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Tag: Christian

  • The Beloved Apostle

    The Beloved Apostle

    Liturgically, we generally do not mention the encounters of the risen Christ during Lent; however as His disciples in these last days let us examine the love of Jesus for us through the letters of the Beloved Apostle: John.

    Jesus and the Beloved Apostle

    John 21:20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them…

    24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

    25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

    1 John

    Walking in the Light

    1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

    6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

    7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

    John is not writing these letters to unbelievers or even seekers of the Truth. John is writing to the church.

    2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin,we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous…

    9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

    The beloved Apostle speaks of light and calls for love of our brothers and sisters in Christ

    John does NOT call for us to love darkness and not hate the sins of darkness.

    Do Not Love the World

    15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

    29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

    3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

    4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

    9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

    [Are you, dear brother {sister} of Christ’s calling, also convicted in any way?]

     

    11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another…

    23 And this is his commandment,that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

    God Is Love

    4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

    That You May Know

    5:16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

    18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

     PRAY for the wandering souls of Christ’s church. He loves ALL of His sheep and rejoices over the return of even one.

    (Even now, I pray for the return of my beloved to the Lord.)

    19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

    20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding,

    so that we may know him who is true;

    and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ.

    He is the true God and eternal life.

    21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

    • If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
    • If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
    • No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.
    • We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

    hypocrite2 Beloved believer,

    How are you doing in your witness of our Lord, Christ Jesus?

    Is your witness true?

     

    Please share your witness of Truth and love.

     

  • What’s a Hypocrite to do?

    What’s a Hypocrite to do?

    It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.

    (It is a Higher calling, though.) It is a higher calling as Jesus pointed out also given to the Pharisees, whose hypocrisy was frequent target of our Lord.

    We should not think for one instant that we (because we are not Pharisees or teachers of scriptures) are not also call to the higher calling of Christ Jesus to REPENT of our hypocrisy.

    Proverbs 25:4-5

    Take away the dross from the silver,
    and the smith has material for a vessel;

    take away the wicked from the presence of the king,
    and his throne will be established in righteousness.

    How can Christ Jesus claim His Throne of righteousness without taking away the dross of hypocrisy from His church?

    Are you the dross?

    OR do you REPENT and as a disciple seek once more to be “like his teacher” and as one who witnesses Jesus as Lord, “the servant like his master?”

    HYPOCRISY is a warning of Christ Jesus even in this teaching of scripture (which we will reach in a moment). CHRISTIANS (disciples and servants of Jesus Christ) are NOT to live like the world we seek to convert to join us as one of the forgiven sinners of His church.

    Matthew 10

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

    21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death,22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

    tolerencecoexistWhy are you, dear brother or sister, trying for tolerance, though our Lord calls for you to be hated for His Name’s sake?

    IF those we would win to Christ Jesus see christians as “just like us” they see hypocrisy when we try to pluck the speck of sin from their lives while we witness the tree branch in our own.

     24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.

    25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.

    If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

    You and I are NOT above Jesus. We call Him LORD.

    Neither are we like Jesus (in many ways), but by establishing His continual righteousness in our hearts as His servants we represent the household of the King of Heaven and earth as ambassadors to those He would bring into the church family along side us (miserable sinners that you and I have been).

    To be continued…

     

  • The Mirror of Church Hypocrisy – 3

    The Mirror of Church Hypocrisy – 3

    Therefore you have no excuse, O christian…

    Do you suppose, O christian… —that you will escape the judgment of God?

    Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

    But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

    He will render to each one according to his works:

    Dear unfaithful sister in the Lord — dear unrepentant brother in the Lord:

    Do these verses from Romans 2 look vaguely familiar? (I only changed one word: ‘man‘ to ‘christian,’ meaning apostate, former worshiper of Jesus Christ.

    Will YOU be convicted by the letter to the church at Rome? (Yes, we know that these words were written for unbelievers.)

    The world cannot differentiate our hypocrisy from their sins.

    REPENT!

    Romans 1

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    “The righteous shall live by faith.”

    God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

    18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

    O, dear christian, how we suppress the truth of our sin: HYPOCRISY!

    19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.

    So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

    Do YOU honor God? and thank the Lord?

    OR is your worldly witness worthless to Christ?

    22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

    24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

    26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.

    • For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
    • 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another,
    • men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

    28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

    29 They were filled with all manner of

    • unrighteousness,
    • evil,
    • covetousness,
    • malice.
    • They are full of envy,
    • murder,
    • strife,
    • deceit,
    • maliciousness.
    • They are gossips,
    • 30 slanderers,
    • haters of God,
    • insolent,
    • haughty,
    • boastful,
    • inventors of evil,
    • disobedient to parents,
    • 31 foolish,
    • faithless,
    • heartless,
    • ruthless.

    32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die,

    they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

    Can you tell the truth (even to your self before God)?

    HOW MANY of these SINS invade the lives of your ‘christian’ household and ‘christian family’ EVERY DAY?

    None of these in any way describe Jesus Christ.

    None of these of our sins describe the fruit of our witness before the world that our returning Bridegroom expects of His spotless bride, His Holy Church.

    The earlier quotes from Romans 2 (a mirror on christians for us) are followed by more conviction:

    11 For God shows no partiality.

    22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?

    Romans 3:

    Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,

    “That you may be justified in your words,
    and prevail when you are judged.”

    “None is righteous, no, not one;
    11     no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
    12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
    13 “Their throat is an open grave;
    they use their tongues to deceive.”

    18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

    23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

    Romans 6

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    Dead to Sin, Alive to God

    6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means!

    How can we who died to sin still live in it?

    This is the QUESTION for the mirror of EVERY soul claiming Christ Jesus?

    3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

    4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

    Let us confess our sin and bury it.

    Let us not confess a righteousness not yet worked out by the fruit of grace.

    Let us no more judge the sin we have not buried in Christ and cleansed for our returning Savior and Bridegroom of the Church.