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Build One Another Up

Whether photoshopped or not, this picture of a cyclist being chased by a bear is a great illustration for motivation.  In our Christian walk, however, we struggle to see the bear behind us and often fall into drudgery or complacency.  How do we find the enthusiasm for ourselves and then to encourage and build up others?

I.  1 Thessalonians 5:8-11.  First, we belong to the day.  This we should not forget.  When we came up out of that water of baptism, we set aside the deeds of darkness as a new creation and pledged to live for God and His will (Romans 13:11-14).  So, we live as children of light (John 3:19-21) with the protection of God’s breastplate of faith and love and helmet of the hope of salvation.  So many face the trials of the day not equipped with what God has provided.  They haven’t grasped their motivation.

II.  Colossians 3:1-17.  The world tells us that heaven is for all and hell for a few, and sadly many live this motivation-killing lie.  The Bible shows us that the opposite is true–that hell is for all (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23) and that heaven is for a few (Matthew 7:13-14).  We’re told to ‘obtain’ salvation.  This means we need to work it out with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13).  Even Jesus needed to do this (Hebrews 5:7-9) and used the joy of heaven as motivation to endure the cross (Hebrews 12:1-3).

III.  Ephesians 4:12-16.  In that is our motivation!  If in Jesus’ sacrifice we share in His glory, then we have reason to enthusiastically obey Him in our daily walk.  But that’s not enough.  We are to then encourage one another and build one another up.  Here’s the purpose of the church coming together each week and staying connected throughout the week.  Here’s why edification is so much more than just instruction.  It’s the application for our own lives and concern for others.  Because of Jesus, we do so.

God through Paul tells the Thessalonians “… just as you are doing.”  How encouraging it must have felt to know they were on the right track.  We too, if we do these things and rediscover our motivation for our Christian walks, can know that we are living out God’s plan for us.

 

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For We Cannot But Speak

People have done all kinds of things while sleepwalking–cooking, driving … even killing–to wake up without a recollection of their actions.  That’s how some believe the Holy Spirit works in our lives, that it takes us over and we have no choice but to do what it forces us to do.  Usually assemblies of these folks will have multiple people at once babbling in tongues, dancing, jumping, fainting, or rolling around.  But, is that how we see God’s Spirit working in the lives of first century Christians?  Rather, like a boy who has just caught a big fish and can’t help but tell others about it, we see the Spirit giving them boldness to edify and evangelize.

I.  Acts 4:17-31.  It must have seemed overwhelming to Jesus’ followers who didn’t yet have the Counselor to be told to go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that Jesus had commanded.  What a difference there was between the group in Acts 1 of about 120 huddled within the walls of the upper room with the gospel message hidden within them to the same group accused in Acts 5:28 of filling Jerusalem with their teaching.  That difference was the gift of the Holy Spirit given to them at baptism (Acts 2:36-39).

II.  1 Corinthians 14:26-33.  Without the complete Word of God written that thoroughly equips us today (2 Timothy 3:16-17), God used the lesser gifts of tongues, prophecy, and knowledge early in the first century to impart and attest to His Word, but these would end (1 Corinthians 13:8-13) and had largely ended by the time the gospels and epistles were written and circulated (Hebrews 2:3-4).  But, God was never about chaos.  Even when He chose to use lesser gifts to impart His Word, the spirits of prophets were subject to the control of the prophets.  Those through whom God used to speak in languages they hadn’t studied, prophesy, or present knowledge were to take turns and choose to remain silent at times.  God did not take them over but equipped them through His Spirit.

III.  Romans 8:9-11.  Though we were given the gift of God’s Spirit dwelling within us at baptism, we (probably in reaction to the misuse of how He works in us by groups around us) act like we don’t have the Spirit within us and largely ignore this gift.  Though we know the great commission that Jesus has given to us, we huddle within the walls of our upper rooms with the gospel message that a lost world so desperately needs to hear hidden within us.  Like Acts 1 followers, we pray that God will change the world to make it more receptive and tremble in fear of politically-correct persecution.  But, after the Acts 2 Christians had been beaten and threatened not to speak in the Name of Jesus anymore, they prayed instead for boldness to edify and evangelize … and the Holy Spirit equipped them to do so.

