Words of Jesus Part 17
This continues the thought from the chapter preceding it that the Jews who were called first, will be the last. It could also apply to Christians who have been serving the Lord for a great length of time will be equal to a new convert. We can learn much from this. First of all, to be thankful for God's salvation no matter when we come to know Jesus Christ and to be faithful in all we know to do after we come to Christ. When we see the zeal and joy of new converts, we can learn from them. Have we lost our joy and our first love? Have we become stale in our walk with the Lord. Every day should be new and fresh as we walk in the spirit. We don't have to become stale and dry. I realize that we have to be on guard against latter day false teaching and false movements. Jesus told us to watch and be careful. He warned us of false signs and wonders. Yet in doing this we must be careful not to falsely accuse true brothers and sisters in the Lord. If someone's reaction to the presence of the Holy Spirit is so joyful that he or she jumps, leaps and shouts, do not criticize that form of worship. If they teach doctrines contrary to the bible however, speak out and warn. On the other hand if someone worships quietly, maybe shedding a tear or maybe not showing any outward emotion, do not criticize this type of worship. There is nothing in the bible that restricts one to a quiet worship or an emotional one. I've seen both kinds criticized unfairly and it is wrong. However, if a false doctrine is taught or a false way of salvation, we must speak being careful not to offend new converts that will at times as they they begin to learn and grow in the knowledge of the Lord .... make mistakes. Sometimes some of us that have been around for a while struggle with the new things. Some of the new things may be innocent. Some may mean serious trouble ahead. I for one cannot stand singing choruses over and over and over. Too much repetition drives me up the wall. Many people feel that way also but that is the way some worship so I try not to make waves over things the bible does not forbid. Older hymns teach a message that the short choruses miss so I really hate to abandon them altogether but the bible does not say much about the style of music, so its better to pray for our music leaders and trust God to lead them. In all things I love to rejoice in the Lord and sing with thanksgiving that I'm in a place with fellow believers worshiping with them in song. Fussing and complaining will ruin the atmosphere of the joy of the Lord. Yes we can't let that cause us to have a bitter spirit against those that lead worship service. Those dear brothers or sisters in the Lord can't please everyone at the same time. So lets trust and rejoice. I'm not going to find fault if someone drives a fancy car or a junker, but if they teach a false doctrine, we must speak out. If a church wants to take up an offering before, during or after a service, it is of no consequence but if they teach that one can commit sexual immorality and still make heaven his home without repentance, then I will not accept that. If one teaches that we can feed the poor, do good works and be active in the community and enter heaven by our good works ignoring the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the only true way of salvation, then we must warn that we are not saved by our own works of righteousness but only by what Jesus did on our behalf when He died for our sins. There are times when we must speak out and not fear the "touch not my anointed" warning that we hear so much. That doesn't mean that we don't speak out against false teaching. David refused to touch the anointed of the Lord being King Saul. He would not physically harm Saul but it didn't stop David or Samuel the prophet from pointing out the sin of King Saul. The children who mocked one prophet and were then attacked by a bear were an example of unfairly disrespecting a man of God. The children were not pointing out any false doctrine or correcting any wrong, they were mocking a man of God in a disrespectful manner. This is in 2 Kings 2:23-25 Here is the story:
This sounds harsh to us in today's world but God is reminding us the seriousness of how we treat those the represent Him and preach His word. If we don't know for sure who is false or real, we treat them kindly and leave trust God to deal with it. We don't have to be mean and cruel when we point out error but we must point out error. The bible says if someone is taken in a fault, we are to go in the spirit of meekness. We are not to false accuse, mock and go in a holier than thou attitude but sin and false doctrine have to be corrected or others will follow after their false ways. Again though I repeat, if we don't know for sure its better to pray and trust God to deal with anything that is not right. He will if we take it to Him. Even though we should give people the benefit of the doubt we don't have to blindly follow them or support a ministry where we have doubts. Yet avoid being an accuser of the brethren.
Again and again our Lord prepares His disciples for what is to come. I'm seeing a trend in the church that is avoiding Revelations and prophecy. We must warn against the time to come and prepare our people not to fall prey to false teaching and doctrine. In the name of unity, many are casting aside sound doctrine in order to "get along" with other churches and denominations. We should love them and desire unity if we can and never persecute any that believe differently then we do but we cannot unify with lies and false teaching. We cannot join with a group that does not believe in the truth in the name of unity. Jesus said we are to be one as He and His father are one. They were one in the truth, not in lies. I can love my neighbor that is a different type of faith as me but I can't join with their group if they teach another way of salvation other than Jesus Christ. I can't join in unity with any who say that we can live in open sin, ignore God's word and still expect to go to Heaven. I can't join with a group that says we are to join religion and politics and set up Christ's kingdom on earth before He comes back. The church in the Middle Ages already tried that and put to death many who opposed them. We are not ordained of God to do those things. Only Jesus Christ can set up His own kingdom. We are to preach the gospel and bring men and woman to Jesus Christ. Teaching them to repent of sin and turn to Christ for salvation. Jesus will do the setting up the kingdom and taking over governments. We are not to do that ahead of time. We can read from history that man is not capable to setting up a righteous kingdom. Sooner or later when a religion gets in power many innocent people are put to death. Only Christ Himself can set up that kingdom. Avoid the Dominion, Kingdom now, Prosperity or Replacement theology, they are false doctrines.
When we remember this we become great in the kingdom of God. Humility. If we remember who we are and remember to humble ourselves instead of exalting ourselves, we would not fall prey to the prosperity doctrine, the dominion and kingdom now doctrines or the Replacement theology. Replacement is the teaching that the church replaces Israel as God's chosen people. We do not. We become part of being adopted into the same vine as Israel but we do not replace them. Many Jews are already coming to Christ. Seeing ourselves as servants instead of people who are to get rich and take over the government will keep us from false doctrine. Desire to prophecy, preach, teach or do whatever we are called to do but avoid trying to control, dictate, and use force. Allow the Holy Spirit to use us and encourage those we teach and lead to allow the Holy Spirit to use them. We are all equal.
The church needs to get back to ministering, helping and serving rather than taking, fleecing and using the people.
These men were healed because of their persistence. They didn't let the unfeeling crowd stop them. They cried out even though they were rebuked. Jesus healed them. We can learn from them. We can't let family, friends, co-worker, fellows students etc. stop us from seeking and living for God. We must fervently pursue God and study His word. How can we know who God is and what He is like if we just rely on what we hear in church or on the news? Only from the word can we learn of Him. If one read church history, you might wonder why people allowed the church leaders to do the evil that they did against humanity. The reason was that the word was not given to the common people. They were not allowed to study the bible. The bible was only to be interpreted by the church leaders. This is why they went along with all sorts of distortions, evil and murder. God sent brave men who risked their lives to free the bible from pulpit chains. We now can read it freely in many countries. It was given to us to show us who God is and how we can be saved from the wrath and judgment of God to come. Please don't leave that in the hands of men. Study the bible for yourself.
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