| Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net Who are we really? What do you think of when you hear the word "Church". To some it is a nasty word full of judgment and condemnation. To others, it is a place of refuge in time of need and encouragement - admonishment both to do well or to stop doing evil. Nugget: The World will never encourage you to stop doing evil. This is Satan's world system; he is the "god of this age/world" 2nd Cor. 4. We could debate meanings and motivations till we're blue in the face. We could recount or lament past blessings or wrongs experienced at the hands of "the Churchey folk". But at the end of the day, what does God say about His Church? Points to ponder: Jesus established His Church - Acts 2 and following. "..... And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" vs 47. Jesus died for His Church; what He calls His Bride - Eph. 5. Jesus is coming back for His Church. His Church must be a big deal in His eyes. He has equipped us individually and corporately (the Church) to do the work of the ministry (Eph. 4). "For this cause came I into the world, to seek and to save that which was lost" Luke 19:10, and "as the Father hath sent me, so send I you." John 20:21 This is by His design through the venue of the Local Church. "God was in the world reconciling the world unto himself through Jesus Christ, not imputing their trespasses onto their account; and hath committed unto us (His Church) the ministry of reconciliation." 2nd Cor. 5:19 To accomplish this, we have been gifted with - "every spiritual blessing in heavenly places" Eph. 1:3. With regard to our mandate, (Matt. 28:18 and following), we aren't trying to get God to "rubber stamp" our program, It's His program- "It is not my father's will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2nd Peter 3:9. Add to that, "I will never leave you nor forsake you", and "I will not send you anywhere I have not gone ahead of you", and we're running out of excuses. And the Coups de grace, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever." John 14:16. Nugget: Another = faximile in the Greek, and means an exact duplicate or one all together such as I. Paul called this Holy Spirit the "indwelling Christ". Are you picking up on this? We have a job, It's His will, He is in us, the job is to plant His seed (the gospel) which is always perfect and you cannot run out, the results are up to Him, there's no down side. Paul was terrified we would realize who and what we are in Christ, and beseeched us to "temper it (our efforts) with humility" - "Do not think more highly of yourselves than you ought" Romans 12. He was afraid we would run down the street tackling folks in an effort to get them to submit. Nugget: Many think that's what we do. Fact is however, two thousand years later, we have bought the world's bill o goods, which tells us: "It's OK to go into your little sanctuary, draw the shades, put your hands in the air and quietly sing your praise songs, but don't bring it into the school, the workplace, the market place, the political arena or daily life in general". We have adopted a "circle the wagons" mentality, and we're content to just wait for Jesus. We are supposed to be marching on the gates of Hell; snatching the lost out of eternal suffering like "brans from the fire". No more. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
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