Philippians 4:1 ESV
Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
Because there are so many liars and deceivers, not just in
the world, and not just within our government, but even within the gatherings
of the church, it is particularly imperative that we, who still hold fast to
the tenets of the Christian faith and practice, that we continue to stand firm
in our faith, and that we not waver one iota, but that we keep on living
(practicing) and preaching the truth.
Especially here in America, so many are being deceived. So
many are being led astray. So many are being convinced that they can live in
mediocrity and still have the hope of forgiveness of sins and the promise of
eternal life in heaven with God. They are convinced that their faith does not
have to impact their lifestyles, for it is something merely set aside for
Sundays and for religious holidays, and it is more form than it is actual
practice.
So, they are content with being neither on fire for the Lord
nor entirely dismissive of Jesus Christ and his teachings. And, that is because
they have been trained from early on that being religious, and doing good
deeds, and following religious customs will get them into heaven. Or, they are
being told that their sins no longer matter to God once they have “believed” in
Jesus. So, they have no fear of hell or of separation from God.
And, I am continually amazed that so many people who have
knowledge of the scriptures, and who even have been taught the truth, at one
time or another, that they still hold on to this idea that everyone, pretty
much, ends up in heaven one day, no matter how they lived their lives, or even
if they acknowledged Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
For, they get this idea that if you are basically good, or
if you make some profession of faith in Jesus, that it secures you heaven as
your eternal destiny, regardless of submission to Christ as Lord of one’s life.
Philippians 4:4-7 ESV
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
So, what is this “reasonableness” that we must let be known
to everyone? I believe it has to do with us reasoning with people, urging them
to give their hearts to the Lord Jesus in surrender to him. It has to do with
us reasoning with them, too, with regard to the teachings of scripture on the
subject of our eternal salvation, that they not just accept what has been
taught them, but that they look into the scriptures and that they see what they
truly say.
For, there are many people within the gatherings of the
church who have a totally wrong concept of our eternal salvation from sin and
of our eternal life with God in heaven once we leave this earth. And, that is
because they are relying on other humans, usually their pastors, to teach them
the truth of what the scriptures teach.
But, not everyone is teaching the truth. Not everyone is
expounding the scriptures in context, and truly looking to what they say rather
than cherry picking the ones they like that support their own personal
theology. Many are, instead, teaching scriptures out of context, while ignoring
the vast majority of teachings in scripture on what it means to truly believe
in Jesus, and to be saved from our sins, and to have eternal life with God.
So, we are to reason with people, with regard to the whole
counsel of God, that they study all the scriptures regarding our salvation and
eternal life with God, and that they read them in context, and that they
interpret them, too, within the context that they are written. And, also that
they take all these scriptures, as a whole, in order to truly understand what
it means to believe in Jesus and to be saved from our sins and to have eternal
life with God.
For, way too many false teachings are the result of taking
scriptures out of context and making them to say whatever fits with our own
personal theology or with our own choice of lifestyle. And, this is dangerous!
And, the reason this is so dangerous, in particular, is that
many who are not being judicious about rightly handling the Word of Truth are
leading many people astray, perhaps even with good intentions, but by doing so,
they are leading them straight to hell while promising them that heaven awaits
them. Thus, many are going to come before God one day and hear, “Depart from
me, I never knew you,” when they believed they were “good to go.”
Yet, it takes courage to tell this to people, because we
risk their rejection of us. We even risk that they will try to crucify us, or
make an example of us, or that they will try to convince others that they
should not listen to us.
Yet, we must not be afraid of what humans may do to us, or of
what they will think about us. What we need to be concerned about is getting
out the truth so that many will be saved from their sins, in truth, and so that
they will truly have the hope of heaven when they one day die. For, their peace
with God and their eternity has to be more important to us than our own reputations.
Philippians 4:8-9 ESV
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Basically, true faith in Jesus Christ results in genuine
change of heart, mind, thinking, attitude and behaviors. It doesn’t mean we are
instantly perfect, or that we will never sin again, but it means we have been
transformed of the Spirit of God from death to life, from darkness (sin) to
light (righteousness) and from the power of Satan to God so that we might
receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified by faith in
Jesus Christ (Acts 26:18; Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
True belief in Jesus is also God-given and God-persuaded.
And, if gifted to us by God, and if divinely persuaded by God, then this faith
results in submission to Christ as our Lord, because it is of God. Thus, true
faith in Jesus Christ results in us dying with him to sin and us living with
him to righteousness. Now we no longer walk (in lifestyle) according to the
ways of our sinful flesh, but we, now empowered by the Spirit of God, conduct
our lives according to (in agreement with) the Spirit (Eph. 2:8-10; Rom. 8:1-17;
Tit. 2:11-14; 2 Co. 5:15, 21).
Now that we are in Christ Jesus, in relationship with him,
by faith in him, our desire is for him. Thus, we should want to set our minds
on things of eternal consequence rather than focus our minds on what is
worldly. The truth, thus, should be important to us. We should be people who
speak the truth and who do not tell people lies in order to make them feel
good.
Also, our minds should be set on what is pure. We should not
be like the world, but we are to be conformed to the likeness of Christ, and to
become likeminded with him. Thus, as followers of Jesus, we shouldn’t be willfully
taking into our minds what is impure, evil, wicked and immoral. We should not
take pleasure in these things, nor should we allow ourselves to be entertained
by them. So, we need to cut out of our lives all that is impure so that we can
focus our minds and hearts on what is pure, i.e. on what is unpolluted by the
world, and on what is wholesome, innocent and moral.
These things we should now make our practice. We should
practice what is honest, pure, moral, upright, godly, holy and righteous, and
we should cease to practice what is fleshly, immoral, dishonest, corrupt,
wicked and vile. For, scripture teaches us if we make sin our practice, that we
don’t have eternal life with God in heaven, but we have a fearful expectation
of judgment (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8).
So, we need to be in prayer about these matters. We need to
seek God’s face concerning the truth of what his Word teaches, in context, and
then we need to follow that truth. We also need to pray for others to see the
light of the truth of God’s Word and to believe and follow the truth, so that
they can be saved from their sins and have eternal life with God in heaven.
And, we need to pray for one another to be steadfast in our
faith, without wavering, and to have the courage necessary to share the truth
of the gospel so that many will come to know Jesus, and will be delivered out
of their bondage to sin, and so that they may live righteously before God and
have that true hope of heaven as their eternal home.
Pray,
Pray, Pray
An
Original Work / September 6, 2012
Based
off Various Scriptures
Pray that eyes may enlightened be,
So they may know Christ.
Pray that they may Him better know,
Strengthened by His pow’r.
Pray that they may grasp
How wide and long
And high and deep
Is Christ’s love.
Pray that they may be filled
To the fullness of God’s love.
Pray with thanksgiving.
Pray for an open door for me,
So I may share Christ.
Pray when the gospel is proclaimed –
Shared with clarity.
Pray words are given me so
I declare the gospel fearlessly.
I pray for you to be active
Sharing your faith, too.
Pray continually.
We oft not know for what to pray,
So we ask for help.
The Spirit intercedes for us –
Words cannot express.
Just keep on praying for the saints
With all kinds of requests to God.
Pray they may have faith to
Please their God in ev’ry way.
Pray with joyfulness.
Sunday, May 5, 2019
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