Did You Ask Him to Worship With You?
Bobby K. Thompson
We might not feel we can accomplish great tasks, but there is something all of us can do. We can invite those with whom we have contact during the week to worship with us on the Lord’s day. This certainly does not require a great deal of effort and the ability to invite others is within the capability of all of us. There is power in suggestion and suggesting that one worship with you may bring about wonderful results. We should never underrate the power of suggestion. Think about the suggestion that the captive maid made regarding a prophet in Samaria who could heal Naaman of his leprosy. “And she said unto her mistress, Would God my Lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! For he would recover him of his leprosy” (2 Kings 5:3). This suggestion set the wheels in motion that eventually led to the healing of Naaman, who was a leper. I personally have known of a simple invitation to worship that was accepted and in time brought about a conversion of a precious soul to Christ. The prevalent attitude of many is that it will do no good to invite another to worship with them. With most people, the invitation will be ignored, but that should not keep us from continuing to make the effort. To feel it will do no good is to admit defeat! That is just exactly what Satan desires for all of God’s children to feel.
Rather than thinking of inviting someone to worship with us, we have thoughts and actions that often conflict with our doing so. On numerous occasions, I have mentioned the account of a Christian boasting about how he with anger spoke to an individual and as he described it, “telling him off and putting the person in his place.” They took delight in relating the circumstances. A Christian hearing what was said calmly made the observation: “In the scenario, did you invite the person to worship with you on Sunday?” You know the answer! That was no doubt the farthest from the mind of the person speaking in anger. The concern was for telling the person off without any thought of his spiritual welfare. The moral of this story is that we should labor to keep our behavior in such a manner that it might be consistent with us inviting others to worship with us. Think of the statement made by Paul in Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Again from Philippians: “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death” (Philippians 1:20). He speaks of magnifying Christ in his body. We should strive to live in such a way that others can see Christ in us. We should live in such a way that our behavior would be consistent with asking someone to worship with us. We may gloat in having told someone off, but something else usually happens. We have turned someone off in influencing that one to worship with us, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
A young Christian was stopped for a traffic violation. You may be assured that this was not a joyful incident in her day’s activity. No one gets a thrill at being apprehended for a traffic violation. When the officer gave her the citation, she was humble and apologetic. She knew that she was wrong and accepted the consequences. When she received the ticket, she replied by giving the officer an invitation to attend a gospel meeting that was in progress. Who would have thought of her at such a time doing this? But she did it! Guess what followed? The officer accepted the invitation and came to the meeting. It wasn’t long until he and his family were converted to Christ. This happened because a Christian thought of a person’s soul and acted in such a way in a trying circumstance to adorn the gospel. What if she had angrily told the officer off and acted in an unbecoming manner? Doubtlessly, in such a mood she would never thought of inviting him to attend the meeting. Furthermore, what would he have thought of one behaving in such a manner as being spiritually minded? “Only let your conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).
A couple was in close embrace dancing in the nightclub. The girl asked the boy if he were a Christian. He replied in the negative and added, “If I were a Christian, I would not be here doing this.” If Christians were being arrested, would there be enough evidence in your life to find you guilty? We need to keep our lives pure that we can consistently show that Jesus dwells within us and invite others to worship with us!
From The Old Hickory Bulletin, Jackson, TN
________
Empty Pages
Gilbert Alexander
When children are born, they are like books full of empty pages. Some have more pages than others, but we don’t know how many pages each one has. What we must understand is that we as parents and their elders are helping write each page in each book. Each page is filled with something — things trivial and/or things of value. Somebody is going to write those pages. Especially in the early years, someone other than the child will have the predominant place of writing each page. An infant does practically nothing for himself. Someone teaches him how to eat, how to go to sleep, how to sit up, how to drink, and a little later how to talk and walk.
The pages are empty at the start. Like soft clay, children are molded, shaped, and refined in all particulars by those who care for them. Indifference to a child’s needs means that little is written that will be constructive. If television is the shaper, one should not be surprised at the very undesirable traits that are developed. Children have to learn everything except those things that nature controls, and those things must be refined and controlled. It is far easier to shape a child aright at the first, than to have to reshape to eliminate bad habits and behavior that are unacceptable. We have a very short time to do the writing over which we have control. Once that time is gone, we have little power to change the product that has been entrusted to our care and that we have shaped.
