August (part 2 of 2)
Thus the blue, purple and scarlet colours say to us that we need to hear His call, know His kingship, and lead a clean life in order to take part in building His Church and enjoy His fulness.
August 19
"... we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ " (Romans 5:11).
Paul says to the believers who were saved through his ministry, "Ye are our...joy!" (1 Thess. 2:20). When you find that others are saved by your testimony, a great joy comes into you, and your neighbours and friends will also find joy through you. Every time I find someone receiving that joy, my own joy increases. Once, when I was in Yugoslavia, I was going in a train to Belgrade. I saw a very tall man in front of me. I began to pray, "Lord give me the privilege of speaking to that man about his soul". Then I spoke to him and straightway he was born again. What a joy came into my heart. Has anybody in your family or neighbourhood found that joy of salvation through you? Do you know the joy of bringing others to Christ?
Also by delighting to do God's will we find joy. Psalm 40:8, "I delight to do thy will". It may take you many days to find God's will, but, when you find it you will have a peculiar joy in accepting it and in doing God's will. Is your joy of that nature? Is your joy unspeakable and full of glory? Is your joy full? Do you find a heavenly song on your lips all the time? Even though I cannot sing a single note outwardly. I can sing in my soul the whole day. Oh be sure you find that joy. Right now, this moment, that joy can be yours. Only the Lord Jesus can give that joy, which does not depend upon teachers, preachers or other people, but on the Lord Himself. If we humble ourselves and call upon Him, He forgives us immediately and that experience will begin that joy in your heart.
That joy begins in heaven, "likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth." It does not begin on the earth. Repentance means right about turn. Before a man repents, he has his face towards the devil, and his back towards God. By repentance he turns his back towards the devil, and his face towards God. That is called repentance. Such a work take place only by the Holy Spirit, and not any man himself. Joy begins there? Heaven is first filled with Joy, and from there that joy is poured into the person who repents. That is why no man can take away that joy. It begins in the presence of God and goes on flowing from there, and no man can take it away. "your joy no man taketh from you" (John 16:22), no, not even your enemy, nor your neighbours, nor friends, nor any power on earth. Have you repented? What happened when you repented? was it whole-hearted repentance, or are you still hankering after sinful and shameful things? That is why your joy is not full. Your repentance is not complete. Your face is turned both ways. Some people are like that. They seem to be happy everywhere. When they come for worship, they are very happy. When they go into the world they are still happy. Wherever they go into the world they are still happy. Wherever they go they are happy. They are blind and deaf spiritually. They are the agents of the devil. Oh, please make sure that you are repented truly and sincerely.
August 20
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17).
No man can give up the desire for worldly pleasures by himself. Only when the Lord Jesus Christ enters into his heart he will be delivered. He is the One Who can set us free from our bondage. His mighty hand can deliver us from all worldly attractions and from the devil. On the other hand those who try to escape by their own efforts will soon be drawn back again into bondage. After hearing an inspiring sermon a smoker may say "I will give up tobacco". Then by great effort he keeps up to his decision for three or four days. After that his stomach begin to plead with him, "Dear Master, I want smoke. Good food, milk and sweets will not satisfy me. I must have smoke. Please give me smoke. I will die without smoke". At last he gives in and he is drawn back into his old habit as deep as ever.
It is only by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ working in us that we can be delivered from our sins. He has conquered the world, sin, death, hell and Satan. In Him and by Him and through Him, we are victorious. Paul says, "I can do all things". How? "through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4:13). Some people are not slaves to tobacco, but they are slaves to filthy books and immoral magazines. What a vast number of publications in the market are full of filth! Sometimes the titles appear decent and attractive but the filth is the same, the result is the same, the punishment is the same. Other people are salves to money. They will tell any number of lies and do dishonest deeds to get more money. Yet others are greedy for power and are prepared to exploit the lives of others. When Christ enters their hearts, He will deliver them from all this bondage by His mighty power.
From my own experience I can say this is true. No one ever spoke to me about salvation. One day I heard the voice of God and I was saved. The Lord Jesus came into my heart. That very moment my bad desires disappeared one by one. They became repulsive to me. Christ Himself gave me a fervent hunger and thirst for divine things.
