In our text, Paul reminds us that we cannot be part-time believers. We can’t just do right when we think the pastor is watching, or another church member is watching us. We need to know that through the grace of God working in us, we can and should be full-time believers.
Sometimes people want to assert their rights and will hold on to their privileges with a death grip, rather than surrender anything for the cause of a right relationship with others. Jesus was God—you don’t get any higher than that—yet Jesus Christ, the eternally begotten Son of God, did not cling to the power and privileges of being God. Instead, He released His grasp on the independent use of His divine attributes so that He could become a servant, and to do this, He who was God became flesh and dwelt among us.
If we ever arrive at that place of powerful unity where the Holy Spirit is able to move and manifest in power, we will see powerful results as souls by the hundreds and thousands are added to the church. If we will achieve that unity, speaking with one voice, then nothing we desire to do in Christ will be withheld from us.
This is where frightful Friday and silent Saturday ended, but this is also where Sunday began. What looked like the end, was just the beginning. What looked like defeat, was a victory in the making. What looked like shattered dreams and broken promises, was just an illusion because the reality was that with both hands and feet nailed to a cross, Jesus defeated the devil, He conquered sin, liberated the lost, and set the captives free.
In a generation when the world seems to be going insane and it feels like the bedrock of morality is crumbling beneath our feet, I’m here to tell you that God has a plan. And because He has a plan we can stand with our feet on a firm foundation because we are part of His plan. He has a plan for His church, He has a plan for our lives, and He is planning to come again so that where He is there we may be also. And like the people praising Jesus two thousand years ago, we should also be praising God that our Redeemer is the King of kings, and Lord of lords.
Two levels of citizenship are implied: they were citizens of heaven living as lights in the darkness, and without compromising their testimony, they should also be good citizens of their city. Our citizenship is in heaven, and we are an outpost of believers in a fallen world, but while we are in this world, we need to engage our communities in such a way that we make Christ appealing to the lost. Just like millions of people want to come to America, our joy, peace, and love should make others want to become followers of Christ.
Paul knew that if he was faithful to God then there was no way the devil could win this battle. If God chose to let him live, then Paul would live for Christ, and if God chose to take him home to heaven, then he knew that was the ultimate promotion and his faith would end in sight. When we are believers, the devil cannot win. In fact, the devil has already lost because victory was won through the cross and the empty tomb. We still have a few things to wrap up in this dispensation, but the victory has already been won. Whether we live or die, we are the winners and Satan is still defeated.
When we are willing to decrease so that Jesus can increase, then we are ready to be effective in ministry. When people are less impressed with us and more impressed with Jesus after we minister to them, then we are truly being lights in the darkness. Even if they don’t remember our name, but they remember the name of Jesus, then we have done our job as faithful servants of our Lord and Savior.
As believers, our love for one another should be able to transcend any perceived slight or offense. Our love should reach across the aisle to apologize if we have hurt someone’s feelings, or unintentionally wounded them in any way. Without love at the core of a church like ours—a diverse church with people of all races, many nations and cultures, and yes, even various political perspectives—without love, we will never survive. Like Paul, my prayer is that our love will grow more and more.
What do people think, when they think of you? Do they think you are an encourager or do they think you are a complainer? Do they think you are joyful or do they you are sullen and brooding? Do they think you are generous or do they think you are miserly and stingy? Do they think you are pleasant to be around, or would they rather avoid you? Like it or not, when our name comes up in conversation, people who know us, immediately think something when they think about us.
