Eternity

F. B. Meyers devotional "Our Daily Walk"

http://www.youdevoti...m/walk/march/16

with additional comments!

March 16

OUR ETERNAL DESTINY

THERE IS a contrast, and yet a similarity, between this parable and that of the tares. In the latter we learn that it is impossible in the present age to separate the evil from the good in the professing Church of Christ; in the former we see that with an inevitable pressure, we are all being drawn towards the discrimination of the judgment-seat of Christ.
What a confused mass of dead and living things are brought to shore by a net--weed, mud, shells, unwholesome things as well as those which are good for food, lie in a confused heap together. So it is with the professing Church. It embraces every variety of character--good fish amid a certain amount of rubbish, and there is no society of men and women in which this mixture does not obtain. Our Lord teaches that when the great net of the Gospel dispensation has been drawn in to the shores of eternity, then, with unerring judgment, the angels will begin their work of separation.
The distinction which separates the good and the bad is determined by the service we can render in God's Kingdom. He wants those who will co-operate with Him(That is called obedience to His daily guidance.) in the work of redemption(the act of delivering from sin or saving from evil), who are living unselfish and consecrated lives, through which His Spirit may work for the highest purposes of salvation. Those whom He rejects are the selfish, worldly, and sense-bound natures,(who do not love Him with their WHOLE heart, with ALL their strength!) who refuse to be the implements and instruments of His redemptive purpose.(to see people completely delivered from the power and control of their flesh, senses, self and sin. Bought back from Satan's Kingdom, this world and all it represents. Restored to the condition Adam was "in" just after being created!)
To which of these two classes do we belong? Are we willing to be identified with Christ in His Cross and shame? Do we delight in mercy, self-sacrifice, and holy service? If so, we may anticipate the future without fear. But if, on the other hand, we are shut up within ourselves, even though it be the enjoyment of religion, without tears for men's sorrows, or yearning for their salvation(rescue and deliverance from the control of the senses and flesh, self!), we may question whether it may not be our lot to be cast away on the rubbish heap (1Corinthians_9:24-27 Do you not know that all the runners in a stadium compete, but only one receives the prize? So run to win. Each competitor must exercise self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run uncertainly or box like one who hits only air. I subdue my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself will not be disqualified.). If Paul was concerned about being disqualified, how much more should we take our relationships seriously? What do you delight in? ...the Holiness of the Spirit of the Word or the entertainments of the World

PRAYER