“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:1-7 ESV)
Why did Paul struggle? He had enemies. He had people who were out to destroy him, who spoke evil against him, who lied about him, and who tried to destroy his reputation among the people. He had those who tried to contradict what he was teaching, too. And he was beaten, left for dead, falsely imprisoned, and went through all kinds of physical suffering for the sake of the name of Jesus, and for the sake of the gospel, and for the sake of the salvation of human lives from sin so they could have life in Christ.
And so he often had to come to his own defense, too, against false accusations, but not just for the sake of his own reputation among the people, but for the sake of the truth of the gospel. For if he was discredited, so would be the message that he was teaching, which was Satan’s intention. So, he went through many hardships, not only for the salvation of the lost, but for the encouragement and strengthening of those of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus, many of whom were also being persecuted for their faith.
So Paul was very dedicated to getting out the truth, and to rebuking the lies, so that the people would come to know Christ in truth and in righteousness, and so that they who were of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus would come to maturity in their walks of faith and obedience to God. For he was not interested in just “getting them saved,” but in helping them to grow in their walks of faith in becoming more like Jesus, and so that they would not be deceived and led astray by those who would delude them with lies.
And if we are those who are of genuine faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we, too, are to be encouraging one another in our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord, and who are sharing the truth of the gospel with the people, even if we get hated, rejected, and mistreated in return, as did Paul. Our lives should be so dedicated to the Lord and to his gospel message and to loving the people of this world and to encouraging our fellow Christians, that we will be willing to be hated, rejected, and mistreated without cause.
And in the times in which we now live, we will be opposed, even by others who profess faith in Jesus Christ, and even by some pastors and elders of “churches” which they have turned into businesses and are being marketed to the people of the world. And that is because we stand on the truth of God’s word and on the gospel message that Jesus taught in a time when so many people are altering the character of God/Christ, and of his church, and of his gospel, in order to appease human flesh and attract the world.
So, if we hold on to the gospel according to Jesus and according to the Scriptures and to the NT apostles, as taught in their full context, and not out of context, we are going to be rejected and persecuted and cast aside as unwanted, as well as we may be verbally opposed and even lied about, and we may even have others who will repeat what we said out of context, and who will twist our words to try to convince others that what we are teaching is not the truth, while they will pretend that they are teaching the truth.
But, out of love for God and for our fellow humans, we must persist in getting out the truth, and in refuting the lies of the enemy, even if we get hated and rejected and mistreated and even falsely accused, in return. And we must teach that Jesus Christ died on that cross to redeem us out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now become servants of God and of his righteousness in walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living. And we must warn that if sin is our practice, and not obedience to God, we will die in sin.
[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-25,34-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13; Romans 6:1-23; Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Galatians 5:16-21]
Should I Not Preach Jesus
An Original Work / July 4, 2013
Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13
Woe to me should I not preach Jesus.
I’m compelled to preach the full gospel.
I make myself a slave to ev’ryone
To win their hearts to Christ.
All this I do for my Lord Jesus,
And for the sake of His Name;
Do it for the sake of His gospel,
So that I, its blessings gain.
Scripture notates the sins of others;
Written down for us as examples
To keep us from setting our hearts
On evil as did those of old.
Do not worship other gods of man;
Do not give your hearts to them;
Not partake in immorality.
Do not test your Lord and King.
So, be careful if you think you are
Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.
God has given his word to warn us,
So through faith we will not fall.
No temptation has o’ertaken you
Except what is commonplace.
God is faithful to not let you be
Tempted past what you can bear.
He gives the way of escape.
https://vimeo.com/116057811
No comments:
Post a Comment