The 5-Fold Necessity

1. PRAYER

"And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us: and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." [1 John 5:14-15]

2. BIBLE READING & STUDY

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." [2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21]

3. CHURCH PARTICIPATION

"For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." [Romans 12:4-5; 1 Peter 4:10]

4. Christian Fellowship

As Pentecostals, we take note and are quick to point out that the initial evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost is "Speaking in Tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance." Yet, as Christians, we seem to have all sorts of "initial evidences" that we have been Born Again. Here also Scripture does not leave the evidence to any private interpretation of man. The initial evidence that one is born again is written simply in 1 John 3:14, "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." I think that if we would give just the slightest bit of attention to that statement, we can begin to understand the "logical" meaning of 1 Corinthians 13 and Matthew 7:22-23. Too many are seeking evidence of the New Birth that line up with their own concept of what they have experienced, and too many are deceived.

Jesus says: A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another [John 13:34-35]. And we are too quick to just read over that without giving effort to comprehend the depth of the meaning of that statement but, if we compare it with 1 John 4:7-8, I believe we can begin to touch on the necessity of grasping the reality of "Scripture Truth" here: "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." Now, I'll be the first one to admit (and instruct you) that without faith it is impossible to please God [Hebrews 11:6]; however, I would have us to be admonished that faith without the works of faith is not faith at all. James instructs us that as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also [James 2:26]. The works here are those things we do from a heart given over to the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus [Romans 8:2], which operates through love of the brethren [love is the fulfilling of the Law]. If we would read James 2:14-26 with that understanding then we will truly understand the meaning of what is said. Let's try it here:
James 2:14-26
[14] What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? James sets forth the same set of questioning we are dealing with here. What is real faith? and how can we know if we are really saved? Or, "What is the initial evidence of the New Birth?" Can we just "say" we believe and that's it or should there be some sort of "fruit" of revelation of change? Can I be a "new creature" and still not have the evidence of the "new nature" I'm supposed to possess? Or, as James puts it:
[15] If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
[16] And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

[PERSONAL NOTE] Shouldn't something have happened here from within me? Should I be able to rest before I see to it that my brother or sister is taken care of? Where is the evidence of the "transforming faith" I claim (and hope) to have? Why wouldn't I "want (desire)" to help my brother or sister in need? 1 John 3:17 says: "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" And, without the love of God, where is the "life" in him? And, without the life there is death. I think it would do us to ponder this. Jesus said of the Jewish leaders of His day: Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me . . . [Matthew 15:7-9]. I would think He sees our worship as in vain when we don't take heed to serve Him from our hearts. "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth" [1 John 3:18]. Faith without works is dead but works without love are dead works (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

[17] Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
[18] Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

[PERSONAL NOTE] Let's word that with the understanding we have: A "professed" faith is nothing more than words. Anyone can "say" nearly anything, but "genuine heart-changed" faith of the New Birth can't help but reveal itself. You tell me what you "say" you believe, but your works "show" what you really believe. A heart that exercises itself through a genuine unfeigned love for the brethren will be forever doing good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10).

[19] Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
[20] But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

[PERSONAL NOTE] It's not enough to know the principles of the doctrine of Christ (Hebrews 6:1-2) without having them manifested as written upon our hearts. Once again, the evidence of what we truly believe is clearly seen by how we live it. Jesus says: And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? [Luke 6:46]; If ye love me, keep my commandments [John 14:15]; This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you [John 15:12]. We read this in 1 John 3:16, "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." If we have the Spirit of Christ, then we have the Love of Christ and, if we have the Love of Christ, then we do the Works of Christ and By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another [John 13:35]. We have agreed that we want to "go on to perfection" and begin to enjoy the "meat" of His Word. This is His will for us but, in order to go on, we must leave behind the "milk" and desire the meat. It is not enough to say we "believe" there is one God, we must come to the knowledge that our God is Lord of all. Again, it is not enough for us to "say" we know Him, we must truly know Him. "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked" [1 John 2:3-6]; "No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us" [1 John 4:12] and, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also" [1 John 4:20-21]. This is the "perfection" God desires of us, for this is evidence of the New Birth in perfection: "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world" [1 John 4:17].

[21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
[22] Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
[23] And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
[24] Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

[PERSONAL NOTE]
Abraham Not only "believed that God is" but Abraham "believed God" to the point of obedience. Jesus says: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven [Matthew 7:21]. Abraham had this commandment from God and, knowing God, he loved Him, trusted Him and believed His promises to him. Do we "know" God? In light of all that's been said up to this point, I think it seriously necessary for each one of us to search his or her own heart before giving a "too quick" "too natural" type of responsive answer to that question. That's really a soul-searching, healing, changing and growing type of spiritual inquiry. To truly know God is to love God, to truly love God is to keep His commandments, to truly keep His commandments is to love one another, to truly love one another is to live like it, AND, that is the perfection God is looking for in us, that is the perfection all men should see in us. Herein is the Father truly glorified by our works.

