Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. The sinful nature of man
causes him to rebel against the purpose of God. The carnal nature
of man desires uniformity. This can be seen in the conduct
of men in a variety of ways. The fleshy nature of man leads
him to follow fads and trends which the world deems desirable.
Often under the guise of expressing one's individuality, we see men
coming under the yoke of bondage to be like everyone else. This
is demonstrated quite appropriately in the current fad of tattoos,
piercings, and other body modifications. Many are swept up into participating
in these activities because it's the end thing to do. Everybody's
doing it, so it must be all right. Now it is outside the scope of
our calling to condemn or approve of these practices, but as the
Lord's people we can judge what the Scriptures have to say and
how they should apply to those who are the called out sons of
God. The Lord strictly forbade the children of Israel from engaging
in this kind of behavior because it was the common practice of
the heathen. We are not shocked or dismayed when the children
of this world engage in activities whose chief design is to exalt
the flesh. They are only acting according
to their nature. But the children of God have a higher calling.
The followers of Christ are not called to imitate the world in
anything, let alone follow it in such blatant displays of self-glorification. We are called to be a people
that are set apart from the world, not those who are conformed to
it. The desire for uniformity is not simply found in such base
activities as those we've already mentioned, but can also be discovered
among those who would be religious leaders and followers. The common
blueprint for today's churches is for everyone to follow certain
patterns of worship, service, and devotion. Modern clergymen
have discovered that the key to success is to avoid conflict
by getting everyone to think alike, so they have adopted a
role wherein the life of the body is dependent on them. little
more than lip service is given to studying the scriptures. In
its place is a prescribed lesson which is to be looked at by all
involved. It would not be conducive to uniformity if everyone actually
studied the scriptures for themselves. It is much less problematic to
get everyone to read someone else's thoughts than to express
their own. Songs are preselected so everything
will run smoothly, and each minute of the service is earmarked for
a certain activity. Everything is done so decently
and in order that the average person has no idea if the Holy
Spirit is present or not, because after all, the show must go on.
This idea is also carried into the modern concept of soul winning,
which has a cookie-cutter approach to making converts. It begins
with the false notion that men can be cajoled, persuaded, shamed,
or scared into believing the gospel, or as it is commonly
referred to, accepting Christ. With that thought in mind, many
go about with a prescribed plan of salvation, which they've been
taught to present to men with the expectation of closing the
deal, much like a car salesman. So according to this plan, many
are swept into what they are told is salvation. Today's churches
are full of these converts, whose knowledge of spiritual truth
is totally dependent on what someone else tells them. What
a stark contrast there is between these ideas and what the scripture
says. Paul said, My speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in
the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. God calls his people
individually according to his own timetable and in keeping
with his purpose, bringing them into his church for the perfecting
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. that
we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But speaking
the truth in love may grow up into him in all things, which
is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined
together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth,
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
God has given a variety of gifts to his people for the express
purpose of building up the body. Unto every one of us is given
grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore
he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive
and gave gifts unto men. We have this treasure in earthen
vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us. For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.