those who lead us, and those who are our guides. The Scripture urges us to follow, “ a man with a pitcher of water.” This Man has something to give that refreshes, revives, and enriches. We are not to follow those who rob or lead us astray. Godly leadership is abso lutely essential for the mind, body, and soul. Most people are like sheep which must have a leader whom they may fol low. Not many seem to develop leader ship qualities. The Scripture teaches us to follow men of God. We Should be Led by the Spirit Rom. 8:14 The leadership of this wonderful Per son always results in blessing to the life, joy to the heart, and peace to the mind. He always leads to God and never leads astray. He leads us with His truth, the Word of God, and keeps us out of false doctrines. He re veals the love of Christ, the sufficiency of the Saviour, and the salvation of God. He reveals our own weakness and inef ficiency and also unfolds to the soul the blessed remedies provided by the Lord of glory. He leads us to be spiritual and not worldly. We Should be Led by Godly Men Heb. 13:7 God raises up devoted servants who will be shepherds of the sheep. The Lord tells us to follow their faith and to receive their ministry. Godly men live godly lives. They bring to us God’s messages and lead us into God’s pres ence. These are Spirit-filled men. These are men of prayer and of faith. These are men who know God and understand His will. These are men who have learned God’s ways and who seek to carry out God’s program. These men are occupied with God’s affairs and seek to guide the hearts and lives of others into God’s paths. We Should be Led by the Word of God John 8:46 The Word of God reveals the mind of God. His words express His thoughts. If we would know God intimately, then we must listen to what He has to say and learn from His messages. The Scrip tures are complete and reveal to us the answer to all our problems and ques tions. The Word of God is pure. It is sweet to the heart and precious to the mind. It may be said of the Bible, “ Here every little daisy is a meadow.” We may safely follow all that it says. We Should be Led by Examples Jas. 5:10 Enoch is an example of one who walked with God. David is an example of one who sang to God. Paul is an example of one who worked with God. Abraham is an example of one who be lieved God. Elijah is an example of a man who trusted in God. Mary and Martha are examples of those who love God. So we find all through the Scrip ture that the records of the Bible char acters bring rich lessons to us and call us to follow in the paths they walked. Let us take these characters for our examples and follow their faith.
We Must Belong to the Holy Spirit Acts 1:4 All spirits among men divide. The spirit of the Chinese divides from the spirit of the Japanese. The spirit of the Italian divides from the spirit of the Ethiopian. The spirit of the French separates from the spirit of the German. Against all of this and over and above all of this the Holy Spirit unites all believers of every country in a common bond of fellowship, friendship, and ser vice. This same Holy Spirit, however, separates from the devil’s children, the unsaved, and the worldly. Around the world, hearts that are indwelt by the Holy Spirit welcome one another and a sweet fellowship is established. We Must be Yielded to the Holy Spirit Rom. 8:6 When the Spirit of God is Lord of the life then there is a unanimity of purpose and a union in action. He leads to God no matter what the nationality. He leads in paths of righteousness in spite of tradition or custom. He breaks the power of cancelled sin and breaks the chains of habit. He is no respecter of persons. Wherever the Christian message goes, He is there to make it effective and to transform the life of the one who hears and accepts. He unites in common purpose all those who trust Jesus Christ and are saved by grace. We Must be Right with God Rom. 8:28 Those who permit the Lord to rule the life find that He makes the crooked places straight and the rough places smooth. He adorns the life with the sweet graces of heaven. He removes bitterness and strife and brings peace and co-operation to the soul. The God of heaven wants to make us godly. The god of this world who is Satan makes men worldly. The only answer to the unrest and hatred that exists between the peoples of the world today is the remedy offered by Christ Jesus, His saving power, and cleansing blood. We Must be Right with Our Fellow Men Gal. 6:2 Men are often like wild beasts. Na tions are the same. They live by prey ing upon one another. They want that which others have. They seek personal gain at the expense of others. The strong prey upon the weak. The well prey upon the sick. The educated prey upon the illiterate. Thus there is con stant turmoil. This will never be changed until the heart is transformed and the life is completely renovated, re claimed, and regenerated by the Spirit of life because of Christ Jesus the Lord. When men are right with God it is easy to be right with their neighbors. Sept. 30, 1951 IT'S WORTH READING! Deut. 17:14,15,18-20; Phil. 4:8,9 Yes, we should read what the Scrip ture says about those who rule over us,
union with those who disregard sectarian lines and seek to bring a blessing to all people in every possible way. We Should be United in Faith Eph. 4:5 There are groups of Christians who walk by faith and have a living trust in the living Christ. These would have difficulty in fellowship with those who have filled the church with worldly pro grams and worldly methods and schemes. Faith is a holy thing. It fills the life with holiness; it fills the church with God’s good gospel; it trains the people and gives them a knowledge of a won der-working Lord. True faith overcomes the world while those in a false faith revel in the world and feel at home with those who are not saved. We Should be United in Love 1 Cor. 12:25 Those who love the world will never join in happy fellowship with those whose hearts are set on Christ and the Father and heaven. The love of God, the love of Christ, the love of the Holy Spirit, unite hearts in the fear of God. Those who do not love our Lord nor His Word nor His ways are automatically separated from and divided from those who cannot go their way after the god of this world. The love of God shed abroad in the heart makes the love of the world to be dismissed. Those who love this present world will always sepa rate themselves from godly Christians. Sept. 23, 1951 AROUND THE WORLD WITH CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR Rom. 12:1-21 Bible-taught Christians have a world wide view. They see the need in every country for Christian character and godly conduct in the hearts and lives of their fellow-men. Under every sun and in every language the cause and the effect are the same. Christ Jesus makes devoted Christians out of the Chinese, the Africans, the Indians and the Eskimos. The same gospel produces the same results. It breaks down all barriers of race, color, language, soci ety, and nationality.
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