Understood within the proper context, we have an incredible gift–God’s Spirit living within us to guide, equip, strengthen, and embolden us to live as Acts 2 Christians.  Are you ignoring it or guarding it (2 Timothy 1:13-14) to use for God’s Kingdom?

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Speaking the Truth in Love

What chance does the gospel have to be heard in a world that has become so competitive with waves of noise, each more flashy and entertaining?  So many have closed their ears.  How can we be God’s megaphone, speaking the truth in love, and get them to listen?  Should we beat the world at its own game in order to be heard?

I. 1 Kings 19:1-18.  After Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, he becomes discouraged by Jezebel’s death threats and runs away.  After refreshing him, God shows Elijah His power not in the wind, earthquake, or fire but in the gentle whisper.  Then, God shows him that He works in our weaknesses.  It’s the same with the gospel (1 Corinthians 1:18-31).  God’s grace is as sufficient for us as it was Paul (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).

II. Ephesians 4:11-16.  Jesus, our Head, supplies us with truth that equips us to attain to unity and maturity in Him.  This seems strange in the boisterous world that believes that truth is relative.  But, the church is the pillar and foundation of the truth, who speaks the truth in love.  That truth, His Word, is a living and active, double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12-13) that we wield as part of the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) as we wage war differently than the world (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

III. James 3:1-10.  So, in our weaknesses, Jesus’ body, the church, supplies the tongue.  What a difficulty this is with such an untamable appendage!  Yet, speaking the truth in love, we reach the lost with a low whisper and grow up in Him, working together to build ourselves up.  Much like an adolescent must choose healthy food for his various body parts to grow up correctly into his adult-sized head, so the church must commit to knowing and living out truth to grow up properly into Him.

It’s God’s power and work, but He entrusts His weak and fallible servants to speak His words of truth in love to lead the lost and strengthen the saved.

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The blessing of the family of faith

Father of us all —

Praise to you for your wisdom and for the salvation you have brought to us in Jesus the Lord.

We thank you for showing us the way and for the revelation that has come to us by your Holy Spirit.

What a blessing to be a part of the family of faith! Help us to exercise all restraint, patience, and tolerance toward our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Teach us how to forgive others, from the forgiveness we receive daily through the Cross of Christ.

Thank you for blessing our lives through the gifts that are exercised in the body of Christ. Bless us that we might be a blessing to others.

Make our time together this day to be edifying. May our love be strengthened for each other, genuine, sincere, and dedicated. Jog our memory around the Table, that we might humbly receive your presence and rejoice in your goodness.

By the power of Jesus’ life, Amen.

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Meetings that reach mind, emotions and will

Lord, make this a blessed day for edifying the saints. Put in our hearts to serve you and to seek out every opportunity for doing good. Make us see the good that can be done by being present with the family of faith.

Help us all to ask what we can do to serve and encourage one another. Put a needy brother or sister in our path.

Help us to use our time today in preparation for making our meeting informative, inspiring, and motivating. May our meetings in this way reach the mind, the emotions, and the will.

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When the church meets

Lord of life and loving Savior, on this day when the church meets together according to the commandment of Jesus Christ,

  • Let me be useful to the eternal kingdom;
  • Show me someone who is in need of spiritual guidance;
  • Help me to be a friend to a lonely person;
  • Put me in the path of someone who is seeking the way to you;
  • Give me wisdom to speak words of comfort and hope;
  • Make my joy and peace to shine as evidence of your salvation;
  • Let my purpose today be to edify others and to glorify you.
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Each Time We Meet

Each time beloved brethren meet,
Help me, O Lord, fulfill a need:
To wash a brother’s or sister’s feet,
To give a cup of water or feed
A hungry soul, to cheerfully greet
The lonely or broken heart, to guide
The lost and erring, for whom Christ died. Continue reading “Each Time We Meet”