Feed God's Household

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000640egdysm.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000066" FACE="Arial" ><B>Church of God, In Truth</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><B>    |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church of God, In Truth"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> back to<B>  </B><A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Edification Articles"><B>Edification Articles</B></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#0000BF" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="faith_and_patience.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Faith and Patience">Faith and Patience</A></div> <div> <A HREF="the_gifts_of_the_maji_and_ou.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Gifts of the Maji and our Destiny">The Gifts of the Maji and our Destiny</A></div> <div> <A 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Household</B></FONT></div> <div>      </div> <div> <I><B> “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil”</B></I> (Heb 5:14).</div> <bR> <div>       When Jesus Christ exhorted His followers to endure to the end,  He was cautioning  them concerning a time to come when their faith must undergo a severe testing.  “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved”(Matt 24:12-13).  This would come at the climax of a long series of events which He enumerated.  There is conclusive evidence in the Scriptures to indicate that just such a testing time must come when spiritual pressures will become so great that only those having a sincere belief and wholehearted trust in the implicit promises of God will retain their faith to the very end. Those, unable to endure tribulation, will fall by the wayside. </div> <div>      Faithful servants in our Lord's discussion recorded in Matthew 24: 45-51, particularly His statement regarding the faithful and wise servant in contrast to the evil servant, we have a clue to the type of pressure that would reveal the falling away from genuine faith. It must be understood that these two groups represent two distinct classifications among the followers of Jesus Christ.</div> <div>      Referring to the first group, Jesus said: "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lords' hath-made ruler over his household, to give them meat in a due season?  Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when He cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That He shall make him ruler over all His goods" (Matt. 24: 45- 47). </div> <div>      This group are the "wise" whom the Angel informed Daniel would understand “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand”  (Dan. 12: 10).   These are the ones giving instruction, or “meat, in due season,” that is, they would be able to point out the meaning of events and the significance of the times in which they would then be living. Their message would therefore be pertinent to the times in which they would be called upon to feed God's household. </div> <div>            Note carefully “Meat in do season,”  is "meat," not "milk," that they serve to God's  household. Peter referred to the milk diet when he said: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby" (1 Peter 2: 2).   But if there are those who continue to take milk and do not grow spiritually so that they are not able to chew the strong meat of the Word, Paul declares they are still babes. He pointed out: "For everyone that useth milk is unskil£ul in the word of  righteousness: for he is a babe” (Heb. 5:13). Paul in verse 12  had complained of those of whom he was speaking, wherein they “ought to have been teachers, they needed to be taught again what the first principles of the oracles of God.”  Instead of being able to take strong meat, they must be fed milk again.    Then he said:  "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." (Heb. 5: 14.) </div> <div>      Paul counseled his hearers to leave the elementary principles of Christian doctrine, once they were mastered as the foundation of the believer's experience, and advance toward maturity. They should strive to “grow in grace and knowledge,” to gain a full comprehension of the more deeply spiritual mysteries and  teachings of the Scriptures. </div> <div>      The faithful servants are to speak to the household of God, which is comprised of those who have already par- taken of the sincere milk of the Word. They are to give meat of God's truth to them, which means that they are to guide His household into a knowledge and understanding of the breadth and depth and height of God's spiritually inspired revelations. The subsequent attitude of the evil servant  clearly indicates  that in this  instance the  "meat in due season" which includes instructions in regard to the imminence of the quiet return of the Jesus Christ at Pentecost, which they don't understand.</div> <bR> <div>      The fact that the wise servants, because of their faithfulness, are to be given rulership over all His (Jesus Christ's) goods, marks them as "over-comers." It is only the over-comers who are to be given such a great responsibility, for it is stated elsewhere in the Scriptures that they are to reign with Christ in the restored Kingdom. </div> <div>      But of the class designated as "evil servants" Jesus said:  "But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth His coming; And shall begin to smite his fellow- servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken: The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for Him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matt. 24: 48-51.) </div> <div>      In referring to this classification of servants as "evil," it is to be noticed that, the Greek word that might have been employed here, is the Greek word “kakos” that is used. The meaning of this word does not necessarily associate it with active wickedness; rather, it indicates an inward desire tending to disbelief and unfaithfulness. We see how accurate this choice of word is, for it is in his heart that the evil servant discounts the return of  Jesus Christ coming, although outwardly appearing as though he were one in spirit with his fellow servants. </div> <div>      It is this inward infidelity that leads to what follows.   The evil servants, together with those who are wise, were expecting the return of the Lord. Then something occurred that led the evil servants to admit, but in their hearts only, that they no longer considered that coming imminent. Jesus had already emphasized the need for watchfulness, stating that His return would be ''as a thief," [return for His first fruits quietly].  This announcement had immediately preceded the illustration of the two servants and their respective attitudes toward His coming.  “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matt, 24: 42-44). </div> <div>      The evil servant in the Lord's illustration says, "My Lord delayeth His coming." Obviously, therefore, it is a seeming failure in the anticipated timing of His coming that brings the evil servants to the conclusion that   watchfulness on their part is no longer warranted, The activities foretold in the words, "begin to smite his fellow servants," become apparent when we find these evil servants berating those who continue to show forth proof of the imminence of His second return. Meanwhile, the evil servants turn away to eat and drink with the drunken; that is, consort with those actuated only by spiritual emotionalism. From this we may infer that they join in the ridicule directed against those who remain alert and watchful.  </div> <bR> <div>  We are living in the very time Jesus defined as the "due season" in which it would be imperative that His household be fed meat not milk!!</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>