Christians Belong to Christ: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

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Paul was directed by the Holy Spirit to write to fellow Christians, “ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). What a difference it would make in the life and behavior and service of Christians, if they would permit the Holy Spirit to teach them and constantly remind them that the LORD of Glory, Who suffered on the cross of Calvary, the eternal, omnipotent, sinless Christ, was the Creator of the heavens and the earth; and that this world belongs to Christ by right of creation AND by right of redemption. Little wonder then that God, the Father, desires that God, the Son, in all things should have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18).

We should be able to understand the meaning of Philippians 4:19 when we read Romans 8:32. Note these two verses: “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”, and, “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

Surely now we can understand better Colossians 3:23 and Colossians 3:17: “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily (from the soul), as to the LORD, and not unto men.”, and, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the NAME of the LORD Jesus, giving thanks unto God the Father by Him.”

Some saved church members join with the great number of unsaved assembly members in their comment, “this is taking religion too seriously.” The great majority of saved assembly members give little heed to Colossians 3:16, “let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” There it is again, another very important ‘LET’ in Philippians 4:6-7, which it behooves every Christian to obey in these days of uncertainty, unrest, of international political, economic, and religious confusion, “Be careful (anxious, full of worry) for nothing: but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, ‘LET’ your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth (is greater than, SURpasseth) all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Let us never forget the words of our LORD Jesus Christ, in John 12:26 and John 5:23, and let us, by God’s Grace and power, obey 1 Corinthians 15:58. Note the truth in these verses. Christ said, “if any man serve Me, Him will My Father honor”, “That all men should honor the Son even AS they honor the Father: he that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father Who hath sent Him.” “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always, abounding in the ‘WORK OF THE LORD’, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain ‘IN THE LORD’.”

“Be strong in the LORD, and in the power of His might.” (Ephesians 6:10). “Knowing that of the LORD ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the LORD Christ.” (Colossians 3:25).

Surely as we meditate upon what we have quoted from God’s Book, the Bible, we must know that the Christian belongs to Christ; that he is not his own; that he is bought with a price, the precious shed blood of the Eternal Christ. (1 Peter 1:18-23). We should know what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, “the love of Christ constraineth us.” (2 Corinthians 5:14). Before Paul wrote this to the Corinthian Christians he wrote, in 1 Corinthians 16:22, “if any man love not the LORD Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha” (“accursed, the LORD coming”). Another apostle, John, wrote; “we love Him, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19).

Remember that assembly, congregation, denomination members, (whatever you want to call them), however decent, respectable, moral, kind, gentle, religious and zealous, who DENY the eternal DEITY (that means He is GOD) and virgin birth of our LORD Jesus Christ, His perfect, sinless life, His vicarious death, His resurrection and ascension in a body, are called deceivers and antichrist (2 John 7); and they make God a liar, because they believe not the record that God hath given of His Son. (1 John 5:10).

Inasmuch as the LORD Jesus Christ, Who is now in heaven appearing in God’s presence for Christians (Hebrews 9:24 and Hebrews 7:25), is the Author and Finisher of our Faith, and wants all Christians to be Faithful Ambassadors, witnesses, and laborers, we do not want it said of us what is being said concerning so many denomination members, “they practice Christianity only when it is convenient and entails no sacrifice, hardship nor suffering.” And SHAME on the "spiritual" leaders...Pastors, Preachers, and Teachers, who have changed conviction for convenience. (John 12:43, Galatians 1:10, and Jude 16).

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In Ephesians 1:13 the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul declares that men are saved and sealed by hearing and BELIEVING the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation. Therefore, here, now, is declared unto you the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation: "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. BELIEVE today. The time is short.

So There You Have it!

Spread this message to everyone you know, far and wide.

Grace be to you and peace, from God: our Father, and The LORD Jesus Christ.

In The LORD Jesus Christ,
The Lion and Lamb Ministry

LLM - Ambassador for Christ in the Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20)

Determined to be Faithfully Proclaiming the Grace of God

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Some may suppose that it would require little boldness today to proclaim the Grace of God in all its purity. Who is ever persecuted now, at least in free, “enlightened lands”, for preaching God's Grace?

Ah, but do not be deceived. Satan was no less active in his opposition to the truth when Constantine exalted the professing Church to prominence than when his predecessors persecuted the Church and sent its members to death by fire and sword. Indeed, Satan, was doubtless, more successful in Constantine's day than he had been when persecution raged.

Does any believer in the Word of God suppose that Satan has relented in his opposition to the truth today, just because men, at least in this land, are not burned at the stake or thrown to the lions? Do not be misled. Satan's enmity against God and against His Word continues undiminished. His hatred of "the Gospel of the Grace of God," is as bitter, and his opposition to it as determined as it ever was. AND, well does he know that the constant discouragements connected with being in the minority often succeed in silencing those who would stand against physical persecution.