August 21
"...that ye...May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge" (Eph. 3:17-19).
In Eph. 3:19, Paul prays that the believers at Ephesus may know God's love. Individually we cannot comprehend it: even though we spend years in meditating upon God's Word, we will never know that mysteries by ourselves. In olden days, Roman Catholic monks thought that by living a lonely life, they would become more holy. In so doing they brought in many customs and rituals which made them worse, instead of better.
The secret of God's love can only be comprehended by the help of the saints, as shown in Eph. 3:17- 19. His love is beyond human comprehension. All of us have to be brought together again and again. You will find our fellowship together as fellow-believers very inspiring and helpful. Unbelievers cannot have such fellowship. That fellowship will be among those who have the same experience of eternal life (1 John 1:3). So all fellowship begins for us in the Lord Jesus Christ and in God the Father. Whatever we receive in our own meditation and waiting upon the Lord, we should share together. Otherwise we will not be able to grow. That is why, the early Christians continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers.
God's love can be truly comprehended as we learn to have fellowship with fellow-believers everywhere. You have to make some sacrifice to gather with God's people for prayer, for worship, for Bible study and for service. By that fellowship we are told that we will know the love of Christ with perfect knowledge and by such love we are made to understand why God wants us to have that share in His fulness. His love is so great that He wants us to receive all that He has. As loving parents take pleasure in giving their children all that they possess, even so the Lord wants to give us all that He has. Now we are being taught how we have to be prepared upon the earth for such a privilege in heaven, to enjoy God's fulness.
August 22
"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 3:11).
With all their Bible knowledge believers in many parts of the world remain as babes spiritually for a long time. They have no understanding of the deep things of God. Paul wanted to share many things with the Hebrew believers, but he could not do so because of their spiritual infancy. They were like small children in the kindergarten class who are taught only elementary things.
Now the question is why they remained babes spiritually. It is because they did not have a clear and sure understanding of the fundamental principles of salvation. Paul says, "...ye have need that one teach you again...the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, not of strong meat" (Heb. 5:12). So if we are not clear and sure about the foundational, fundamental, first principles of salvation we cannot grow spiritually. A building without a strong foundation will not stand long. When storms come many buildings fall down because they do not have a strong and a deep foundation. The Lord has warned us in His Word that there will be many storms while we are upon this earth. We find many believers losing their faith when they face difficulties, troubles, and trials. They get offended and are easily drawn away by wrong teachings or by worldly attractions. In our lifetime we have to face many storms and that is why we should be on a strong foundation.
First of all, we should make sure that we are built upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11). We should make sure that we have a definite, personal, living experience of the living Lord Jesus Christ. Having made sure of our personal experience of salvation which we have in Him we must be built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Eph. 2:20). We follow what the apostles and prophets have taught us in the Scriptures. That is our heavenly order. We cannot change that divine order and heavenly plan because we have been given in a very clear way all the instructions necessary for our spiritual growth.
In Hebrews 6 the apostle speaks of six fundamental and first principles of the doctrine of salvation. The first one is repentance from dead works; and the second one is faith toward God; the third one is baptisms; the fourth, laying on of hands; the fifth, resurrection of the dead; and the six one, eternal judgement. We can divide them into three groups of two each, because they go together. Repentance and faith go together, similarly, baptism and laying on of hands go together and resurrection of the dead and eternal judgement go together. These principles bring us on a strong foundation.
August 23
"...God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son" (1 John 5:11).
There are very small verses in the Gospels which sum up the whole life purpose of the Lord Jesus Christ. One is Luke 19:10. "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost". And the other is John 10:10, last part, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly". From these two short verses we can sum up the whole life - purpose of the Lord Jesus Christ. Although we may not know it, the Word of the Lord goes throughout the world. Wherever you may go you find hunger and thirst for the Word of God. If you seek to know God, you will find Him, as you see in Jeremiah 29:13, "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart". Once we have found Him, He will make every provision to give us abundant life. Then we have to labour with Him as co-workers. There are many believers who do not have abundant life, though they may say they are born again!
