I know over the years, during these question-and-answer times, I have always enjoyed listening to our brothers’ responses. The last year or two, I have had a whole different perspective on this session.
The question is: How do we practically live out that exchange life? “I have been personally struggling, and it has been difficult seeing my life of worry and fret reflect the reality that it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
Now, when one writes these questions, you are never quite sure what they are really asking. I am going to take advantage of a couple of words used in this question to make a couple of points.
I always have, in one way, a concern when somebody says, “practically.” Oftentimes, I know in my own life, when somebody said “practically,” what I was asking was, “Look, just tell me what to do. Give me a list of two or three things. Tell me what to do.”
This trusting in the Lord, this Christ being my life—I get that. All right, now tell me what to do.
Well, He will. We are not going to tell you what to do, but praise God, you go to Him. He will tell you what to do, because He desires that it be practically lived out and expressed in us.
Sometimes, when people write questions, they refer only to part of a verse. This person wrote the first part of Galatians 2:20: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” But praise God, that verse does not stop there.
Turn to Galatians 2:20, and let us read the full verse.
I have been crucified with Christ;
and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me:
and that life which I now live in the flesh
I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God,
Who loved me, and gave Himself up for me.
The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith—not in our faith, but by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and delivered Himself up for me.
There is a life of faith here. This person realizes that his life was not reflecting the reality of what he was seeing in this verse. There is a truth, a reality, here.
But sometimes, to use another word this person used, he says, “I am not seeing.” Now, what are we looking for? What is our perspective? Are we seeing with our natural eyes? Do we have our own perspective?
“Oh, I am not living this life. I worry, I fret, and all that.”
That is why we do not walk by sight. We walk by faith. If we walk by sight, we stumble all the time. But praise God, the walk we have been called into is a walk of faith. It is faith in Him Who has loved us, died for us, now dwells within us, and has overcome all things.
The question dealt with worrying and fretting, but we can apply this broadly to any challenge in life. You know the truth; you know the reality.
I used to play football. I played defensive end for a good number of years. When a sweep came your way, you had a couple of backs coming, two linemen pulling, all these guys running at you, and the runner right behind them. Here they come.
Do you know what the defensive end’s responsibility was? It was not to make the tackle. It was just to knock out all the blockers. Then the linebacker gets all the glory because he gets to make the tackle.
Anyway, in this question, we can see how this truth applies to anything.
We will use worrying and fretting as our example this morning. Is worrying and fretting the real issue? We all worry and fret. I was sitting here last night worrying and fretting: “Am I going to get a question?” Then I got the question, and I was worrying and fretting: “Do I have an answer?”
But is the real issue the worrying and fretting? I am going to play doctor for a minute. Actually, worrying and fretting are simply symptoms of a deeper issue.
The things we battle in life, we often think, “Oh, I have a problem with worrying.” No, that is not the problem. I talk with many brothers and sisters about finances. They say, “I have a problem with finances.” No, that is a symptom of a deeper issue.
The symptom here with worrying and fretting is that we do not trust in the Lord. God has said something. Are we going to believe the reality of that, stand in it, and walk by faith? Or are we going to go by our feelings and our seeing?
This is the battle we are in within this exchange life. The Lord knows that, as we go through this world, there will be things that make us anxious. There will be things that make us worry and fret. We are not condemned for that.
But when worry and fret come upon us, what do we do? What is our response?
Turn to Matthew 6. In Matthew 6:25-34, the Lord deals with worrying, fretting, and anxiety. The Sermon on the Mount is one of the greatest discourses by our Lord. Being an accountant, I always like to count verses. There are about ten verses related to anxiety and fretting, making it one of the major topics in the Sermon on the Mount.
The issue is not when we start worrying and fretting. The issue is: What is our response?
Therefore I say unto you, be not anxious for your life,
what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink;
nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.
Is not the life more than the food,
and the body than the raiment?
For after all these things do the Gentiles seek;
for your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first His kingdom, and His righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Be not therefore anxious for the morrow:
for the morrow will be anxious for itself.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
The Lord is aware of our anxieties and frettings. When we begin to worry and fret, and the Lord points it out to us, that is His lovingkindness being manifested to us.
He is saying, “Look, here is a symptom in your life. There is something in your life where you do not know the reality of My life. There is an area in your life where you do not know Christ as your life, and I want to prove that to you.”
Sometimes we get condemned when we start feeling worry and fretting. But no, He says, “This is an opportunity. This is a symptom. There is something in your life where you are not trusting Me. You are not walking in this way of faith. You are not standing in the reality. I want to prove Myself in the midst of this anxiety at work, this anxiety over a child not behaving as you would like, anxiety over schools, or anxiety within assemblies.”
These are opportunities. But often we walk not by faith, but by sight or feelings, and it ends up paralyzing us. We deny the very overcoming life within us the opportunity to come forth and prove Himself to us.
May we see these things as opportunities, and not feel condemned by the initial feelings. In ourselves, this is who we are; but in Christ there is an overcoming life. There is a secure life.
There is a battle going on for the life and soul of each one of us. Peter addresses this battle in 1 Peter 5.
