Every one of us

Bible Reading: Romans 14

Romans 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Some day we will all stand before the throne of God and give an account of our life here on earth. For believers this will look very different than it will for those who do not believe on Jesus Christ. For the unbeliever, they will stand before a Great White throne. Their judgment will happen at the same time as that fallen angel Satan and they will be condemned.

Revelation 20:11-15 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

For the believer, we will not experience condemnation.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Our sins were judged on Calvary’s tree. We will stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Romans 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Believers will give an account of our stewardship of the Lord’s resources while we were here on earth. We will receive according to what we have done in this body. Are you living for that day? As a believer you should focus on living in such a way that it will not be embarrassing to stand before Jesus. Imagine a Father leaving a child with some things to do only to return and find that the son played video games the whole time and did not obey his father.

Let us live knowing that God loves us and has exciting and fulfilling work for us to do here and now while we await the return of Jesus!

In Christ,

Rody

Time to awake out of sleep

Bible Reading: Romans 13

Romans 13:11-12 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Do you know what time it is? I don’t mean what the clock on the wall says but what the signs of the times show us. The Lord is coming soon. We see the signs of his coming all around us. It is time for believers to WAKE UP! Slumbering church – that is what we see in America. Christians that look just like everyone else in the culture seems to be the mark of the day. Believers are slumbering along lulled to sleep by the lullaby of the world. But now it is time to wake up. Our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent. The day is dawning. It’s time to get up and go to war.

The Bible says that part of waking up is to cast off the works of darkness.

Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

The works of darkness are the works that those who do not know Christ walk in. Another way of saying this is to say the works of the flesh are the works of darkness.

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

We are called to cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.

1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

Wake up and love, believe and hope in Jesus!

In Christ,

Rody

Elders in every church

Acts 14:21-23 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

On Paul’s first missionary journey, he and Barnabas preached the gospel primarily to four cities – Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. Then they turned around and went back through each city ‘confirming the souls of the disciples’. I suppose this may be where some churches get their concept of ‘confirmation’. The word means to strengthen or to support further. It means they sat down with those who had trusted in Jesus Christ and taught them more about Him. They encouraged the believers and helped them get ready for tribulation and trials that would come as a result of being Christ-followers.

These new churches also needed leadership. Of course, Jesus Christ is the head of the church, but he uses shepherds to help feed his flock. So, Paul and Barnabas ‘ordained’ elders in every church. This means they selected or appointed elders in each church. This is important because we see that Paul wanted the churches to have shepherds to serve them. He knew that it could be years before he returned and God’s flock needs shepherds.

This ordination involved prayer and fasting as they sought the will of God for each church. Here are a few things that are interesting about this. First, the men were from the church where they served. Paul did not send someone from the outside. He will do this later with Timothy, Titus and others, but the majority of congregations had a pastor who was one of them. Second, there were elders in each church. There were more than one in each church. The church needs men who love them and will shepherd them. Third, Paul trusted the Lord with these men and commended them to the Lord. Some of these men had not been believers long. As the title ‘elder’ assumes, they were men of maturity. They were fatherly in their love for the people and apparently, the people recognized that these men were some of the more mature men in the Congregation.

Paul said in another place:

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Paul was confident that a real relationship with Jesus will continue until he returns. I thank God for the pastors in my life. I hope you do too. They are a special gift to the church.

In Christ,

Rody