Man's Greatest Need (part 2)
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| In loving memory of my father Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023 |
In this message we want to continue with the theme of man's greatest need. In our last message we shared about man's physical or natural level needs, man's emotional or soulish needs, and man's spiritual needs. Everyone is aware of our natural-level needs, namely food, water, clothing, and shelter. The vast majority of people are also aware of many if not most of our emotional needs, such as love, security, comfort, control, acceptance by others, and the significance or meaning in life. But every human being born into this world is born totally blind to our spiritual needs. The reason we are all born blind to our spiritual needs is because of Adam and Eve, who disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When that happened the part of their spirit that was designed to have communion with God died, just as God had warned them. So just as cats have kittens and dogs have puppies, likewise we humans are born with the same spiritual DNA as Adam; namely we are unable to have fellowship with God. We are all born in sin. David said,
There are three perspectives of each human being: How we see ourself, how other people (including our spouse if we are married) see us, and how the Lord God sees us. We are quick to judge others. We think we can easily see the faults of other people. And since none of us are perfect, too often we like to be critical of other people. That can come forth through gossip. But one of the most difficult tasks for all of us is to see ourselves as we really are. We just do not know ourself. We are blind to our real spiritual condition.
As a result, many of us wear three different masks or 3 different hats, depending on our location at the time. The first mask is our behavior at home; the second is our behavior at work; and the third is our behavior at church.
Around 1965, before the Lord apprehended me, I was working at a computer site in Arlington, VA. At the lunch break, a number of the young men met in a small conference room and played the card game of pinochle. I played with them a few times. One day at lunch time I walked into that conference room a bit late and the pinochle game was already in progress. When I entered the room, one of the men, about my age (early 30's) looked at me and said, "Here comes the preacher." Well I had never talked about the Lord, never had said the word church and certainly had never preached about anything spiritual. In fact at that point in time I still did not know the Lord Jesus. Evidently he must have noticed that my behavior was somewhat different from the other guys. I certainly never used curse words and I never told dirty jokes.
Hindsight, it just occurred to me today that he spoke a word of prophecy even though he did not know that himself. Amazing! But that is just an example to illustrate that other people are always watching our behavior.
When we go to church we put on our very best hat ... our very best behavior. In most churches today the predominant attitude is I am OK, you are OK. We are all morally good people, go to church every Sunday, and hope to go to heaven when we die. In the previous message, I shared about talking with the pastor of the Methodist church we were attending at the time. That was just before the Lord apprehended me. The reason I talked with him was because my wife said she was going to divorce me. I said to him, I feel like my life is wasting away. Can you help me? His first word to me was that I must have been mistaken. Well he only saw my church hat. He saw that I came to church every Sunday, sang in the choir, and was active in other ways. But he could not see my heart. He just looked at outward appearances. Then, as I related in the last message, he said, No, he could not help me and he referred me to a man named Jim Williams. The Lord said in Jeremiah 17:9
But the most important perspective of us folks is how does God see us? The final resting place of our eternal soul depends upon our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. There are only two possible resting places: heaven and the lake of fire. The Lord knows everything about us! He knows what we will eat for breakfast tomorrow, if anything, and we don't even know ourself. He is omniscient!
In the Book of Revelation, Chapters 2 and 3, we find the messages from the Lord to the seven churches in Asia. But they are also messages to each one of us. The last of the 7 messages is to the church at Laodicea. Now it is true that the Bible does not contain an epistle to the church of the Laodiceans. However, that church received the same teaching from Paul as did the Colossian church.
Reading now from Revelation, Chapter 3, starting at Verse 14
Now it is important to understand that the church of the Laodiceans consisted of born-again believers, baptized in the Holy Ghost just as it happened on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. Note in Verse 17 that the church, and particularly the leaders of the church, at Laodicea say that they have need of nothing. That is called deception. So why did they say they had need of nothing? First, in the natural realm, let us go back and read Verse 18 again. It refers to 3 items in which Laodicea took great pride: financial wealth, an extensive textile industry, and a famous eye salve. It was the wealthiest city in what is now the central part of Turkey. So the Christians at Laodicea undoubtedly said, look at how God is blessing us! God must be with us. We must be doing everything right. We have great meetings, the best teaching, people are being healed, etc. Many (may I dare say, most) "big name" evangelists and teachers today make that same mistake. They have accumulated millions and millions of dollars, houses, cars, and even private jet airplanes based on selling their wares and from offerings from undiscerning Christians.
