[Biblemat] A) PROPER GOALS

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  A very good Tuesday
morning to each and everyone.  May God bless you and yours.
Here is an article from my recent files:

PROPER GOALS

     Real success in life depends largely on the goals we set.
If we set the proper goals, we can achieve what our Creator
intended for us when He gave us life.

     The Spirit Of Humility And Service: -- Jesus came to serve,
and not to be served: "The Son of man came not to be minis-
tered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for
many" (Matt. 20:28).  He taught that "the greatest amony you
shall be the servant of all" (Matt. 23:11).  In His life on earth,
"He went about doing good" (Acts 10:38).  We claim to follow
Him.  But as long as only a handful out of each congregation
do all the personal evangelism, such a claim is rather hollow,
to say the least.

     The Priesthood Of All Christians: -- Each member of the
Lord's church is in the "royal priesthood" (1 Pet. 2:9).  In fact,
we are a "kingdom of priests" unto God (Rev. 1:6).  There was no clergy-laity 
system in the church which Jesus estab-
lished in the first century.  And today, the preacher's prayer
is no more powerful than that of any other brother.  Our incessant elevation 
of gospel preachers leads us nearer to
Rome than to heaven.

     Bible Knowledge: -- So much of the plea we make is based
directly on the Scriptures (1 Pet. 4:11) that it behooves us to
know less than all it says.  In the first century, members "went everywhere 
preaching the Word" (Acts 8:4).  Daily, in
public and private, the Truth was being proclaimed (Acts 5:
42).  They swarmed the earth like bees.  They stormed the world as a mighty 
army.  And they knew the message when 
mankind said, "Tell us the story of the cross."

     The Church: Standing Apart And For Something: -- Perhaps this is our 
greatest need if we would reproduce the
first century Christianity in its exactness.  There was no questioning the 
singularity of Christ's church then.  As a voice crying in the wilderness of sin 
and shame, the New Testament church stood all alone -- and apart.  But today, 
in 
many areas, the clarion tones of undenominational Christian-
ity have softened into echoes of biblical compromise.  And
that which was once a militant force in some communities has
become a sort of social club and an agency related more to
the ideas of Dale Carnegie than those of Jesus.  Yes, we need
to stand apart.  It is not a compliment that Baptists, Method-
ists and Presbyterians like our "new look."  Truth and error
never change.  We must stand for something or we will fall
for anything.  We must be "dead to sin, but alive unto God"
(Rom. 6:11).

     More Faith In God, Less In Man: -- Our "faith should not 
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God" (1 Cor.
2:5).  We live and walk by faith (Rom. 1:17; 2 Cor. 5:7).  The
apostle Paul admitted that only the Lord stood by him (2 Tim.
4:17).  If we had more faith in God, all the hypocrites in the
church and all the demons in hell could not cause us to waver.

     Personal Purity And Prayerfulness: -- It is relatively easy
to so emphasize doctrinal soundness that we overlook the 
necessary dimension of Christ-likeness, as did the Corinthia-
ns.  And so it is with us.  We need emphasis in this area of
living for the Redeemer.  There may be nothing wrong with
our external features or with our overall pleas, but we need to
match our doctrine with right living.  Our Savior will come one
day for that church that has no blemish or any such thing
(Eph. 5:5,25-27).  We must keep ourselves pure.  Our "body,
soul and spirit" must be wholly clean (1 Thes. 5:23).

     More Spiritual Conversation: -- Yes, we need to talk to God more in 
prayer.  But we also need to talk to each other,
and to other people, about things divine.  The lost truly stand
in need of the heavenly message we have to present.  "Out of
the abundance of the heart" our mouths need to engage in
more spiritual speech (Matt. 12:34).  If, in the midst of consta-
nt opposition, Paul and Silas could sing praises at midnight,
we should be able to speak of His love in the atmosphere of
peace.

     When we grow in these seven items, there will be a lot more power packed 
into our plea of restoration.  Let's be true
to these ideals.   -------- Johnny Ramsey in Gospel Minutes,
Vol. 56, No. 4, Jan. 26, 2007.
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