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(Mathew 28:19)
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost:
(Mathew 28:20)
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I
have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world. Amen.
A few thoughts on
church activism outside the church walls.
Why do we seem to be ashamed to proclaim Jesus
outside the church walls? We speak boldly
within the confines of the church building, yet
quite timidly outside. Sometimes it makes me
wonder if we are really just doing the equivalent of
whistling in the dark, it makes me wonder, "Do we
believe, or are we just hoping?" My God,
please help us. Sometimes the church is
compared to a hospital, and there are some
similarities. Unfortunately, not all the
similarities are good ones though. Many
doctors no longer make housecalls, they wait for the
sick to come to them. In the same way, many
Christians no longer make housecalls either, we wait
for the lost to come to us. Are we afraid?
Afraid of being labeled radical or strange? Do
we not want to offend anyone? With the Word of
God?
The devil is not
stronger than my God. If we walk with God,
what have we truly to fear? Christians must be
wary of the traps that the devil can lay, but we
must not fear that the devil is able to take us out
of God's hand, because he is not.
John 10:28 And I
give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand.
John 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater
than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my
Father's hand.
The fear comes,
appropriately, when you are not following God's will
and are in disobedience to God.
Luke 12:4 And I
say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that
kill the body, and after that have no more that they
can do.
Luke 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall
fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath
power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear
him.
Hebrews 10:31 - It is a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God.
We are good at talking the talk, but do we walk the
walk? If Jesus is with us, why do we hide from
the outside? Do we help our brother? Do
we care for the lost? Do we care that they are
lost? We are good at helping ourselves, we
pray for ourselves easily. Sometimes it seems
that most of us will only truly help others once we
have lost everything, because then we have nothing
left to lose. But when you have a little
something, we fear losing it. We never seem to
have enough, we always think, "Well, I'll do more
once I get just a little more" We can be
pretty selfish.
Now, we'll give
readily enough when we can get something out of it.
We'll help when others are watching, we'll help when
we can get credit for the help.
(Mat 6:1)
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be
seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your
Father which is in heaven.
(Mat 6:2) Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do
not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they
may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They
have their reward.
(Mat 6:3) But when thou doest alms, let not thy left
hand know what thy right hand doeth:
(Mat 6:4) That thine alms may be in secret: and thy
Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward
thee openly.
But inside, in the dark, we are selfish. Does
what we do on Monday-Saturday match up with what we
profess to be on Sunday? To worship God is
good and correct, He is most worthy. But why
do we fear going out into the world and spreading
that Word of God, the Gospel? Perhaps we fear
the world because we know that we are unarmed,
because we know that we
don't put on the armor of God? Do we comfort
ourselves on Sunday, but fear the world, because
deep down we know that we are not prepared?
( Eph
6:10) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord,
and in the power of his might.
(Eph 6:11)
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able
to stand against the wiles of the devil.
(Eph 6:12)
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.
(Eph 6:13)
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all, to stand.
(Eph 6:14)
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with
truth, and having on the breastplate of
righteousness;
(Eph 6:15)
And your feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace;
(Eph 6:16)
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye
shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the
wicked.
(Eph 6:17)
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God:
(Eph 6:18)
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in
the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Or are we just
being hypocritical? We can preach it, and we
can teach it, but can we reach it? Can we do
what we tell others to do? We can, by God's
power, the power of the Holy Spirit.
(Mat 18:18)
Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye
shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
(Mat 18:19)
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree
on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask,
it shall be done for them of my Father which is in
heaven.
( Mat
18:20) For where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Our God is not
weak, He is all powerful. We have to get outside, we
need to go to the Lost. The angels and heavens
rejoice when one that is lost is saved. More
so than the 99 that do not require repentance.
(Luk 15:4)
What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose
one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in
the wilderness, and go after that which is lost,
until he find it?
(Luk 15:5)
And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his
shoulders, rejoicing.
(Luk 15:6)
And when he cometh home, he calleth together his
friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice
with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
(Luk 15:7) I
say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven
over one sinner that repenteth, more than over
ninety and nine just persons, which need no
repentance.
(Luk 15:8)
Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if
she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and
sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find
it?
(Luk 15:9)
And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends
and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with
me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
(Luk 15:10)
Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner that
repenteth.
Do We go looking
for the lost sheep? I wonder, if the lost
doesn't find his/her way inside our church building
on Sunday, will he/she ever have us available to
help or witness to, or share the Gospel with?
Do we go looking for the lost soul or do we stay
with the 99? What do we do, what will we do,
if the lost soul doesn't come to us? Will we
only witness on Sunday, inside our church building?
We care enough about ourselves, please can't we care
more about others? We can share what He has
given us, there is enough God for the world.
Let's get out there and be living examples.
