I have heard folks say that the Bible is too difficult to understand, therefore they do not study it. I think that is a learned response handed down from Constantine. I began thinking about that and decided that the Bible is divided into three parts; He is coming; He is here; He is coming again!. If we can get past all the theological babel it is pretty simple. I think many among us do not want to deal with the simple truth, as the song says, “He is Lord”. Smith Wigglesworth in his daily devotion yesterday lit the fuse in me for this message. He said,
“But some do not want Jesus to come into their homes, and it is not because they have such great faith. They do not want Him to come because of the changes they would have to make in their lives. They know that if Jesus were to live in their hearts, their lives would be totally transformed. Many refuse salvation because they know they cannot continue to live in the same old ways; therefore, they do not invite Christ to their homes. Beloved, let us not be afraid to ask Him to come in to stay. Ask Him to give you grace to come to Him. He is not looking at our unworthiness, but at His worthiness. My whole heart cries out to God that I might touch Him afresh.”
If you think that was meddling, how about this? I have worked in several churches over the years and have found that many have the same fear about their precious church. They do not teach the full Gospel for fear it would cause some to leave. Oh, they teach of the love of Christ for His church but when it comes to being filled with the Holy Spirit and Power for the sake of the ongoing work, they do not want to change the way they live and pastors are aware of that. How does your church line up with Paul’s description of order of worship in 1 Corinthians 14:26 – 39. It is my opinion that if churches would preach the whole Gospel and people would invite Jesus into their lives and homes that troubles would vanish and hearts would be mended. You see, Rubin Rubin I have been thinking, what a great world this would be if all our heats were focused on Jesus and we walked in obedience. Jim
As we fast and pray tomorrow I pray that this will be on your plate!
LIFE meets tonight at 7:00 and we will continue our study of one pastor who held the line and preached the full Gospel in the face of a rowdy crowd in Ephesus.