Thy Rod and Thy Staff
A lot of people worship God, but do not really know the God they are worshipping. It would be shocking for you to discover that some, who do exploits in God's name do not know Him at all. In every church, wherever two or three gather to call upon the name of the LORD, I am always overwhelmed to find both the rod and the staff. To make it simple, there are two kinds of Christians in the church. The 'rod christian' and the 'staff' christian'. King David first spoke of the two kinds when he identified them in Psalm 23: 4c, "...thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
The Rod Christian: Proverbs 22:15 "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction will drive it out." Almost all the references of the word 'rod' in the book of Proverbs, talk about correction, reproof and chasetisement. The rod christians are those brothers or sisters in the church who always want to correct, rebuke, reprove and chasetise others in the church. They believe that they are doing service to the Lord, but they actually do not know the Lord. When we read the book of Acts from chapter 7 verses 57 to chapter 9 verse 5, we see Saul who tried all he could, in the service of God to overcome the church. He scattered the church in Jerusalem and even took orders from the high priest to go as far as Damascus to imprison all the christians he could find there.He was, infact, very zealous for God (he would have believed). God was merciful to him by allowing him to have a divine encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ on his way to Damascus. In Acts 9:5, we read "And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." Saul never really knew God, despite all his labours. He was lost. He had never had an encounter with God. He thought he was fighting for God, but he never really knew that he was fighting against God. I believe many pharisees in his days would have thought of being like him, some would have even prayed that God should help them to achieve half as much as he did against the christians, but they never knew that the man they were following was lost. "If the blind leads the blind...", you know what will happen. Saul's condition was revealed when he met with the Lord Jesus. The Bible records in verse 8 of Acts 9, that thereafter Saul had to be led by the hand from where he was to where he should be. He was blind and lost. Despite his zeal and hard works for the Lord, he was lost.
Rod Christians always want to correct the pastor(s) or church leadership. Rod christians place themselves in God's hand and wants Him to use them to whip, reprove and correct the leadership of the church. They often feel that the church leadership do not know what they are doing. They feel they know it all. They want the church to go their own way. They often feel they are the only ones led by the Holy Spirit in the church. They easily get angry when the pastor or church leadership is directing the church in a direction different from what they suggested. They want to take out the speck of dust from their fellow christian's eye, whereas there is a log of timber in their own eyes. Are you a rod christian? Do you get provoked that the church is not going the way you want? Are you a threat to the leadership of your place of fellowship? Have you turned yourself to be a rod on the backs of the leadership of the church or other fellow christians? Are you an encouragement to the church or you make others to turn back from following Christ? Do you really know God? Are your ways acceptable to Him? Examine yourself whether you are still in the faith. God bless you
The Rod Christian: Proverbs 22:15 "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction will drive it out." Almost all the references of the word 'rod' in the book of Proverbs, talk about correction, reproof and chasetisement. The rod christians are those brothers or sisters in the church who always want to correct, rebuke, reprove and chasetise others in the church. They believe that they are doing service to the Lord, but they actually do not know the Lord. When we read the book of Acts from chapter 7 verses 57 to chapter 9 verse 5, we see Saul who tried all he could, in the service of God to overcome the church. He scattered the church in Jerusalem and even took orders from the high priest to go as far as Damascus to imprison all the christians he could find there.He was, infact, very zealous for God (he would have believed). God was merciful to him by allowing him to have a divine encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ on his way to Damascus. In Acts 9:5, we read "And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." Saul never really knew God, despite all his labours. He was lost. He had never had an encounter with God. He thought he was fighting for God, but he never really knew that he was fighting against God. I believe many pharisees in his days would have thought of being like him, some would have even prayed that God should help them to achieve half as much as he did against the christians, but they never knew that the man they were following was lost. "If the blind leads the blind...", you know what will happen. Saul's condition was revealed when he met with the Lord Jesus. The Bible records in verse 8 of Acts 9, that thereafter Saul had to be led by the hand from where he was to where he should be. He was blind and lost. Despite his zeal and hard works for the Lord, he was lost.
Rod Christians always want to correct the pastor(s) or church leadership. Rod christians place themselves in God's hand and wants Him to use them to whip, reprove and correct the leadership of the church. They often feel that the church leadership do not know what they are doing. They feel they know it all. They want the church to go their own way. They often feel they are the only ones led by the Holy Spirit in the church. They easily get angry when the pastor or church leadership is directing the church in a direction different from what they suggested. They want to take out the speck of dust from their fellow christian's eye, whereas there is a log of timber in their own eyes. Are you a rod christian? Do you get provoked that the church is not going the way you want? Are you a threat to the leadership of your place of fellowship? Have you turned yourself to be a rod on the backs of the leadership of the church or other fellow christians? Are you an encouragement to the church or you make others to turn back from following Christ? Do you really know God? Are your ways acceptable to Him? Examine yourself whether you are still in the faith. God bless you
Comment
© 2024 Created by Raliegh Jones Jr..
Powered by
You need to be a member of Black Preaching Network to add comments!
Join Black Preaching Network