1 Corinthians 1:1 ESV
“Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus..”
We are All Called (Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; Eph
4:1-16)
We who are in Christ Jesus by genuine faith in Christ are
all called of God to his service. He has gifted us each of the Spirit of God in
unique ways specifically designed for us, and he has assigned each one of us
the part within the body of Christ that he intends for us to fill. We are all chosen
of God if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine faith which resulted in us dying
with Christ to sin that we might live to God and to his righteousness.
It is the responsibility of our spiritual leaders to equip
us for the work of the ministry, to which we are all called, but if they fall
down on their job that is no excuse for us to not do ours. The Holy Spirit will
equip us. We just need to be listening to the Spirit’s voice and then we need
to obey the Lord when he calls us and when he shows us what he has for us to
do. And he will prepare our hearts for this. He will get us ready. We just have
to say ‘Yes!’
For honestly not too many of our “spiritual leaders” within
today’s church here in America are actually equipping the saints for the work
of the ministry to which the Lord has called each one of us. For many of them
are doing the ministry by themselves or with a hand-picked group of loyal
followers who will do whatever they tell them to do, which is not necessarily
what God wants us to do, since so many of them are following man and not God.
But our calling is to exhort, to encourage, to urge, and to speak
the truth in love to one another within the body of Christ to help one another
to mature in our walks of faith. And it is to help one another to avoid the
pitfall of following after men in their deceitful scheming who are teaching all
kinds of winds of doctrine via their cunning and craftiness in deceiving the
minds of the naïve and the immature. So, we need to call out these deceivers,
we need to expose their lies, and we need to be telling people the truth.
But this involves each one of us doing our work (our part)
for this to be fully accomplished, and right now, in America, the body is not
functioning like it should in most cases. And “our part” is not determined by
man but by God, and the church is the body of genuine believers in Jesus Christ.
It is not these man-made institutions, most of them now under the authority of
the state and the headship of church denominations, which are not of God.
Encouraging One Another (Eph 5:17-27; Col 3:16; Heb
3:13)
We read at the beginning of Ephesians 5 that we are to be
imitators of God who walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for
us. And for what purpose did he give himself up for us? It was to free us from
our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin and to empower us to live holy and
godly lives while we are still on this earth (Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24).
Well, in that same way we are to love our brothers and
sisters in Christ and the people of the world. We are to surrender our lives to
Christ as his called ones and we are to share the message of the gospel with
them, yes even with those professing faith in Jesus Christ, for many people who
profess him do not know him, and many are not walking in the truth of God’s
word.
And then (still in Ephesians 5) we are instructed that sexual
immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among us, as
is proper among saints. They are to have no part in our lives. Then it goes on
to tell us more of what should not be part of our lives – no filthiness nor
foolish talking nor crude joking, etc. For if sin is what we practice, we have
no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. We will die in our sins.
It goes on to tell us that we are to take no part in the
unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. We are to be doing
this!! And then we need to look carefully how we walk, not as unwise but as
wise, making the best use of the time because the days are evil. We are not to
be foolish (stupid), but we are to understand the will of the Lord and to do
it.
Then it tells us that we are not to get drunk on wine, and
that is true, but I think this goes beyond just getting drunk on wine, for we
can be drunk on addictive sin of any kind. And when we are intoxicated we are
out of control, we are not living under Holy Spirit control, so we need to be
filled with the Spirit. And this is not talking about some emotional
experience. It means that the Spirit of God is who is filling our minds and our
lives and not sin.
And then it says that we are to address one another in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord
WITH YOUR HEART. Now this has nothing to do at all with having a professional
sound to your voice or singing along with great accompaniment. This is
spiritual, not physical. So if someone doesn’t have a great voice and you think
their song is old fashioned sounding, then just listen with the Spirit, not
with the flesh.
For this is not about entertaining people. This is about
letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly, teaching and admonishing one
another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with
thankfulness in our hearts to God. So, if someone has a song or a hymn to share
with you for your encouragement, listen to it, but listen to it with spiritual
ears and let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart through it. Please get away
from this idea that spiritual songs are to be top notch so that the flesh can
enjoy them.
For we are all called of God to exhort one another every
day, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of us may be hardened by the
deceitfulness of sin. So, we need to get out of our minds that this is just the
job of pastors. This is our job as the body of Christ. And we need to stop
looking for perfection in presentation, but we need to humble ourselves and
listen for the Spirit’s voice, instead. So let him speak to you through other
believers.
He
Touched My Mouth
An Original Work / June 13, 2012
Based
off Isaiah 6:1-8; Jeremiah 1:4-9
Oh, I saw the Lord seated on His throne,
High and lifted up; Holy is the Lord!
The earth is full of His glory.
“Woe to me,” I cried,
“I’m of unclean lips.”
My Lord touched my mouth
With His cleansing pow’r;
Removed all my guilt, paid for by His blood.
He asked, “Whom shall I send;
Who will go for us?”
I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Before I was born, God set me apart;
He appointed me to His servant be.
I said, “I don’t know how to speak.
I am but a child.” Then, the Lord replied:
“Do not say to me, ‘I am but a child.’
You must go to all and do what I say.
Do not fear them, for I’m with you.”
My Lord touched my mouth;
Gave me words to say.
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