Today Satan uses the new evangelicalism with its highly- organized highly-financed campaigns, and its woeful lack of doctrinal and dispensational teaching of the Word...to neutralize the saints.

Multitudes are attracted to these neo-evangelical extravaganzas, at which the participants are for the most part performers, and those who stand for the truth often feel very small as compared to the vast unthinking majority. But let us never forget that God uses "things that are not" to accomplish His work (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

Let us, who know and love the truth, then, determine by God's Grace that nothing shall make us unfaithful to our glorious commission; that, whatever the cost, we shall faithfully and boldly proclaim to others the unadulterated Gospel of the Grace of God, "the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery." Romans 16:25

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In Ephesians 1:13 the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul declares that men are saved and sealed by hearing and BELIEVING the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation. Therefore, here, now, is declared unto you the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation: "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. BELIEVE today. The time is short.

So There You Have it!

Spread this message to everyone you know, far and wide.

Grace be to you and peace, from God: our Father, and The LORD Jesus Christ.

In The LORD Jesus Christ,
The Lion and Lamb Ministry

LLM - Ambassador for Christ in the Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20)

Faithfully Proclaiming the Grace of God - LLM

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Some may suppose that it would require little boldness today to proclaim the Grace of God in all its purity. Who is ever persecuted now, at least in free, “enlightened lands”, for preaching God's Grace?

Ah, but do not be deceived. Satan was no less active in his opposition to the truth when Constantine exalted the professing Church to prominence than when his predecessors persecuted the Church and sent its members to death by fire and sword. Indeed, the devil was doubtless more successful in Constantine's day than he had been when persecution raged.

Does any believer in the Word of God suppose that Satan has relented in his opposition to the truth today, just because men, at least in this land, are not burned at the stake or thrown to the lions? Do not be misled. Satan's enmity against God and against His Word continues undiminished. His hatred of "the Gospel of the Grace of God," is as bitter, and his opposition to it as determined as it ever was. AND, well does he know that the constant discouragements connected with being in the minority often succeed in silencing those who would stand against physical persecution.

Today Satan uses the new evangelicalism with its highly- organized highly-financed campaigns, and its woeful lack of doctrinal and dispensational teaching of the Word…to neutralize the saints.

Multitudes are attracted to these neo-evangelical extravaganzas, at which the participants are for the most part performers, and those who stand for the truth often feel very small as compared to the vast unthinking majority. But let us never forget that God uses "things that are not" to accomplish His work (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

Let us, who know and love the truth, then, determine by God's Grace that nothing shall make us unfaithful to our glorious commission; that, whatever the cost, we shall faithfully and boldly proclaim to others the unadulterated Gospel of the Grace of God, "the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery."

***

In Ephesians 1:13 the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul declares that men are saved and sealed by hearing and BELIEVING the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation. Therefore, here, now, is declared unto you the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation: "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. BELIEVE today. The time is short.

So There You Have it!

Spread this message to everyone you know, far and wide.

Grace be to you and peace, from God: our Father, and The LORD Jesus Christ.

In The LORD Jesus Christ,
The Lion and Lamb Ministry

LLM - Ambassador for Christ in the Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20)

THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - LLM

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There are many attributes of God which humanity does not possess...such as the fact that He is eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, perfect, incomprehensible, infinite, etc. There are also attributes of God that can be reflected in the lives of believers, His love, mercy, justice, kindness, longsuffering, faithfulness, humility, etc. One of the outstanding characteristics of God (which humanity imperfectly reflects from time to time through the control of the Holy Spirit) is the matter of His Faithfulness.

Proverbs 20:6 says, "Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?" It is indeed a rarity. Moses, however, was called "faithful in all his house, as a servant" Hebrews 3:5, and Hanani, the brother of Nehemiah in Nehemiah 7:2 was called "a faithful man, and feared God above many." Of course, the Messiah of Israel, our blessed LORD Jesus was "faithful to Him that appointed Him" according to Hebrews 3:2.

Notice the following facts about the wonderful Faithfulness of God:

1. His CALLING reveals His faithfulness!

1 Thessalonians 5:24 says, "Faithful is He that calleth you." 1 Corinthians 1:9 adds, "God is faithful, by Whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Jesus Christ our Lord."

2. His COMPASSION reveals His faithfulness!

Lamentations 3:22-23 says, "It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness!" Hebrews 2:17 says of Christ, "Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people."
3. His COVENANT reveals His faithfulness!

Deuteronomy 7:9 teaches the real reasons behind God's choice of Israel as a "special people...above all people that are upon the face of the earth" and says, "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations."

