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Good day. Today's video Obstacle Course is on the topic of: Christ is the Rock of offence, the Word that many stumble at. There are many obstacles in life, it's an obstacle course. For those that are walking with the Lord, they learn to overcome their lower nature and the obstacles of the carnal mind, the carnal limited thinking of that fallen nature, and overcome the wicked one, the god of this world. Whereas those that are walking against the Lord, they stumble and fall, they get entrapped, unable to overcome the impediments placed in their path by the god of this world. Others begin in the Spirit, they endure for a time, but when affliction and persecution arise for the Word's sake, immediately they are offended and having no root in themselves they fall away; and others start to stumble at the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, and lusts of other things that choke the Word in their life and it becomes unfruitful, they then can become a stumbling block to other believers. Those that come against the doctrine of Christ or don't understand it, they themselves become a stumbling block, a rock of offence or an impediment because they don't understand the true plan of salvation and the way the Lord intended it to be, and they teach contrary to it and cause others to stumble as well. Jesus Christ is the Chief corner stone of the foundation of God that stands sure, and every one the names the name of Christ departs from iniquity. Are you stumbling or standing firm? Is your foundation upon the Rock or upon the sand which cannot withstand? You can view all previous videos by going to our YouTube channel Doctrine of Christ Ministry or by clicking on our archive page link above - Doctrine of Christ Ministry Archive. Have a blessed and prosperous day in Christ Jesus our Lord. Good morning. Today's video The Son - Part6 is on the topic of who the Son of God is; the Rock solid foundation, the cornerstone, and the stumbling stone. Christ Jesus is the rock solid foundation, the chief cornerstone that each of us should have as our foundation; most importantly our chief cornerstone on which the firmness of our salvation will stand. We are the temple of the living God; a spiritual house for the Lord; the Lord said that he and the Father would come and make their abode within us if we loved him and kept his words. John 14:23 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. (KJV) Once we establish Christ as our chief cornerstone then what is built thereon will stand if we build it according to the truth of the gospel of Christ, which is the Rock solid foundation that God had designed from the beginning. Jesus Christ is the pattern by which we are to build our spiritual house unto the Lord. He is our example that God gave unto us. So if we continue to abide in Christ, keeping him as our solid foundation then when the winds of doctrines blow and the streams of ungodliness beat against our house, we will not move but stand firm in our God and in His Son Jesus Christ our life. Building requires you to do something; you can’t build by just reading the instructions and then not follow through with putting the pieces together. You have to be a doer of the Word. God gave us the instruction manual; now we need to read it, listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and apply it in our life. Only the finest material, that being the pure word of God coming straight from the throne of God, is what we should be using; this material will stand and not perish in the fire. Christ is the stumbling stone that many stumble over because they have chosen to follow the traditions and doctrines of men who only know Christ after the flesh, the man Jesus, thus leaving Christ the Son of God out. They have chosen not to search the scriptures, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth, and to reveal who the Son is, which will lead one to know the Father also. They have chosen to use sub-contractors to help build their house; not checking to see if the materials being used would stand up to Satan and his workers; like the story of the three little pigs and the wolf. What you put into your relationship with the Lord, is what you will get out. If you sew to the flesh, of the flesh shall you reap corruption; if you sew to the Spirit of the Spirit shall you reap everlasting life. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (KJV) Who are you going to trust to build your house? Men or God? Psalms 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. (KJV) Will you go straight to the source to see if those things being taught by others is of truth; or are you going to leave your salvation from this present evil world in the hands of men and their interpretation of the scriptures, their traditions and doctrines which leave Christ out of their teachings and prayers? It is up to each of us to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; Christ in us the hope of glory, the power and wisdom of God. And to know how God made this same Jesus both Lord and Christ. The Master Builder and His Chief Cornerstone. 2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (KJV) You can view all previous videos by going to our YouTube channel Doctrine of Christ Ministry. Have a blessed and prosperous day in Christ Jesus our Lord. Good morning. Today's video Slow Me Down Lord is a poem of prayer asking the Lord to slow us down so that we can run this race of faith and not be weary, or stumble and fall, nor faint before the finish line of eternal life. You can view all previous videos by going to our YouTube channel Doctrine of Christ Ministry. Have a blessed and prosperous day in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:8-14 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: (9) Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. (10) For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. (11) Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (12) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. (13) 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. (14) For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (KJV)
