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10250 North Freeway @ West Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
KEEPING HOUSE FOR
THE LORD
Written by H. Frank Fort
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of the Berean Baptist Church.
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House for the Lord,
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LESSON #23
"Exhortation" Conclusion of series
For several months now, we have
considered the various aspects of formal worship:
·
Preaching
·
Praying
·
The Lord's Supper
·
Giving
·
Singing
·
The preaching is designed to inform as
to "all the counsel of God" Acts
20:27, both "the counsel of God against" sinners Luke 7:30 , and that which enables God to be "for us" Rom.
8:31
·
Praying is the privilege of God's
children by which they make their "requests known unto God" Phil. 4:6 , in the spirit of thanksgiving for blessings received,
and in humble acknowledgment that one needs God's help for the duties divinely
imposed
·
The Lord's Supper is designed to keep
before us the death of Christ, that we may be constantly aware of God's love for
us 1 Cor. 11:26,
1 Jn. 3:16, Rom. 5:8
·
Giving is the means whereby we
"prove the sincerity of our love"
2 Cor. 8:8, and is
designed to guard us against covetousness, and remind us that God is the
rightful owner of "all things" Ps.
24:1
·
Singing is the means of expressing the
emotions of the heart. If our soul magnifies the Lord, "the sacrifices of
praise even the fruit of our lips" will be acceptable unto the Lord. Heb.
13:15
Now we have
studied these five forms of worship and the spirit, which the Worshipper must
have to render their observance acceptable, and now let us consider the
exhortation to faithfulness concerning worship.
It is
not enough to know the truth. "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and
doeth it not, to him it is sin" James
4:17. James said, "be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves" James
1:22, "he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this
man shall be blessed in his deed" James
1:25. Happiness is not promised to the mere knowledge of God's will, but to
the obedience of that will, thus Christ said, "If ye know these things,
happy are ye if ye do them" Jn.
13:17. The presence of the Lord is promised his people on the condition that
they "observe all things whatsoever I commanded you" Matt. 28:20. The evidence of salvation is found in the fact that the
saved are faithful and persistent in their way of life. When we were baptized we
professed to "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ" Gal.
3:27, and having done this, we are commanded to "make no provision for
the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof" Rom.
13:14. When we came up out of the
water, we declared that while we "were buried therefore with him through
baptism, into death" we were going to leave the sinful course we had
followed, and "walk in newness of life" Rom. 6:4. The life in Christ is not the old life made over, it is
life we never possessed before. It is spiritual life, the gift of God. Thus
being "a new creature" 2 Cor.
5:17 we "walk in newness of life" Rom. 6:4, and "serve in newness of spirit" Rom.
7:6. As we thus walk, we are "known and read of all men" 2
Cor. 3:2. This testimony of our lives is that something has effected a
change in us. We are different. We are considered so by the world, if we are
doing what we ought to do. Peter said, "they think it strange that ye run
not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you" 1
Pet. 4:4. Thus the Apostle, knowing the tendency of the flesh to rebel
against anything that tends to put it on the spot in the thinking of others.
Peter said, "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for
the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you" 1 Pet. 4:14.
Here is the
course God has appointed for the feet of his people as to
·
Thinking
·
Speaking
·
Doing.
·
Thinking. "Whatsoever things are
TRUE, whatsoever things are HONEST, whatsoever things are JUST, whatsoever
things are PURE, whatsoever things are LOVELY, whatsoever things are of GOOD
REPORT; if there be any VIRTUE, and if there be any PRAISE, THINK ON THESE
THINGS" Phil. 4:8.
Such thinking results in "a sound
mind" 2 Tim. 1:7. Now notice
Solomon says about such thinking, "a sound heart (mind) is the life of the
flesh" Prov. 14:30. What does
this mean? It is another way of saying "as he thinketh in his heart, so is
he" Prov. 23:7. Solomon wrote,
"Let not thine heart envy sinners" Prov. 23:17. Here we are
told that we can control our thinking, and we are not to "envy
sinners". Often God's people observe "the prosperity of the
world" Ps. 73:3, and are envious
at it, not thinking of the "end of the wicked". If we envy another, we
simply covet what they have, whether wealth, popularity, or glory. God's word
tells us not to do it. Why shouldn’t we seek to excel in the realm of our
thinking, knowing that "he that ruleth his spirit (is better) than lie that
taketh a city" Prov. 16:32.
One must have "the mind of the Lord" 1
Cor. 2:14,16 on the matter of values to believe this. Moses had it, and
refused that which is highly esteemed among men", in order to have that
which, among men, is despised, but great according to spiritual values Heb.
