Father Matta El-Meskeen ‘LIFE’ WITH CHRIST Articles of Comfort and Blessings Offered to the Reader This is the continuation of the chapters written back in 2005 by our late spiritual father: Father Matta El- Meskeen. They are all on different topics concerning our Christian life and spiritual understanding of facts vital to us. They are all important for all readers. So, enjoy reading and meditating on the words for your benefit. Note: All quotations are taken from the New King James Version, if not otherwise mentioned. Volume Three Chapter 27 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them…. Therefore He says: ‘Awake you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.’ ” Eph 5: 8-11, 14 E HAVE TALKED BEFORE about the terms of faith, and here Paul the apostle talks to us about the duties of the believer. He reminds us that we were once darkness, i.e. children of darkness, meaning that we were far from Christ, practicing sin in secret. Now that we have come to know all the articles of faith, we have removed the man of darkness and have put on the man of light. In other words, we have believed and, therefore, have become children of Christ. Christ is the light of life,1 vibrant light dispelling darkness, all acts of sin and whatever is considered loose, hedonistic and wayward. As children of light, we are required to bear the fruit of the believers. Faith in Christ makes even the most inconsequential of people the bearer of fruit. The fruit of the spirit is found in all good works: works of love, zeal in helping the weak, the sick and destitute, as well as in the joining of hands with other children of light in serving and ministering. The world seems to have left the poor behind. 1 See John 8:12. W 2 While the world is being revitalized through getting more and more into technology, the poor are getting poorer, hungrier and more ignorant. The gap, which separates the affluent from the poor, the orphaned and the widowed, has become very wide indeed. The world has become harder on poor people and poor countries. It is therefore, only right that those outcasts are given life and support to feel human once more. This ministry has become imperative for believers; otherwise, they will not be counted as believers. Faith in God immediately lays on the believer the service of the destitute. This is considered the work of truth, goodness and righteousness which the gospel repeatedly requires. The world is now in hardship because of the revolt of nature which constitutes an exorbitant expense for the respective governments and makes them unaware of the demands of the poor. It follows that the main brunt falls on the shoulders of the well to do believers. These are the works which are most pleasing to the Lord. Instead of the humdrum of the world and money spent on entertainments and amusements, money should go back to helping the needy. This makes a man’s faith more acceptable to the Lord, and He will bless him with grace, goodness and piety. The works which are outside the circle of faith, are works of darkness, ending in remorse and regret. When man enters into premature old age and needs someone to lift and carry him, he then feels remorse for what has transpired. The Bible urges that we now, not only take no part in works of darkness, but also expose them. Whoever is taken up by the pleasures and riches of this world is dead in the eyes of faith. Christ calls unto him, “Awake you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.” Acknowledge the faith before death overtakes you. There, there is no faith, nor repentance nor hope, rather, a dark destiny full of the kind of darkness which the devil offers to those who love the world and the dead works of the world. Dear reader: beware, if you have not yet reached true faith, the loss is much greater than you imagine. Those who walk the wide and amusing road of the world are in actual fact walking down the road of eternal damnation, from which there is no return and no repentance. Christ is asking you to turn back now and seek the narrow door as well as the rugged road which lead to eternal life and are agreeable to God. The narrow door is Christ Himself. He is the One who said, “I am the door.”2 2 John 10:9.
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 19:50:39 +0000
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