Be Steadfast, Unmovable
1 Corinthians 15:58
In these last days, so many things are passing from one form to another. “When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?”
Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Matthew 24:12 Iniquity covers many things that people get involved with that are lacking in righteousness, as well as that which is unjust and wicked. Churches are seeing members of their own congregations, who have particular involvements with material pursuits, self-ambition, worldly associates, etc., that take over their lives, resulting in spiritual indifference and the forsaking of God’s House.
Though the dislike of sound doctrine has always been the trend (2 Timothy 4:3-4), today, we see not just a watering down, but rather a transition from sound doctrine to those things contrary to God’s commandments, and many love to have it so.
Satan’s subtleties continue on every front. Inch by inch, piece by piece, change by change, churches are being robbed of holiness, reverence, humility, conviction, contriteness, and a hunger and thirst for righteousness, unto becoming entertainment centers, where spiritual things are celebrated, and people are made to feel good about themselves as they are.
With each new revised bible, some changes are made in God’s Word that conditions the minds of people to accept the next new version, with some more changes, until after a period of time, this leavening process has leavened the whole lump. This is why God forbids any and all alteration of the inspired scriptures, right along with the admonition that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
The lack of living by faith is responsible for many failures in lives. These failures often result in offense towards the ministries that reprove and rebuke according to God’s Word. For some, their failures outrank their successes, until they feel like their standing in the church has been so eroded, that they leave and seek religious asylum elsewhere. This is the sad result of making decisions that one knows is not according to God’s will and way.
The challenge we all must face, in light of the many struggles of these last days, is “Will you also go away?”
Christian, don’t depart from the faith! By remaining true, constant, and steadfast, when other things are changing, will make you that much more of a vessel of honor in the eyes of the Lord. This gives God that much more reason to reward you in the day when He makes up His jewels! Malachi 3:17
SHARING
The Local Church
“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:13
The Holy Spirit leads the believer to be baptized in water, thus putting them in that one body, the local, visible church: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” Ephesians 4:4-5
The universal church view, which originates with the Roman Catholic church, says that the Spirit baptizes all believers into one universal church body. In 1 Corinthians 12, the church is compared to a human body with various members such as the eye, the hand, etc. Have you ever seen a universal body made up of hands, eyes, feet, ears, etc.? No! There is no universal living body that can hear, speak, feel, etc. The body spoken of is the church which is visible and local.
“Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” 1 Corinthians 12:27. This is the kind of body where one member suffers, then all the other members can suffer with them. Why can they do this? It is because the members of the local church can know each other and suffer with and rejoice with each other. A world wide universal church makes it impossible to know about the suffering of other Christians around the world.
Many believe there are two kinds of bodies, but not so: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:4-6. There is only one kind of body, which is the local, visible church.
The word church in the New Testament is translated from the Greek word ‘ecclesia,’ which means “a called out assembly.” Most of the time, it is used specific of an individual church or churches, such as the church at Antioch, the church at Jerusalem, the churches at Galatia, the churches of Asia, etc.
In some instances, the church is referred to as an institution. We speak of marriage as an institution, and we are not speaking of a universal marriage! If we bring it down to what a marriage is, it is the joining of one man and one woman together as one flesh. We often speak of the home being the foundation of civilized society, but we are not speaking of a universal home. Likewise, when we speak of the church in the institutional sense, we are not talking about a universal church, for there is no such thing. Bring it down to what a church is, and what we find is a body of scripturally baptized believers who are joined together in a visible church that has covenanted together to carry out the great commission – Matthew 28:19-20
The Roman Catholic (which means universal) church invented the universal, visible church theory. The Protestant movement modified it for themselves as the universal invisible church. Neither are Biblical.
–Edited from an article by E.L. Bynum, “The Church That Never Existed”
SHARINGFacing Both Ways
“Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.” Numbers 23:10 (Balaam’s words)
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve…” Joshua 24:15
Balaam was a double minded man. He fancied being a great man of God, under God’s favor. Yet at the same time, he loved and wanted this present world. Some today want what God affords, but they are turned by their love for worldly ways.