In the first world war many soldiers were wounded and amongst them there were about eighty-five very sad cases. They had lost both their legs, both their arms and both their eyes. They were almost like dead men, they had to be carried in baskets and they had to be fed with a tube or a spoon. Spiritually this is the condition of many believers today. Even though they say they are born again, yet for many years they remain spiritually deaf and dumb. They have no strength to work for God. The fact remains that the Lord says, "I have come to give them life and to give it more abundantly. "Now the word 'abundantly' is a word with a big meaning, and the phrase 'more abundantly' means an overflowing fulness.
If you study the last words of the Lord, before His final journey to Jerusalem, you will see that He was revealing all these principles and truths: how He Himself was going about to seek and so save that which was lost. Sometimes the lost themselves do not know how the loving Saviour and good Shepherd is seeking them. He uses many means to save them, Sometimes He burdens friends and even strangers to pray for them. He changes all their plans, until they come to His plan.
August 24
"...Jesus ...shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days" (Acts 1:1-3).
The Lord Jesus Christ appeared to His disciples ten times in forty days after His resurrection; five times on the Easter day and five times from the second day of His resurrection till the 40th day, the day of His ascension. Our Lord never appeared even once to those who did not believe in Him. Each time He appeared only to His disciples. When He was on the cross, many people mocked Him saying, "...let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him" (Matt. 27:42). But after His resurrection He did not show Himself to any of those people. This shows that this wonderful power of resurrection is meant only for those who accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour and become righteous in His sight for eternity by the very same power according to Rom. 4:24,25. Through every appearance He reveals to us the great secret of appropriating and enjoying this death-conquering power which can make us more conquerors. God appeared ten times to Abraham in about 40 years to reveal to him the secret of divine friendship. In three places in the Scriptures, in 2 Chro. 20:7, Isa. 41:8 and James 2:23, Abraham is called the friend of God. Through the ten appearances of God to Abraham, we see that there are ten steps to friendship with God. Similarly through the ten appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples after His resurrection, we have a tenfold secret of experiencing and enjoying the great power of His resurrection for all our needs. By this power, the hope that one day we shall see our Lord face to face and shall be like Him, is quickened in us.
August 25
"... I delight to do thy will" (Psalm 40:8).
In Psalm 29 we find that the phrase, "The voice of the LORD" is repeated again and again in verses 3,4,5,7,8 and 9. To put it in simple language, it is by hearing the voice of God that we see every obstacle overcome, and it is because we are not hearing God's voice that we cannot find God's will. God's power is at your disposal in its fulness, so you must learn how to hear and discern His voice. God does speak. He is a living person, and we have got to believe His voice.
In 1 Kings 19, Elijah, the man of God, is very discouraged and dejected. He thought that God was sleeping. But God was so loving, long-suffering, and patient. He made a great and strong wind to pass by, which rent the mountains. But God was not in the wind. After that there was an earthquake. But God was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire. But God was not in the fire. After the fire, a still small voice! "That is how God spoke to Elijah: God never slumbers, or forgets. His ways are not our ways, but higher than our ways. God revealed to His servant, what He planned to do through a still small voice. You will find all your questions will be answered, by hearing God's voice. There is no need for you to be under the juniper tree. Do you feel discouraged and dejected? Is your mind perplexed in any way? Are the things happening around you puzzling you? Have you found any problem complicated in your home or outside? For all that, you have to hear the voice of God, and that will solve your problem.
Your understanding of the doctrine of Christ and of salvation depends upon your doing and knowing God's will (John 7:17). Otherwise your mind will be confused. As you do God's will, these doctrines of salvation will become more clear and more simple and more plain to you. You will find God's will more enjoyable day by day, and something refreshing coming out. You will be saved more and more from many wrong teachings and wrong doctrines. Your prayer life will become more fruitful and very effective by doing God's will (1 John 5:14). By knowing God's will we can suffer joyfully otherwise, when troubles come, we are downcast, full of fear, no appetite for food, and no sleep at night. Paul was ready not only to be bound but to die also (Acts 21:13,14) because he was clear and sure of God's will. Also the fulness of Christ can be enjoyed by doing God's will.
