How much danger are you in because you are a servant of the Most High God? You could answer “None, because I am a servant of the Lord,” the promises are true, “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” (Psalm 91:10) “They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.” (Psalm 37:19) But there is that valley of the shadow of death thing, (Psalm 23:4) there are the words that promise to never leave you or forsake you, (Deut. 31:8) and so, by these very words, danger is some form or another, will be a part of the life of the Christian, but then, what type of danger.
I believe that most of it arrives from internal sources, doubt, hesitation, embarrassment, to a point where some have become unprofitable because the main danger to them is their own fear, not that from external sources. Since all things happen for good (Romans 8:28) then our fears in all manner are unwarranted, for it is the Lord that is directing our steps, (Prov. 16:9) and so, when the internal dangers approach, it is only ourselves that we must contend with, but this is no different when the danger comes from outside of us. Here then is where the question arises, do you intentionally, place yourself in positions of danger for the glory of God, or do you shy away as much as possible from any form of it.
Most of you I am going to guess just chose the latter, for danger in your mind is one of physical damage or perhaps even death to your flesh, but what of the damage to your mind. There are few who call themselves Christians today who will never even speak to the lost about the Lord Jesus, to them it is dangerous, their emotions may be damaged, the view of themselves by the person they are speaking to may suffer loss, they are, in the greater sense, embarrassed because of Christ, for Christ, and no matter how one decided to attempt to excuse this inaction, they are seeking the praise of man above the things of God. (John 12:43)
The danger to our minds comes from a lack of faith in the promises of the Lord, a lack of knowledge of the truths of the Scriptures, if it were not so, there would not be untold numbers of different religious organizations. The greatest danger to the mind of the believer is not from the lost, they know nothing but the world, it is from those who are adamant about their beliefs on what the Scriptures say, but are just as wrong as they are sure.
One church will profess a certain thing, while another, on the same subject, will state something entirely different, and in-between you will find those “Why can’t we all just get along” individuals, those who will not stand for the truth for, you guessed it, internal personal reasons. One may practice an action for many years before someone comes along and shows them that they have been doing it all wrong the entire time. “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?” (Gal. 3:1)
The local interfaith organization in a community comes to mind here, the leaders of local churches who will not stand in complete obedience to the Word of God, “For the betterment of the community” they will say. I envision at these times the children of Israel going into the promised land and deciding that only part of the laws of God needed to be obeyed, so that they would not seem overly harsh. The greatest danger in this area to the born-again believer is from the external source of false religious ideologies, from organizations that seem right in our eyes, but are not in line with the truths of Scripture, that are close, but still incorrect, and there is only one way to avoid this danger, Psalm 119:135 is one of the best examples, “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.”
We are not going to know the truth unless the Lord shows us the truth, and we must know, or we cannot serve in a way that honors Him.
I would ask you this, when was Paul ever at a place where he questioned the truths he was shown, when did he bend to the will of those around him, when did he decide the danger was too much to bear. He didn’t, and it was not because he was strong in the Lord it was because the Lord was strong in him. “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2 Cor. 12:10) And when we are the weakest? When the danger is the greatest.
4 thoughts on “Danger”
When was Paul ever at a place where he questioned the truths he was shown?
Never! And what he learnt from his way to damascus and arabia, he taught us through his letters.
Still the question remains, as you said that one church will profess a certain thing, while another, on the same subject, will state something entirely different for example on the subject of the rapture, pre-tribulation and post tribulation, and we have many good professing individuals on both sides.
My question is when we as a church is indwelt with the same Holy Spirit as
John 16:13 states
When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth….
So why don”t the Holy Spirit guide us all into the same interpretation of the scriptures?
Where do we miss the mark?
“Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.” Acts 19:32 When Satan learned that He could not control the thoughts of men, he began to seek to deceive them through the subtly of preaching lies. “Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” 2nd Cor. 11:15 There is no better way to deceive than to twist the truth, we are witnessing this in the world today. It is why there are so many unreliable “Bibles” out there, so many different religions, and so few that have been blessed by the Lord to see the truth. Not all can be blamed on our adversary though Stanley, men are filled with pride, and would rather serve a god of their own design, than the One that all will serve in the end, in one place or the other. “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2nd Cor. 11:3
Do you get angered brother, while reading someone’s comment such as you are answering a person with the name “English4u”?
No Stanley, not angered, not in the terminology of the world, but yes in the Words of the Scriptures. “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:” Eph. 4:26 In those instances I see Nathan walking up to David and saying, “Thou art the man.” I see the weaker brothers and sisters we have being deceived into believing lies that hold no truth in the Scriptures, I see the opportunities for the lost to blaspheme the Name of the Most High, and I feel more sorrow than I do anger for those confused individuals who refuse to see the truth. It goes right back to your statement of “Where do we miss the mark.”
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