Abiding in Christ

Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from The book of Psalms.

Psalms 15:1-2 LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.

First of all, to abide means to submit to, to agree to, and to be steadfast and faithful to. When you submit it means to accept or yield to the authority or will of another. Rather than resisting, it is surrendering to the control of somebody else. To abide in Christ is to do the will of God from your heart, and it is far more than just claiming something with your lips, but it is to follow through with your actions.

Matthew 21:28-32 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.

And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

To abide in Christ is to yield yourself to the will of God rather than your own. It is only when we truly surrender ourselves to God’s purpose, that we can ever become the person that He wants us to become.

Romans 6:12-13 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Those who refuse to humble themselves to the teachings of scripture, don’t have God. 

2 John 1:9  Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

In order to be loved by the Heavenly Father, it requires loving obedience toward His only begotten Son Jesus, and the teachings of God’s Holy Word. Only through repentance and obedience can we abide in the love of God.

John 14:21-24 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

John 15:9-10 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

In order to be saved eternally it requires complete submission to the will of God. Throughout the scriptures, God teaches us what He wants us to do, and we must capitulate to His desires.

Ephesians 5:21-24 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

As I’ve said for many years, the church is a place of order, and there are certain people who are over you in the Lord. They have raised you in your faith and your beliefs, and even baptized or given you Holy Communion. These men must be obeyed out of faithfulness to the Lord. 

Hebrews 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

The Apostle Peter was an elder, which is a man of God who teaches the Word of God to the church. Women are absolutely forbidden from this duty, and need to submit to the authority of man who was made in God’s image. These men have been given Spiritual gifts, along with the authority to rule over the church, and you need to be in submission to them. 

1 Peter 5:5-6  Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

But in order for any of us to get to heaven, you must first come to the realization that you are a sinner, and believe the truth of scripture so much that it results in a complete transformation in your life. Obviously, you cannot be completely freed from your sins if you choose to continue living in them. Rather than repenting from dead works, we must go on unto perfection by abiding in the will of God, and learning to go and sin no more.

John 8:31-36 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

The Apostle Paul taught the same thing, explaining that you are the servant of whatever you choose to obey.

Romans 6:16-17 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

To truly believe in Jesus is to walk according to his will, and those who claim to follow Him but are not humble enough to do this, are only deceiving themselves.

John 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

To abide means to submit to the authority of somebody else, whether it’s the teachings of Christ, the commands of your husband, or the will of a man of God. As we near the return of Jesus, these qualities are becoming extremely rare, as we head towards a period of Great tribulation and suffering. Our own salvation depends upon steadfast obedience to biblical doctrine, because when we do this, the blessings of God will be upon us, as we submit to His will, by….

……Abiding in Christ

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 all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️

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