Then the Laodiceans probably said we have heard all of Paul's great teaching. And we have heard good teaching from many other great men of God. But that was their greatest problem. They had heard, and heard, and heard, but they had not allowed the word to change them. That same spirit, that same attitude, exists in far too many churches today.
Verses 10 and 11 say that because some Christians received not the love of the truth, God Himself will send them strong delusion. And if God sends strong delusion, no man can stand against it. We end up with a hard heart. It is not sufficient to just hear the truth or even to memorize it. We must RECEIVE the love of the truth or else we will be totally deceived.
What does it mean to receive the love of the truth? It means that the word must become flesh within us. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Pilate in John 18:38, looked truth straight in the eye and asked, "What is truth?" Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me (John 14:6).
To continue ... 2 of the most descriptive words of man, even Christian man, are cannot and nothing. The 2 words are related.
Cannot
In Genesis, Chapter 11, all men tried to build a tower that would reach unto heaven. That was man's attempt to reach God by their own efforts. Of course that attempt failed even though the natural, carnal motivation behind that endeavor seemed good and right. The Lord will never allow man's efforts to bring about the will and purpose of God. I suppose we could say "it is God's way or the highway." Man, on his own efforts, can never reach God or know Him. Then we read of Ishmael and Isaac ... Ishmael was the result of a Godly man's efforts to bring forth God's will. We all know the result of that.
Does that truth have application to us today? YES! Many long years ago I experienced the two different approaches to doing the work of God. That was crystal clear through the life of two different Godly men. One approach is "do until the Lord says don't." The other approach is "don't until the Lord says do." With either approach it is possible to miss the will of God. That points out the need to hear the voice of the Lord for our self. We will expand on that topic in a later message. In my personal experience I have always walked in the approach of don't until the Lord says do. There are numerous examples of that in scripture.
A true revelation of the worthlessness of the natural man (or even Christian man's fleshly efforts to please God) in His sight has always been a necessary prelude to anointing for true service. The "I cannot" of Moses; the "Woe is me" of Isaiah; the "I am but a child" of Jeremiah; the "I am a sinful man" of Peter; the "In me dwelleth no good thing" of Paul, are typical confessions of all who have been called of God and anointed for ministry. Then we have Amos, who said, "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: and the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto My people Israel" (Amos 7:14-15).
The natural man cannot engage in work for Christ ... plan, prepare, organize, or enter into any type of Christian enterprise ... and thereby obtain God's seal of approval and blessing. We cannot pray as we desire or incline, even though our prayer is accompanied by passion and tears, and thereby obtain our desired Divine response.
Nothing
Abiding in Him speaks of much more than being born from above or being baptized in the Holy Spirit. We will have much more to share about that in a later message. Without the Lord and the grace of God we can do nothing! We cannot even take our next breath except for Him.
No man can be born from above unless the Father draws him by His Spirit. Furthermore, all ministries and gifts are given to men as the Lord sees fit.
If Jesus said He could of His own self do nothing (and He said that), where does that leave us? The same is true of every believer. Paul said,
When Paul said he knew nothing by myself, he means nothing of any spiritual value and useful for the purposes of the Lord. We can have a B.A., a M.S., a Ph.D., an M.D., a J.D. or any other kind of degree from any university but still know nothing of value to the Lord. Paul said,
Paul talks about his pedigree in the natural realm. Like Paul, I count all of my natural level accomplishments but dung. Now dung is not worthless. It has great value as a fertilizer for grass and plants. But all of those things will burn up in the end.
We must come to acknowledge our "nothingness" apart from Christ. It brings a sense of completeness that even correct doctrine can never achieve. My righteousness and holiness are totally inadequate to bring any sense of wholeness.
There is an old hymn, written more than 100 years ago by a woman named Annie Hawks. The name of the hymn is, "I Need Thee Every Hour." Two of the five verses are:
One of the blessings of a victorious Christian life is knowing the closeness of our Lord in every circumstance of life. Like Annie Hawks, it is very important that we develop strong spiritual lives during the peaceful hours in order that we will be able to be victorious when difficulties come, which they surely will to everyone at some time. We will share much more about those difficulties in a later message and why difficulties must come.