The whole life of the Lord Jesus Christ was lived in doing God's will (John 4:34; John 5:30; John 6:38; John 8:29; Matt. 26:39). The Bible says, if you have not learned that secret of finding God's will you are a fool (Eph. 5:17). Thus it is important to learn the secret of finding God's will. This is not ordinary matter, but very important; you must think about it more wisely. Your happiness, joy and fruitfulness depend upon it.
August 26
"... faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).
Abraham was a prosperous and a wealthy man in the city of Ur of the Chaldees. When God spoke to him to leave that city and go to an unknown place, straightway he obeyed. Many would have questioned him where he was going. He would have replied that he did not know. He was the only man in the whole city who believed in God. But he had to face mocking. Even though he never knew where God was leading him, he obeyed Him and left the city. Because of his obedience and faith, later on God gave him the vision of the city with foundations. He became strong in faith (Heb. 11:8,9). Abraham had plenty of gold and silver; so naturally he wanted to build a house. But throughout his lifetime God never allowed him to build a house or buy a piece of land. He had to live in tents as pilgrim and a stranger. By strong, active and living faith we also are made to see the glory of the heavenly city of which we are a part. In the same way, God had kept Sarah barren for a long time. Whatever may happen to us, it is intended to give us a strong faith. Without such a faith, we will never know the greatness of our salvation (Heb. 11:13-16). God uses all such situations, circumstances, afflictions and trials to draw away our eyes from the perishing things and fix them on heavenly and eternal things.
The power of resurrection becomes more real to us as we claim it according to our need (Heb. 11:18). God told Abraham to offer his only son on the altar, to give him a strong faith. He did not doubt God. He believed that even though he slew his son, God was able to raise him up, With that faith, he bound his son and raise his knife to slay him. He knew that his wife did not have that much faith. That is why without consulting her, he went to offer his son on the altar(Gen.22:3). He got up early in the morning, took his servants and an ass and went away. He knew that if he had told her, she would not have allowed him to offer Isaac. She would have said, "How can we offer our only son? God will never say such a thing." That is how many times we also question. Being a man of faith, without the least doubt, Abraham got up early in the morning and took his servants and son and proved God's faithfulness. Thus his faith became strong. By the ram caught in the thicket, God was showing him that He also was bound to him. So to enjoy our salvation fully we need a strong, active faith. Our share in the heavenly eternal city will become real to us by faith. We can thank God for any affliction and any trial because they give us faith like that of Abraham or David or Moses. It is a lifelong experience. We may have to go through painful situations and experiences for that faith.
August 27
"...ask, ...that your joy may be full" (John 16:24).
Every word spoken by the Lord was full of grace and truth and of deep spiritual meaning. There have been many great teachers who spoke wonderful things, but the words of the Lord Jesus are unique; they can never be forgotten. The words of the Lord Jesus Christ have been written and explained in many books by great writers, but they have not yet exhausted their meaning.
According to God's Word in Ephesians 3:20, He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. For instance, a sinner may come trembling to the Lord Jesus Christ and say, "Lord, forgive me, I am sorry for my sins." And the Lord says, "My child, I will not only forgive your sins, I will give you My whole kingdom. Whatever you need, you ask and receive from My hands". Our difficulty is, we do not know how to ask. Even the disciples of the Lord did not know, though they had been with Him for three years. The Lord said to them, "Hitherto have you asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24). They had been thinking that they had asked many things from Him. Once they had returned so happy, bubbling with joy saying to Him, "See what we have been able to do in Thy Name". Even then the Lord said, "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name." In other words they had been asking only for those things which could not make their joy full. So our Lord was saying, "Ask now, and learn to go on asking." We also need to learn the same lesson. We do not yet know how to ask God. When we do learn to ask, our Lord will give us more than we can ask or think or imagine.
August 28
"Judge me, O God, ... O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man (Psalm 43:1).
