WE NEED TO BE WHERE WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE
Fact—ice-cream melts at room temperature. It is supposed to be kept in the freezer. The fridge won’t do either.
LESSON #1—you need to be where you are supposed to be. 1 Corinthians 15:33 tells us “Do not be deceived: bad company ruins good morals.” Be careful who you are around. You will become like your friends and acquaintances.
FACT—The fridge will not keep ice-cream frozen. It has to stay in the freezer.
LESSON #2—You need to be in the best place possible. Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” It’s not enough just to hang around “good and decent” people. We have to be around God’s holy people as often as possible in order for us to become the best possible people we can be. Look at what the early church did to stay together and encourage one another:
- Acts 2:1, When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all together in one place.
- Acts 2:41, they that were baptized were added to the church
- Acts 2:42, they continued in the fellowship and breaking of the bread
- Acts 2:44, and all that believed were together
- Acts 2:46, day by day, continuing with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home.
Who did the early church hang around? They were hanging around each other. Who were their friends? The other church members. Who influenced them? The other Christians. Who influences us?
CONCLUDING APPLICATION
Let’s be in the best place possible. The best possible place to be is with the church family and in Christ himself. IF you are not in Christ, we need to remember what happened to that ice-cream after sitting outside all day.
Beginning with 2 Peter 3:10 we read, “The day of the Lord will come as a thief; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”
God makes us to be “in Christ” when we are baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:26-27). We are responsible to “walk in the light” so as to maintain fellowship with our God by staying in Christ (1 Jn. 1:7).
Donnie's Dogmatics 