I Don't Belong to a Church

 

This may seem off topic as I begin with David before he became king, hiding in a cave from the anointed king, Saul. We know what was on David's mind because he wrote it down in what we call Psalm 142 - Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave.

I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. (Psalms 142:1-2 KJV)

That Psalm does not end with a miraculous intervention by God to keep David from feeling such aloneness. Instead David offers a bargain:

Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me. (Psalms 142:7 KJV)

That was part of a sermon our pastor gave in January of 2021. I take notes during the service in a spiral notebook, creating my own short Bible lessons. We joined this particular church after visiting in 1999. We remain active members - but we don't "belong" to the church, though we consider ourselves a part of it. My reasoning goes back to Paul:

For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. (1 Corinthians 3:4-7 KJV)

I firmly believe God's word that God does give the increase. We are not saved by the name of any preacher, church, denomination, according to the Bible:

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12 KJV)

Peter's sermon in answer to healing a man not only explains that what happened was due to his belief in Jesus as God's son, but the whole world was included in God's salvation story. Peter and the disciples were given the Holy Spirit to continue God's work:

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. (Acts 4:8-10 KJV)

Jesus' resurrection was included as proof as to how the man was healed. Jesus' resurrection is the reason there is none other name whereby we must be saved. Many had died for their belief in God. One was prophesized and fulfilled. Through God's planning, this is how we are saved from our sinfulness:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10 KJV)

God provides the salvation with works - not belonging to one church in this world, but by becoming a part of believers in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the propitiation of our sins.  Paul, at the end of a list of what we should not do, mentions the price tag for our salvation:

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 KJV)

As believers of the biblical history of Jesus, God's promised Messiah, we belong to God. God is not defined nor confined by mankind, but by how He describes Himself by inspiring His written word:

From Moses' doubt and God's answer:

And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. (Exodus 4:14-16 KJV)

Through Jesus' response to Satan's temptation:

And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:3-4 KJV)

To His descriiption in Revelation:

And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:15-16 KJV)

We need to study what God has said, to whom it was said, why it was said, and what we are to do about what God said. Pick up a Bible and start, right now.

From The Mouth of God

 

By de:Benutzer:Thetawave, Speck-Made - Image:Lippen.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, 

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4 KJV)

No - God's mouth can't be diagramed as our is. The Bible was written by men - inspired by God:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2 Timothy 3:16 KJV)

Paul included the "why" God inspired writers of the Bible:

That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:17 KJV)

What God gives us in His word will provide what we need to do the good works God wants us to do. Those works are not essential to salavation, they are a result of the turn around in our lives when we commit to doing God's will in our lives:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8 KJV)

Agaiin - as he often does - Paul goes the next step and tells us "why":

Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:9-10 KJV)

"Not of works." Because it would not of God. The works we do as Christians are to come from God. The choices we may should glorify God, never mankind. Being omnipotent, God already knows how we will truly work for Him, and He has ordained specific work for us. Paul explains what we should do, what happens when we do it, and what happens if we don't:

For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3:9-15 KJV)

Like Paul's witness as to why he became a Christian (Acts 26), while inspired by God, these are Paul's own words learned at the feet of expert Pharisee teachers. His words contain his previous experiences in life as well as carry God's inspirational Spirit.

As usual, too, God's word repeats itself, as Jesus quoted scripture to Satan:

All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. (Deuteronomy 8:1-3 KJV)

Just as saved by faith is repeated:

Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (Romans 4:16 KJV)

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. (Acts 15:11 KJV)

Isn't that simple?

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. (2 Corinthians 11:3-4 KJV)

I've Missed and Have Been Missed

It began two weeks before Christmas. I was already behind in posting, but then we became ill on a Saturday, and missed two Sundays. The following week we both had a new cardiologist appointment, and I received a prescription for new medication. Four side effects hit me - it caused changes to my eyesight (which meant no driving while I was taking it), added to my dizziness (thankfully, not full scale vertigo, though!), it added depression to my mind, and we won't discuss the fourt h(which caused the most discomfort.)

The medication was preparation for, and lasted a month before, a scheduled transesophageal cardioversion - that made no difference to my A-Fib. Apparently, my heart has a mind of its own. All I ended up having was a very painful jaw after three shocks, at least getting rid of the medication!!

My worship attendance came down to our church's YouTube live stream (fortunately you can also stream previous services!) But other activities were not comfortable for me.

That's basically my confession. I let my physical difficulties keep me from doing what I not only enjoy, but what I wanted to do. Paul's words became so very meaningful:

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. (Romans 7:19 KJV)

When I do not respond to God's will, my own conscience will convict me. There is no happiness in doing going against God, and He has given many specifics. Non-believers may on their own do what God has laid out for believers, but Christians should understand the sinful nature, and always strive for the holiness working within God's will offers us.

No, I don't feel guilt over not attending worship services. I did get the messages through live streaming. I did feel sorrow over the missed fellowship with believers, the opportunity to welcome visitors, and the general compliance with:

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:23-25 KJV)

I do miss that exhortation that comes with fellowshipping with Christians. I'll be doing that this coming Saturday with our Outreach program. I've mentioned it before - members will do a wide variety of contacting people new to our community, those who have visited, members who may be ill and unable to attend (yes, I was contacted by a number of members while home bound), with letters and personal visits.

Then Monday there will be a prayer time for submitted prayer requests. Those who are able will join in pray by physically attending or through Zoom connections. When I was ill, I knew my name was on people's lips and their lists. I have several that are on my prayer list - and more that come to mind as God places them on my heart.

We do it out of love. Especially our "salvation" lists - the names of people who have specifically stated they do not believe in God, or who question the need for salvation, or have questions about how to be saved, or those who do not understand much of the terminology Christians use.

If any reader has a need for prayer, feel free to place it here anonymously. The same for explanations of terminology, specific Bible verses, or general questions. No, I don't know it all, but you'd be surprised at the number of people in our congregation who are Bible scholars and don't mind requests. Feel free to join in at any time!