Good morning and welcome in everyone. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
When we first moved out in the big Northern Minnesota woods, we didn’t have any electricity. The main lighting that we used in our cabin were oil lamps. Sometimes, when we needed to run into town for something, I would leave one hanging in the window. When we walked down to the house, you could see that bright lamp illuminating the deck. But as many of you might know, an oil lamp can become dimmed. They can develop heavy soot, which causes the lap not to shine as brightly. Each week I would remove the glass from each one, and put them in the kitchen sink. With a little bit of soap, I would wash off all the dirt and the grime that had developed during their usage. As soon as all the imperfections were removed, I would light the lamp, and hang up that perfectly bright light once again in the kitchen.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
In order for our lights to shine brightly, our imperfections need to be removed, until all that is left is perfection.
Hebrews 6:1 “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,”
The calling of a Christian is to move on unto perfection. Each of us are sinners who have come short of the glory of God, but God calls all men everywhere to repent. We have to change our imperfections by completely submitting to the will of God. As I have always said, the Christian Life requires effort on your part. You have to make faithful decisions based upon the teachings of Christ. Applying them to your daily life, will cause you to conform from the error of your ways. This is a process of purification and sanctification, which is required if one expects to enter into eternal life. God wants us to become overcomers of the sinful nature. To do this, we have to turn away from sinful living to the truth. We must reject the things of darkness, and open our eyes to the light. Heaven is a prepared place that is reserved for sinners who have turned from their sinful lives to serve God. This is the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,… to become perfect in His sight.
2 Corinthians 13:9 “For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.”
When we study God’s Holy Word, it is there for a purpose. Men of God who are filled with the Holy Spirit are educating us in what God expects us to do, and how to behave. Their goal is to make us into a perfect man.
Ephesians 4:11-13 ¹¹ And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; ¹² For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: ¹³ Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Just like we have had Earthly dads who rebuked us when needed, God’s Word does the same, for the purpose of correction, and ultimately perfection.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 ¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: ¹⁷ That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
We must obey and submit to the will of God in order to become perfected into the image of a saint. To become a vessel unto honor, it’s going to require perfection, which ultimately results through obedience.
Hebrews 12:9-10 ⁹ Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? ¹⁰ For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
The high calling of God is to walk in perfect love towards our creator. God has already proven His love to this world, and what we must do is to prove our love towards Him. To do this, we must submit to His will, and become holy and blameless in His sight.
Ephesians 1:4 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:”
We have the promise of eternal life, but repentance and sanctification is required to obtain heaven. We must walk each day in perfect holiness with God.
2 Corinthians 7:1 “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Perfection of the spirit is required if you are going to shine as a light in the world.
Philippians 2:15 “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;”
Perfection is about living your life without fault and blameless. Each day many people try to perfect certain areas of their life. Someone who is a bodybuilder might try to perfect every little muscle in their body in order to win some type of competition. Another athlete will hone and perfect their skills to win a medal on a ski slope in the Olympics. Even a professional skater will practice each day in order to get a perfect score on the scating rink. Christianity is about striving after moral and spiritual perfection. In order to obtain heaven, we must repent and do the will of God from our hearts, correcting the things that are wrong so that we can receive the final prize of eternal life. After all, the Apostle taught that he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. How much do you want eternal life? Are you perfecting the wrongs and walking in the truth? Perfection is being free from any flaw or defect. It is impeccable and irreproachable. This is what the Apostles wanted from the church, perfection.
2 Corinthians 13:11 ¹¹ Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
We can attain perfection in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. We must believe the truth of God’s Word and rid ourselves of sinful living. We must separate ourselves from the things that displease Him, and move on to perfection. This is God’s will for each of us. Faith, sanctification, mortification of the flesh, unto a perfect man. Unless you clean your own hearts from all of their imperfections, your lights will never shine perfectly. This is a lesson that I learned years ago, whenever I cleaned….
…. My Oil Lamps
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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