Sustaining Godly Love Against The Aggressive Decay of the World
As we consider the magnitude of what God has done to supply abundant mercy to everyone who believes in His provision of His Own Son, Jesus, as full payment for all of their sin, what should we do as the fallen world around us from which we were redeemed plummets more deeply into more and more sin, and even demands that there be no contradictions against it?
Considering that the fallen world is not our “enemy” per se, but rather our “mission field”; this creates a need for the believer to pray and study deeply on just exactly how to live “Sustaining Godly Love Against The Aggressive Decay of the World”!
Old Testament Scripture Reading: Joshua 24:15 – 7 (KJV)
Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Jos 24:16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;
Jos 24:17 For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
New Testament Scripture Reading: Jude 1:17 – 23 (NASB)
Jud 1:17 But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Jud 1:18 that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.”
Jud 1:19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.
Jud 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
Jud 1:21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
Jud 1:22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting;
Jud 1:23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Transforming Power Statements:
1) Joshua had enough wisdom and understanding to know that the Gentiles had caused a great negative effect on the people of God and that it would not be easy for them to continue on being sanctified unless there was a determination within the soul to fight off old negative influences and present temptations that would distort the realities of the calling of the true God, so he called them to the test to realize that it requires devotion to serve God in the midst of paganism.
2) Like Joshua and the children of Israel, the Church is called to take a stand for defending what God has said (the Bible) and not allow the world to adjust the meaning of it because of “popular opinion” while at the same time knowing that we too require mercy from God which He has provided by giving His own Son, therefore, there can be no compromise.
3) Jude tells the Church to keep within the love of God and be discerning enough to know that the enemies of God are powerful negative influences and must be resisted while at the same time we, out of true godly love, must always realize that keeping of the Word must continue or we have nothing unique to offer and can only expect Judgment and wrath rather than Salvation!