Be On Guard, Stand Firm In The Faith, Be Courageous, And Be Strong
This Is The Apostolic Ministry Of Christ
1 CORINTHIANS 16:13-14
“Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.
”I Corinthians 16:13-14 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/1co.16.13-14.NKJ
V
As the Corinthians awaited Paul’s next visit, they was encouraged to watch and be continually alert for spiritual enemies that might slip in and destroy them through one means or another.
Pride, false theology, sin, gossip, and disorder that can slip into our lives today as it could back then, can drag us far from God and open doors to the demonic without us realising it.
We believers must test and approve all things for we are individually responsible to seek the truth and stand strong in our faith, that we are certain that the gospel that we are being taught has brought truth and salvation.
“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. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
I John 4:1-6 NKJV
We must be certain that what we believe is true. Hosea tells us, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
Hosea 4:6 NKJV
If one is sucked in by the false teachers and prophets of today, they may be lost too, simply for the lack of true knowledge.
The only way to receive truth is from the Spirit of truth. Jesus said, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”
John 16:13 NKJV
The truth comes only from the Holy Spirit, therefore, we must ask, what spirit is leading our teacher today? What spirit is speaking through the Prophet today?
Therefore, ask God for revelation and don’t be deceived. You are responsible for your own salvation.
Can you imagine on the day of judgment being told, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”
Sadly, for many who thought they were “saved,” this will be a reality. For Jesus said, ““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV
Your Pastor may be nice, he may preach a good word in the service, but if he’s operating from the flesh, the fruits he produces will be of the flesh and nothing good comes from the flesh (GALATIANS 5:16-26).
Ministers operating in the flesh, possibly by the leading of unclean spirits and demons, preach what the congregation want to hear rather than what they ought to hear, often with encouraging prophecies that come from themselves rather than God; they stand between God and the people in an attempt to steal His glory, and entertain through the worship, often preaching the prosperity Jesus. You shall know them by their fruit. Sadly, they don’t even recognise this themselves, they believe they are right with God, but often operate out of desperation to bring in funds. This is man’s church that operates like a business of entertainment.
But Jesus church is the body; “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 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, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
In Jesus church, every member of the body (the church) will fall into at least one of the five categories of the five fold ministry of God and every member will be active and involved in the meetings, they are led by the same Holy Spirit, not the Pastor.
The Pastor does not control, but rather hosts and shepherds and allows the Holy Spirit to move freely throughout the whole congregation.
In Jesus church, Christ works through the whole congregation, men and women alike, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Galatians 3:26-29 NKJV
This is the apostolic ministry of Christ, and with it comes the signs and wonders of God that change lives and bring healing and deliverance.
My beloved, we must be strong in the Lord to live by the leading and strength of the Holy Spirit. Strength comes through prayer and unity, and therefore, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”
I Thessalonians 5:16-22 NKJV
Finally my beloved, to do everything with love, for without love we are nothing.
Paul put it like this, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 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.”
I Corinthians 13:1-2 NKJV
Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gifts-especially the ability to prophesy (1 CORINTHIANS 14:1), for the one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them (1 CORINTHIANS 14:3).
My brethren, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.”
I Corinthians 13:4-10 NKJV
Finally, there are many religions of this world and many false gods, but “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
Ephesians 4:4-6 NKJV
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
