Consider This!

Our Texts:

Hebrews 5:1-14, 6:1-8

Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:44-45 said “but I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you, and persecute you,

That you may be sons of your Father in Heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. ” (NKJV)

Tying the words of Jesus to the texts in Hebrews, we realize, sadly enough, that our church leaders are actually teaching a gospel different from that of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are taught to pray against our enemies, that if we don’t get them first, they will get us!

Jesus Christ said if you hate your brother, you are a murderer, but church teaches me to pray that the one who stands against me should die! And yet, while we were yet sinners and enemies of the Godhead, Jesus Christ came and laid down His life for us, in our stead, that we may be reconciled to the Father and saved from eternal damnation.

If you hate your brother, you are a murderer and in Galatians 5:19-21, we have a list of some of the works of the flesh (one of which is murder) which anyone found with any combination of these should not expect to inherit the Kingdom of God.   Please note that even if these are found in you, hope is not lost because there is a way of escape made in true repentance from evil works. If in sincerity, we turn from our wickedness, confessing our sins and seeking forgiveness of the Lord, we are assured that He is faithful to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness.

Jesus Christ died for sinners, we are asked only to pray for them, and we curse them instead. How can any claim to have the love of Christ shed abroad in their hearts if they cannot even pray for one who hurts them, whether in reality or merely in perception?

Now let us look at Hebrews 5:12-14.

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 

For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for He is a babe. 

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

One reason for this retardation is found in Matthew 5 quoted above. When we are in direct rebellion against the wishes, the heart, the mind and will of our Lord, how can we hope to grow in Him?

In Hebrews 6, we are enjoined to move forward, and come out of the rut of always repenting from dead works! Let us move forward!  Instead of crowding out the Christ element in us, instead of suppressing the influence of the Holy Spirit on our spirit, let us crowd out the self-life and allow the Christ life to prevail.

F B Meyer said of the spiritual man, that he is “the man whose spirit is quick with the Spirit of God, who speaks and wills and lives beneath the impulse of the Holy Ghost Himself.”

He went on to say “But what is tender and beautiful in a babe for a few months is terrible at the end of twelve months, or ten years. And what is lovely in a young convert is terrible in a man of ten or twenty years of Christian life.”

When we come into Christ, we bind our soul powers and allow the Holy Spirit to work with our spirits. Only then can we mature in Christ. You see, a mature Christian is the one who has come to understand the following, among other things:

1.       In his heart dwells no good thought

2.       His heart is deceitful and desperately wicked

3.       His heart is continually wicked

4.       His own goodness or righteousness is as filthy decaying rags

5.       Were there any goodness in him, he could have secured his salvation outside of the passion and death of Jesus Christ. Therefore, to operate spiritually in Christ,

6.       He must be totally and humbly dependent on the Holy Spirit to serve God effectively and please Him.

A carnal or fleshly man has no concerns whatsoever about the advancement of the Kingdom of God. He has no understanding that God has chosen to work His Kingdom out with our cooperation.  A carnal man is like a child who doesn’t know or care about how Mom and Dad make things happen at home. All he cares to know is that his personal needs are met and desires granted.

The mature man is concerned about the wellbeing of his parent (s) estate/affairs. He wants to know what hurts and what pleases them so he can play a part in making their desires happen. We as children of God need to be that way. How can I join God in making His Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven? This should be our heart’s cry and speedily He will hear and grant our requests by giving us a part to play.

We are told in Romans 14:17-19, “for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved of men.  Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.”

Prayer

Heavenly Father, please help me to pursue the things of your Kingdom and serve you as you will, not as I will, in Jesus’ Almighty name, Amen.

#momomily2013