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He
Is the Only One to Serve By
Kent Heaton The
greatest blessing of being a child of God is the knowledge that we serve only
one Lord. So many of man’s attempt to worship is rooted in a multiplicity of
gods to worship. He is not satisfied to worship only one Lord. From
the paradise of the Garden of Eden we see how man and God walked together in the
cool of the day. All that the Lord desired for man is that he serve one Lord.
Satan changed that when he said to Eve, “Has God indeed said” (Genesis 3:1).
Satan seeks to tempt man to serve himself, to serve his own needs, to serve his
own desires and pleasures. When men turn away from God they seek to serve their
own lusts. People of God are happy to serve only one Lord. Serving
God alone is to serve someone who does not lie. Paul writes of our “hope of
eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before times eternal” (Titus
1:2). Who can we serve that is greater than that? The Lord is the only one to
serve because He has given us promises that were made before He created man and
remain until man is no more. “To whom then will ye liken God or what likeness
will ye compare unto him?” (Isaiah 40:18). What in this world can you serve
that is greater than that? Men will fail you, riches will fade away and
pleasures of this world will be found empty. “Be ye free from the love of
money; content with such things as ye have: for himself hath said, I will in no
wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee. So that with good
courage we say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear: What shall man do unto
me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6). David
wrote one of the most powerful testimonies to his trust in Jehovah God.
“Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalms 23:1). The twenty-third
psalm is a tribute to David’s love for serving only one God. He recognized the
blessing of being a child of God in trusting God with caring for him in every
part of his life. He had no lack of blessings material or spiritual. He could
stand before his enemies and not be afraid. Jesus would later say of His own
Father, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one: and thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with
all thy strength” (Mark 12:29-30). David served only one Lord. The
challenge for all disciples of Christ is to remove the hindrances to servitude
to God. “Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves as servants unto
obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of
obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). We cannot serve our wealth, our
pleasures, our desires or our own lives. Worship to God is recognizing Him and
Him alone as our guide, our truth, our answer and our Lord. The blessings are
immeasurable. All spiritual blessings are found in His Son (Ephesians 1:1-7).
Death does not have power over those who serve God alone (1 Corinthians
15:53-57). Serving the Lord finds blessings in this life and in the life to come
(1 Timothy 4:8). During
the temptation, Satan promised Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. The Son of
God laid the foundation of our love for God in declaring that there is only one
to worship and only one to serve. Worship is servitude and servitude is worship.
The blessing of serving God alone is the promises that He alone can give.
“Wherefore come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be to you a Father,
and ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2
Corinthians 6:17-18). & Our
Dress in Worship By
Ron Boatwright Even
though worship is not a "dress parade", many times we become sloppy,
and revealing in the way we dress for worship. Our clothes do contribute to the
emphasis we place on worship to God. This does not mean we have to wear fine and
expensive clothes. But the way we dress should be in keeping with the dignity of
the occasion. God
tells us in 1 Timothy 2:9-10, "In like manner also, that the women adorn
themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation…which is proper
for women professing godliness with good works." Modest clothing is the way
women who are "professing godliness" dress. Certainly a woman or man
whose clothing is not modest is not professing godliness by the way they dress.
As Christians we should not dress like the world, with their revealing midriff
attire. A
woman who wears clothing that exposes herself to men is contributing to their
sin of lust. Our Lord says in Matthew 5:28, "But I say to you that whoever
looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his
heart." She becomes guilty of contributing to his sin of adultery, so she
also becomes guilty. In our actions as well as the clothing we wear, 1
Thessalonians 5:22 says, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." Some
think they have to follow the style and fashion of the world, regardless of how
short and revealing or inappropriate clothing gets. But we are told in Romans
12:2, "And do not be conformed to this world." Why? Because this world
is going to be lost, and if we conform ourselves to this world we will also be
lost with it. We are "to keep ourselves unspotted from the world"
(James 1:27). When
we worship we are actually in the presence of the Lord. He deserves only our
very best. We are told in Romans 12:1, "That you present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God". Our dress should show a
moderate opinion of our own value. Our dress should be pure, proper, chaste, and
decent. It should not call attention to ourselves because it is showy, sloppy or
lewd. Let’s honor the Lord with the way we dress. &
The
Serpent’s Seed By
Bob Myhan The
identity of “her Seed” was Jesus, Who came to “destroy him who had the
power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14). But who can be identified as
the serpent’s seed? On one occasion, Jesus told the Pharisees, "You
are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He
was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own
resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth,
you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth,
why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do
not hear, because you are not of God." (John
8:44-47) Thus, the woman’s “Seed” is singular but the serpent’s “seed” is collective, including all those who are at enmity (not in fellowship) with Jesus Christ. & |