For we do not preach
ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the
Lord,
and ourselves your
bondservants
for Jesus' sake. For it is the God
who commanded light
to shine the light
out of darkness, who has shone
in our hearts to give
the light
of knowledge of the
glory of God
in the face of Jesus
Christ. But we have
this treasure in
earthen vessels,
that the excellence
of the power
may be of God and not
of us.
2 Corinthians 4: 5 --
7
Paul, as
well as the other apostles, had integrity in regards to their service for the
Lord Jesus Christ and not to have their service pointing to themselves, rather they
pointed to Jesus Christ. Self was not
what mattered or was the end of their preaching for they did not set forth
their own notions or their own private opinions. How far have some of the churches claiming to be Christian have
fallen from the truth and the examples set forth by the apostles of Jesus
Christ. We find pastors and church
leaders preaching their own opinions, their own ideologies, that which has come
to be their theology, their passions, and their prejudices, rather than preach
the will of God. Paul did not seek to
advance his own secular interest.
Paul pointed in this letter that he preached Jesus Christ the Lord, and
this shown by the very fact that he called himself their bondservants for the
sake of Jesus Christ. Christians are to
be Authentic in their preaching and they are daily activities in this life that
requires that authentic Christians be bondservants for the sake of Jesus Christ
and not for their own glory or sake.
How does one be a bondservants?
Valentines Day, and even Mothers Day, find men rushing about to buy
special gifts or flowers, even candies, purchasing cards that have wonderful
loving poetic sayings on them telling of their love for their special friend
and spouse. Jesus outlined friendship: "This is My commandment, that you love
one another as I have loved you.
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his
friends. You all are My friends if you
do what ever I command you. No longer
do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing;
but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I
have made known to you" (John 15 12 -- 15). Think upon this fact: Jesus Christ calls you friend. This means that you are a friend of
God and you will receive the blessings of God and we can only expect God's
blessing if we are doing His will by following His commandments. Bondservants are such because they have
decided by their will to be servants of another and in this case it is to be a
servant, or bondservant of Jesus Christ and we gladly do this because we are His
friends and He is our friend and has not left us destitute from the truth. Paul reminds the Corinthians that God
commanded light to shine out of darkness, furthermore God has commanded light
to shine in the hearts of His children and that light teaches us of the glory
of God. Paul says that it is in the
"face" of Jesus and this simply means the person of Jesus
Himself. This means to be in the very
presence of Jesus. This is possible
because we have been given this treasure even while we are still in this
earthen vessel. That treasure is the
excellence of the power of God in us; therefore, we are not to say it is
anything of us for it is not. All the
power that you have to be an authentic Christian is given to you by God, through
His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. As
bondservants, and as friend of Jesus who is the ultimate Friend, even as we
would do for the one(s) we love and called friends,we employ self
surrender, a self sacrifice even though it may be a difficult thing to do. We are not to simply say "I must devote
myself to God," if this is your attitude has no sense of
servitude that has joy. As Authentic
Christians we must abandon ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit to give us the
ability the joy of Jesus Christ. We
look to Jesus Christ as our final end and live a life of self sacrifice for our
friend. This is not the same friend
that we may have on this earth: this friend gives eternal life and all that is
required is that we follow and live His commandments. The life we live following the example of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ is the life of self sacrifice and this is not burdensome for we
delight to do His will. Do not let your
natural affinities hinder you, you to walk in love and allow the excellence of the
glory of God to be the power in your lives.
Love for God is not sentimental!
For an authentic Christian true love as God loves is the most practical
thing. The friendship we have is based
on the new life that has been created in us and has no affinity with our old
life. The affinity that we have is with
and only in the life of God. We are to
be absolutely devoted to God and to His Son the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior
and allow the Holy Spirit to empower us with the excellent power of God. By this we are able to proclaim the Gospel
to anyone and everyone who may come in contact with us and to show this in our
every day activities. We are to be
obedient and leave all the consequences to God. Everything our life, our doctrines, are to be centered in Jesus
Christ. We are to be ready to do His
good will. God could have chosen to
send His angels to preach the gospel, this He did not do for He has sent you, a
humble person, a weaker vessel, and He chose you to do will and by this; shall
His power be shown, and that He may be glorified. We are the objects of enjoyment to God and God uses us in this
for our own advantage. Praise God!
Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!
Praise your
God, O Zion!
For He has strengthened the bars
of your
gates; He has
Blessed be your children within you.
He makes
peace in your borders,
and fills you with the finest wheat.
Psalm 147: 12 -- 14
God has sent to you His word
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