BE FRUITFUL
Let’s look at the idea of being filled with the Spirit in a nutshell. Ephesians 5:18 says, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,” (NKJV). Alcoholics anonymous tell us, “One drink is too many, and 1000 is not enough”. Alcohol has control over any person who allows it to have control. The Holy Spirit wants to control the Christian to the same degree. He resides in the life of every truly born again believer, but He wants to preside in the life. Another way of putting it is to say He not only wants to be present, He wants to be president. How do we allow him to fill us? Consider these passages. Matthew 5:6 says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (NKJV). We need to desire the filling, the control, of the Holy Spirit. We also need to present ourselves as “living sacrifices”. Paul tells us in Romans 12:1 and 2, “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.” (NKJV).
Too many people think that being Spirit Filled means you are going to shout, dance, speak in other tongues, and roll around on the floor. The main result of being Spirit Filled is none of these, it is instead bring forth good spiritual fruit. In fact, I believe, that should be the most important concern a Christian should have as they walk with the Lord. “Am I bringing forth good spiritual fruit???”
The call to produce fruit predates Pentecost, when the Spirit was loosed on all faithful believers instead of a few specially chosen ones. It even predates Christ’s earthly ministry. Consider the words of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:7 to 10, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (NKJV). He is confronting the hypocritical, so-called, leadership of the Jews. They were two faced actors who said one thing, demanding certain actions from the people, but living the opposite way. What these “leaders” wanted was a righteousness by association. They thought their association with Abraham and his faithful walk with the Lord would spill over and cover their own lives. John calls on them to produce good fruit in their own right, in keeping with their own righteousness. Luke 3:11 to 14 adds to John’s message. These read, “He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.'' Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?'' And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you.'' Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?'' So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.''(NKJV). John provides some practical applications to what he is advocating.
Christ addresses the idea of producing fruit in John 15:1 to 8. Other than the actual listing of the fruit of the Spirit by Paul in Galatians, these verses are perhaps the most notable in addressing the subject. These verses read, "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. “ (NKJV). The Father is the gardener or vine dresser. The vine is Christ, the route to the Father, and we are the branches, the end of the plant where the fruit grows. Those branches that produce no fruit are cut off and cast away. Those who produce no spiritual fruit face judgment and the consequences of our actions. Even the fruitful branches are pruned, trimmed, etc. as the Father cares for them.
The Apostles address bringing forth fruit. Peter writes, “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” (II Peter 1:3 to 9 NKJV). Granted, this is not specifically a “fruit” passage, but it does address being productive for the Lord. Peter and Paul parallel one another. Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 and 23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” (NKJV). Peter talks about Faith or Faithfulness, Goodness, Self-control, Perseverance, Patience, Kindness, and of course Love. Peter’s words, “Giving all diligence” includes the idea of letting the Spirit have control. That is the determining factor in bringing forth good fruit – who is in charge, the Spirit of God or our own fleshly understanding. Don’t be deceived, you will produce fruit. The choice is good fruit that brings forth a sweet, productive crop, or the fruit of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-22). Fleshly fruit is useless, in a sense sour and even deadly. What kind of fruit do you produce??
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
BE FILLED
An old timey tent revival preacher had a little “gimmick” he would use during his services. He would arrange before hand for a kid to wait outside the tent, hidden as best he could. He would give the kid a white dove in a small cage. At a certain point in the service when everything was near a fever pitch, the preacher would raise his hands and shout, “Holy Spirit, come on down!!!”. At this point the kid was to let the bird loose, and it was trained to fly up and land on the preacher’s shoulder. When this would happen the crowd would go wild and break loose in near hysteria. This one particular night, at the appointed time in the service, the preacher did just that, but NO BIRD. He said it again, a little louder, still NO BIRD. He turned to where the kid was supposed to be hidden, literally shouted at him, but still NO BIRD. Finally the kid appears and says, “Preacher, the cat ate the Holy Spirit, do you want me to send the cat down”.
With this essay and the next two, we are going to look at the relationship between the Christian and the Holy Spirit. In this article we will look specifically at the need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and the command to bring forth Good Fruit. Briefly, we will also look at the gifts of the Spirit, and the relationship between the Christian and the Church.
Who is the Holy Spirit? Hours of sermons and shelf after shelf of books have been written concerning the Holy Spirit and all aspects of His ministry. First of all, to refer to Him as a person is appropriate. He is a Person with His own personality. He has all the characteristics of a personality. He is intelligent, He knows things, especially the mind of God (I Corinthians 2:10 and 11). He has feelings, for instance He can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30) and can be outraged (Hebrews 10:29). I Corinthians 12:11 tells us He has a will which we can choose to obey or resist. The Bible speaks of Him as a person using masculine human pronouns in place of the neutral words translated Spirit.
