Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. One of the most blessed
privileges of the children of God is to be able to meet together
with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Quite often we hear
the religious talking about the duty they have to go to church,
as if they were satisfying some obligation. As the sons of God,
we don't look on our meeting together as though we were fulfilling
some quota of service or meeting the demands of a taskmaster.
What could be more delightful than gathering together with
those of like precious faith to praise our blessed Redeemer,
to learn His Word, and be encouraged and built up in the most holy
faith? Only those whose heart is a stranger to grace could
confuse this great privilege and see it as a chore. One thing
that I have learned over the years is that the things that
we value most are the things which occupy our thoughts and
our time. We set our priorities in life based on those values.
When we value the endeavors of the flesh more than those of
the spirit, then we choose to walk after the dictates of the
flesh. Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants
to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin
unto death or of obedience unto righteousness? God's children
are not under any obligation to go to any meetings, but we
do have a responsibility to our brethren. The Scriptures tell
us to consider our brothers and sisters in Christ so that we
may encourage them to walk in faith, hope, and love. Most of
the time, our flesh tells us to consider ourselves and what
we want rather than what is best for our brethren. The assembling
of ourselves gives us the opportunity to minister to the needs of our
brothers and sisters. When we neglect it or value the
desires of our flesh more than that responsibility, then we
do a disservice to them. Rather than giving occasion to
our flesh, we ought to mortify its deeds and pursue the higher
calling that we have been given. We should have the well-being
of our brethren in mind at all times, even when our flesh tells
us otherwise. These are some of the tactics
and excuses which the flesh uses to bring us into captivity by
neglecting the assembly of ourselves together. Telling us our bodies
are too old, sick, or tired to assemble. There's no controversy
that our flesh is weak. The Lord said it was. We're not
denying that sometimes infirmity is so severe as to keep us bedridden.
Sometimes we must be led about by others, but very often our
flesh will try to control us by exaggerating our condition
in our own minds. I have known many who were too
tired or sick to assemble, but able to perform many other endeavors.
When a sickness is not unto death, there is no better place for
the sick to be than gathered together with those who are praying
for the sick. Sleep is a necessity, but the
overindulgence of it can destroy us. How often have we seen the
same people who had to sleep late, and thereby neglect the
assembly, able to rise at any hour to go fishing, hunting,
or shopping? We have other important things
to attend to. What can be more important than
ministering to our brethren? Getting our priorities in order
is a necessity for all of God's people. Set your affection on
things above, not on things of the earth. And then another one
is we have to spend quality time with our families. One of the
great blessings which God has bestowed on us is that of having
children. Children are an heritage of the
Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Oftentimes, the
flesh will tell us to neglect the assembly in order to indulge
our children with parties, sleep, swimming, et cetera, for their
benefit, when in reality, we're teaching them important lessons
about our priorities, which will surely not provoke them to love
and good works. thereby negating that supposed
benefit. We could go on with other examples,
but hopefully these will give us an idea of what a formidable
foe our flesh is. Our exhortations to one another
should be steadfast and continual, especially as we see the day
approaching. The challenges facing all of
us are quite large, and we need each other to encourage and help
us to meet them in the Spirit of Christ. There's already a
great deception gone forth, which will only increase as time goes
on. Brethren, pray one for the other,
and don't neglect the main opportunity you have to encourage and help
your brothers and sisters in the way. 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 armor of light. Are
you walking in his light? For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.