We need to be reminded of just how empty the pages are at the start. Children must learn eating habits, choices of food and drink, to sleep in their own bed, to share, to be patient, to be respectful of others, to obey, to know when and how to use the restroom, to be still and listen, to read and write, to understand danger and what is dangerous, to control desires that are a part of their nature. They must learn about God and origins of all things, about the purpose of life, about pleasing God and revering Him, about God’s punishment for the disobedient and His reward for the obedient, about duty how to work, the joy of giving and the value of service to others, the value of prayer and how to pray, how to sing wholeheartedly, the importance of punctuality, the importance of keeping one’s word, the high place of honesty and the problems of lying, about proper human relationships, the value of human life, and sexual conduct and purity.
Habits are created by repeated behavior. If a thing is bad and harmful, children must learn to avoid it. Consistent unpleasant results make the action undesirable. Where we are today is the result of the writing of each page of the book of our lives, and so it will be for those whose books we are helping to write, page by page. Sobering thought, isn’t it? “Chasten your son while there is hope, and do not set your heart on his destruction.” “A child left to himself brings shame to his mother.” (Prov. 19:18; 29:15).
__________
OUR REGARD FOR OTHERS
(Philippians 2:3)
Mike Johnson
The book of Philippians emphasizes the importance of unity. Paul, in Philippians 1:27, encouraged the Christians at Philippi to “. . . stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel . . . .” In Philippians 2:2, he said they needed to be “. . . likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” Euodias and Syntyche are encouraged by Paul to have “the same mind in the Lord” (4:2).
The first part of chapter two lists various principles that promote unity within a congregation, and one of these is in verse three. This verse says, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”
What does this mean, and how do we acquire this trait? This verse stresses the importance of humility and says we are to esteem others better than ourselves. The NASB says, “. . . Let each of you regard one another as more important than himself.” This verse is not saying that we are to go around with a negative view of ourselves and think of ourselves as “no good.” There are undoubtedly other passages which would contradict this idea, such as the attitude expressed by Paul when he said (Phil. 4:13), “I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.” No, the Scriptures are not saying we are to have a negative attitude, but instead, the verse seems to be emphasizing that a proper view of our fellow Christians will reveal that most people (in specific ways) are better than we are. The point is that we must learn to esteem the various good qualities and virtues of others.
The attitude taught here is not very difficult for a humble person to adopt. Having the humble disposition that the Bible speaks of, we can more easily see value in others. Furthermore, we know our shortcomings better than anyone else does. We do not always know others’ failures. That is why it is easier for humble people to see their faults more than the mistakes of others and to esteem others better than themselves.
We must cultivate the attitude taught in Philippians 2:3, as well as those in other passages that promote unity, so that we can be pleasing to God. Unity in a congregation is fundamental, and we must do our part to promote it.
__________
“I Feel I Am Saved”
A gospel preacher was talking to a woman who said she knew she was saved. The preacher said, “How do you know you are saved?” She made the following reply, “I was attending a religious service one time and all of a sudden I felt light as a feather—I felt I was floating—I felt I was saved.” The preacher questioned the woman as follows: “Were you light as a feather?” “Of course not,” she said. “Were you really floating”? “Certainly not.” “Were you saved”? “Oh, yes, I was saved.” The preacher then asked this significant question, “Lady, if you could not trust your feelings about the first two things, why do you trust your feelings about the third thing?” “Even though you felt light as a feather that didn’t make it so. Even though you felt like you were floating and because you felt like you were saved, that didn’t make it so.”
God’s word tells us how we may know for sure we are saved. “Faith comes by hearing the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). We are to walk by faith. The following texts will help to answer the question of how I can know I am saved: I John 5:13; John 6:45; Mark 16:16; Romans 10:9-10; Acts 2:38; Hebrews 5:8-9.
ARE YOU WALKING BY FAITH OR FEELINGS?
________
Be Thankful
Matthew Henry, author of a widely respected 19th-century commentary on the whole Bible, was once robbed. In his diary that evening, he wrote the following words: “Let me be thankful: First, because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, because even though they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”
Doesn’t that remind you of the beautiful song, Count Your Many Blessings? Think of the words: “Count your many blessings, name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.” God has been so good to each one of us. We have received blessings we certainly have not deserved. Let us be ever thankful and express our thanksgiving to God constantly in prayer.
Author Unknown
___________________________________
Audio Sermons
===========================================
Editor: Mike Johnson