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5 GREAT DUTIES OF CHRISTIANS 5 GREAT DUTIES OF CHRISTIANS
Once a
person becomes a Christian they must learn to start serving God and seeking out
ways to glorify him. Jesus sums up the life of a Christian very well in the
story he tells his disciples in.
Luke
17: 7 "And which of you, having a
servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the
field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'? 8 "But will he not rather say to
him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I
have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'? 9 "Does he thank that servant
because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10 "So likewise you, when you have
done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants.
We have done what was our duty to do.' "
Every
Christian has a duty that they can do for the lord and this morning we are
going to examine 5 duties that Christians can do based on what Paul wrote in.
1
Corinthians 16:13 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be
brave, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done with love.
Watch
When
you read through the NT you will find several places where Christians are to
watch so that will remain faithful.
1. For
instance Elders are to watch out for our souls.
Hebrews
13:17 17 Obey those who rule over you, and be
submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account.
Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for
you.
2.
Christians should always be watching on how they conduct their lives so that
they will be ready for the second coming of Christ.
Mark 13:35-37 5 "Watch therefore, for you do not
know when the master of the house is coming -- in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the
rooster, or in the morning -- 36 "lest, coming suddenly, he find
you sleeping. 37 "And what I say to you, I say to
all: Watch!"
1
Thessalonians 5:4-10 4 But you, brethren, are not in
darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of
the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be
sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night,
and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be
sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of
salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake
or sleep, we should live together with Him.
3 Watch
for opportunities to teach others about Christ.
John 4:35 "Do
you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say
to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white
for harvest!
4 Watch
for false teachers.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit,
but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have
gone out into the world.
Romans
16:17-18 7 Now I urge you, brethren, note
those who cause divisions
and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. 18 For those who are such do not serve
our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering
speech deceive the hearts of the simple.
5.
Watch our temper and our speech.
James 1:19-20 9 So then, my beloved brethren, let
every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce
the righteousness of God.
Stand
fast in the faith
Ephesians
6:11 Put on the whole armor
of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
This is
how we stand fast in the faith we put on the whole armor of God and Paul goes
on to describe how that is to be done.
Ephesians
6:13 Therefore take up the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your
waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the
preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith
with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked
one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and
supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance
and supplication for all the saints –
If want
to stand in the faith you must immerse yourself in Gods Word and must make
prayer a part of your life everyday. The armor of God will not do you any good
if you don’t ever put it on and certainly will not be good at defending
yourself against the devil if you don’t practice using Gods word everyday. Let
us never forget the source of our strength to stand in the faith.
Philippians
4:11 Not that I speak
in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be
content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know
how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and
to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me.
Let us
always to strive to take a stand for the Lord.
Be
Brave
The
idea behind this word from the Greek is to grow up and be like men. Every
Christian weather they are male or female should strive to grow into maturity.
To many Christian today are content to be living on the milk of the word. They
don’t want to grow or learn more they just want to know the most basic
principles of the word. However notice what Paul says to the Ephesians that
should be the result for those who striving to grow in the lord in unity.
Ephesians
4:14-15 4 that we should no longer be children,
tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may
grow up in all things into Him who is the head -- Christ –
If your
not growing then that means you will susceptible to ever wind of doctrine you
will never be able to be brave or be like a mature man or women you will be like a
child who can be easily manipulated and deceived.
1
Corinthians 13:11 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a
child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man,
I put away childish things.
Finally
Paul says 1 Corinthians 14:20 20 Brethren, do not be children in
understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.
Every
Christian should strive to be more mature in the Gods words.
Be
strong
God has
always wanted his people to be strong
Joshua 1:6-9 "Be strong and of
good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land
which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 "Only be strong and very
courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My
servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left,
that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 "This Book of the Law shall not
depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you
may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will
make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 "Have I not commanded you? Be
strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD
your God is with you wherever you go."
Courage
and being strong go hand and hand. It takes courage to follow Gods will. Joshua
was instructed not to turn away from Gods commands to the right or to the left.
Today it is imperative that we do not turn to the right or the left from God
commands. Notice how this is accomplished. but you shall meditate in it day
and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.
Every
Christian needs to be strong in the Lord. We need strong Elders in the church
that are willing to stand against false teaching within the church and that are
more afraid of God than man. We need strong deacons who are will to serve
boldly in the capacity that has been given to them. We strong preachers within
the church. Preachers who
are willing to preach the whole council of God. To many preachers today stay
away from those topics which step on people toes and all they will preach are
lesson that have very little scripture in
them and finally all the rest of the members of Christ should be strong for
lord by be committed to him looking for ways that you can glorify God almighty.
If you are going to be strong in the lord you must be advent student of the
Bible and in prayer.
Hebrews
5:13 For everyone who
partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of
righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who
are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have
their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
If you
want to be strong in the lord you must be willing to leave the milk behind and
go on to the solid food.
Do
all things with love
Love is
one of the major themes of the Bible. It is because of Love the God gave us his only begotten son and it
is because of this love is why we love God enough to try and obey his will.
1
Corinthians 13:1 Though I
speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become
sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all
mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could
remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to
feedthe poor, and though I
give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
Without
love in heart for God and love in our heart for his people we are nothing. It doesn’t
matter how many good deeds you do if you do not do it out of love than it’s a
big fat waste of time. We are examples of Gods love and we should try real hard
to show others the beautiful love that can only be found with a close
relationship with God.
John 14:15 5 " If you love Me, keep My
commandments.
1 John 5:3 3 For this is the love of God, that we
keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
This is
how Christian can really show that they have the love of God is by being
obedient to Gods will. A person can say that have love all day long but until
they show it by how they conduct their
lives their words don’t mean much.
1
John 3:18 18 My little children, let us not love in
word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
John is
basically saying actions
speak louder than words.
We must
be careful that we don’t become lovers of ourselves or lovers of sinful pleasure notice Paul’s warning
to Timothy.
Timothy
3:1 But know this, that in the
last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves,
lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers,
without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers
of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having
a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
People
who have misdirected love will find themselves separated from God and separated from Gods
people because as Christians we are turn away from those who have this
misdirected love.
Perhaps
one the hardest task a Christian must learn to do it to love your enemy.
Matthew
5:44-46 44 "But I say to you, love your
enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for
those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 "that you may be sons of your
Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and
sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 "For if you love those who love
you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
Its
easy love your friends and family even non-Christians do that but if you want
to be pleasing to God you must also love your enemy. Once again lets read the 5
duties that Paul mentioned in 1
Corinthians16:13 Watch,
stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done with love.
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