What will you do if you see your house set on fire? Will you give various excuses, get out and run away to avoid a difficult situation? If you do, who will protect the rest of your family who are in the burning house?
This was the case with Judas, who turned from the Lord’s wishes and went after the darkness. Though the situation was irreversible, the Lord loved Judas to the end to give him a final chance. The Lord wanted him to undertake the work of establishing churches and preaching the Gospel through the world, just like the other disciples. But he turned away from the people he should have loved and went his own way.
Even today, many people turn away from their responsibility to serve the church and go their own way. The Lord entrusted them with the church. But if something in the church is not to their taste, or they believe the church is not benefitting them, they abandon the church. For sure, they may have legitimate reasons, but this will ruin them. Since they threw away the sheep which the Lord entrusted to them, they drive a nail through the Lord’s heart.
Many people are only satisfied with being saved and not interested in the responsibility and duty they should fulfill. Due to the self-centeredness taught by the world, people approach everything in the church with this question, “Is it helpful for me?” They even leave the church to look for better conditions. Similarly, if people think the church is where they can make choices suited to their tastes, it means they are not grateful for God’s grace. It means they do not accept this new home of faith, which the Lord provides for each person.
We should receive the Lord’s guidance to reach heaven safely. The Lord prepared a method to do this: serving the church. He entrusts the church and its responsibilities to every person who is saved. Therefore, everyone should do their best to take care of others in the church. The devil does not stop attacking to destroy the church and make believers stumble. To achieve lasting victory, we should all encourage and have compassion on each other, and above all, sacrifice ourselves for others.
Even though many people come to the church, they still do not abandon the ideas and methods they learned in the world. God never promised such ambitions. If we do not give them up, the enemy will continually attack and meddle, and we cannot help be affected. None of us should act like this and be destroyed. So let’s not surrender ourselves to the world’s habits, but throw off temptation by repenting at every moment. Let’s love the church to the end as the Lord loves us to the end. Let’s remember the responsibility which the Lord entrusted to us and be faithful to serve the church.
(Lord’s Day Service on January 16, 2022)
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