Is it just me or has the church seemingly lost her zeal for the "Cause of Christ?" It seems that we have so many pieces of a 'religious pie' yet many of us are missing the very key ingredient. I'm referring to the fact that the church was left on earth by Jesus to manifest the life of Christ in everything we do.
His love, His compassion, His holiness, His honesty, His power, etc. should be radiating from our being as a beacon of pure light shining into the night telling all the tattered, worn and broken ships where to find safety, peace and joy. We should be fulfilling the Great Commission (found in Matt. 28:18-20 & Mark 16:15 and elsewhere in Scripture), we should let His Light shine (Matt. 5:16), yet it seems that we are focussed on everything else but this.
You have many churches which obviously have a 'private' mission statement that must read "Tell the world why other churches aren't right but we are." Now I'm all for calling out false prophets and teachers' doctrine, and I'm all for "contending for the faith" (Jude 3), yet I'm not in support of that becoming our mission. I believe our zeal for one item can cloud our vision and cause us to lose focus on the 'cause' of Christ.
There are many other churches which run sort of on the other side of that line by doing anything (and sometimes everything) to bring people together in a building on Sundays. They will eliminate 'offensive doctrines' and will not preach against sin, so that people will come to church on Sundays. But without the wonderful truth of repentance (which is a change of mind and thereby a change of lifestyle) people are not drawn by the Spirit of God to the Way, the Truth and the Life, they only become complacent, pacified members of a 'glorified social club.' Again, in this the church has lost its vision of the 'Cause.'
During this time of year, let us come back to the reason in which we are here. There is a world that is dying and going to hell and the Lord has commissioned us, His bride, to go forth and win them to Him.
Lord, fill me with Your Spirit and power, so that I would become an effective witness for You. Let me be led by Your Spirit at all times. Open doors for witnessing. Keep me focused on You and You alone. Amen!
Showing posts with label holiness unto the lord. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiness unto the lord. Show all posts
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Be Ye Separate Saith the Lord!
2Co 6:14-18- [14] Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? [15] And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? [16] And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [17] Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, [18] And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Step foot into the majority of our modern day churches throughout the United States of America and you will find quickly that either the entire congregation, including the pastors and staff, are ignorant of this passage of Scripture or they simply choose to completely ignore it. It is obvious that the "world" has crept into the church, and in many places overtaken it. Our music styles are worldly; our "worship" services are more like rock concerts; our preaching is not the straight preaching of the un-adulterated Word of God; our lifestyles are tainted with the lusts of the flesh and a love for this world more than we would like to confess; it is sickening to any devoted child of God and to God Himself for that matter! It is terrible, ungodly, unholy and simply against any and everything to do with God and His Word! How can we profess to serve the God of the Bible, but then reject His commandments that come from it?
This passage is clear. It is not hard to understand; neither is it hard to follow if we truly love Christ. You see, when a person completely falls head over heels in love with Jesus Christ, there is nothing left in this "world" that they desire. They strive to be holy! They long for an outpouring of the Holy Ghost in their hearts. They daily seek that place in God that would bring them to a closer walk with Him. It is not hard for them to "come out..." and "separate" because they are longing to get closer to Christ anyway! It's not hard to lose their love for their world, because their desires, likes, dislikes, etc as far as the moral/spiritual sense has been transformed! And they have been given the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).
Notice that he says, "what fellowship hath..." There is no common ground with us and the rest of the world! We are different; we were created as new creatures and therefore we became different (2 Cor. 5:17); we were commanded to be different (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1;Rom. 12:2). We no longer have carnal minds but spiritual (1 Cor. 2). The fact is, that a child of God desires to be like God. They have no desire to conform to this world, they lost that desire when the old man died!
Before I just start rambling on and on, let me get to verse 18. This is a precious promise given unto us by God Himself. But what is true with every other promise in the Word of God is true with this one, their are conditions. The condition was/is that we come out from among the world and be a people separated unto God for His glory and then we will receive the blessings of the Lord. The "God is only grace and mercy" movement of today that says what happens in your life after you say the sinner's prayer can't effect where you spend eternity is just not biblical.
I urge you to cry out to God as David did when he said, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (Psa 51:10). Cry out to God to search your heart, to let you know of anything hidden within you that would hinder you from becoming the child of God He desires you to be. He longs to bless you as His child, and He has shown you how to live in the eternal blessings of God, now just respond to Him and be sanctified, set apart and meet for the master's use! God bless!
Step foot into the majority of our modern day churches throughout the United States of America and you will find quickly that either the entire congregation, including the pastors and staff, are ignorant of this passage of Scripture or they simply choose to completely ignore it. It is obvious that the "world" has crept into the church, and in many places overtaken it. Our music styles are worldly; our "worship" services are more like rock concerts; our preaching is not the straight preaching of the un-adulterated Word of God; our lifestyles are tainted with the lusts of the flesh and a love for this world more than we would like to confess; it is sickening to any devoted child of God and to God Himself for that matter! It is terrible, ungodly, unholy and simply against any and everything to do with God and His Word! How can we profess to serve the God of the Bible, but then reject His commandments that come from it?
This passage is clear. It is not hard to understand; neither is it hard to follow if we truly love Christ. You see, when a person completely falls head over heels in love with Jesus Christ, there is nothing left in this "world" that they desire. They strive to be holy! They long for an outpouring of the Holy Ghost in their hearts. They daily seek that place in God that would bring them to a closer walk with Him. It is not hard for them to "come out..." and "separate" because they are longing to get closer to Christ anyway! It's not hard to lose their love for their world, because their desires, likes, dislikes, etc as far as the moral/spiritual sense has been transformed! And they have been given the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).
Notice that he says, "what fellowship hath..." There is no common ground with us and the rest of the world! We are different; we were created as new creatures and therefore we became different (2 Cor. 5:17); we were commanded to be different (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1;Rom. 12:2). We no longer have carnal minds but spiritual (1 Cor. 2). The fact is, that a child of God desires to be like God. They have no desire to conform to this world, they lost that desire when the old man died!
Before I just start rambling on and on, let me get to verse 18. This is a precious promise given unto us by God Himself. But what is true with every other promise in the Word of God is true with this one, their are conditions. The condition was/is that we come out from among the world and be a people separated unto God for His glory and then we will receive the blessings of the Lord. The "God is only grace and mercy" movement of today that says what happens in your life after you say the sinner's prayer can't effect where you spend eternity is just not biblical.
I urge you to cry out to God as David did when he said, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (Psa 51:10). Cry out to God to search your heart, to let you know of anything hidden within you that would hinder you from becoming the child of God He desires you to be. He longs to bless you as His child, and He has shown you how to live in the eternal blessings of God, now just respond to Him and be sanctified, set apart and meet for the master's use! God bless!
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