the greatest danger of the church is when God's people are gullible. We cannot be gullible; we have to be discerning. We have only one life to live, and that one life must be lived to pursue spiritual perfection, to become more and more like Christ. Every day of our lives, we have to be growing spiritually. If we are not growing, something is wrong. And anything that will hinder our spiritual walk, anyone who is detrimental to the spiritual life of the church, to our family, to our children, to our individual lives, we will disassociate. We will not fellowship; we will not follow after, no matter how close that person is with us. That person may be with us for 40, 50 years; it doesn't matter. Our allegiance is always to God. Our lives must always be lived for His glory. Anything that comes in between must go.
they say, that you’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. It’s one of those realities of life, that we’re often unaware of, or simply fail to admit, the reality that we follow examples, every day, every where. the question isn’t, are you being influenced by another person? but who is it that is influencing you? someone is having an undeniable effect on your thinking and behaviour, right now, as we speak. who is it?
Hello again, and welcome back to the podcast that helps you understand God’s tried and true words, to help you test the quality of your own life.
Today, Pastor Paul Cheng returns to his series on the Epistle to the Philippians. All throughout this third chapter, the Apostle Paul has been defining and refining our spiritual goals and ambitions. First he set our sights on the finish line of our lives in heaven. Then he took a step back to help us chart a course to get there by actively discerning God’s will for our lives. Today, he takes yet another step back to discuss the day to day interactions we have with other people. You and I have already built relationships along our way to eternity. But whom are we supposed to follow or avoid? What examples are we ourselves meant to set for others? Are we even supposed to follow human examples, or is that detracting from our following the Lord Jesus Christ?
Here’s Pastor Paul to answer these questions.
You’ve been listening to Paul Cheng from his series on the epistle to the philippians. Whilst listening to him speak, I couldn’t help think of the way we adults take great interest in the examples our children follow. We’re keenly aware of the friends they make at school, and we even explicitly encourage them to stay with particular children, I like that kid, or don’t hang out with that person in the future, he’s bad news. But what about ourselves? The Apostle’s strong words are unmistakeably clear: we are to actively, purposely, deliberately follow Godly examples, and likewise avoid ungodly examples.
Thank you for joining us today. I’m your host, Joshua Nah, and if you’ve found this helpful, feel free to share the podcast with friends - it could be the way you influence another person today.
Next week, Pastor Paul continues with the apostle’s expansion into what made the Apostle and his fellow believers examples worth following: the fact that they were heavenly minded. You might’ve heard this term before, but what does it mean? Does it have a specific meaning, or does is it just a vague reference to thinking about heaven and avoiding thoughts about life on earth as we know it? Find out next time here, on Tried and True.