As the testimony of a proper local church, we must be committed.&nbs=
p;
First and foremost, our commitment is to the person of God. However, God is somewhat
complicated. He is the Triune
God. He is the Father, Son, a=
nd
Holy Spirit—three yet He is uniquely One (Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 8:4). As we have seen in the previous me=
ssage,
our commitment to God the Father is to express Him. This week we will fellowship our commitment to God the
Son—that is, to love Him and to live Him.
When we were regenerated we entered into a union with Jesus
Christ by becoming one spirit with Him (1 Cor.
6:17). In this union we were
betrothed to Christ, that is we were united with Him in a marr=
iage
commitment (2 Cor. 11:2-3) and should love the Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility (Eph. 6:24). T=
he
testimony of those who love the Lord in such a way is that they live in the
simplicity and enjoyment of grace (Eph. 6:24)
Many believers, after receiving unconsciously become distracted from loving the Lord in simplicity and purity. They <=
span
style=3D'mso-cyrillic-font-family:"Arial Narrow";mso-default-font-family:"A=
rial Narrow";
mso-greek-font-family:"Arial Narrow";mso-latin-font-family:"Arial Narrow";
mso-latinext-font-family:"Arial Narrow"'>end up loving the “things=
221;
of Christ—this is Satan’s strategy. It is no longer enough to obtain C=
hrist
and enjoy Him. They begin to =
focus
on other things that become a distraction from Christ and a problem to the
church. They uplift doctrines,
teachings, traditions, persons and many things related to Christ, but not
Christ Himself. These
“things” become factors that can cause us to lose our love for the Lord which resul=
ts
in our being accursed
Our
love for Ephesus had high teachings, good works,
discernment, and endurance, but they left their first love and were at risk=
of
losing their testimony as a local church.&=
nbsp;
, the result is a living.&n=
bsp;
When we truly love someone, we are drawn into one living with that
person. When we love the Lord=
, we
magnify Him, expressing Him to the world resulting in the local church bein=
g a
testimony of the Lord and an expression of God.
ChristChristChrist (v. 10). Paul’s bonds were manifest as
being in (v.13) and that the brothers were
confident in the because of his bonds (v. 14). Paul cared only that Christ was announced, whatever the motive
(v. 18) and realized that his situation would turn out to salvation through=
the
saints prayer and the bountiful supply of the Sp=
irit
of Jesus Christ (v. 19). He was concerned that Christ would be magnified in his body (v.
20), for to Paul, to live WAS Christ (v. 23). He trusted in the Lord (v. 24) and was confident that the
saints boast would abound in Christ (v.27). He felt that to suffer for =
Christ was actually grace given (v.
29). In chapter 2 Paul was se=
eking
encouragement in (v. 1) and urged the Philippians =
to
have the mind of (v. 5), encouraging the saints to
hold forth the word of life that he could boast in the day of Christ that he had not run in vain
(v.16). Paul hoped in the Lord Jesus (v. 19) and sought the things of <=
/span>Christ Jesus (v. 21), trusting in the Lord that he would be released from prison to visit the Philipp=
ians
(v.24). He urged the sa=
ints
to receive Epaphroditus in the Lord (v. 29) because he was near death on account of the work o=
f Christ (v. 30). In chapter 3, Paul encouraged the =
saints
to rejoice in the (v.1). Paul’s boast was
in Christ (v. 3). He counted all things los=
s on account of the excellent knowledge of Christ, in order to gain Christ (v. 8) and to be found in =
Christ (v. 9). He longed to know Christ according to His resurrection and
death (v. 10), and to pursue Christ (v. 12). Paul was eagerly awaiting the appearing of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 20); that the believers might =
be
conformed to the body of glory according to the operation =
of Christ (v. 21). In chapter 4, Paul urged the saint=
s to
stand firm in the (v.1), to think the same thing in=
the
Lord (v. 2), to rejoice in the LordLord is near (v. 5), that through prayer, our hearts and though=
ts
would be guarded in (v. 7). He rejoiced in the Lord greatly (v. 10) and endeavored to learn Christ as the secret of contentment in a=
ll
circumstances (vv. 11-12) being able to do all things in Him who empowered him (v. 13), that every need would be filled=
in Christ (v. 19). Paul asked to greet the saints in =
Christ Jesus (v. 21) and reminded them that the
grace of the who lived Christ by loving Him. What a
testimony Paul was! What a
testimony we, as a local church must be!