Am I My Brothers Keeper? Yes I Am, To The Degree That You Allow To Be Kept By The Truth What did Jesus, Peter, Paul, Jude, James and John the Apostle all have in common? They all had a major concern for the care of the brethren, the growth and maturity of the Church. These men and the women who made up the Kingdom community had a responsibility for one another and not a narcissism that is so rampant and patently unscriptural either then or now. Peter bore the responsibility for assisting those who were entrusted to him by God to help them grow. Paul bore this same responsibility. You cannot make anyone grow but you can feed the the milk of the Word that they may grow thereby. You can give them the meat that helps them grow even further, but only if they are ready for meat having grown first by the milk of the Word. Jesus as King made Himself responsible for people having an example by which they could learn stable, unchanging character which is dependable. The aim of Peter in his epistles was to give the reader the opportunity to benefit from Peters mistakes and to inform the reader that God has brought them into the family of God making them a royal priesthood and giving them all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Peter had now transitioned from being tested, and having become converted, even after the rebuke of Paul for being hypocritical in his teaching between the Jew and Gentile is now well equipped to strengthen his brethren. Peters aim was that those God had entrusted to him would grow. He couldnt make them grow but it was on him to delver to them what God had given him for their growth. Paul had this same depth of understanding of the purpose, power and priority of the Kingdom assignment that had been given him that Paul took on himself the care of the Churches. These men had integrity. They werent in ministry to profit at the peoples expense nor were they prophets for profit. These men of God had character. When God leads us to someone or to a group of people to bare witness of His covenant with them we are either there to plant or water but God gives the increase. But on the other hand, if God has made you to be a leader in their lives as a Pastor, Elder then you are now responsible for their souls and still, you cant make them grow but you are called of God to give them warning and if need be reprove them. Todays grace preaching is contributing to the erosion of character among Christians. The fear of God has been removed from the hearts and minds of narcissistic Christians. They are only concerned about what they think they can get from God but have lost the sense of reverence that would want them to allow their character to be identified with His. Lord may we all be the kinds of leaders who can be trusted of You to impart to the people what you have said and command of them what you command, knowing that the ultimate key to their maturity is a surrender to authority, yours and what youve delegated to us as we lead them. And Lord, help us to maintain the character necessary that we would never become proud and puffed up by our own knowledge, yet lacking any understanding of the preached message of the Kingdom just as your Son and His disciples preached it. Forgive us our ignorance and sometimes blatant disregard for the words of Your Son, Your words through Him and His disciples, as instruction to us that we would live the full life you sent Jesus to give us, a life of righteousness and truth that we could not live but for your grace divinely enabling us. Thank you Lord Jesus for the knowledge of Your kingdom agenda that separates religious men from the truth of your original purpose for the salvation of man. We take up joyfully our covenant responsibility to be examples of truth that others would have us as an example. We cannot make them obey, but we can make it hard for them to disobey. Thank You Lord for principled leadership that does not violate your standards of discipline and moral conviction. We bless You Lord God for You are our God and our King. May we serve you and be approved of You in spite of man. We plant, we water as the case may be but we know You give the increase. Help us be the kinds of leaders who lead others to the urgency, power and priority of the Kingdom. We acknowledge that your Kingdom is the standard of your rule for all men. Amen The Lord just said this to me. The burden of responsibility was so great on the saints that if one offended another and didint answer to the offense according to the order of process as described in scripture, the offender was then taken before the Church body to be dealt with concerning the matter. When a brother who is a fornicator is among you God calls you to warn them and in no uncertain terms but firmly, giving them an opportunity to repent of their unrighteous deeds, the Church here again has the authority and order of the Kingdom and is charged with charging the brother accordingly and not even eating with such a brother. Then of the false teachers, those who teach heresies to include teaching prosperity from a perspective that godliness is the means of prosperity such that they make a doctrine out of it, well we are supposed to depart from those who do such things. They are spots in your love (communion) feasts. We indeed are our brothers keeper, at least to the extent that hey are willing to be kept. What an amazing God who has made us to be in charge, never over each other but called of God to be responsible for one another to the degree that we can be. May we be forever those brothers and sisters that provoke one another to love and good works admonishing one another to keep sound doctrine and remain in the faith for weve been called to a higher quality of life from God to God and towards one another. That is Kingdom living. I am my brothers keeper, yes I am, to the degree that my brother will yield to being kept. Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.... Its from the realm of your submission to the King that character is built. Leonard
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 15:40:26 +0000
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