In Neh 6:8,9 because of the false and wicked charges of the enemies there came a fear in the heart of Nehemiah, the servant of God, but he immediately called upon God beseeching Him to strengthen his hand. We have had similar experiences but have seen the enemy's devices fail when we ran to the Lord in prayer at the time of his severe attack. When people accuse us falsely we need not waste our time in arguing with them to defend ourselves. Only persevering prayer can defeat all the skill and cleverness of the enemy in all his attempts to harm us. The enemy becomes completely powerless when at the time of his attack we give ourselves to prayer.
From vs. 10-12, we see that when Sanballat and Tobiah failed in all their former plans and attempts they thought of yet another scheme. They hired Shemaiah, one of Nehemiah's co-workers to give him a harmful advice to misleading him. In verse 10 we read that this Shemaiah advices Nehemiah to hide himself in the temple in order to save his life. If Nehemaih had accepted his advice and had hidden himself in the temple, he would have given room for an evil report and reproach against himself.
The enemy uses the same weapon against believers these days also. He often uses our friends and close relatives who are worldly-minded to give us wrong advice to hinder us in the working for the Lord. That is how many believers have lost their faith in God. As believers we should not consider the advice of worldly friends and relatives. When God's heavenly will and advice are available to us through prayer, then the advice of our worldly friends and relatives should not be accepted. According to Matt.12:46-50 only those believers who do the will of God are the Lord's brothers and sisters. In the work of God we should not be governed by the advice of our worldly friends and relatives. We have seen may servants of God, failing in such matters. When they are in need of money for the work of God, such as purchasing a piece of land or constructing a pandal, instead of trusting in God, they use worldly wisdom, and approach their worldly friends for financial help. They think that there is nothing wrong in borrowing money as long as it can be returned since is only for the work of the Lord. Quite unknown to them such worldly methods of getting money invariably results in barrenness.
Nehemiah discerned that Shemaiah gave him a wrong advice. Many times some worldly people create unnecessary fear in the hearts of believers. They say that God has spoken to them to warn people about certain matters and thus they bring unhappiness and doubts in the hearts and homes of many. We should take a warning from God's Word that we should never be deceived by such subtle people. God's Word is given to us for our daily instruction and guidance.
August 29
"...And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1)
In 1 John 2:1 we read that the Lord Jesus is our Advocate, Who is always ready to intercede on our behalf. Also we read in Jer. 50:34, "Their Redeemer is strong: the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land." The children of Israel were taken captive by their enemies. Their enemies persecuted them, and would not set them free. But God intervened on their behalf and by His mighty power brought them out of captivity. In the same way, when we fall into some sin or temptation, the enemy refuses to release us. We think by our cleverness and Bible knowledge we can overcome but we fail. We must ask, "Lord, this is my weakness and failure. Kindly intercede on my behalf and deliver me from Satan's hands." By faith we have to claim constantly the high priestly ministry of our Lord on our behalf. The Lord Jesus Christ Who lives for ever pleads for us and delivers us from our failures. We have to recognise that without Him we can do nothing. We have to depend upon His intercessory ministry till we come to His perfection. For that purpose He gave all that He had, and bought us with His precious blood. In 1 Peter 1:16 He says, "Be ye holy; for I am holy", so to be brought to His perfection we need His intercessory ministry.
In the Old Testament period, thousands of sacrifices were offered by the priests. But no one could obtain perfection through their services or ministry (Heb. 7:19). They were only a shadow of the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus (Heb. 8:5). Melchizedek as a priest of the most high God appeared to Abraham and brought heavenly food for him which strengthened him in the hour of temptation. But he could not help Abraham to come to perfection. By giving His whole body to be broken and having conquered death on our behalf, the Lord Jesus Christ has now become our heavenly High Priest, through Whom we attain perfection (Heb. 7:24, 25). By His one perfect sacrifice He makes us perfect through His own perfection. Everytime we fall, we can go to Him with all humility and brokenness. He will lift us up by His high priestly ministry. This does not mean that we can go on sinning, but we need to recognise our human limitation and depend upon His ministry.
August 30
"The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee" (Psalm 20:1)
Psalm 20 contains many promises. Every promise gives us courage and liberty to call upon God. They are precious, encouraging and strengthening.