He is God. He is a fully fledged member of the trinity along with God the Father, and God the Son (Jesus Christ). As such He is Omniscient, all knowing (I Corinthians 2:10 and 11). He is Omnipresent, present everywhere all the time (Psalm 139:7 to 10). He is Omnipotent, all powerful (Job 33:4). With the Father and Son, He was involved in creation (Genesis 1:2; 1:26; 3:22)
He is involved in the lives of Christians. He gives us new life. John 3:5 and 6 read, “ Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (NKJV). He is God’s presence in us His people. John 14:16 to 18 read, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (NKJV).
Ephesians 5:18 says, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,” (NKJV). Alcoholics anonymous tell us, “One drink is too many, and 1000 is not enough”. Alcohol has control over any person who allows it to have control. The Holy Spirit wants to control the Christian to the same degree. He resides in the life of every truly born again believer, but He wants to preside in the life. Another way of putting it is to say He not only wants to be present, He wants to be president. How do we allow him to fill us? Consider these passages. Matthew 5:6 says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (NKJV). We need to desire the filling, the control, of the Holy Spirit. We also need to present ourselves as “living sacrifices”. Paul tells us in Romans 12:1 and 2, “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.” (NKJV).
If it is that simple, then why are more professing Christians NOT filled with the Spirit? Paul, in Galatians 5, tells us there is a battle raging between the flesh and the Spirit. If the flesh wins bad fruit will be produced. Verses 19 to 21 say, “. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (NLKV). The alternative is the fruit of the Spirit, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.’ (Galatians 5:22 and 23 NKJV). How could the flesh win this battle? One contributing factor is the neglect our relationship with the Word of God (Psalm 119:97 to 105). Our pride and self centeredness contributes to the victory of the flesh (Proverbs 16:18 to 20). A love for worldly things adds to the mess (I John 2:15 to 17). Perhaps the greatest factor is our concern over what other men may think, than what God thinks. Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.” (NKJV).
In addition to good fruit being brought forth by being filled with the Spirit, two other things happen. We will be witnesses testifying of our relationship. Acts 1:8 says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (NKJV). We think of witnessing as something hard to do, something we need to be trained to do, but it is a lot simpler than that. Think of a court trial. A witness tells, testifies to, what he has seen, heard, or experienced. Nothing more. A Christian’s testimony may be verbal, spoken from our mouths, but more importantly it may be non-verbal, acted out in our life. There is an old cliché’ which says, “You may be the only Bible some people will read.”. In other words, how you act testifies more than what you say.
The other thing that happens is that you will leak. A husband was invited, more like drug kicking and screaming, to a revival meeting. His wife stood up and began to testify how much she had been filled by the Spirit the night before. The husband nudges one of the other husbands, who had come in the same fashion, and told him, “She may have been filled, but she leaks.”. A literal translation of Ephesians 5:18 says, “…be, being filled with the Holy Spirit”. It is a continued action, not a onetime event. We need to maintain our desire, and continue to present ourselves.
Dr. O
An old timey tent revival preacher had a little “gimmick” he would use during his services. He would arrange before hand for a kid to wait outside the tent, hidden as best he could. He would give the kid a white dove in a small cage. At a certain point in the service when everything was near a fever pitch, the preacher would raise his hands and shout, “Holy Spirit, come on down!!!”. At this point the kid was to let the bird loose, and it was trained to fly up and land on the preacher’s shoulder. When this would happen the crowd would go wild and break loose in near hysteria. This one particular night, at the appointed time in the service, the preacher did just that, but NO BIRD. He said it again, a little louder, still NO BIRD. He turned to where the kid was supposed to be hidden, literally shouted at him, but still NO BIRD. Finally the kid appears and says, “Preacher, the cat ate the Holy Spirit, do you want me to send the cat down”.
With this essay and the next two, we are going to look at the relationship between the Christian and the Holy Spirit. In this article we will look specifically at the need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and the command to bring forth Good Fruit. Briefly, we will also look at the gifts of the Spirit, and the relationship between the Christian and the Church.