Now as verse 8 says, that if you are dead with Christ, dead to your own lusts and desires but alive with Him spiritually, then you are able to believe as well as live with Him in the realm of the Spirit. Once our Lord died it was done, not like under the old law where it would have to be done over and over again, but as we talked about yesterday it was a permanent change. Have you changed with the times, no I am not talking about being politically correct with the way of the world, but changing or transforming daily by the renewing of your mind in the things of God? Did you ever stop and think that when you yield yourself to the things of the old law and its rituals you are actually trying to establish your own righteousness, one our Lord doesn’t acknowledge? Another way to put it is when you are under the law then you have separated from grace, a grace that is needed in order to truly be saved. Galatians 3:10-14 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. (11) But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. (12) And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. (13) Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (14) That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (KJV) Wasn’t this the whole intent and purpose that our Lord came to redeem us from the curse of the old law? Yet with this in mind, why do so many still hold to the law and its dead rituals, especially when it comes to the true spiritual meaning of baptism? There is no justification in the law, no righteousness, and yet with this in mind so many still hold to the dead rituals of it, thinking they will find justification. Again, did it ever occur to you that when you hold to these traditions and doctrines of man that in essence you are yielding yourself to something unrighteous, a law of death, and not of life that you think you are finding? Instead of reaching out for the spiritual lifeline our Lord provides for us in Christ, many are still grabbing and hanging onto an anchor rope, one tied from their neck to a millstone. Romans 9:31-33 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. (32) Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; (33) As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (KJV) Has much changed over the years, whether it be referred to as Israel or what man calls a church today? Rather than seek the Lord by faith to understand the true spiritual meaning of His word many are blindly rumbling, bumbling, and stumbling along seeking their answer in an old law and the works of it. There is a stone, a rock solid foundation for one to build their faith and trust in, that being Jesus Christ and the completed work He did for His people, not the completed work people think they still need to do. While many are running to and fro seeking the answer in the carnal realm they end up falling short by holding to a law that our Lord came to eliminate not duplicate, people. The only way you can and ever will be justified is by Christ, while anything else will have you falling short of the glory of God, basically falling flat on your face. Galatians 3:1-5 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? (2) This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? (3) Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? (4) Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. (5) He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? (KJV) Did you know that witchcraft is considered a sin, something our Lord doesn’t look too kindly on? Years ago there was a TV program called ‘Bewitched’ where someone wiggled their nose and made things magically happen. Sound silly and ridiculous? Well, every time someone reverts back to the works of the law, which does include water baptism folks, it’s like watching a rerun of Bewitched, something foolish and farfetched from reality. Your entrance into the realm of the Spiritual had nothing to do with your own works, and you remaining in that realm has nothing to do with man’s works, but rather a faith in the work Jesus Christ has done on your behalf. Strong’s definition for ‘vain’: 1500 eike (i-kay'); probably from 1502 (through the idea of failure); idly, i.e. without reason (or effect): KJV-- without a cause, (in) vain (-ly). Interesting word there concerning vain, something that has no reason, idle fits also. You know, a hundred years ago money was printed and put into circulation for trading and getting provisions needed. Since that time however a new system has been put into place in order to buy and sell. If one tries to use the old system today it would not be accepted because it has been replaced by a new system. The same pattern holds true with our Lord, the old served its purpose and has been done away, replaced by something new and in operation today. So when you see things in the Bible, say for instance the word baptism, do you just limit it to the old outward realm, or are you able to see the deeper spiritual implication of it, something that is of use and has substance today? Take some time and pray about the things you do and why you do them; ‘is it because someone else said it was so, or is it something I know came from the Lord and keeps me in good standing with Him?’ There has been a changing of the guard people; are you changing into one of God’s people, or are you idly hung up on the old law and its rituals that our Lord said He came to do away with? Just because it is a crowd favorite with many of man’s so called people doesn’t mean it works with our Lord. In fact that which man holds in high esteem is an abomination with God. In other words, when you see the many doing something they think impresses or pleases God that would be the first red flag to go back and see what the Lord’s true take and intention is. As long as you hold God to be true and man the liar then you will not fall or stumble in your walk. God bless and have a prosperous day in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. (KJV)
