Churchwork
04-13-2006, 03:13 AM
Don't reject God's ground: "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim. 3.15). When they "come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and [of] the apostles and elders" (Acts 15.4). Know the church localities "are built upon the foundation of the apostles" (Eph. 2.20). "For this reason I left you in [a region], that you should set in order the things that are lacking [wanting, defective or which remain], and appoint elders in every city [town, or remote area] as I commanded [instructed, appointed, charged or directed] you" (Titus 1.5). "And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed" (Acts 14.23). There are evil men all around us who will openly reject these truths. Consider them of no account for they have nothing to offer in life. They merely sow division and exclusivity in their pet teachings and carnality. Sure, they say there is something wrong with the church of Ephesus and the church of Smyrna in the churches of Asia Minor. They say there is unending problems with this way. But then they don't say what are those problems, nor are they even able to prove what they don't say. This is selfish. Degrading God's way of setting up the churches founded on the apostles is itself ultimately the passivity of a dullard.