Psalm 89:1 speaks of the faithfulness of God, and in Psalm 89:8 we read, "O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto Thee? Or to Thy faithfulness round about Thee?" In Psalm 89:33-34 the Bible says, "Nevertheless My lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer My faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips."

4. His CHARACTER exalts His faithfulness!

Psalm 119:86 says, "All Thy commandments are faithful" and verse Psalm119:90 adds, "Thy faithfulness is unto all generations." Psalm 119:138 says, "The testimonies that Thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful."

Now, consider at least four things about His wonderful character that reveals the Nature of His Faithfulness:

(1) He will FORGIVE our sins!

1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, HE IS FAITHFUL and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

(2) He will HELP us in our trials!

1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us, "There hath no temptation (or trial) taken you but such as is common to man: but GOD IS FAITHFUL, Who will not suffer you to be tempted (tested) above that ye are able; but will with the temptation (trial) also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

Psalm 119:75 adds, "and that Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me." Psalm 143:1 says, "Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in Thy faithfulness answer me."

(3) He will PROTECT us from the evil one!

2 Thessalonians 3:3 says, "But THE LORD IS FAITHFUL, Who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil (one)."

(4) He will KEEP His promises to us!

Hebrews 10:23, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for HE IS FAITHFUL that promised." Hebrews 11:11 says of Sara, "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful Who had promised."

One of the great hymns that believers enjoy is "GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS"

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not Thy compassions, they fail not. As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be!

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS! GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS! Morning by morning new mercies I see! All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, Lord, unto me!

***

In Ephesians 1:13 the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul declares that men are saved and sealed by hearing and BELIEVING the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation. Therefore, here, now, is declared unto you the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation: "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. BELIEVE today. The time is short.

So There You Have it!

Spread this message to everyone you know, far and wide.

Grace be to you and peace, from God: our Father, and The LORD Jesus Christ.

In The LORD Jesus Christ,
The Lion and Lamb Ministry

LLM - Ambassador for Christ in the Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20)

Quick Important Biblical Message: The Day of The LORD - LLM

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The Day of the Lord, as it is spoken of in Scripture, may be referred to in its narrowest sense to the reign of Christ on earth, but in its broader sense it includes the whole Tribulation period.

HOWEVER, there is every reason to believe that The Day of the Lord WILL BE a prolonged period, and THEREFORE It must not be confined to seven years, as is so often done.

There is NO scripture that says explicitly that Daniel's Seventieth Week, The Time of Jacob's Trouble, the GReat Tribulation BEGINS immediately following the Harpazo or Rapture of the Body of Christ.

The time between the coming forth of the Lord into the air to meet His Church, and His coming unto the Earth WITH His Church, His Body, in power and great glory, can correspond to the thirty-three years between His coming FORTH at Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) and His coming UNTO Jerusalem (Zech. 9:9). All the events between those two we speak of as constituting His "first coming." In like manner, all the events described in the Book of Revelation, which take place between His coming "for" and His coming "with" His Body, we may speak of as "His second coming" or "the day of the Lord."

Again, these events may occupy a similar period of thirty-three years for all we know; and if to these we add the seven yeas of the last week of Daniel we have a period of forty years. And the number 40 has long been universally recognized with its association with a period of probation, trial, and chastisement.

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In Ephesians 1:13 the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul declares that men are saved and sealed by hearing and BELIEVING the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation. Therefore, here, now, is declared unto you the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation: "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. BELIEVE today. The time is short.

So There You Have it!

Spread this message to everyone you know, far and wide.

Grace be to you and peace, from God: our Father, and The LORD Jesus Christ.

In The LORD Jesus Christ,
The Lion and Lamb Ministry

LLM - Ambassador for Christ in the Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20)

Second Coming of the LORD Jesus Christ - Pastor David

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The coming of Christ for His Body is quite a different event, and belongs to quite a different Dispensation, than the coming of Christ to the earth with great power and to execute judgment. The end for which the Body of Christ is waiting is not judgment or tribulation, but to be "received up in glory" (1 Timothy 3:16), to be "called on high" (Philippians 3:14). The Body of Christ’s seat of government exists now in heaven, from whence we look for the Savior (Philippians 3:19-21).

That coming is into the AIR, and NOT unto the earth; it is in Grace, and NOT in judgment; and it concerns those who are "IN Christ". Nothing is revealed in the Old Testament or in the Gospels about this coming! Those books know nothing of it. This coming concerns the Mystery, which was kept secret from times eternal, and was "hid in God", until revealed by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul. The Body of Christ (which is the Mystery) waits for ONE thing, and that is to be "received up into Glory" (1 Timothy 3:16). AND, on a side note, this is NOT the subject of the Book of Revelation.

To make this even clearer we must compare what we call the "second" Advent with the "first" Advent.