Who is the Holy Spirit? Hours of sermons and shelf after shelf of books have been written concerning the Holy Spirit and all aspects of His ministry. First of all, to refer to Him as a person is appropriate. He is a Person with His own personality. He has all the characteristics of a personality. He is intelligent, He knows things, especially the mind of God (I Corinthians 2:10 and 11). He has feelings, for instance He can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30) and can be outraged (Hebrews 10:29). I Corinthians 12:11 tells us He has a will which we can choose to obey or resist. The Bible speaks of Him as a person using masculine human pronouns in place of the neutral words translated Spirit.
He is God. He is a fully fledged member of the trinity along with God the Father, and God the Son (Jesus Christ). As such He is Omniscient, all knowing (I Corinthians 2:10 and 11). He is Omnipresent, present everywhere all the time (Psalm 139:7 to 10). He is Omnipotent, all powerful (Job 33:4). With the Father and Son, He was involved in creation (Genesis 1:2; 1:26; 3:22)
He is involved in the lives of Christians. He gives us new life. John 3:5 and 6 read, “ Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (NKJV). He is God’s presence in us His people. John 14:16 to 18 read, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (NKJV).
Ephesians 5:18 says, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,” (NKJV). Alcoholics anonymous tell us, “One drink is too many, and 1000 is not enough”. Alcohol has control over any person who allows it to have control. The Holy Spirit wants to control the Christian to the same degree. He resides in the life of every truly born again believer, but He wants to preside in the life. Another way of putting it is to say He not only wants to be present, He wants to be president. How do we allow him to fill us? Consider these passages. Matthew 5:6 says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (NKJV). We need to desire the filling, the control, of the Holy Spirit. We also need to present ourselves as “living sacrifices”. Paul tells us in Romans 12:1 and 2, “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.” (NKJV).
If it is that simple, then why are more professing Christians NOT filled with the Spirit? Paul, in Galatians 5, tells us there is a battle raging between the flesh and the Spirit. If the flesh wins bad fruit will be produced. Verses 19 to 21 say, “. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (NLKV). The alternative is the fruit of the Spirit, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.’ (Galatians 5:22 and 23 NKJV). How could the flesh win this battle? One contributing factor is the neglect our relationship with the Word of God (Psalm 119:97 to 105). Our pride and self centeredness contributes to the victory of the flesh (Proverbs 16:18 to 20). A love for worldly things adds to the mess (I John 2:15 to 17). Perhaps the greatest factor is our concern over what other men may think, than what God thinks. Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.” (NKJV).
In addition to good fruit being brought forth by being filled with the Spirit, two other things happen. We will be witnesses testifying of our relationship. Acts 1:8 says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (NKJV). We think of witnessing as something hard to do, something we need to be trained to do, but it is a lot simpler than that. Think of a court trial. A witness tells, testifies to, what he has seen, heard, or experienced. Nothing more. A Christian’s testimony may be verbal, spoken from our mouths, but more importantly it may be non-verbal, acted out in our life. There is an old cliché’ which says, “You may be the only Bible some people will read.”. In other words, how you act testifies more than what you say.
The other thing that happens is that you will leak. A husband was invited, more like drug kicking and screaming, to a revival meeting. His wife stood up and began to testify how much she had been filled by the Spirit the night before. The husband nudges one of the other husbands, who had come in the same fashion, and told him, “She may have been filled, but she leaks.”. A literal translation of Ephesians 5:18 says, “…be, being filled with the Holy Spirit”. It is a continued action, not a onetime event. We need to maintain our desire, and continue to present ourselves.
Dr. O
Monday, July 19, 2010
HOW TO REACH OUT TO PEOPLE OF OTHER BELIEF SYSTEMS
HOW TO REACH OUT TO PEOPLE OF OTHER BELIEF SYSTEMS
You are laid back, maybe watching a TV show with the family, and the door bell rings. You go to the door and there they stand. There is two of them in black slacks, white shirts, ties, and wearing big grins. Its the MORMONS!!! It could have just as easily been Jehovah's Witnesses, Baptists, or some other group doing the hard task of door to door evangelism. Some of them are good Christian people serving the savior. Others may carry a Bible and fist fulls of other literature, but on closer examination, are not following the Christian God of the Bible. How do you respond?
The first step in reaching out to the cults is to know what YOU believe. Peter admonishes us, "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 meekness and fear."(I Peter 3:15 NKJV). Paul charged Timothy with these words, "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."(II Timothy 4:1 to 4 NKJV). It would do well for any church member to find out if their congregation has a "Statement of Faith" (a.k.a. Doctrinal Statement, Statement of Beliefs, etc.). If they do commend your Elders and Minister for their forethought. If not, ask why. This document needs to be periodically reviewed on a personal basis as well as corporately. So many problems can be avoided if one is drawn up and adhered to.