Like Balaam, some today are facing both ways. They are facing both ways on separation. They have no problem compromising with unbelievers. With one eye on God and the other on mammon, they want to serve both. With one eye towards God and the other towards “gods”, they switch back and forth.
They are facing both ways on obeying the Lord. They want to attend church, but if some other event of their liking is offered, they will forsake God’s house to attend to that. They would like to be used of the Lord, but they have other things that they will neglect God’s house in order to be engaged with.
They are facing both ways on the Bible. They like to be a believer, but they find it hard to take a stand on sound doctrine. For the fear of what men may say, they do not want to cross the line of disagreeing with the interpretations of others. They want God to be pleased with them, but they will do whatever is necessary to have the approval of men.
–Adapted from an article by Pastor David K. Warner
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” 2 Corinthians 6:17
“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” James 1:8
“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21
“And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:27
“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17
Ye Are My Witnesses
Deep within the heart of every Christian is the desire for the salvation of others, whether kin or strangers. However, the process of people becoming interested, unto repentance and faith in Christ, often seems so overwhelming that saved people are gun shy to get involved. It may seem easier to avoid the hassle, yet we still have the pangs of guilt for not engaging to do it.
Let’s get the monkey off our back! It is no harder for God to save a sinner today than it’s ever been, as His power is still the same. It’s no harder to invite someone to hear God’s Word than it’s ever been. The problem is, there are less people willing to respond than there used to be. I have heard of days past, when a church held special services, there would be standing room only. Now, the preferred response is to avoid going to church. We need to understand this not to be the problem of those serving God, but rather the indifference to God and His Word in these last days. As it was in the days of Noah, rejection on the part of the people did not dampen Noah’s desire to build the ark. Our going forth is to be for the Lord, to be His witness, to accomplish His purpose.
Let’s be clear about what affects true repentance and conversion. It is the Word of God that does the work of God. It is the law of the Lord that the Holy Spirit uses to indict and convict a person that they are a guilty sinner, under condemnation before God. Only when a person becomes convicted of their lost, sinful, spiritually dead, condemned, unworthy condition, can their belief about Christ be unto their salvation.
“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:10 Thus the sinner, by his own volition, receives Christ as his own personal Saviour, and by his own words, confesses this before others. Salvation is no more a matter of getting people to repeat a sinner’s prayer, than prayer is a matter of reciting from a prayer book.
God’s messengers sow and water the seed (God’s Word) but true salvation is God giving the increase, being born again of incorruptible seed by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever (1 Peter 1:23).
“BE NOT WEARY IN WELL DOING”
“PRAY ALWAYS AND FAINT NOT!”
Stay The Course
In the upper room fellowship, where the only ones present were disciples, Peter was very adamant in declaring, “Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.” But out in the cold, when the forces against Christ had the upper hand in that hour, it seemed beyond Peter to do anything but say, “I know not the man.” Unquestionably, this was a very traumatic moment for Peter. But no matter how you slice it, it was as the Lord had warned: “Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.” Peter had not successfully stayed the course.
Being a soldier has two phases: The first is training to be a soldier; the second is performing as a soldier. The real test of a soldier is not how well he displays himself in training, but how well he endures the hardness of being a soldier in the heat of the battle. In training, one may be aggressive, zealous, and at the head of their company. But if, on the battlefield, they lose heart to withstand the rigors of battle, and do not stay the course of fighting a good fight, they will go down in defeat.
The Bible teaches us to remain steadfast, unmovable, to quit like men and be strong, with the promise that God will give us the victory in Christ. But if, under the strain of circumstances, we decide we do not want to face the consequences of standing firm, and we choose to give in to escape the conflict involved, then we shall not overcome, but rather will be sifted as Peter was.
In the process of child birth, at that point, a mother must not decide she does not want to go through with giving birth because of the hardship involved. Rather, she must meet it with all her strength, with all her determination to see it through, for the sake of having the child.
“Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.” Proverbs 19:18 Thus our “hope” in dealing with our children is in staying the course, rather than giving in. As with child birth, the difficulty of having children must not be allowed to prevent us from staying the course to do that which is right and necessary for the proper outcome.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand…, having done all…stand.”
SHARING