"The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee" (v.1). There may be many troubles in our lives but we can call upon God as His children and His chosen people. There is no need to go to any man for help. God is there to help us. There is great assurance that the Lord will help us, when we go to Him by faith. That is how our problems which appear to be very great and impossible to be solved can be solved through prayer by our loving God, "the name of the God of Jacob defend thee" (v. 1b). The same God Who changed Jacob into Israel which means a prince, can do great things in our lives. We should have such a faith. When we pray we are in the presence of the heavenly King, Who can meet all our needs. Whatever we need He is ready to give. The God of Jacob will defend us, keep us and protect us in times of danger.
"Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion" (v.2). The Lord answers our prayer when we go into His heavenly habitation. Sanctuary means God's Dwelling Place, where the great God lives and reveals Himself and receive us. When we pray we have to wait patiently till we feel His presence very strongly. Zion speaks of the heavenly House. What we receive from God is for His glory in Zion. And that is why our coming to the House of God is so important. Many people think more of feasting and gossipping at home. But when we go to God's House we enjoy His presence and are much blessed. As far as possible we should give God His portion regularly and joyfully. With much joy and great expectation we should go to the House of God.
"Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice" (v.3). All these offerings speak of the complete work of salvation which we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament there were five offerings to be offered to the Lord. They were: Burnt offering, Peace offering, Sin offering, Meat offering and Trespass offering. All these offerings show us the complete salvation the Lord has given us. Burnt offering speaks of the perfect life of the Lord Jesus Christ Who was wholly and solely burnt for us. This sacrifice gives us boldness in God's presence. Whatever is needed for our salvation our Lord has accomplished on the Cross and so we can go to Him freely. He paid all our debt. He met all the demands of God for our sake. Sin offering speaks of how the Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself all our sins. Peace offering reminds us how He has made peace with God by offering Himself. Now we can go very freely into His presence. Similarly, Meat offering speaks of His perfect life to satisfy our spiritual hunger. By faith, through all these offerings we have a right to call upon God freely and cry unto Him. We go to Him not because of our righteousness but because of the righteousness of God. We have nothing to give Him. The Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself. By identifying ourselves with His death we can go to God. That is why it is necessary to pray in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He lovingly and willingly died in our stead for our transgressions and made us righteous by His resurrection.
August 31
"...thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name" (Isaiah 62:2)
In several cases the Lord gave a new name to His saints. In Matthew 16:18 we read how Simon was given a new name by the Lord Jesus: henceforth he was to be called Peter, "a rock". The Lord Jesus asked His disciples. "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?". Simon answered, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." This had not been revealed to him by flesh and blood, but by the Father Who is in heaven. From that day Simon's name was changed to Peter. It is on this revelation concerning Christ that the Church is built. This is why the Lord Jesus said, "upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it". If you have an inward revelation of Christ in your heart, it is not of human origin. It is from heaven. If you have it, then a new name is given to you, and the powers of hell shall not prevail against you. If you are under man-made customs and rituals it will cause spiritual blindness, confusion and strife. But true believers who are ready to give up all things which are human and earthly and corrupt, and who are seeing earnestly things which are spiritual, heavenly and eternal, they are the true Church, and their life is based on the revelation by the Spirit of the Father and the Son and they cannot be shaken (Luke 10:22).
Saul the Pharisee saw a light from heaven, heard the voice of the Lord and was saved. From that day he became a new man. He later went to Antioch and as he ministered God's Word there, he himself came to understand God's order in the Church. From that time he began his great missionary journeys. Saul had many talents of ministry, yet he willingly came under subjection to the Lord in the church order at Antioch. Then a new revelation was given to him of God's purpose and order in the Church. He was also given a new name, Saul (a destroyer) became Paul. He did not live for himself, but spent himself for the Church.
Have you learned how to come under subjection in the church? Take one common example. How many parents are ruined the lives of their children in respect of marriage: instead of bringing the matter to the church for prayer, they thought they could plan quite well themselves. Beloved, you have the privilege of receiving the love, fellowship and prayer help of the church. Do not treat it lightly. When you have learned the meaning and value of subjection in the church, not only in this but in other matters as well, you will no longer be a destroyer, but a worker in the House of God, like Paul.