When the Coming of the LORD was announced in Micah 5:2, it was announced as a coming FORTH; and then in Zechariah 9:9 as a coming UNTO. Micah speaks of the coming forth at Bethlehem, and Zechariah of the coming unto Jerusalem.

In Zechariah, Christ comes UNTO Jerusalem, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." Zech. 9:9

In Micah 5:2, Christ comes FORTH at Bethlehem, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Micah 5:2

Now, pay attention here, there was nothing in those prophecies to tell the Jewish reader whether there would be any interval between these events, or what that interval would be. The Jewish Bible student might think there was a discrepancy; while the Jew with the mind of a "higher critic" might see a greater difficulty, and refuse to believe either Scripture.

Now, of course today, we, with our knowledge, know that there was an interval of more than THIRTY years between the two events. Both refer to one and the same Coming, but to two different stages in it; and that all the events between them go to make up what we speak of as the "first Coming."

We believe that it will be exactly the same with regard to what we call the "second Coming." There will be the same two stages, with a similar INTERVAL (or longer it may be) between them, and all the events (which are recorded in the Book of Revelation and elsewhere) will go to make up what we speak of as "the second Coming." This will also provide opportunity for the Antichrist to set up his kingdom, albeit for “an hour”.

There will be the coming forth (as at Bethlehem) of "the LORD Himself" and the calling of His saints on high (Philippians 3:14), and the receiving of them in glory (1 Tim. 3:16); and then, LATER ON, to fulfill all the prophecies which related to His People Israel; and, as the Son of man will "come unto" the earth, to take unto Himself His great power, and reign.

This LATTER COMING is connected with "the Day of the LORD," and it is THAT which the subject of the Book of Revelation is. Revelation 1:7 settles this for us, "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth( a better rendering would be ”the Land”) shall wail because of him." Only Jew and Gentile are in this verse, and not the Body of Christ. This is the Coming of which Israel’s Prophets speak. See Daniel 7:13 and Zechariah 12:9-10, which is the Scripture referred to here.

This is the Coming which the LORD spoke of when on earth in Matthew 24:30-31; Matthew 26:64, and elsewhere (make note of the "ye").

What He there said is perfectly clear, and in perfect harmony with all that had been said in the Old Testament. Therefore, to read Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians into the Gospels is only to create confusion; and make a difficulty where none before existed: it uses one truth for the upsetting of another.

The same difficulty is created when we arbitrarily introduce these later Prison Epistles of Paul into the Book of Revelation. And, to save us from making such a mistake, the Holy Spirit gave special instruction, through the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5, immediately after He had inspired the revelation of 1 Thessalonians 4. If we pay attention to this and learn the great and important lesson here, all will be perfectly clear.

1 Thessalonians 5: 1, "But of the times and the season, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you."

Why, "no need"? Simply because the Coming forth into the air and our "gathering together unto Him" there, do not depend on any time or season. His "Coming unto" the earth DOES; but that is NOT what he had been speaking about in the chapter immediately before (Thessalonians 4).

2. "For yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the LORD so cometh as a thief in the night."

It is the "Day of the LORD" which (as we have been discussing above) is the subject of the Book of Revelation: and in Revelation 3:3, the LORD distinctly warns as to His Coming "as a thief," which is the VERY OPPOSITE of what we read of in Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, and even in 1 Thessalonians 4-5. For mark the sudden change of pronouns in the latter chapters.

3. "For when THEY shall say, 'Peace and safety,' then sudden destruction cometh upon THEM, and THEY shall not escape."

It is this "destruction" which the Book of Revelation describes. It is this which gives its character to "the Day of the LORD." It is "sudden," and comes "as a thief;" and it comes upon "THEM" and "THEY," not upon us: for mark the change of pronouns again.

4. "But YE, brethren, are not in darkness, that that Day should overtake YOU as a thief."

Here, our point is spot on and emphatically stated, with a pin-pointing which leaves nothing to be added. Can anything be clearer than the fact that the Church of God of the Dispensation of Grace, the Church of the Mystery, the Body of Christ, is NOT the subject of the Book of Revelation...And that the "Coming" which IS the subject of the Book of Revelation is NOT the Coming for which the Body of Christ is now longing, waiting, and looking?

The Book of Revelation is "prophecy," and therefore it awaits a future fulfillment in "the Day of the LORD," when the LORD Jesus shall be unveiled as the Son of man, and every eye shall see Him.

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In Ephesians 1:13 the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul declares that men are saved and sealed by hearing and BELIEVING the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation. Therefore, here, now, is declared unto you the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation: "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. BELIEVE today. The time is short.

So There You Have it!

Spread this message to everyone you know, far and wide.

Grace be to you and peace, from God: our Father, and The LORD Jesus Christ.

In The LORD Jesus Christ,
The Lion and Lamb Ministry

Pastor David Picos, D.D.
Minister and Ambassador for Christ in the Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20)