There are many other examples of saints of old, such as Fanny Crosby, who wrote wonderful hymns despite natural-level adversities. Although she was blinded at 6 weeks of age through improper medical treatment, Fanny wrote more than 8000 gospel song texts. Perhaps her most well-known hymn is Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! That was the very first hymn that the Lord quickened to me after He sovereignly apprehended me.
The earth has always been a reflection of the spiritual state of the inhabitants of the earth. Given all of the California wildfires, which occur every year, the hurricanes, floods, droughts, tsunamis, earthquakes, tornados, blizzards, heat waves, volcano eruptions, and epidemics such as AIDS, what is the cause? Well scientists attribute all of the natural disasters to Mother Nature or some other kind of natural-level cause. But the real cause is the judgment of God.
Whenever any severe disaster occurs, men appear very sympathetic to the victims and many leaders and people try to alleviate the suffering through assistance of different kinds, including money. But that is like putting white talcum powder on measles to cover up the red spots. It amounts to little more than a band-aid but does not get to the root of the problem. Through natural disasters the Lord hopes that we will repent of our evil deeds or our lukewarm attitude toward Him.
What is the conclusion of the matter? All human beings, and particularly believers, are totally dependent upon the Lord for everything. It is a tragedy that we don't know that! and by know I mean walk in that truth. Many times we believers have to learn the hard way. That is why Jesus said,
The phrase little child and little children speaks of an infant. An infant is totally dependent upon his/her parents.
Let us conclude with the following verse from 2 Corinthians 3:18
Who is all? you and me and every hearer of this message. The key for us to be changed into the image of Christ is to have an open face as we behold the glory of the Lord, which is all around us. What matters most is not where we are spiritually, but in which direction we are moving.
We all, both Christians and those not yet born again, must cry out to the Lord. Lord, I repent of my lukewarm attitude. Lord, search my heart! Melt my cold, hard, heart. I submit my will to you, Lord. Show me Your ways. And may You be glorified in all things. Amen.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 51:5
There are three perspectives of each human being: How we see ourself, how other people (including our spouse if we are married) see us, and how the Lord God sees us. We are quick to judge others. We think we can easily see the faults of other people. And since none of us are perfect, too often we like to be critical of other people. That can come forth through gossip. But one of the most difficult tasks for all of us is to see ourselves as we really are. We just do not know ourself. We are blind to our real spiritual condition.
As a result, many of us wear three different masks or 3 different hats, depending on our location at the time. The first mask is our behavior at home; the second is our behavior at work; and the third is our behavior at church.
Around 1965, before the Lord apprehended me, I was working at a computer site in Arlington, VA. At the lunch break, a number of the young men met in a small conference room and played the card game of pinochle. I played with them a few times. One day at lunch time I walked into that conference room a bit late and the pinochle game was already in progress. When I entered the room, one of the men, about my age (early 30's) looked at me and said, "Here comes the preacher." Well I had never talked about the Lord, never had said the word church and certainly had never preached about anything spiritual. In fact at that point in time I still did not know the Lord Jesus. Evidently he must have noticed that my behavior was somewhat different from the other guys. I certainly never used curse words and I never told dirty jokes.
Hindsight, it just occurred to me today that he spoke a word of prophecy even though he did not know that himself. Amazing! But that is just an example to illustrate that other people are always watching our behavior.
When we go to church we put on our very best hat ... our very best behavior. In most churches today the predominant attitude is I am OK, you are OK. We are all morally good people, go to church every Sunday, and hope to go to heaven when we die. In the previous message, I shared about talking with the pastor of the Methodist church we were attending at the time. That was just before the Lord apprehended me. The reason I talked with him was because my wife said she was going to divorce me. I said to him, I feel like my life is wasting away. Can you help me? His first word to me was that I must have been mistaken. Well he only saw my church hat. He saw that I came to church every Sunday, sang in the choir, and was active in other ways. But he could not see my heart. He just looked at outward appearances. Then, as I related in the last message, he said, No, he could not help me and he referred me to a man named Jim Williams. The Lord said in Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
But the most important perspective of us folks is how does God see us? The final resting place of our eternal soul depends upon our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. There are only two possible resting places: heaven and the lake of fire. The Lord knows everything about us! He knows what we will eat for breakfast tomorrow, if anything, and we don't even know ourself. He is omniscient!