(Mat 5:14) Ye
are the light of the world. A city that is set on an
hill cannot be hid.
(Mat 5:15)
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a
bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light
unto all that are in the house.
(Mat 5:16)
Let your light so shine before men, that they may
see your good works, and glorify your Father which
is in heaven.
And what's with all
this selfishness? Why is it we just can't seem
to give freely and willingly? We never seem to
have enough food for ourselves so we never feed the
hungry, and besides, if they'd work they'd have
food, right? We never seem to have enough
clothes for ourselves, so we never clothe the naked,
and besides, if they'd work they'd have money to buy
clothes, right? We are afraid of the prisons
and the prisoners so we never visit the prisoners.
We are deathly afraid of our own mortality so we
never seem to find time to visit the sick or
elderly. What is it about a nursing home, or
hospital, or retirement center, that makes us so
uncomfortable?
(Jam 1:27)
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the
Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows
in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted
from the world.
(Mat 25:31)
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all
the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the
throne of his glory:
(Mat 25:32)
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he
shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats:
(Mat 25:33)
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but
the goats on the left.
(Mat 25:34)
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
(Mat 25:35)
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was
thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and
ye took me in:
(Mat 25:36)
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited
me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
(Mat 25:37)
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord,
when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or
thirsty, and gave thee drink?
(Mat 25:38)
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or
naked, and clothed thee?
(Mat 25:39)
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came
unto thee?
(Mat 25:40)
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily
I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one
of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it
unto me.
(Mat 25:41)
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,
Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels:
(Mat 25:42)
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was
thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
(Mat 25:43) I
was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye
clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited
me not.
(Mat 25:44)
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when
saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger,
or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not
minister unto thee?
(Mat 25:45)
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto
you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least
of these, ye did it not to me.
(Mat 25:46)
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:
but the righteous into life eternal.
Oh Lord, How much
You commanded us to love one another, yet we love
ourselves so much more, and we are so afraid of what
will happen to us. We rationalize away our
guilt. Oh Lord, help us, help me. We
fear, I fear, but we must have the faith to go on in
spite of that fear.
(Psa 23:4)
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Have you fed,
clothed, taken in, or visited Jesus this year?
Oh Lord, reach our hearts, change our hearts.
If this sounds familiar to you, if this sounds like
you, remember, it doesn't have to be this way, it's
not supposed to be like this. It seems we want
it both ways, we want our worldly ways and our
worldly friends and our worldly possessions and our
worldly status and our worldly reputations, yet, we
also want to be Christians, we want to be saved.
Nothing I have ever read, however, has ever led me
to believe that we can have it both ways. We
cannot serve two masters without hating one or the
other.
(Mat 6:24) No
man can serve two masters: for either he will hate
the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to
the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God
and mammon.
(Joh 15:17)
These things I command you, that ye love one
another.
(Joh 15:18)
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me
before it hated you.
(Joh 15:19)
If ye were of the world, the world would love his
own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have
chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you.
We need to wake up,
and regain our first love, to choose to serve the
Lord. We need to quit straddling the fence, to
quit being lukewarm.
(Rev 3:15) I
know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot:
I would thou wert cold or hot.
(Rev 3:16) So
then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor
hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Love One Another!
We love to hold onto our grudges and our hurts,
imagined or real. We have to let them go.
(Mat 5:22)
But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his
brother without a cause shall be in danger of the
judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother,
Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but
whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger
of hell fire.
(Mat 5:23)
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and
there rememberest that thy brother hath ought
against thee;
(Mat 5:24)
Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy
way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then
come and offer thy gift.
We spend our time
religiously in our churches, yet leave the unsaved
lost in the streets. We have our fellowship
dinners while the hungry eat their gruel.
(Luk 14:12)
Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou
makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends,
nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich
neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a
recompence be made thee.
(Luk 14:13)
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the
maimed, the lame, the blind:
(Luk 14:14)
And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot
recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at
the resurrection of the just.
Jesus had no
earthly house, but He did not worry about what He
would eat or what He would wear, and He told us not
to worry about those things either. It's easy
to be a Christian in church, let's try it in the
World. Try to extend the love to outside the
church building's walls. It's easy to love
those who love you - try loving those that hate you.
Give to those that would take from you. Feed
the hungry, both those hungry for food and those
hungry for spiritual food. I leave you with
these verses.
(Jam 2:14)
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say
he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save
him?
(Jam 2:15) If
a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily
food,
(Jam 2:16)
And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye
warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not
those things which are needful to the body; what
doth it profit?
(Jam 2:17)
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being
alone.
(Jam 2:18)
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have
works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I
will shew thee my faith by my works.
(Jam 2:19)
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest
well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
(Jam 2:20)
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without
works is dead?
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