Churchwork
06-25-2006, 07:55 PM
God is now calling us to bear greater responsibility and to maintain closer fellowship with Him. For the sake of loving the Lord we should joyfully receive His call to His service. Let us respond by saying: Lord, may Your will be done: in spite of the tremendous responsibility of the sanctuary and the priesthood, we are willing to bear it.
To take up responsibility is to bear the iniquity.
Unfaithfulness in service incurs penalty, and the penalty is "death." Please take note that I believe that whosoever believes in the Lord is once saved and forever saved. No one can condemn them for their sins anymore. But I also believe that believers as saved people will receive judgment over their works. It is not a judgment of eternal life or eternal perdition but a judgment of reward or loss.
So the "death" here does not mean perdition; rather, it signifies reproach. At the coming of the Lord, all unfaithful workers will suffer reproach.
The work of God is holy, therefore "death" is used here to indicate the seriousness and solemnity of this work. He calls us to work with Him. Is not this amazing? Although He is most holy, most glorious, high above all and beyond compare, He nonetheless treats us with patience and bears our burdens daily. In spite of the fact that we are weak, fail much, and lack an understanding of His heart, He is mindful of us, is slow to anger and is full of mercy. Our Lord is truly our beloved Lord! Hallelujah!
We know His mercy, but we also need to know His terror.
We must not mock Him, for He is the Greatest.
Because the work we do is God’s work, therefore Paul declares: "Henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear branded on my body the marks of Jesus" (Gal. 6.17). This is the meaning of "a stranger shall not come nigh unto you" (Num. 18.4).
May God cause us to sense the greatness of our responsibility and the solemnity of our relationship to Him so that we may be sanctified in the fear of God.
All our works and responsibilities are for God. He has no delight in reproaching us, yet He cannot but punish sin. Happily, intercession—as indicated in Numbers 18—can turn away His wrath (v.5). We ought to intercede more for people.
Though the children of Israel can worship God, they nonetheless have no part in conducting worship and doing God’s work.
Ordinary believers may worship God, but they are as visitors to Him.
To take up responsibility is to bear the iniquity.
Unfaithfulness in service incurs penalty, and the penalty is "death." Please take note that I believe that whosoever believes in the Lord is once saved and forever saved. No one can condemn them for their sins anymore. But I also believe that believers as saved people will receive judgment over their works. It is not a judgment of eternal life or eternal perdition but a judgment of reward or loss.
So the "death" here does not mean perdition; rather, it signifies reproach. At the coming of the Lord, all unfaithful workers will suffer reproach.
The work of God is holy, therefore "death" is used here to indicate the seriousness and solemnity of this work. He calls us to work with Him. Is not this amazing? Although He is most holy, most glorious, high above all and beyond compare, He nonetheless treats us with patience and bears our burdens daily. In spite of the fact that we are weak, fail much, and lack an understanding of His heart, He is mindful of us, is slow to anger and is full of mercy. Our Lord is truly our beloved Lord! Hallelujah!
We know His mercy, but we also need to know His terror.
We must not mock Him, for He is the Greatest.
Because the work we do is God’s work, therefore Paul declares: "Henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear branded on my body the marks of Jesus" (Gal. 6.17). This is the meaning of "a stranger shall not come nigh unto you" (Num. 18.4).
May God cause us to sense the greatness of our responsibility and the solemnity of our relationship to Him so that we may be sanctified in the fear of God.
All our works and responsibilities are for God. He has no delight in reproaching us, yet He cannot but punish sin. Happily, intercession—as indicated in Numbers 18—can turn away His wrath (v.5). We ought to intercede more for people.
Though the children of Israel can worship God, they nonetheless have no part in conducting worship and doing God’s work.
Ordinary believers may worship God, but they are as visitors to Him.