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.Psalm 139:1-6
In the Book of Revelation, Chapters 2 and 3, we find the messages from the Lord to the seven churches in Asia. But they are also messages to each one of us. The last of the 7 messages is to the church at Laodicea. Now it is true that the Bible does not contain an epistle to the church of the Laodiceans. However, that church received the same teaching from Paul as did the Colossian church.
And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.Colossians 4:16
Reading now from Revelation, Chapter 3, starting at Verse 14
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and repent.20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.Revelation 3:14-20
Now it is important to understand that the church of the Laodiceans consisted of born-again believers, baptized in the Holy Ghost just as it happened on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. Note in Verse 17 that the church, and particularly the leaders of the church, at Laodicea say that they have need of nothing. That is called deception. So why did they say they had need of nothing? First, in the natural realm, let us go back and read Verse 18 again. It refers to 3 items in which Laodicea took great pride: financial wealth, an extensive textile industry, and a famous eye salve. It was the wealthiest city in what is now the central part of Turkey. So the Christians at Laodicea undoubtedly said, look at how God is blessing us! God must be with us. We must be doing everything right. We have great meetings, the best teaching, people are being healed, etc. Many (may I dare say, most) "big name" evangelists and teachers today make that same mistake. They have accumulated millions and millions of dollars, houses, cars, and even private jet airplanes based on selling their wares and from offerings from undiscerning Christians.
Then the Laodiceans probably said we have heard all of Paul's great teaching. And we have heard good teaching from many other great men of God. But that was their greatest problem. They had heard, and heard, and heard, but they had not allowed the word to change them. That same spirit, that same attitude, exists in far too many churches today.
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
Verses 10 and 11 say that because some Christians received not the love of the truth, God Himself will send them strong delusion. And if God sends strong delusion, no man can stand against it. We end up with a hard heart. It is not sufficient to just hear the truth or even to memorize it. We must RECEIVE the love of the truth or else we will be totally deceived.
What does it mean to receive the love of the truth? It means that the word must become flesh within us. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Pilate in John 18:38, looked truth straight in the eye and asked, "What is truth?" Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me (John 14:6).
To continue ... 2 of the most descriptive words of man, even Christian man, are cannot and nothing. The 2 words are related.
Cannot
In Genesis, Chapter 11, all men tried to build a tower that would reach unto heaven. That was man's attempt to reach God by their own efforts. Of course that attempt failed even though the natural, carnal motivation behind that endeavor seemed good and right. The Lord will never allow man's efforts to bring about the will and purpose of God. I suppose we could say "it is God's way or the highway." Man, on his own efforts, can never reach God or know Him. Then we read of Ishmael and Isaac ... Ishmael was the result of a Godly man's efforts to bring forth God's will. We all know the result of that.
Does that truth have application to us today? YES! Many long years ago I experienced the two different approaches to doing the work of God. That was crystal clear through the life of two different Godly men. One approach is "do until the Lord says don't." The other approach is "don't until the Lord says do." With either approach it is possible to miss the will of God. That points out the need to hear the voice of the Lord for our self. We will expand on that topic in a later message. In my personal experience I have always walked in the approach of don't until the Lord says do. There are numerous examples of that in scripture.
A true revelation of the worthlessness of the natural man (or even Christian man's fleshly efforts to please God) in His sight has always been a necessary prelude to anointing for true service. The "I cannot" of Moses; the "Woe is me" of Isaiah; the "I am but a child" of Jeremiah; the "I am a sinful man" of Peter; the "In me dwelleth no good thing" of Paul, are typical confessions of all who have been called of God and anointed for ministry. Then we have Amos, who said, "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: and the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto My people Israel" (Amos 7:14-15).
