The Tie That Binds God’s Church

Ephesians 3:16-19

God binds His New Testament Church together with the bond of His love, which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us. This is known to all who have this indwelling Spirit and have been set together in the Body by God. (1 Corinthians 12:18)

This bond of Divine love is the miracle of God working within us, “We love him, because he first loved us…..and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” 1 John 4:19 & 5:1

–It is our strength: “….strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. Ephesians 3:16

–It is our roots and our foundation: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love” Ephesians 3:17. (What isn’t seen and yet you know is there because of what it affords within you and for you.)

–It gives a comprehension common with one another, “May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth and height.” Ephesians 3:18

–It is the capacity of Christ – living and loving within us, that enables us to love and be loved in ways that are above and beyond the bounds of the human capacities of love: “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.” Ephesians 3:19a

THIS GIVES US A FULLNESS OF GOD: “….that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:19b

This is why God’s church doesn’t have to have an inviting building to attract it’s members — they are attracted to God’s fullness.

This is why God’s people decline all forms of sensationalism and entertainment in the church, as these only violate a sought after sanctity for getting beyond self to be in communion with the incomparable fullness of God.

This is why God’s people do not rate the church with respect of persons. We don’t have to have a people complimentary to what our personal, social, or material likes and dislikes are, because we rather rejoice in the common fullness of God.

Likewise, our joy, our blessing, our satisfaction is neither made nor broken by what others are or are not, because the fullness of God is our meat and our drink.

Thus the tie that binds the church together is not of what we are ourselves, but from the fullness of God within. It is a miracle! It is unshakable; it transcends all other ties; it keeps drawing us together again. But if and when that fellowship with God’s love is broken from within the heart, then nothing one is, in or of themselves, can or will be a substitute for it.

“BLEST BE THE TIE THAT BINDS, OUR HEARTS IN CHRISTIAN LOVE: THE FELLOWSHIP OF KINDRED MINDS, IS LIKE TO THAT ABOVE.”

SHARING

There’s Work For All

If you cannot be a preacher
And hold millions in your sway,
You can be a faithful witness
Preaching by your life each day.

Perhaps you are too old or weary
To climb the mountains steep and high,
But you need not from the valley
Be indifferent as men die.

God has blessed you with His bounty,
So there’s something you can do.
You can be a faithful steward
And help the lost find Christ through you.

If you cannot be His servant
Preaching on some distant shore,
Then at least you can be faithful
To witness to the man next door.

Do not wait for call or vision;
There is work for all today.
Let us all then join God’s army
And do our best without delay.

Though you cannot go in person,
You can go in purse and prayer.
If you have a heart to serve Him,
You can serve Him anywhere.

–Author Unknown

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Why Are People Faithful To God?

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” John 14:21

“So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.” John 21:15

“If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.” 1 Corinthians 16:22

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Our Need Of The Holy Spirit

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24

OUR OWN INTERESTS AND ATTITUDES FALL WAY SHORT:
—Jeremiah 10:23  “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”
—Proverbs 16:25  “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
—Romans 3:10-12  “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
—Romans 7:18  “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”

We know what this means for an unsaved person. They must become convicted of their sin condition unto the point of repentance = having a complete change of mind about themselves before God, unto turning from what they are unto God, to be saved by the power of His grace.

But also after we are saved, we still must have the conviction of our personal sin condition to override everything about ourselves, as Paul said in Romans 7:18 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”

WE NEED THE HELP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO DO GOD’S WORK:
—Acts 1:8  “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
—John 16:13  “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
—Galatians 5:22-23  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
—Acts 4:31,33  “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.”

“Seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.”

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Spiritual Direction Needed In The Home

(Adapted from an article by Pastor Troy Calvert)

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” Proverbs 22:6

The emphasis is on starting when God gives us the child, and not waiting until they are older. Children learn the way they live, thus they must be trained in the way they should go.

Giving discipline and direction is all important. The Bible teaches that all (our children included) inherit a sinful nature from Adam. Thus, discipline or structure in the home, in the form of rules, must be enforced if our children are to learn the life-lessons they need. “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” Proverbs 29:15  Parents must not fail their children’s need of proper training by parental inconsistencies in this area of structure and discipline. The right demands must be placed upon the child to achieve the right conduct on their part. A child’s development is according to what is being required of them on a consistent basis. This is what training is all about.

Teaching a child to meet your requirements (obedience) is the key to their understanding the need to be obedient to God’s Word. As we put into practice the principles that we find in God’s Word, we can find the direction that is needed for living.

Are you training your children to use God’s Word in order to make wise decisions? This training provides your children with the needed spiritual offense. Ephesians 6:10-18 teaches us that our defensive and offensive weapon is the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. If you want your children to be able to resist the devil, to deny their own flesh, to fight off the world, and to fight the good fight of faith in laying hold on eternal life, impart to them the training according to God’s Word. Help them to see there is only one way in which they should go and it is God’s way.

Children have to be taught the scriptures and trained to live according to the ways of God’s Word, for the wisdom of God’s Word to be their focus. When children have been taught and trained unto knowing and understanding the wisdom of God’s Word, this will enable them to relate to parental guidance that is according to Biblical reasoning. “That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.” Psalm 78:7

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