“ON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH”
As Christians
living in today’s society we are often tempted to sacrifice “living a holy
life” in order to be popular or to look good in the eyes of the world. When we
socialize with friends on FB, Twitter and other types of media, what type of influence
do we have on our friends? Is it one that influences our friends to live holy
and righteous lives? Or do we as Christians try to impress with worldly
impressions to gain popularity.
As Christians we are called the Church, and as the
Church we are to live holy lives – we are to live a life worthy of the calling we
have received from God, our heavenly father. We need to remember to always wear
the full Armor of God, and especially to not leave home without it. The full
armor of God helps us as Christians to stay true to the call of God, and to
live a life worthy of such a ‘call’. First and foremost the armor of God allows
us to be able to stand against evil influences in the world, especially in
these days.
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus
said this to Peter, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” And Matthew 16:19, forecasts Acts
2:41, which led to Peter’s experience on the day of Pentecost when Peter’s proclamation
of Christ Jesus opened the door to three thousand souls. As Christians we are
to preach the Gospel of Christ both in Word, deeds, and in lifestyle. We are
ambassadors or representatives of Christ; therefore we need to be living
testament for Christ.
Many Christians believe
that they can live a life patterned after the world because they say, “We are
covered by grace – grace takes care of everything”
Paul affirms this “. . .
But where sin increased, grace increased all the more . . .” (Romans 5:20).But
Paul continues, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that
grace may increase? 2 By no
means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
In Jamaican Patois we
would say, “ Wa sin deh yu ha nuf, nuf more grace” (Romans 5:20).
In Jamaican Patois we
would say “why wee fe continue fe sin God forbid.” (Romans 6:1).
Stay tune for
the more on the armor of God for the Christian.
BUCKLE UP YOUR SEAT-BELT CHRISTIANS
In Jamaican: Buckle yu seet belt Christians.
In the Book of I Kings Chapter 19, we read how
Elijah ran from Jezebel for fear of his life.
In I Kings Chapter 18, Ahab called Elijah “you
troubler of Israel”. But Elijah responded to Ahab, “I have not made trouble for
Israel, but you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s
commands and have followed the Baals.”
On Mount Carmel Elijah stood before all the people
and issued a command, “If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal is God, follow
him.”
Elijah also told the people that he was the only
prophet of the Lord who was not put to death by Jezebel. On the other hand,
Baal had four hundred and fifty false prophets on his side. In I Kings 19:18 the Lord told Elijah that
there were seven thousand prophets in Israel who have not bowed down to Baal.
It is so easy as Christians to feel as Elijah felt,
alone in the Christian walk. And with this kind of feeling the Christian can surrender
his or her life to the world’s system and way of daily living. But God wants us
to remember that as Christians we are not alone. If Christ Jesus lives in us
there are more of us than there are of the Baal’s. So then, as Christians we are
not to be afraid. We are to hold fast the “Great Commission” given to us by
Jesus in Matthew Chapter 28. God has made the Christians a gospel promise to be
with us always to the end of the age. This is an awesome promise to keep in
mind while proclaiming the gospel to a lost world. Elijah was not ashamed to
confront the false prophets even in the face of danger. Christians are not to
be ashamed of the gospel of Christ but we are to find every opportunity to
proclaim it for it is the power of God unto salvation.
So as Christians we are to put on our armor - the full
armor of God:
1. Put on truth
2. Put on righteousness
3. Put on peace
4. Put on faith
5. Put on salvation and the Word of God
In Ephesians Chapter 6 Paul the apostle tells us how
to stand firm by putting on the belt of truth buckled around our waist, with
the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with our feet fitted with the
readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which we can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God. And
pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Finally, we are to pray for one another that whenever
we open our mouths, words may be given to us that we would fearlessly make
known the mystery of the gospel, for which we are ambassadors of Christ Jesus. The
church is not a building in which we worship. The church is the people of God. And
we are to pray for one another – for the church universal to fearlessly
proclaim the gospel of Christ to a lost and dying world.
BUCKLE UP YOUR SEAT-BELT CHRISTIANS
In Jamaican: Buckle yu seet belt Christians.
Is the world able to tell whether or not a Christian
is a Christian?
Can the Christian tell whether or not the world is
the world?
The answer: Matthew 7:20-21 by our fruit the
world will recognize the Christian.
And by the world’s fruit the Christian will recognize
the world.
As Christians we are urged to live a life worthy of
the ‘call’ we received from God.
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