[25] Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

[PERSONAL NOTE]
Don't you think it sometime strange how people will say they believe the Word of God concerning Death, Heaven and Hell and yet live as though they've never heard or don't believe a word of it? Rahab saw what was coming upon the earth because she believed the report she had heard of God. She didn't just "say" she believed it, she took steps to prepare for herself and her family. Peter wrote to us who say we believe the Word of God concerning what is yet to come: "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless" [2 Peter 3:14]. Those who will be found of Him in peace, without spot and blameless are those whom He will find doing those things which He has commanded (in spirit and in truth) out of a heart rooted and grounded in love, a genuine love for God that reveals itself in genuine love for the brethren. These are they who will truly love His appearing because their love is made perfect, that they may have boldness in His presence. To all others, no matter what they may profess to possess now, there will be a definite manifested "fear" at His coming but, thanks be to God: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love" [1 John 4:18].

[26] For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. I would like to repeat here that faith without works is dead but works without love are nothing but dead works (of wood, hay, stubble). They are nothing, they profit nothing, and they shall be burned away.

Now, when we talk about Christian Fellowship, hopefully we will have a better understanding of what we mean here. The whole conceptional idea is that we have been placed, by the Spirit of God, into the Body of Christ as He has seen fit to place us, and each one of us is in the Body for the absolute good of the whole Body. And there is no way any one of us can ever hope to be all that God will have him or her to be without being united with the Body. Yet, this is not something that we can just arbitrarily do. The bonding of the Body of Christ is "love" and without love we are no part of this. If I truly love the brethren, I will want to be with the brethren, doing all that I can for their welfare, and I will want my brothers and sisters in Christ to have all that is needful (even to the expense of personal possessions and desires). My brothers and sisters in Christ should be my closest friends and Christ says: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends [John 15:13], and 1 John 3:16 says: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." If we would honestly look at the beginning of the Church Age, we would see a manifestation of this kind of love (Acts 2:43-47; 4:32-33), ". . . looking not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" [Philippians 2:4] and being "kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another" [Romans 12:10].

Jesus says: But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. He is not impressed with the false or carnal humility here which says it doesn't want to be great in His Kingdom. He is sincerely concerned that each and every one of us should desire (and even strive) to be the greatest there, and the only way to obtain that goal is to strive to be the least here (by serving, taking care of and seeing to the needs of the others). This is the real lesson of John 13:1-17. Now, give it some honest contemplation, if all are serving, then none will have need. What a glorious Church she would be. Begin today, right now, to look past yourself and to see the others. The question we should be asking is "What can I do for you?" and not so much of the "What can you do for me?" attitude. If we were to come to church with the hope and prayer of "What's in this for them? How can they benefit from this?" rather than the "What's in it for me?" of the flesh, then we'd have genuine church! We'd be the Genuine Church. Seek out your brothers and your sisters for their good and your Father will be seeking for your good. Here is the concept of Ephesians 4 being fulfilled as we would all, speaking the truth in love, growing up in Christ, our Head, each of us receiving from Him (and dispersing to one another) all that is needful for the whole church to grow up in fullness of Spirit, edifying herself in love (the mutual, sharing, caring, giving love of one another for each other). We will more effectively witness for Christ as we become more genuinely the Body of Christ. We need each other in order to grow and mature into Him in this world. Not so much what we get from one another, but what we give to one another. Yet, we find that, sometimes, the greatest gift we can give is to let someone else do for us. There's a real "spiritual truth" there. Wanting their deeds to add to their account increases my account with Him.

We must of necessity deal and work with the world, but let us always deal and work as Christians. We are in their midst as ambassadors for Christ. Do not give holy things to dogs and be careful about casting you precious pearls before swine. You should be able to confess your faults freely with your brothers and sisters in whom you have confidence that they will hear in His stead, with His love, and will pray earnestly with you for your need. Remember, those who are unsaved do not understand you, they cannot understand you. Love them, share with them as you can, and must, but don't commit yourself to anyone who is not of the Spirit of Christ as this is dangerous for you, and can be for them. Don't be a judge without mercy.

The love of God in us for our fellow-man of this world is that they might come to the knowledge of the truth and come to repentance with God through faith in Jesus Christ His Son. Anything else is surface, temporal and passing away. Let's do all we can to "by all means save some" by showing the REAL, TRUE, LIVING CHRIST in us. They know Him through His disciples who love one another.

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