Philippians 3:17-21 ESV
“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
Keep Your Eyes on Jesus
We must be very careful about following and putting our
trust in other humans, for not many appear today to be living holy and upright
lives, including not many pastors and elders within the gatherings of what is
being called “church.” And not many of them, thus, are teaching the full gospel
message (the whole counsel of God), but many of them are diluting the gospel to
make it more acceptable to human flesh.
Therefore, it is much better to just keep our eyes on Jesus
than to keep them on other humans who are bound to fail us, for we all still
live in flesh bodies, and thus we are all still subject to sin. Not one of us
should be living in sin, though, deliberately and habitually committing sin
against God and others, to do them harm. We should all be living holy and godly
lives in obedience to our Lord and in submission to Jesus Christ as Lord.
But since sin is running rampant in the church here in
America, although not in every congregation, and since so many pastors are
wolves in sheep’s clothing and/or are those who are following after the
teachings of man and of the flesh, and they are following marketing schemes on
how to grow their churches, not many of them are setting the right example for
us in how to live godly and holy lives for the praise and glory of God.
So, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, and be serious students
of the Scriptures, and study the Bible in context prayerfully and carefully,
under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit and not according to some
book written by some mere mortal who is not teaching the truth of the
Scriptures. For not many are teaching the truth anymore, although it may appear
that they are, for they are very clever at turning lies into truth. So beware!
Enemies of the Cross
I am now 72 years old. I began attending gatherings of the
church from infancy, as my parents did before me. Nearly all of my life I have
been active in the gatherings of the church (or what is falsely being called
church). And from the age of 16 on up I began teaching the Scriptures, first to
children, then to women. And I was involved in all sorts of ministries within
the institutional church, including twice as a church planter along with my
husband who was the pastor of these church plants.
So, over the years, I became well acquainted with the inner
workings of these institutional churches, including we attended several of
their training seminars, which included a lot of marketing schemes. So, I can
speak from experience in saying with Paul, “For many, of whom I have often told
you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.”
For so many pastors today are walking by the flesh and not by the Spirit, and
they are following marketing schemes in place of the Holy Spirit.
But it isn’t just the pastors, and it isn’t all pastors.
Many people within the gatherings of what is called “church,” who are
professing faith in Jesus Christ, are also walking according to the flesh and
not according to the Spirit. Some of them are doing so because they are being
taught that they can keep on in their sin and still be forgiven their sins and
still go to heaven when they die, although each one of them is still answerable
to God and is still responsible for the decisions they make with their lives.
But this is epidemic in today’s modern “churches.” The
gatherings of the church and the gospel have both been altered to appeal to
human flesh and to the people of the world, and so many people are teaching a
faith in Jesus Christ absent of true (or any) repentance and obedience to
Christ and submission to Christ as Lord of their lives. And thus they have not
been crucified with Christ in death to sin, nor have they been raised with
Christ to walk in newness of life in him, for they are still living in their
old lives.
Their End is Destruction
Now, the Scriptures make it quite clear that if we walk (in
conduct, in practice) according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit, and
if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness is not what we practice, and
if we do not obey our Lord’s commands, and if we do not love our brothers and
sisters, that we do not have eternal life with God. For Jesus said that not
everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven but
only the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven.
So, if you think that you can “believe” (undefined) in Jesus,
have your sins forgiven, and be on your way to heaven, but that you can still
deliberately and habitually practice sinning against the Lord and against other
humans, to harm them, then you need to read what the Scriptures teach on that
subject, for that is not what the Scriptures teach. They teach that we must die
daily to sin and walk (in conduct) in obedience to our Lord. And they teach
that we must honor Jesus Christ as Lord (Owner-Master).
Only those who have been crucified with Christ in death to
sin and who are walking in obedience to the Lord, daily dying to sin and to
self, and who are not walking in sin and in disobedience to the Lord Jesus,
have the promise and the hope of eternal life with God. And this is not saying
that these are perfect people or that they never fail, but that they are no
longer walking (in practice) according to the flesh and in sin, but they are
walking in obedience to the Lord and they are living holy lives pleasing to the
Lord.
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn
15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1
Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Gal
5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal
6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb
10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac
26:18; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8,27;
Rev 22:14-15]
I
Will Lift My Eyes
An
Original Work / December 12, 2012
Based
off Psalms 121-125
I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.
My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.
He will not let your foot slip, and He who watches will not
sleep.
Our Lord watches over you, and your life He will keep.
I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.
My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.
I give thanks to Him.
I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.
I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n.
Because of His great love for us, He made us alive with
Christ.
Through the kindness of our Savior, He gave us new life.
I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.
I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n;
My home, now in heav’n.
Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.
Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.
Those who trust will ne’er be shaken. God will supply all we
need.
Our Lord has done great things for us. He’s our friend,
indeed!
Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.
Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.
I can count on Him.
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