11:25‑27. Abraham had it in Gen.
13:9. He sacrificed material gain in order to promote peace among brethren.
How often do we see this? Paul had it, according to Phil. 3:7-9. He surrendered the glory of the flesh, "for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, My Lord." The divine record is
replete with the surrender of those things, which are highly esteemed among men,
in order to have those things declared valuable by spiritual standards, but one
must "rule his own spirit" in order to thus think. So Paul wrote that
we should be found "casting down imaginations and every high thing that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ" 2 Cor. 10:5. Why? Because as Solomon said, "A sound heart is
the life of the flesh" Prov. 14:30.
A sound heart is simply a "sound mind", and is the product of
"sound words"
2
Tim 1:7,13, and "the life of the flesh"
referred to by Solomon is as Paul said, "The life which I now live in the
flesh" Gal. 2:20. This life is
determined by the will of the mind, heart, or spirit. Rule the spirit, and the
flesh will manifest that reign, and to this end the Lord "worketh in
us" Phil. 2:13. We are not
helpless, "We are more than conquerors through him" Rom.
8:37. So much for thinking of the Christian.
·
Now for the speaking in the course of
life appointed for the Christian by his Lord.
On the principle that " out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" Matt. 17:34, we see that the ruling of the spirit of man precedes
the control of his tongue. The Christian restraint as to his speech will be
determined by the love in his heart. Love "constrains" to the
performance of duty 2 Cor. 5:14, but
it also "restrains" from the wounding of others, for it is written,
"Love worketh no ill to his neighbor" Rom. 13:10. There are many of God's people whose lives are morally
upright, but whose tongues tear and rip asunder without regard to the feelings
of others. Paul said, "Let your speech be always with grace„ seasoned
with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man" Col.
4:6. It is written, "a soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous
words stir up anger" Prov. 15:1.
Words are the most powerful weapons in the world. God helps us to choose them
wisely and use them as instruments of peace. No man can use his tongue to
promote peace, when war is in his heart. If we choose our words wisely, speak
them prayerfully, having in view the glory of God, and good of man, then are our
words "like apples of gold in pictures of silver". May we not forget
that "the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: So is the tongue among our
members, that it defileth the whole body" James
3:6. In other words, a loose tongue, uncontrolled by the love of God can
nullify the testimony of a moral life. One can destroy more with the tongue
"set on fire of hell" James 3:6
than a multitude can redeem with their tongues aglow with the love of God; such
is the nature of man to perpetuate the progress of evil. May we, by God's grace,
show the work of the Lord in our heart, by what it conveys to our tongue. If we
rule our spirits, our spirits will prove it to the world by the testimony of our
mouths
·
Doing. When we do what God's word tells
us to do, we have the confirmation of the truth which we profess to believe
This is the "life of the
flesh" which declares itself the expression of "a sound heart" Prov.
14:30. On the principle that "Man looketh on the outward
appearance" 1 Sam. 16:7. Then our "outward appearance" ought to be
such that regardless of what men may be provoked to say about us, because of the
truth we preach, "they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good
conversation (behavior) in Christ" 1
Pet. 3:16. We cannot prevent men from talking about us, but we can so live
that their lies will be seen to be such by our "good conversation".
This we are required to do. We are to "walk honestly toward them
without" 1 Thess. 4:12.
"Walk circumspectly" Eph 5:15,
looking about us, so as to "redeem the time", knowing that the days
are evil, and not get hemmed up in some shady deal, or cornered by circumstances
simply because we did not pay attention to what we were doing, or with whom we
were associating. Carelessness has caused the loss of testimony among many of
God's people. "'Watch and pray" is the responsibility of every child
of God, and to the extent we do it, we keep the devil at a distance. Paul wrote,
"Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" 1
Cor. 10:31, "do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing
that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance for ye serve the
Lord Christ" Col. 3:23,24.
The
commandment that makes each of us an exhorter is this. "Let us consider one
another to provoke unto LOVE and GOOD WORKS…exhorting one another, and so
much the more, as ye see the day approaching" Heb
10:24,25. "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord" 1 Cor. 15:58, "stand fast in one spirit, with one mind,
striving together for the faith of the gospel" Phil. 1:27. "The corning of the Lord draweth nigh…the Judge
standeth before the door" James
5:8,9. Let us think, speak, and act, so that we may "not be ashamed
before him at his coming" 1 Jn. 2:28.
Prepared by:
H. Frank Fort, Minister,
Berean Baptist Church
Houston, Texas.
Jan. 9, 1957.
"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"