TESTING AND APPROVING ALL THINGS. No body of believers will have faced the testing which the last day church will face. The climax of all that is evil will come in our generation. Everything that is involved in unrighteousness will soon manifest itself in a greater display than ever before. Be assured the church will be sorely tested. The word approved here means both the testing of an item for its strength and the acceptance and approval of an item. Things which are more excellent, or spiritual things which are of greatest value. Also required is an attitude of sincerity, to be without transgression of any kind and absolutely faultless before the Lord. The word sincere means, that which is judged in sunshine and then that which is clear and manifest. (Barnes.) His church stands judged in the light of He who is the light of the world. There is no question as to the outcome, for she is filled with His light and glory. Living a life that is without offense. The importance of living a life of perfection is verified by the fact of the timing of these statements. A condition of righteousness and holiness is necessary right up to and until the day of Christ, or His second coming. Phil. 1:10 Preparation for His coming must be made prior to His appearing. His Bride will have made herself ready, prior to the wedding and certainly prior to His second coming. There is no sudden spiritual cleansing scheduled for Christians at the second coming of Christ. Paul, speaks of a change but that change is an alteration of the physical body to that of a spiritual body. The time element is the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the last one. What happens in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye is the changing of these mortal bodies into resurrected, transformed bodies. We are to have a new body like unto that of the Lord Jesus. A body which is both material and immaterial. A glorified body, which never again can be subjected to sickness, aging or death. 1 Cor. 15:52 Do not count on a sudden spiritual elevation from a sinning saint (?) to a cleansed and prepared saint. Today is the day of salvation, and preparation for that blessed day which is coming soon.
GOD AT WORK. He would manifest His power and glory in the life of each and every one who comes to Him. The works of the Lord are always good and beneficial for those who love Him and serve Him. His works are mighty works of renewal and refreshing. What He accomplishes in His church will be evidence of His efficiency and effectual ability. He is moving in His church to bring forth that which is His will for the church. His desire is that she reach the status of perfection, which is His good pleasure. He has not given up on producing a body of believers who will satisfy the very fullest of the desires of His heart. Phil. 2:13 Everyone in whom the Lord would manifest Himself is called of the Father, for no man may come to Him except the FATHER DRAW him. That any man comes to Christ is an act of the Father. John 6:44 The Son, the Lord Jesus also will draw all men unto Himself by virtue of His crucifixion. John 12:32
THE ULTIMATE STANDARD FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE LORD. His standards are always high and holy. In this case His expectation of those who are His is that they be BLAMELESS and HARMLESS, in spite of the wickedness and sin surrounding them. The conditions of unrighteousness found in the world should not have an effect on the church. The church is to be pure and unsullied from the spirit and actions of the ungodly. Sons of the Most High, born of His Word and His Spirit. NEW creatures in Christ Jesus. Phil. 2:15 One of the great signs of sonship is the ability to love our enemies. This is contrary to everything which is of the natural, the carnal man. If someone is our enemy, we hate them and desire to do them harm or see them hurt in some manner as a pay back. But a Son of God will try to do them good, they will lend to them without expecting a return. In this manner they are verified as being sons of the Most High. Wow, not an easy situation, but with the help of the Lord it can and more than that it must be done. Luke 6:35 They who would be children of the Lord must manifest certain criterion, they are challenged to separate themselves from the world, that is, worldly actions and forms of living which are unclean. They are to leave that which is unclean and impure untouched, exhibiting the Spirit of the Father and family to which they now belong. Such a separation enables the Father to acknowledge His own and to prove the glory of Himself in His children. 2 Cor. 6:17-18 All this can and will be accomplished at a time when the world has reached the apex of unrighteousness, or the end of the age. The ability of the Lord to keep His own from sin and unrighteousness is not just made known in seasons when the working of sin is low and in a lull. The real display of its exceeding great power is manifest in the time of a generation of a crooked, warped and perverse, morally corrupt world. In the time of gross darkness His children will shine with the same glory which is so often manifest in the Lord. Phil. 2:15 His children will bear His likeness in the inner, the spiritual man and that likeness will manifest itself outwardly. There is a visible difference between the Godly and the ungodly.