For I have given you
an example,
that you should do as
I have done to you.
Most assuredly, I say
to you, a servant
he is not greater
than his master;
nor is he who is sent
greater then he who sent him.
If you know these
things,
blessed are you if
you do them.
John 13:15 -- 17
The example
that Jesus is speaking about is that He had just washed the feet of His
disciples. Now He is not speaking
of just washing feet, although, some churches make this as some sort of ritual
that is more of a religious ritual, because Jesus is not speaking of just
washing feet. Jesus is speaking about
doing the very lowest thing possible that we might want to shun because of its
indignant application (washing of dirty feet), that we are not to be afraid to
do for others when they are in need. If
the master was willing to do that, then we should also be willing to do that
which the master has done. Then Jesus
says: "if you know these things do them." The authentic Christian, who believes and has converted to the
Lord Jesus Christ is not to spend all of their time in smooth waters; you have
to get out where the waters may be rough in those deep depths of God and begin
showing yourself to have spiritual discernment. So often, we love the easy Christianity and all the slogans,
jingles, and certain exercises that have been taught to you, saying: that this
was given to a person by the Holy Spirit, and yet you have not taken time to
personally examine the teaching. The
counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you work up occasions to
sacrifice yourself; ardor is mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to
fulfill your spiritual destiny, and that destiny, that sacrifice, is not doing
those things that are not scriptural but seem to fulfill a spiritual need by
the emotional and euphoric exercises.
Paul gives this which is our spiritual destiny: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that
you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is
your reasonable service. And do not
be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of
God" (Romans 12: 1 -- 2).
Before God, and even before men, it is better to obey then to sacrifice,
it is better to obey His will, and discern His will then to perform great
acts of self sacrifice. Beware of
thinking or doing things that you think God wants you to do or be unless it can
be shown to you by correct interpretation of Scripture. This is where the rubber meets the road for anyone who
claims to be an authentic Christian and that is what Paul has explained to us;
we must present ourselves as a living sacrifice that is acceptable to God,
furthermore, we must remain in the doctrines of God: "This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have
heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not
confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.
This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
Look to yourself, that we do not lose those things we've worked for, but
that we may receive a whole reward.
Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does
not have gone. He who abides in the
doctrine of Christ has both a Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not
receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his
evil deeds" (2 John 6 -- 10).
How often is it that we think that we can "save" someone who
has come knocking on our door and is teaching a doctrine that is simply not
scriptural even though they point to Scripture as proof. We allow them to come into our home and
speak to us and tell us things that we may object to, but others, such as, our
children, may become confused.
Furthermore, you may not have studied enough or prepared enough to be
able to read and rebuke them and by knowing true doctrine and through them show them what Scripture
actually states. How do we do this? We abide in the doctrines of Jesus Christ's
and those doctrines are found in the Word of God that has not been tampered
with as in such Bibles as the New World Translation, or other translations that
are nothing more than a collection of various verses from various manuscripts
and not from a manuscript that is of the majority. Sometimes we hold onto our Bible as though this Bible is one that
has been in existence from the beginning of the Church. A good Bible study, that is to study how
Bibles were formed and translated would be a good study to help you to
understand that God has preserved His word, therefore, we can abide in true
doctrines of Christ so long as we have a good translation and understanding so
that we have good discernment. We may
speak against those who are wearing white shirts and riding bicycles to find
those who they can teach their doctrines to, or those who come knocking at the
door with an Arian form of doctrine, but worse than this, we accept
practices within our own beliefs. those I have been showing may
not be according to God's will that have been revealed to us in His
Scripture. It is not the external
actions of a person that makes a person acceptable to God and Jesus teaches us this fact: "Not everyone who
says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does
the will of My Father in heaven. Many
will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name,
cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never
knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Therefore whoever hears these sayings of
Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wiser man who built his house on the
rock" (Matthew 7:21 -- 24). I
have asked many, many, times, to show to me where we have warrant to practice
such things that are being practiced in the Pentecostal and Charismatic
churches. I've asked to see where there
is an unction given to us to do those things.
Even when Jesus sent out first to 12 and then the 70 and they spoke of
doing signs and wonders, we do not know what those signs and wonders were, how
many, who was done to, for all we know is is that there were some signs and
wonders. They were not
alliterated. Apparently, the Holy
Spirit did not inspire the writer to tell us these things, therefore, to put
emphasis on those things is to put emphasis on the wrong thing: we are to
change from the inside/out and present our bodies a living sacrifice to God. In the closing verse of Chapter 12 of the
first Corinthians Paul wrote: "But
earnestly desired the past gifts. And
yet I show you a more excellent way" (1 Corinthians 12: 31). We will now enter into what has been called
"the love chapter." This in
the upcoming blogs.
I love the Lord,
because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.
I because He has
inclined His year to me,
therefore I will call upon Him
as long as I live.
Psalm
116: 1 -- 2
Earnestly desire
the will of God
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