Knowing, therefore,
the terror of the Lord,
we persuade men; but
we are well known to God,
and I also trust are
well-known in your consciences.
For we do not commend
ourselves begin to you,
but give you
opportunity to boast on our behalf,
that you may have an
answer for those who boast
in appearance and not
in the heart.
For if we are beside
ourselves,
it is for God; or if
we are of sound mind,
it is for you.
2 Corinthians 5: 11
-- 13
The terror
of the Lord is that all men will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and
be judged according to what they have done. even what they have said or
thought; some to everlasting life and some thrown into the Lake of Gehenna,
the Lake of Fire. I do not know what is
meant for the survivors of this judgment placed upon the believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ and how what has been done in this life affects their eternal
life. What I do know is what we have
been instructed to do in this life and that instruction is not a simple
request, it is a command. In the military,
to not do that which you were commanded to do could cause you to be thrown into
the brig (a Navy term for jail). So why
do we think that God would create us any different? Why do we think that we will all be treated the same no matter
what we have said or done? There is
terror! But as Paul mentioned he was
well-known by God: are you well-known by God by your sacrament of
sacrifice? Are you well-known by others
due to your sacrament of sacrifice? Do
people boast about you and how that you are humble and the sight of God and are
willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of others a sacrament that
Christians are commanded to do? Paul
also mentions that you must have an answer for those who boast and only do so
in appearance and not by the truth of God's Word and do not have the hearts of
Christ: "He who believes in Me, as
the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water"
(John 8 -- 38). The use of living
waters is an analogy from the Word of God, the truth, and it can be said that the
truth enlivens or gives life to the hearer.
I quote this verse quite often so that we do not forget it: "But sanctify the Lord God in your
hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason
for the hope that is in you, with weakness and fear" (1 Peter 3: 15). It is the heart, the seat of emotion, that
can even override the will of man’ mind, from which actions find their
foundation. It is very telling that
Jesus did not say to us that you will receive the blessings of the fullness of
God, no, rather that out of that person who believes upon the Lord Jesus Christ that which you receive from Him will flow from you. We live in a world in which self-realization
is being taught as the way a person should strive to realize. Our Lord's teaching is always
anti-self-realization. God does not
have the purpose to develop a as a man wishes he was developed to
be according to the culture of this world.
No! God's purpose is to make man
exactly like Himself and that the man who was developed like Himself will have
the characteristic of the Son of God and by this characteristic your character
pours out your sacrament of sacrifice to God.
This may require that God by His chastisement removes from us that which
we think is our sweetness, our approval that is not in line with His word. How often we measure ourselves by worldly
success, but spiritually we can only measure our success by that which God
pours through us, and we can't even measure that. The Bible is not a book of stories as in a story book, rather
those narratives that the Holy Spirit inspired to be written are to teach us
and one such narrative is when Mary put forth her acts of devotion by breaking
a box of precious ointment and pouring it on Jesus’ head. Jesus even mentions that wherever the gospel
is preached this act by Mary would also be included to teach us. As Jesus Christ was overjoyed by her act of
devotion is also overjoyed when He sees you doing what Mary did, and that is
not to be so worried about the economy of things, rather being abandoned to
Him. I find in some churches and in
some schools are teaching that a person must go to and fro attempting to pray
for people for their healing and in other things, trying to do miraculous things,
and yet, the gospel is not preached and many do not even carry a Bible with
them. They are self-satisfied thinking
that they are pleasing to the Lord. As
St. Augustine wrote in his document of doctrines, we are not objects of
enjoyment to God in and of itself, rather God uses us and then this is for our
own advantage. This requires that
faith, hope, and love, and graces are essentially necessary for anyone to be
able to understand and explain rightly the Holy Scriptures. It is time now to break the life that many
of us are attempting to live thinking that what you are doing is in harmony
with the scriptures of God but are not, and to cease craving for satisfaction, and
to spill out this sacrament of sacrifice.
Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him? Paul wrote: "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if
One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, then those who live
should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose
again" (2 Corinthians 5: 14 -- 15).
Then the Angel of the LORD
admonished
Joshua, saying,
"Thus says the LORD of hosts:
‘if you
will walk in My ways,
and if you will keep My command,
then you
shall also judge My house,
and likewise have charge of My courts;
I will give
you places to walk
among those who stand here.
Zechariah 2: 6 -- 7
Stand today as a sacrament of service
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