The second thing is to have your own things in order. II Timothy 2:15 reads, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."(NKJV). Most people concentrate on the last section of this verse. However, the whole life and lifestyle are being talked about. Consider I Peter 1:13-16, "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy.'"(NKJV). Would you accept the testimony of a person who does not reflect what they are trying to teach or testify to? So many times Christians in the popular media are portrayed as hypocrites. Your Christian walk has to be evident to those you are dealing with.
Next we need to treat others with respect. Consider Paul’s example in Athens. As he address the crowd he says, ""Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to the unknown God. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you."(Acts 17:22 and 23 NKJV). In a respectful manner he reveals the identity of the unknown God. The result was the openness of some to enter into a dialog with Paul, and for some their eventual salvation. Please note that showing respect does not mean compromising or condoning any anti-Christian beliefs. Some may think that giving these people a "hearing" gives them a false sense of legitimacy or acceptance. We need to tactfully agree to disagree, but do not compromise the truth.
We need to become like the Bereans. Acts 17:11 reads, "These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so."(NKJV). Take notes during your discussions. Compare these notes, or their actual literature, to Scripture. Formulate questions based on the Bible, but remember they may use the Bible just as we do.
Finally, keep your goal in perspective. I Corinthians 3:1 to 9 read, "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul,'' and another, "I am of Apollos,'' are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it."(NKJV). In dealing with a cultist, or any non-believer or member of a different church, you are feeding them milk, the food of infants. You are either planting the seed of the Word of God, or you are caring for the seed someone planted earlier. However, God is the one who will harvest the crop. You may get to see it happen and witness a New Creature being born again, or you have to wait until the judgment. Never the less we must do our part in faith.
You are laid back, maybe watching a TV show with the family, and the door bell rings. You go to the door and there they stand. There is two of them in black slacks, white shirts, ties, and wearing big grins. Its the MORMONS!!! It could have just as easily been Jehovah's Witnesses, Baptists, or some other group doing the hard task of door to door evangelism. Some of them are good Christian people serving the savior. Others may carry a Bible and fist fulls of other literature, but on closer examination, are not following the Christian God of the Bible. How do you respond?
The first step in reaching out to the cults is to know what YOU believe. Peter admonishes us, "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 meekness and fear."(I Peter 3:15 NKJV). Paul charged Timothy with these words, "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."(II Timothy 4:1 to 4 NKJV). It would do well for any church member to find out if their congregation has a "Statement of Faith" (a.k.a. Doctrinal Statement, Statement of Beliefs, etc.). If they do commend your Elders and Minister for their forethought. If not, ask why. This document needs to be periodically reviewed on a personal basis as well as corporately. So many problems can be avoided if one is drawn up and adhered to.
The second thing is to have your own things in order. II Timothy 2:15 reads, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."(NKJV). Most people concentrate on the last section of this verse. However, the whole life and lifestyle are being talked about. Consider I Peter 1:13-16, "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy.'"(NKJV). Would you accept the testimony of a person who does not reflect what they are trying to teach or testify to? So many times Christians in the popular media are portrayed as hypocrites. Your Christian walk has to be evident to those you are dealing with.
Next we need to treat others with respect. Consider Paul’s example in Athens. As he address the crowd he says, ""Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to the unknown God. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you."(Acts 17:22 and 23 NKJV). In a respectful manner he reveals the identity of the unknown God. The result was the openness of some to enter into a dialog with Paul, and for some their eventual salvation. Please note that showing respect does not mean compromising or condoning any anti-Christian beliefs. Some may think that giving these people a "hearing" gives them a false sense of legitimacy or acceptance. We need to tactfully agree to disagree, but do not compromise the truth.
We need to become like the Bereans. Acts 17:11 reads, "These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so."(NKJV). Take notes during your discussions. Compare these notes, or their actual literature, to Scripture. Formulate questions based on the Bible, but remember they may use the Bible just as we do.
Finally, keep your goal in perspective. I Corinthians 3:1 to 9 read, "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul,'' and another, "I am of Apollos,'' are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it."(NKJV). In dealing with a cultist, or any non-believer or member of a different church, you are feeding them milk, the food of infants. You are either planting the seed of the Word of God, or you are caring for the seed someone planted earlier. However, God is the one who will harvest the crop. You may get to see it happen and witness a New Creature being born again, or you have to wait until the judgment. Never the less we must do our part in faith.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)