29 SEPTEMBER (1878)
What the church should be
‘That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.’ 1 Timothy 3:15
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING (Spurgeon): 1 Timothy 4:1–16
How holy should all members of Christian churches be! ‘Holiness becometh thine house.’ An unholy member of a church! What shall I say? Let that black stone be wet with tears of penitence this day, and then may it be washed in the blood of Jesus. O member of the church, is your conduct inconsistent with your profession? Judge yourself, be zealous and repent. All of us may well humble ourselves in the sight of God and ask him to cleanse us that we may be fit for him to dwell in. How obedient also should we be, for if we are a part of the house of God, let it be our joy to submit ourselves to the Master. When we were children in the home of a loving father, his rule was not irksome to us, and with such a Father as our God we own that ‘his commandments are not grievous’. Let us obey carefully and joyfully, each one of us.
How struck with awe ought every church-member to be to think that he is built into God’s house. Truly, as I enter among the people of God, I feel bound to cry with Jacob, ‘How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God.’ Take not lightly upon yourselves a profession of Christianity, and when you have been baptized into the name of Christ and are united with his church, ‘see then that ye walk circumspectly’ and ‘adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things’. At the same time, how full of love ought we to be, for ‘God is love’. A house is no home if love is absent, and a church is unchurchly if there is division among the brethren. Is it not written, ‘the Father himself loveth you’; ‘love one another’; ‘God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him’?
FOR MEDITATION: Christians are not to be seen as members of a social club, but as members of Christ’s body, the church. Local churches ought to be characterised by holiness (1 Corinthians 6:15–20; Ephesians 4:24–25), obedience (Ephesians 5:24; 1 Peter 1:14–16), awe (Acts 5:11; 9:31) and love (1 Corinthians 12:25–27). Is your church like that? Are you?
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 283.
What the church should be
‘That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.’ 1 Timothy 3:15
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING (Spurgeon): 1 Timothy 4:1–16
How holy should all members of Christian churches be! ‘Holiness becometh thine house.’ An unholy member of a church! What shall I say? Let that black stone be wet with tears of penitence this day, and then may it be washed in the blood of Jesus. O member of the church, is your conduct inconsistent with your profession? Judge yourself, be zealous and repent. All of us may well humble ourselves in the sight of God and ask him to cleanse us that we may be fit for him to dwell in. How obedient also should we be, for if we are a part of the house of God, let it be our joy to submit ourselves to the Master. When we were children in the home of a loving father, his rule was not irksome to us, and with such a Father as our God we own that ‘his commandments are not grievous’. Let us obey carefully and joyfully, each one of us.
How struck with awe ought every church-member to be to think that he is built into God’s house. Truly, as I enter among the people of God, I feel bound to cry with Jacob, ‘How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God.’ Take not lightly upon yourselves a profession of Christianity, and when you have been baptized into the name of Christ and are united with his church, ‘see then that ye walk circumspectly’ and ‘adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things’. At the same time, how full of love ought we to be, for ‘God is love’. A house is no home if love is absent, and a church is unchurchly if there is division among the brethren. Is it not written, ‘the Father himself loveth you’; ‘love one another’; ‘God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him’?
FOR MEDITATION: Christians are not to be seen as members of a social club, but as members of Christ’s body, the church. Local churches ought to be characterised by holiness (1 Corinthians 6:15–20; Ephesians 4:24–25), obedience (Ephesians 5:24; 1 Peter 1:14–16), awe (Acts 5:11; 9:31) and love (1 Corinthians 12:25–27). Is your church like that? Are you?
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 283.
29 SEPTEMBER (1878)
What the church should be
‘That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.’ 1 Timothy 3:15
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING (Spurgeon): 1 Timothy 4:1–16
How holy should all members of Christian churches be! ‘Holiness becometh thine house.’ An unholy member of a church! What shall I say? Let that black stone be wet with tears of penitence this day, and then may it be washed in the blood of Jesus. O member of the church, is your conduct inconsistent with your profession? Judge yourself, be zealous and repent. All of us may well humble ourselves in the sight of God and ask him to cleanse us that we may be fit for him to dwell in. How obedient also should we be, for if we are a part of the house of God, let it be our joy to submit ourselves to the Master. When we were children in the home of a loving father, his rule was not irksome to us, and with such a Father as our God we own that ‘his commandments are not grievous’. Let us obey carefully and joyfully, each one of us.
How struck with awe ought every church-member to be to think that he is built into God’s house. Truly, as I enter among the people of God, I feel bound to cry with Jacob, ‘How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God.’ Take not lightly upon yourselves a profession of Christianity, and when you have been baptized into the name of Christ and are united with his church, ‘see then that ye walk circumspectly’ and ‘adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things’. At the same time, how full of love ought we to be, for ‘God is love’. A house is no home if love is absent, and a church is unchurchly if there is division among the brethren. Is it not written, ‘the Father himself loveth you’; ‘love one another’; ‘God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him’?
FOR MEDITATION: Christians are not to be seen as members of a social club, but as members of Christ’s body, the church. Local churches ought to be characterised by holiness (1 Corinthians 6:15–20; Ephesians 4:24–25), obedience (Ephesians 5:24; 1 Peter 1:14–16), awe (Acts 5:11; 9:31) and love (1 Corinthians 12:25–27). Is your church like that? Are you?
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 283.
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