Did you know that one of the biggest stumbling blocks you can put in someone’s path is our own judgments toward them, or even yourself? When were you appointed to God’s Supreme Court? And when did God ask you to decide what is best for the brethren? The fact that God created man, and has been dealing with mankind long before we ever showed up on this planet, would it not be fair to say that He is more than capable of handling the situation? Luke 12:6-7 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? (7) But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. (KJV) You don’t even know how many hairs are on your head right now, and yet you know how to judge other people. If God has knowledge of the outward, do you not think it is fitting that He also can handle the inward, and knows what we have need of before we ask? Don’t you have enough to handle in your own walk without taking on someone else’s? John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. (KJV) Many make decisions and decide what is of God based on the outward appearance, and not what the inward man is dictating to them. Satan transforms himself and appears to be a minister of righteousness and leads many astray because they choose to walk by sight and not by faith; while promising liberty they themselves are actually servants of corruption, whose end will be according to their works. Lots of marriages are based on the outward as well. There is a big difference between what God joins together and what man chooses as his/her perfect mate. Ever read or hear the verse ‘the last shall be first and the first last’? The last person you thought about marrying may end up to be the first one God had for you, and the first person you thought was best for you may be the last one God had in mind for you. This holds true as well with many other situations you may encounter; what employment you may be seeking, which fellowship God may be leading you to, and most importantly where your place is in the body of Christ and what your calling may be. Many judge themselves and put themselves in places God has not asked them to be because it was appealing to the outward rather than the inward. Some choose to be in a place of leadership in a church, when in reality they can’t even manage their own home, but think they should be telling others how to manage theirs. Luke 14:8-11 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; (9) And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. (10) But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. (11) For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (KJV) How about some humility people? How many times have we thought ourselves to be something, when in reality we are nothing? In other words, how many times have we exalted ourselves in positions God hasn’t put us in, and then wonder why we fall on our face? How many times have we put our own judgments on other people and tried to lower them to some other standard, only to find out that God had put them there for a reason and knew exactly what He was doing. If you don’t learn to be faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in larger ones either. 1 Corinthians 12:18-20 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. (19) And if they were all one member, where were the body? (20) But now are they many members, yet but one body. (KJV) God has set His table, and put things and people in the order that is pleasing to Him. So what gives you the right to question His judgment, or the people He saw fit to place there? If you don’t have peace in your life, maybe you need to ask yourself if you are in the place God has asked you to be, or are you playing musical chairs and dancing to the beat of a different drummer. James 2:1-4 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. (2) For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; (3) And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: (4) Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? (KJV) Man judges success and blessings based on the outward appearance, and ends up overlooking and downplaying some of the most vital and important members of the body. So instead of utilizing them and putting them at the head of the table, they end up sticking them at the lower end and ignoring them. 1 Corinthians 12:21-23 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. (22) Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: (23) And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. (KJV) Again we see how backwards things get when we decide to take judgments into our own hands and not rely on who and what the Lord knows is best for His body. Try going a day with one hand tied behind your back, or blindfold yourself and see how far you would get in a day. The blind leading the blind; they have covered their eyes and rather than having those overseeing the congregation that God has chosen, they have put people in this position that are willing to look the other way rather than look out for the welfare of the body. Ever hear the term being put in your place? I pray it is a good place you end up in, but only if you let the Lord do the placing and leave the judging department to Him as well. He has done just fine and doesn’t need our input. God bless and have a prosperous day in Christ Jesus our Lord. |
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