Relevant Bible Verses:-
1) Phil 1: 9-10 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,
2) Phil 1: 15-17 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.
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I do not think it is an easy task to preach with full conviction week after week behind the pulpit if we do not recognize the authority of the Word of God. One has to humble himself or herself before God and rely on the Spirit of God to reveal the truth and the much intended meaning of the Word before he or she can even start writing about it. I have now discovered the hard work after started this blog 3 months ago. I can’t believe I am still writing. But His Grace is sufficient for me.
The convenience and the advancement in this fast changing modern world had affected all facets of life and church life is not spared either. We can see the pattern of how church services are conducted in this modern age so as to suit and be relevant to this fast changing world. We know and do understand that a church is not a social club, neither is it a place for the holy ones. In fact it is a body of Christ where we gather to have fellowship with one another in the Lord.
I am very concerned with the paradigm shift in some of the ways preaching are being conducted by some pastors these days. I am prepared to and interested to listen and discuss about theology, perhaps even spirituality and at least humanity in our lives. Maybe some current affairs and politics would be bearable. But when preaching are focused so much on physical church buildings, strategies, and formulas of success (prosperity gospel), something in me just shuts down. Worst if the preaching is not at all aligned with the Word of God. It is not enough to just preach the Word or content of it. We have to be gloriously reigned with conviction, humbling ourselves before God, taking up the responsibility to study and truly understand the authority of the Word of God, building the unshakable foundation of the truth. “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” (Eph 4:14)
In Phil 1:9-10, Paul prayed that the Philippians would be fully reigned with conviction in the Word and be able to discern to distinguish between his preaching and that of the Judaistic believers (see articles “New Covenant” and “Judaism”). All believers today also need to discern between the many different kinds of preaching and not be distracted from the main stream of God’s Word. We have to ask whether or not such preaching is for God's economy and His move on the earth today.
Certain famous charismatic preachers may be very knowledgeable and eloquent in their words. But if we have discernment, we shall realize that the ulterior motive of their preaching is for the furtherance of their own work, not for the advancement of God's economy. In order to discern the preaching of others in this way, we need more experience of Christ. The closer we get to Christ, the more we begin to understand and discern what is right and what is wrong and what is imperative.
Only the experience of Christ can cause love to abound in us in full knowledge and all discernment. Let us encourage one another to love as Paul did to the Philippians, but to love in knowledge and discernment, not in foolishness and in blindness.
2 comments:
I quote also from the Life-Study of Philippians (pp 33-34):
Although all Christians believe in the same Lord Jesus, worship the same God, teach the same Bible, and preach the gospel, they may have different ways of preaching Christ. It is very clear from Paul's word in 1:15-17 that even in the first century there were different ways of preaching Christ.
Both Paul and the Judaistic believers preached Christ, but in their preaching of Him they were very different. Because there are different ways of preaching Christ, we need knowledge and discernment. This was the reason Paul prayed
for the Philippians that their "love may abound yet more and more in full knowledge and all discernment" (1:9). We need discernment concerning the different preachings of Christ.
Christians all over the world are preaching Christ. However, we should not think that simply because all are preaching the same Christ, everything is fine. We need to realize that there are different ways of preaching Christ and discern between them.
Even during the Lord Jesus' time on the earth, He warned us concerning the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Below is a portion of fellowship from brother Theodore Lee (Kuching):
"The Pharisees were a very strict religious sect among the Jews. They were so strict and so religious that they were blinded and unable to perceive Christ, as well as being unable to understand His word. Their teachings were hypocritical, but this was not obvious. Their hypocrisies were masked, mixed subtly with what was in the scriptures.
The same goes for the Sadducees. Their own teachings (denying the existence of resurrection) were against the scriptures, but not obviously so. Nobody will listen to teachings if they are clearly 'bad', but if the teachings are masked and seem 'good', they will be accepted much more easily.
This is what the Lord Jesus means by 'leaven'. Masked, subtly corrupt teachings have persisted in the world until today. We need to be careful to avoid consuming this leaven, or we may become corrupted inwardly. So how do we spot leavened teachings if they are hidden so subtly? This is why we need to know the Bible well. If we have good knowledge of the Bible, we will be able to discern leavened teachings from the genuine word".
In short, know your Bible, experience Christ and He through His Word will be your wisdom and discernment.
Dear Bro dc,
Wishing you and your family members a Happy Chinese New Year. I pray that the Lord's presence would abound even more during this festive seasons.
I am excited with your thoughtful input and encouraging contributions to my articles. I can only hope that this blog and comments can be helpful for christians and non-christians to come closer to Christ.
It is so important that we "work out our daily salvation" (daily experience of Christ) so that we will be able to discern what is right and what is wrong in our walk with Him.
Keep the good words coming. "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is pure, whatever is just, whatever is lovely....think about all these"
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