Thursday, May 14,
2015, 7:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Rejoice in the Lord Always.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart.
I read 1 Corinthians 2 (NASB).
Not in Persuasive
Words
And
when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of
wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know
nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in
weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching
were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and
of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the
power of God.
When Paul said his preaching was not in persuasive words of wisdom,
he was speaking of human wisdom. He did not use human “wisdom,” i.e. human
logic and reasoning and/or the cunning and craftiness of humans in their
deceitful scheming (See Eph. 4:14) in order to convince or win people over to
his way of thinking and believing. He did not dilute the gospel message to make
it more appealing, acceptable and pleasing to the ear, either. He did not fluff
up the gospel and sugar-coat it in order to appease those who are inclined to
not say anything which might offend people and thus turn them away from “the
church.” So many people today are preaching a partial gospel, or a diluted
gospel, or a manipulated gospel which does not bring people to the cross of
Christ but leaves them still dead in their sins believing they have the hope of
heaven when they die, no matter how they have lived their lives on this earth.
Many of them literally teach that you can “get saved,” then live like hell on
the earth, but never lose your salvation. This is not consistent with the true
gospel.
Paul said that he determined to know nothing among them
except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I don’t believe he left out the
resurrection. I believe he was speaking of the whole of the gospel – Jesus died,
resurrected, and ascended to the Father, sending his Spirit, saving us from our
sins, and coming again one day to receive his bride to himself.
As well, he declared that his message and his preaching were
in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that their faith would not rest
on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. In other words, he did not
conform the gospel to the desires of humans just so that they would like it and
him better or so he would not get rejected or persecuted. He preached the whole
will of God in sharing the message of our salvation. He taught that Jesus
Christ died and was resurrected from the dead so that we might die to sin and
live to righteousness (See 1 Pet. 2:24). This is the essence of the gospel of
our salvation, not just that we would be spared from hell and given the promise
of heaven when we die, but that we would live lives transformed by the power of
the Spirit of God in new birth of the Spirit, and that we would no longer walk
according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. This is why Jesus gave his
life up for us, to set us free from the power of sin (See: Ac. 26:16-18; Ro. 8:3-14;
2 Co. 5:15; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:8-10; 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; & 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
If They Had
Understood
Yet
we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this
age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s
wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to
our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for
if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but
just as it is written,
“Things
which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And
which have not entered the heart of man,
All
that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
For
to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things,
even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except
the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows
except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to
us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but
in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual
words.
I believe the Lord Jesus is giving me a practical
application of this to our world today. Many of us who follow the teachings of
Christ and that of the apostles in their purest sense, and who preach that Jesus
Christ died and was resurrected from the dead so that we might die to sin and
live to righteousness, are frequently being classified now as “extremists.”
Going along with this, we who are following Jesus with our
lives are also being accused of being “intolerant, bigoted, and hateful,” which
is a total misrepresentation of what is truly going on, and it is because we
teach that we must turn from our sins and turn to follow Jesus Christ in
obedience – all in the power and wisdom and working of the Spirit of God within
us who has given us new birth in Christ Jesus, our Lord. We also expose the
lies and deceptions for what they are and speak out against a “light and fluffy”
gospel intended to tickle itching ears which only want to hear feel-good
messages, and which reject the truth. So, the gospel and its messengers are
getting “the squeeze,” i.e. we who share the gospel are being intimidated and
pressured into rejecting the whole will of God for a more universally
acceptable faith in God which doesn’t offend people, which tolerates sin,
and/or which works to get along with people of all faiths through being
tolerant of all religions and beliefs, i.e. which compromises the Christian
faith and practice.
This seems to be leading to even greater persecution to come
via the removing of our freedom of speech via “the squeeze,” because we speak
out against following the ways of this sinful world, and because we call people
to repentance. It could also be because we expose their lies and we tell people
the truth. The truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ is often now being replaced
with entertainment, especially as it pertains to lies, deception, manipulations
and distractions and as replacement for the truth of God’s word. So many
churches today are not being led by the teachings of Christ and of his apostles
but are typical cases of Marketing 101 at work. They run the church just like
any other business of human origin, and they market it much the same way as
many businesses are marketed, looking to please and/or to manipulate the potential
customer base so that the customer will return for more, rather than looking to
please God, even if potential “customers” are offended by the message of the
cross. So, the purpose of “the squeeze” appears to get us to change our
positions, to compromise, and to back down or else face the consequences.
I believe this is happening right now on a global level,
i.e. that this is directly related to this forming of “the beast,” and that it
is not localized to just one country or to just the specific areas of interest
mentioned in any particular news article on this subject. We know that the US
government has been collecting our phone records, listening in on our phone
calls, reading our emails, text messages and social media messages for some
time now, and that they have been profiling us and determining which ones of us
fit in this category of “religious extremists.” And, they have the authority to
even arrest us without charges and without due course of law if they suspect us
of “extremist” activity. David Cameron, of the UK, spoke about some of what
they are doing to combat “extremists” and this was written about in a linked news
article (below). I am also including an article about the US and the measures
they have taken to monitor private communications of the citizens of this
nation, because I believe it is related, as they all fall under the rule of the
“beast” New World Order.
Foolishness to
Natural Man
But
a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually
appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is
appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will
instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
One of the reasons why believers in Jesus Christ who hold to
the testimony of Jesus and who do not deny his name are being persecuted right
now is because natural man (human nature) does not accept the things of the
Spirit, for they are foolishness to him. Since he can’t understand them, he
attacks, ridicules, belittles, and accuses falsely those who believe in the
things of God and who share those beliefs with others. For instance, he can’t
understand that we must follow what God’s word teaches us even if it doesn’t
make sense according to human logic and reasoning. He can’t understand the idea
of submitting to God and of surrendering our wills to him, because he wants to
hold on to his life of sin and do as he pleases. So, if we are living and
preaching death to sin, and walking in the Spirit, he will be offended by this
unless, of course, the Spirit of God moves his heart to believe in Jesus
Christ.
Yet, if we are in Christ, by faith in him, we should have
the mind of Christ, i.e. we should know and agree with his teachings, his
values, and his principles for Christian living. So, we should continue to follow
the Word of God and Jesus Christ our Lord, and do what the Word teaches us to
do and to say even if it gets us rejected, hated and persecuted for
righteousness’ sake. As well, we should have the view in mind that it is the
Lord who gives, and it is the Lord who takes away, so blessed by the name of the
Lord. Amen!
Rejoice
in the Lord Always! / An Original Work / January
26, 2013
Based
off Phil. 4 & Col. 3
Rejoice in our Lord God always.
I say again: “Rejoice always!”
Let your love and kindness show forth.
Our Lord Christ will soon appear.
Do not let yourself be troubled.
Do not fear your circumstances.
In all of life’s complications,
Pray to God with thankfulness.
God will give you peace and rest.
Set your minds on things of heaven:
What is true and right and lovely.
Do not focus your attention
On the things that pass away.
Therefore put to death your old self.
Clothe yourselves with God’s compassion.
Put the word of Christ in practice.
Let God’s peace rule in your hearts.
Sing songs of praise unto God.
In all of life’s circumstances
I’ll learn to trust; be contented.
Whether I have none or plenty,
I will give thanks unto God.
I can live my life to please Him,
Because Jesus gives me His strength.
My God will meet all of my needs,
From his treasure chest in Christ.
Glory, praise be unto God.
News Stories:
No comments:
Post a Comment