Examine Ourselves
Examine Ourselves
We have one who is our Head.Ephesians 1:22"And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,"Isaiah 33:22"For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us."
We are exhorted to, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"2 Corinthians 13:5We need to spend more time examining ourselves rather than our brethren.Romans 14:4"Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand." When we carefully examine ourselves; we will not be so quick to cast stones.John 8:7-"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." A lot has been said about "liberals" and "conservatives." In my book a "liberal" is one that is too quick to change our practices. A "conservative" is one that is to an extreme on tradition. There are those among us who verily think they are the only Old Line Primitive Baptists and have drawn their circle of fellowship extremely small.
Brethren there is a ditch on either side of the road! Elder Afton Richards said something to the effect that you can always tell if you are in the middle of the road -people will be shooting at you from both ditches. The Old Ship of Zion is safer and prospers more in the deep waters of the center of the stream. It was said of President Lyndon Johnson that he was so successful in government because he was a master of compromise. God’s truth must not be compromised! Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith!
There is the largest group which is in the middle- "moderates." Among them the Church is in more prosperity and there is rejoicing, love and care for each other.Hebrews 13:1"Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand."Joshua 1:7"Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest." In the Navy, our ship had equipment to take a fix and find our position. A one degree error continued a long time will cause a ship to be way off course. We frequently checked to see if we were on course and made course corrections. Frequent corrections are much easier to make than drastic corrections when the course has not been checked in a long time.
Examine yourselves!Revelation 2:29"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." Have we got our ears on? Are we seeking direction from the Lord?Isaiah 30:21"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." "I love thy kingdom Lord."3 John 1:2"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."
O may I worthy prove to see Thy saints in full prosperity, To see the Bride, the glittering Bride, Close seated by the Savior’s side.
2 Corinthians 13:5"Let us examine ourselves, whether we are in The Faith!"