Have you taken the time to count the number of sins found in the Corinthian church? I am up to sixty four and there could be more. Spirituality, spiritual gifts produce the glory of God in the life of a local church. Carnality and works of the flesh simply produce sin! 1 Corinthians 1:26 -2:1-5.
Good Morning
It is hard to grow up
when you do not have a guide to go by isn't it? I remember trying to
listen to my father's advice through the tears of disappointment and
the feeling of being unloved by him. I really wanted a good
relationship with him but he was always drunk and seldom at home.
Proverbs 22:6 says this; “Train up a child in the way they
should go and when they are an adult they will not
depart from that way” The school of learning for all
children is through the training or lack of training of the father
and mother. Their influence is not a matter of fact; it is something
we guard and cherish even though we suffer or rejoice in them.
Everything we know and do is filtered through that family framework.
We become like our parents! We worship the idols they worship, and
our sins carry from one generation to the next. Please take a look
at, Exodus 20:5-6. In Exodus twenty you will find the full expression
of the ten commandments. We may think that the present condition of
our life is the fault of our father in this case, but it goes much
deeper than that. These personal characteristics are deeply
entrenched in sin that resides in the family tree. So some of us find
ourselves crying in our beer as we reach out and strike at the people
we love. Hurting not only our lovers and loved ones, but also our
future as we create the continuing generational march to a godless
eternity. How do we stop this sinful nonsense? Only by submitting to
the authority of God. Read again; Exodus 20:6 God will reveal mercy
and grace to everyone who calls upon the name of the LORD. And from
the heart allows the death and burial of Jesus to wash away their
sin, and the Resurrection of Jesus to give them new life in Him.
Romans 10:8-13.
James
4
James
4:13-17 – We do a lot of boasting... sometimes while I am waiting
in church for things to begin I have the opportunity to listen in on
conversations (that is not to say that I am not involved in
conversations; yes I am) but when I am not I see that we today are
not much different then those of the early church when it comes to
our ability to flaunt the deeds of the day or the day before; and
even those of tomorrow which never comes.
The
truth, just as spoken of by James is that we boast, we boast over
family, education, recreation, prosperity (or the lack of) and no
doubt if we were able to listen in on all the conversation going in
the fifteen minutes before church, or the minutes between services we
would find that every conceivable topic under the sun has been
touched on by someone, too bad this is not Candid Camera!
So
what is James saying; is that we should stop talking, no
not at all.
How about that we should stop listening; not
at all!
James is letting us know that all of the topics we discuss or hear
(in and out of church) fall into the category of EVIL. Evil is the
pathway to sin; sin in a church, sin in a school a market place or
anyplace where people congregate (the water fountain at work).
Conversations work toward sin and this is why the apostle says
clearly in verse 17; if you know what to do in conversations and you
fail to do it, then you have sinned.
No comments:
Post a Comment