Members Make Up The Body
“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:12
The charge against the church at Ephesus (Revelation 2:4) was that they had left their first love. The charge against the church at Sardis (Revelation 3:1) was that their works had died off. This was about what the people were or were not doing.
“What would my church be if every member was just like me? In reality, since the church is comprised of members, it will, in almost every way, just be what the members are.
–It is members who prepare themselves for the teaching and preaching.
–It is members who prepare to lead in singing praises to God.
–It is members who make up congregational singing.
–It is members who do the praying for the church.
–It is members who provide the fellowship in the church.
–It is members who support the operation of the church.
–It is members who promote the advancement of the church.
–It is members who supply the admonishment needed to uproot wrong thinking, and keep the focus right.
It is possible to think of the church as an incubator, with a freshly prepared buffet, with live entertainment. As one steps inside, they are made to feel warm all over, their appetites are filled, and their feelings gratified. With that concept, all that is needed is to drag in and dart out.
But in reality, the church is like an empty room, that what goes on there is determined by what you bring and do while you are there. What you find will be what you are seeking. What you reap will be what you have sown. The satisfaction you get will be from what you contribute. It is sort of like a carry-in dinner: what is there to eat, is what is brought in by the eaters.
God’s part is in blessing us in our deeds: “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” James 1:25
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measure to you again.” Luke 6:38
SHARING
Keep The Sores Clean
“And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.” 1 Samuel 25:32-22
David had been scorned by Nabal, and it made him really sore. He was on his way to take deadly action against Nabal. But with Abigail’s intercession, he was made to realize that to destroy Nabal would do more hurt to his own character and testimony than it would solve the problem with Nabal.
“For what glory is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.” 1 Peter 2:20
When we get a physical sore somewhere on our body, we need to keep it as clean as possible so it will heal. Above all, we must not consciously put things on the sore that are unclean, which will only trigger an infection and prevent the healing process.
When it comes to life, some of the “sores” we encounter are self-inflicted, while others are from what we consider to be the fault of someone else.
Which ever the case, once the sore exists, it is not a matter of what caused the sore, but the need is to do what will promote the healing of the sore, with the main thing being to keep it clean to allow for unhindered healing.
So, when we wind up with a “sore”, we must not add to it anything in our minds that will add to the sore, keep it sore, or make it more sore. We must keep everything else out of the sore, so it can heal properly.
It will be by overcoming that we heal: “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21
SHARINGTrue Spiritual Light
“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63
The religious mediums that appeal to the natural man, are not that which leads him to see the truth of God. Rather, they are just the substitutes of man’s fancy that supplant the needed search for God’s way.
Satan has adopted religion that appeals to human nature as his means of diverting people from the truth of God. He works to give man an invigorating religious experience that will supersede any and all concerns about seeking unto the truth of God, that lies beyond what appeals to fleshly interests.
Man is not converted to Christ by what he can see, but only that which God reveals unto him. Religion that appeals to the human eye is fleshly, while it takes the quickening by the Holy Spirit to produce that which is of God. While what man sees with his eye may stir his fleshly passions, it is not the same as that which affords real spiritual light.
God uses the preaching of His Word to manifest true spiritual light and understanding to man, 1 Corinthians 1:21. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17. God uses the incorruptible seed of His Word to quicken those who believe, 1 Peter 1:23. And all the while this is working, that which is appealing to the interests of the fleshly man, religiously speaking, will be warring against that which is the working of the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:17.
What is it that is significant about the gospel, i.e., the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to the scriptures, that makes it the power of God unto salvation, to everyone that believeth? (Romans 1:16, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Is it the visible circumstances of the crucifixion event? If so, what about all the other people crucified by this form of punishment administered by the Roman government of that day? Many others suffered he same death experience.
That which made Christ’s death on the cross the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, is that which could not be seen by the physical eye. It was when God laid the guilt of all the sins of all mankind upon Christ, and then He died for our sins only. Thus, when His blood was shed, it was shed for the atonement of the sins of the whole world, 1 John 2:2.
The gospel truth is only conveyed by the preaching of God’s Word, that reveals that which lies beyond anything that the human eye can see. What the eye sees produces human emotions. What the preaching of God’s Word produces is unto repentance and saving faith that exists by the power of God, not the strength of human passions of the flesh.
SHARINGObtaining Like Precious Faith
“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness…” 2 Peter 1:3a
THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF SALVATION
1. Being Convicted By The Holy Spirit That One Is A Lost Sinner: John 16:8, Matthew 9:12-13, John 6:44-45, Acts 16:14
2. Personal Repentance: Acts 17:30, Luke 13:3
3. Personal Conversion: Acts 3:19, Matthew 18:3, 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10
4. Being Born Again: John 3:3-7,14-15, John 1:12
The Holy Spirit regenerating new spiritual life within: Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:1
Being made a new creature, by the creative power of God: Ephesians 2:10, 2 Corinthians 5:17
5. Personal Justification From The Guilt And Condemnation Of Our Sin: Romans 3:19,24-28
6. The Righteousness Of Christ Imputed To Our Souls: Romans 4:4-8
THE PERSONAL RESULTS OF SALVATION
1. Christ Lives Within: Romans 8:9, Galatians 2:20
2. The Witness Of The Holy Spirit Within: Romans 8:16, Galatians 4:6
3. Led By The Spirit Of God: Romans 8:14, John 16:13
4. A New Nature Within That Sinneth Not: 1 John 3:9-10
5. Serving A New Master: Romans 6:16-17
6. A Personal Knowledge Of God To The Extent Of Keeping His Commandments: 1 John 2:3-6
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” 2 Corinthians 13:5
Salvation is not about what we profess outwardly, but about what God brings to pass inwardly for the sinner who turns from sin and self unto God for salvation.
Knowledge of the Bible may just become no more than a mental form of belief of the facts, such as, “I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins, so that makes me a Christian.” But the Devils also believe and tremble! They believe in what they know to be so about Jesus Christ, that He died on the cross, that He is the Son of God, etc., etc., but this kind of belief is not what saving faith is all about. God saves based on what He sees in the heart, “heart belief” (Romans 10:10). God saves the lost sinner, who under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, turns completely from sin and self unto Jesus Christ to save him and to make him alive unto God. It is heart belief unto salvation, not just mental consent unto presumption.
SHARINGServing The Master
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:24,33
How are you doing so far with these fundamentals of service to the Master?
Have you come out strong and determined, or have you faltered at the starting gate?
Are your eyes focused on the Lord, or have other distractions side tracked you?
Have you re-affirmed your commitments to the Lord, or have you allowed compromise to overtake you?
Have you established yourself in “seeking first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness” or have you let that slide in order to please self and others?
Have you let the Holy Spirit impress upon you the urgent need to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might…and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:10,13), or have you allowed your convictions to relax unto doing what is convenient in the flesh?
Have you strengthened your vigilance to be on guard against the wiles of the Devil from creeping into your considerations, evaluations, and decisions?
Have you sanctified your thinking about the danger of allowing the leaven of compromise to set in, knowing that a little leaven eventually leavens the whole lump?
Are you resolved to fight the good fight of faith, knowing there is no way to allow negligence, without suffering consequences for having done so?
Is your heart fixed and are your affections set on things above?
Does your respect for “the recompense of the reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26) overrule other considerations in the choices you make?
Are you willing to forsake all, to be the Lord’s disciple? “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26-27.
SHARING
