BIBLE NAMES OF BELIEVERS

(Part 5)

Acts 11:26

Morning Meditation 10/31/17

"And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch."

WE ARE CALLED SONS

John 1:11-12, "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:"

The condition of becoming a son of God is found in the words, "But as many as received him." Salvation comes through receiving Christ as a personal Saviour. And the simplicity of this found in the words, "even to them that believe on his name."

Becoming sons of God is not a future event, it is a present experience. 1 John 3:2, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." Many churches do not teach that we become sons of God in this life. They believe that will take place if we prove to be good enough at a general judgement. The Bible teaches no such thing. It clearly says, "Beloved NOW are we the sons of God."

We have a special love bestowed upon us to be called the sons of God. 1 John 3:1 says, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." If you are a Christian you need to wear this name thankfully and humbly. We should not be surprised when the world looks at us as fanatics and weird. We are different because we are the sons of God. A fanatic is an extreme fan. I qualify.

We are to live a blameless and harmless life because we are the sons of God. Philippians 2:15 says, "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;"

When we become sons, God puts His Holy Spirit in us to create in us a spirit of worship. Galatians 4:6 says, "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." This is the Spirit of worship. I am afraid many Baptists (I can talk about Baptists because I am one) are afraid to express themselves emotionally because of the excesses that go on in some denominations. I tell people, and have all my ministry, that I don't care how loud they shout or how high they jump as long as when they come down they are walking a straight line and speaking a language I can understand!!! God has encouraged loud praise on the part of His people. Psalms 5:11 says, "But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee."

Psalms 47:1 says, "O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph." I've heard many people who thought that clapping hands in Church in response to God moving on their heart because of a song or the preaching of the word, was wrong. I ask you. Are the psalms inspired? Are we to use them in worship? See Eph. 5:19-20. I personally believe that it is the flesh that opposes one who is praising God. Its not the one that's praising God that is in the flesh, it is the one who has no praise and becomes the critic of those who do. If it makes you uncomfortable, it might be good if you check yourself out.

When we become sons of God we follow the Holy Spirit as to our walk in life. Romans 8:14 says, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." This verse is a verse of assurance for those who are led by the Spirit.

When Jesus comes again, His sons will be manifest and this will be a glorious event. Romans 8:19 says, "For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." Won't it be wonderful when we are in our own crowd and there will not be any disagreements at all.

WE ARE CALLED GOOD SEED

Matthew 13:37-39, "He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels."

We are good seed in contrast to the tares that Satan has sown. We are sown by Jesus in His field which is the world. Some believe that Christians should be so separated from the world that they want to live in a Christian green house. Separation from the world does not mean isolation.

Paul said by inspiration of God in 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, "I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world." Jesus taught that though we were in the world we were not of the world. So there is a separation from the world in the sense that we do not practice their sins. We are to live holy lives in the world. Titus 2:11-12, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;"

Our Lord has sown us in the world to bear fruit. Our message where we are sown is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The Lord has children everywhere. Saved children are sown in the public schools. I've heard people say that it is a sin to send your kids to a public school. What if the Lord has sown them there to be witnesses? I'm not criticizing Christian Schools or home schooling children. We do need to make sure that we don't completely isolate ourselves from the people to whom God has sent us to witness. We have two young men in our church who go to a public school. In a recent service they brought their whole ball team to a special service and many of them were saved in that service. The Lord has sown us in the world to bear fruit.

You are the Lord's seed sown in whatever your profession and work place. The Lord will bring you into contact with unsaved people that He wants you to witness to. Why not pray, "Lord, I know I am the seed you have sown on my job. Please open to me an opportunity to witness to someone today?" It will surprise you what God will begin to do in your life. He is able to bring people to you to whom you will be able to witness. And you will discover that God is alive and will answer prayer today.

What about the tares. They are there to discourage you. They are there to choke out your life and make it ineffective. What are you to do about the tares? You are to ignore them and focus your life on doing the will of God. Tares are not the lost people of this world in general. Tares are specially planted sons of Satan planted in the kingdom. They are there for Satan's purposes. The only way they can hurt us is if we let it happen. Don't let anyone who professes to be saved turn you from the known will of God. If you do, you will be a target for Satan as he works through the tares he has sown. But remember this promise in 1 Peter 5:8-9, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

WE ARE CALLED THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD

Psalms 107:2 says, "Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy."

This word identifies us as those who have been redeemed from the curse of sin. Paul says in Galatians 3:13, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" The words "hath redeemed" translate "exagorazo" and means, " redeemed by payment of a price to recover from the power of another, to ransom, buy off." It is an aorist active indicative verb. The aorist tense is a point of time divorced from time and perpetuated forever. It is a once-for-all act that took place in the past. The active voice is where the subject does the acting. God is the subject and He did this through the death of His Son. So we are redeemed from the curse of the law.

1 Peter 1:18-19, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:" The blood is the payment for sin. Some have tried to make the blood of Christ symbolic of His death. They say it is not the blood but His death that saves. A man makes a mistake when his explanation of the Bible conflicts with the simple words of Scripture. God uses the word "blood" many times. Why would a man desire to use a different word than God uses? If one believes in VERBAL inspiration that means that the words themselves are inspired by God. Woe to the man who thinks he is smarter than the God who inspired the words of Scripture.

Hebrews 9:11-12 says, "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Jesus did not enter into the Temple in Jerusalem but into heaven itself. This verse says that Jesus entered into the holy place with His own blood. (Not with His own death, though He certainly did die and was raised again). The blood of Christ is on heavens altar and stands as an eternal testimony of our redemption by His blood. No one will be in heaven that was not redeemed by the blood of Christ. It is not the brand that will get us to heaven but the blood.

May the Lord encourage our hearts with these words.

In Christ

Bro. White