one stops taking in the spirit of God
Let me hasten to identify symptoms that show that we are spiritually dying or dead. Once one stops walking in the spirit of God and shunning the Holy Spirit then death is imminent. The Greek word for spirit is “pneuma” which literally means breath oxygen through lungs. We, therefore, need to breathe the spirit of God through prayer.
We breathe constantly, hence we should pray constantly as mentioned in 1Thessalonians 5:17. Paul urged Christians to pray without ceasing. Infrequency in prayer is a vivid evidence of spiritual death. If our pulmonary or breathing system malfunctions, do we sit around and wait for it to heal on its own? We certainly try to find the best medical attention around. In the same vein when our spirit is ailing, let us swiftly engage the help of spiritual leaders in our churches.
If a person is spiritually dead, he or she becomes blind to the demands of the Holy Spirit. One certainly becomes a spiritual corpse. I will not hesitate to point out that a life without God is a living death and those who live it are dead although they may be alive.
Yes, people sin under the influence of the devil, but it is also correct that they also sin out of their own volition.
The dead, those without Jesus are preoccupied by the world and devil’s needs. These are the terrible dynamics of spiritual death.
The uniqueness of the Bible can be seen when we note that the history of mankind is hinged on three basic human views; that is man is well, a man is sick and a man is dead.
Let us take time to worship God and reinvigorate our ailing spiritual lives. It is not a secret that you can reveille in cemeteries for a decade, but you will never get any response from the dead. Anyone without Christ is dead.
I am aware that many people do not like to hear this and likewise many pulpits are mute on this doctrine. It is highly significant, lest the atoning death of Christ would be rendered void.
The task of every person who claims to be a believer is to take a self introspection and see whether the spirit of the Lord is still alive within you. If you are in the habit of drinking, maybe gallivanting has become your lifestyle, thigh vending, witchcraft, homosexuality and any form of evil defines your personality, let us take a spiritual stethoscope and examine ourselves.
One unfortunate thing is that spiritual corpses are now awash in churches.
Let us stand guard and watch as the Devil is on the rampage devouring Christians as mentioned in 1 Peter 5:8.
Men of cloth, it is time that we administer compliant gospel that will ensure that our followers remain alive. This can be achieved if only the clergymen are still alive themselves.
