Sunday School teaching. Youth work. Women’s meetings. Visiting the sick…the gift of showing mercy. Counseling others. Raising of their children. Homemaking…kindness and good works. Personal testimony.
In accepting this role, a woman is not inferior to the man. She is dependent on him and is part of him. She was made from his very rib, “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh,” said Adam.
She was taken from his side, near to his heart, that he might love her. She was not taken from his head, lest she would lord it over him. Nor was she taken from his feet, lest he might keep her beneath his feet in subjection.
The Holy Spirit’s Work
He will be the Helper…the Comforter.
He will teach you all things. Epistles.
He will bring to your remembrance, whatever Jesus said. (Gospels)
He will guide you into all truth.
He will show you things to come. Revelation.
He shall glorify Me—Jesus Christ.
He will convict the world of sin—righteousness—judgment.
The object of their preaching was:
1. To bring sinners to Christ.
2. Then to form the new covenants into a local church. The Holy Spirit having gathered around Christ for the purpose of worshipping God.
This order is beautifully described in the purpose of the erection of the Tabernacle. “Make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” Ex 25:8
God gave the exact pattern that was to be followed—no deviation from the original plan was to be made. Human expedience would have caused God not to dwell in the Tent.
In the New Testament, God has given His blueprint for the building of the local church. Where such principles are taught, and practiced, there and only there does He dwell.
The first piece of furniture that God describes is the Ark of the Covenant, overlaid with the Mercy Seat.
It was at this place God said, “There I will meet thee, and I will commune with thee from above the Mercy Seat.” Ex. 25:22
As we gather together around the Lord Jesus, the Mercy Seat, God and man can meet together and enjoy sweet communion.
The purpose then of the local assembly is that God may dwell among us, and that we may worship and serve Him.
God’s love is unbiased—flows to all men. The greatest words ever spoken. “In this was manifested the love of God towards us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might have eternal life through Him.
Here is love without equal, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atonement for our sins. 1 John 4: 9, 10
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
Scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. Romans 5:7
Epehsians 3
Length—breadth—depth—height of the love of God.
Breadth—“For God so loved the world.” You are included. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—He came to save you.
Jesus said, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10
Length. Love never fails—it goes on and on—it is an everlasting love. It is a love, that once you have taken Christ as Savior, you can never be separated from.
Depth. The Lord came from the glories of heaven to the gloom of the earth. From the presence of the Father to the presence of sinners. From the adoration of angels to the derision of men. From the worship of departed believers to the rejection of creatures His hands had made.
Height. God’s love in Christ reached down to the depth of man’s sin and up to the height of God’s throne. Chief of sinners. Christ has entered into God’s holy presence by virtue of His precious shed blood and He is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him. He is able to save you now.
God loved us despite the fact that we are “without strength.” We are helpless to help ourselves. In our sin we are in a hopeless state toward God.
By our own efforts we cannot reach God. We may reform, and this is good, but it does not bring you closer to God, my dear friend, it is only God Who can regenerate you and make you His child. “By grace are ye saved.” In your helpless state God loves you.
God loves you even though you are ungodly. Every unbeliever in the sight of God is ungodly. “There is none righteous—there is none who understands—there is none who seeks after God—there is none that doth good, no, not one.”
If you have never taken Christ as your Savior, the Bible says that you are “far away from God,” you are without God, without Christ, and without hope in this world.
The only way you can change your situation is to acknowledge that you are a sinner. Confess your sin and repent of your sin, and take Christ as your own Savior. The prodigal son. “Father, I have sinned,” etc.
Paul also tells us something about the love of God, that cannot be said of human love. He says that even though you are His enemy, you can be reconciled to God by the death of His Son.
No matter who you are, or what you are, or where you are. No matter your sordid, sinful past, no matter the atrocities you may have committed, you can be saved right now by taking Christ as your Savior. Will you?
“He is able to save to the uttermost,” etc.