Saturday, September 20, 2008

Part 9 of Chapter 6 from Magnify The Lord (Pages 156-157)

Magnify the Lord
Chapter 6 (Part 9)
He's Come to Deliver
WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS
God's rescue is personally intentional and forever influential. James warns us of the danger of just wanting to be a friend with this world. It is important to note James did not say we had to be a friend of the world to be an enemy of God. In fact, all we have to do is desire to be a friend of this world and we make ourselves an enemy of God: "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4). Jesus didn't die for our sins so we could be fond of Him and like the world at the same time. Jeroboam may have preached that message, but not Jesus. He rescued us so we could be transformed by the renewing of our mind and not be conformed to this crooked and perverse world. He gave His life to deliver us from such hostility that we could be His servants shedding light upon a dark and depraved world. (John 17, Romans 12:1-2, Eph. 5:9-15)
God intentionally rescued our life so the world would no longer be the means by which we were to receive instruction and influence. The world we're living in is passing away. The people who are living under its influence are passing away with it. God has so precisely and perfectly rescued us so He can make us into rescuers also.
"If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it? and He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it? and shall not He render to every man according to his works?" Proverbs 24:11-12
We have been rescued to ensure we can go forth in the name of the Lord Jesus and rescue the perishing. We have been equipped and called on by God to put our life at risk and even die for His sake to see to it that others may be rescued through the life of His Son: "A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies" (Proverbs 14:25). Before we can be a rescuer, we have to be rescued by Jesus.
EXAMINE YOURSELF
If you have been marked by America's gospel, you are not a rescuer of the perishing. You are aiding sinners in their rebellion and teaching them how to fear God according to the commandments of men. Have you been rescued from among those who are perishing in the sea of sin? Let God rescue you from yourself and He'll send you on His rescue mission. (2 Cor. 13:5, Heb. 3, 1 Pet. 3:15-17)

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