Friday, June 30, 2017, 5:58 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “When in The Stillness.” Speak, Lord,
your words to my heart. I read Titus
3:1-11 (Select vv. ESV).
Every Good Work
(vv. 1-2)
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and
authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of
no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward
all people.
We are always to be in
submission to rulers and authorities EXCEPT when they ask us to deny our Lord,
disobey God’s Word, compromise scripture, stop speaking in Jesus’ name, or stop
preaching the fullness of the gospel, or when they command us to bow to the
beast or to false gods, or if they try to convince us to follow false teaching.
And, we have to keep in mind here that all this may not be all that obvious.
Satan is very subtle when he tries to convince us to deny our Lord, so if we
don’t know the Word of God, and if we are easily persuaded, we might be
convinced to compromise truth while being manipulated into believing we are
doing good. So, be wise, be discerning, know the truth, and follow God’s Word,
not men.
We are to be ready for every
good work that is of God, or that is not in conflict with his perfect will for
our lives. In other words, God used to chide his people because they gave
sacrifices to him of their own choosing while they ignored his commands, and while
they did what was wicked. In other words, God is not interested in our “good
deeds” if they are apart from obedience to him, or while we are willfully
continuing to sin against him by doing what is evil in his eyes. “Good” is what
is right in God’s eyes, or what is in line with his will for our lives, so if
we want to do “good deeds” we need to be walking in the Spirit, doing what pleases
God, and seeking his will.
Regarding not speaking evil
of anyone, it means “refusing to acknowledge good (worthy of
respect, veneration); hence, to blaspheme which reverses moral values; to use
abusive or scurrilous” (insulting) “language about” (1). This is not to say we
cannot expose the fruitless deeds of darkness nor warn against those who are
teaching what is false. Those who are false teachers, who are manipulating
naïve minds, will use the Word of God in their favor and against those who are
preaching the truth, by taking the Word out of context. They will do this to
try to convince the naïve never to challenge what they teach, and this often
results in people following cultish leaders. Yet, in all we do, we should be kind,
considerate and not argumentative.
What We Were
(v. 3)
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led
astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice
and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
We can become overly critical
of others over things that don’t really matter, or excessively judgmental of
others when they sin, when we forget God’s amazing grace in our own lives, and
we overlook where we once were ourselves. Or, we may find ourselves judging
others hypocritically over things we are guilty of doing ourselves, or we may
be guilty of judging others harshly because of unforgiveness and bitterness of
heart. Yet, there is a place and a time to judge sin in sinful humans, but it
should be for the purpose to restore them to a right relationship with God, and
to do so humbly, sincerely, lovingly, and gently (See: Jas. 5:20; Gal. 6:1).
According to His Mercy (vv. 4-7)
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our
Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness,
but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of
the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our
Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to
the hope of eternal life.
Not only should we not lose
sight of the reason why Jesus died on a cross, which was to save us out of our
sins, because we were born into sin, but if we would keep his grace to us in mind,
it should help us to be more loving, forgiving and kind toward others. The
reason for this is that we did nothing to earn or deserve our own salvation. No
works of our own flesh profited us anything towards gaining God’s grace. So, we
have no reason to ever feel superior to anyone else, as though we did something
to merit God’s grace. It was only because of God’s goodness to us that any of
us can be delivered out of slavery to sin, and be set free to walk in holiness
before our God.
Stirring up Dissension (vv. 9-11)
But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies,
dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and
worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and
then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is
warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Those who stir up division
within the body of Christ are those who stir up conflict, disunity, opposition
and/or rebellion in conflict with the Word of God, in opposition to God’s
structure for the church (his body), or who are gossips, those who love to
argue (for the sport of it), or those who revel in stirring up trouble in order
to interrupt and distract from God’s holy work.
Now, the reality of this in
today’s church, particularly here in America, is that those who are causing
this division can be the pastors, elders, or other leaders within the church.
They are dividing the church by leading their congregations to follow men over
God, and by teaching what is in conflict with God’s Holy Word. And, those they
accuse of being disunifiers are often those who are actually following and
teaching the Word of God, the gospel of our salvation, in its fullness. Most
often the calls for “unity” within the local church are calls for unity with
man, and with man-made teaching and business (marketing) schemes, but that is
in conflict with God’s Word.
So, we need to be very
discerning about this, so that we don’t fall into error, because “unity” is a
buzz word used both within the global government (New World Order), leading up
to the rule of the beast, and within many localized church congregations being
led by those who have bowed to this beast, or who are deceived and being led
astray themselves. And, their goal is to lead people away from pure devotion to
Jesus Christ, away from the pure Word of Truth, and to lead them to what is
false - to a false gospel which gives a false hope of salvation to those who
are still lost in their sins. So, beware!
When in The Stillness / An
Original Work / September 26, 2011
When in the stillness of this moment,
Speak to me, Lord, I humbly pray.
Be my desire, set me on fire,
Teach me to love always.
Help me to walk in fellowship with You,
Listening to You; sit at Your feet.
Whisper Your words to me,
Oh, how gently, guiding me in Your
truth.
While we are waiting for Your blessing,
Lord, in our hearts be King today.
Help us to live for you ev’ry moment,
List’ning to what You say.
May we not stray from your word within us,
Help us obey You, Lord, in all things,
Walking each moment, Lord, in Your
presence,
Our offerings to You bring.
Help us to love You, Lord, our master;
Be an example of Your love,
Helping the hurting, lift up the
fallen,
Showing them Your great love.
Teach them to love You, follow You
always,
Bearing their cross and turning from
sin;
Walking in daily fellowship with You,
Making You Lord and King.
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