The natural man cannot engage in work for Christ ... plan, prepare, organize, or enter into any type of Christian enterprise ... and thereby obtain God's seal of approval and blessing. We cannot pray as we desire or incline, even though our prayer is accompanied by passion and tears, and thereby obtain our desired Divine response.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:8
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 1 Corinthians 15:50
Nothing
If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. John 9:33
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing. John 15:4-5
Abiding in Him speaks of much more than being born from above or being baptized in the Holy Spirit. We will have much more to share about that in a later message. Without the Lord and the grace of God we can do nothing! We cannot even take our next breath except for Him.
John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. John 3:27
No man can be born from above unless the Father draws him by His Spirit. Furthermore, all ministries and gifts are given to men as the Lord sees fit.
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. John 5:19I can of Mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.John 5:30It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:33
28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as my Father hath taught Me, I speak these things.29 And He that sent me is with Me: the Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him. John 8:28-29
If Jesus said He could of His own self do nothing (and He said that), where does that leave us? The same is true of every believer. Paul said,
For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but He that judgeth me is the Lord. 1 Corinthians 4:4
When Paul said he knew nothing by myself, he means nothing of any spiritual value and useful for the purposes of the Lord. We can have a B.A., a M.S., a Ph.D., an M.D., a J.D. or any other kind of degree from any university but still know nothing of value to the Lord. Paul said,
4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,9 And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:10 That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death;11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Philippians 3:4-11
Paul talks about his pedigree in the natural realm. Like Paul, I count all of my natural level accomplishments but dung. Now dung is not worthless. It has great value as a fertilizer for grass and plants. But all of those things will burn up in the end.
We must come to acknowledge our "nothingness" apart from Christ. It brings a sense of completeness that even correct doctrine can never achieve. My righteousness and holiness are totally inadequate to bring any sense of wholeness.
There is an old hymn, written more than 100 years ago by a woman named Annie Hawks. The name of the hymn is, "I Need Thee Every Hour." Two of the five verses are:
I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain. Come quickly and abide, or life is in vain.I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will, and Thy rich promises in me fulfill.
One of the blessings of a victorious Christian life is knowing the closeness of our Lord in every circumstance of life. Like Annie Hawks, it is very important that we develop strong spiritual lives during the peaceful hours in order that we will be able to be victorious when difficulties come, which they surely will to everyone at some time. We will share much more about those difficulties in a later message and why difficulties must come.
There are many other examples of saints of old, such as Fanny Crosby, who wrote wonderful hymns despite natural-level adversities. Although she was blinded at 6 weeks of age through improper medical treatment, Fanny wrote more than 8000 gospel song texts. Perhaps her most well-known hymn is Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! That was the very first hymn that the Lord quickened to me after He sovereignly apprehended me.
The earth has always been a reflection of the spiritual state of the inhabitants of the earth. Given all of the California wildfires, which occur every year, the hurricanes, floods, droughts, tsunamis, earthquakes, tornados, blizzards, heat waves, volcano eruptions, and epidemics such as AIDS, what is the cause? Well scientists attribute all of the natural disasters to Mother Nature or some other kind of natural-level cause. But the real cause is the judgment of God.
Whenever any severe disaster occurs, men appear very sympathetic to the victims and many leaders and people try to alleviate the suffering through assistance of different kinds, including money. But that is like putting white talcum powder on measles to cover up the red spots. It amounts to little more than a band-aid but does not get to the root of the problem. Through natural disasters the Lord hopes that we will repent of our evil deeds or our lukewarm attitude toward Him.
What is the conclusion of the matter? All human beings, and particularly believers, are totally dependent upon the Lord for everything. It is a tragedy that we don't know that! and by know I mean walk in that truth. Many times we believers have to learn the hard way. That is why Jesus said,
1 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?2 And Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them,3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:1-4
The phrase little child and little children speaks of an infant. An infant is totally dependent upon his/her parents.
Let us conclude with the following verse from 2 Corinthians 3:18
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Who is all? you and me and every hearer of this message. The key for us to be changed into the image of Christ is to have an open face as we behold the glory of the Lord, which is all around us. What matters most is not where we are spiritually, but in which direction we are moving.
We all, both Christians and those not yet born again, must cry out to the Lord. Lord, I repent of my lukewarm attitude. Lord, search my heart! Melt my cold, hard, heart. I submit my will to you, Lord. Show me Your ways. And may You be glorified in all things. Amen.
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