Ministry of the Church (and others)
"The house of God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15).
Not all of the pooled efforts of any church can make a Christian out of a lost man!
The Christian life begins with the individual; a soul has a saving encounter with God, and the new life is born.
All else being equal, every individual Christian will find in the communion of a local church the most perfect atmosphere for the fullest development of his spiritual life. There he will also find the best arena for the largest exercise of those gifts and powers with which Go may have endowed him.
Unfortunately, the word "church" has taken on meanings which it did not originally have. The meaning of the word for the true Christian was fixed by our Lord and His apostles, and no man and no angel has authority to change it!
The universal Church is the body of Christ, the Bride of the Lamb, the habitation of God through the Spirit, the pillar and the ground of the Truth.
Without doubt the most important body on earth is the Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood!
Heavenly Father, equip and empower Your Church to fight the plague of evil rampant in our generation. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
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A Believing Remnant
"Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace" (Romans 11:5).
What is God trying to do with His believing people? - the Bible calls us a remnant according to grace, believers taken out of the great, teeming swarm of so-called religious people in today's world.
I am inclined to join others in wondering if the Lord is postponing His coming because He is trying to get His Bride ready.
For years it has been the popular idea in evangelical Christianity that the whole body of believers in Christ would rise like a flock of frightened birds when the Lord comes. But A. B. Simpson and William MacArthur and others in the past generation said, "Oh no! The Lord will take with Him those who are prepared and ready for His coming!"
I do not presume to give an answer satisfying to everyone in our churches. But I know that many Christians are too smug about this, saying in effect: "I am converted to Christ through grace, so I can live as I please!"
Of some things we cannot be dogmatic; but we know this for sure - God has no halfway house between heaven and hell where He takes us to fumigate us!
Dear Lord, today I pray for my pastor and my local church. Help us as a congregation not to be surprised on the day of Your return! Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
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Christ Will Rule
"I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
I am not surprised that I still meet people who do not believe that Jesus Christ is going to return to earth. In fact, some of them, armed with their own Bibles and interpretations, are insistent on setting me straight.
One gentleman has written saying that I have it all wrong, and that Paul did not mean what I had said he meant, as I applied Paul's statement to everyday life.
It took time to write a reply: "When it comes to saying what he meant, Paul's batting average has been pretty good up to now. So, will string along with what Paul plainly, clearly said."
I did not figure I needed someone to straighten me out - particularly someone who had decided the Bible does not mean what it says.
No one is going to argue me out of my faith in what God has revealed and what God has said. As far as I am concerned, it is a fact that Jesus is coming again! The question I do raise is this: Are we prepared spiritually for His coming? Are we tolerating conditions in our midst that will cause us embarrassment when He does come?
Dear Lord, grant me courage to live today - indeed, every day of my life - as though You were coming back this afternoon. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
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