There is an old quote that I have Googled several times, trying to find who originally said it, but I have never been able to trace it all the way back. It simply says: “Do you believe what you believe?”
We all believe in Who God is. We believe He is our security, our comfort, and our provider. But in life, do our lives reflect that reality? Do we show forth in a living way that, in the midst of what is going on, we believe the Lord?
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you in due time;
casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He careth for you.
Be sober, be watchful:
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
Do we know that He cares for us? He wants us to cast whatever we are worrying and fretting about upon Him, allowing Him to provide and come through.
The adversary prowls about, seeking someone who is trusting in himself. But praise God, we have One Who has overcome the enemy.
Whom withstand steadfast in your faith,
knowing that the same sufferings are accomplished
in your brethren who are in the world.
“Lord, I believe. I do not see it, and I do not feel it. At times I may even question it, but I am standing firm in You. I am walking by faith. I am believing You in the midst of this circumstance that has me totally out of rest. Even when everything looks like it is going down the drain, I am believing You.”
Part of our discipleship and training in this day is learning, because of the intensity of the battle, to stand firm in Christ.
The Lord knows each one of us. He sees areas in our lives where we do not trust Him and where we are vulnerable to getting out of rest, worrying, and fretting.
In His great love, in His masterful discipling us into Christ, He arranges circumstances that allow us to find Him as our all-sufficiency and security in everything.
May we see worrying and fretting as God’s lovingkindness exposing a symptom in our lives. We do not merely treat symptoms; we get to the root and core of the problem. Christ has dealt with that, and He wants to prove to us in a wonderful way that He is our all-sufficiency and security.
Praise God, there is victory in whatever situation we find ourselves.
Before I answer the questions given to me, I would like to say a few words first.
To call this session “questions and answers” is not quite correct, because we all have questions, but God alone is the answer.
Do not think that we few brothers will be able to answer all your questions, or even all your real questions. We cannot do it. God alone is the answer.
Whenever you have a real problem, go to the Lord. Do not go to man. Men may be able to remove some of your hindrances, but no one can answer your question.
I hope this does not discourage you. As a matter of fact, it should encourage you. Whenever we have a real problem—a spiritual problem, not merely a problem in our mind—the only way is to go directly to God.
Why, then, do we have this question-and-answer period? It is because man may be used by God to help remove some hindrances that stand in the way, so that you can go to God and get the answer.
That is why we are here this morning.
I have received two questions. One is in Chinese, and the other is in English. I will go to the Chinese one first and interpret it into English.
The question concerns Brother Carl’s message on Sunday. He mentioned, “If the Lord should come now, are you ready?” The questioner did not quite understand what was meant by having assurance of readiness.
I hope I did not give you the wrong impression. I do not think I said bluntly that I am ready. I dare not do that. My only hope is that, by the grace of God, I will be ready.
Whenever we think ourselves ready, I am afraid that most of the time it shows that we are not ready. We need to humble ourselves before the Lord, give ourselves to Him, and ask Him to ready us.
We cannot make ourselves ready. That would be self-effort. We can only humbly give ourselves to the Lord and say, “Lord, ready me. Make me ready for Thy imminent return.”
That is the only attitude we can take.
The second question concerns the assurance of salvation, sanctification, and overcoming.
It is true that we can be assured of our initial salvation, because it is the work of God. If we believe in the Lord Jesus, we are sure, because the Word says so: we shall be saved.
But the question asks: To whom does the final call of God—the call to overcome—refer?
Brothers and sisters, by the grace of God, all who believe in Him as Savior have been saved. But the last call of God to His church, to those who have believed in Him, is the call to overcome.
Our Lord Jesus has overcome, and His overcoming life is within each one of us. His life enables us to overcome whatever circumstances we may be in.
The call to overcome points to all who have believed in Him. He is the Overcomer. He never expects anyone who has believed in Him to be overcome. He wants all of us who believe in Him to be overcomers, just as He has overcome.
Why? Because He has given us His overcoming life.
By ourselves, with our own lives, we could never overcome sin, the world, or Satan. Satan is more powerful than we are. This was proven in the lives of our forefathers, Adam and Eve.
But our Lord Jesus came into this world, and during His three and a half years upon the earth, every moment He lived an overcoming life. He overcame the world. He overcame sin. He overcame Satan. He overcame Himself.
He said:
I can do nothing of Myself.
I can go nowhere by Myself.
I can say nothing on My own.
I do everything according to what the Father has shown Me.
That is overcoming life. Thank God, we who believe in the Lord Jesus all have that life in us.
Do not think that the call to overcome is an impossible thing. The Lord, when He was on earth, showed us that overcoming life. We who have the life of Christ in us are called to be overcomers—not because we can overcome, for we cannot—but because He has overcome and He is our life.
If we depend upon ourselves, if we try by ourselves, no matter how hard we try, we will be overcome by sin, by the world, and by Satan. We have tried our best, but what did we find? We found that our best is no match for temptation.
But thank God, He gave us His overcoming life, that all who believe in the Lord Jesus may overcome.
Our overcoming does not depend upon ourselves. Our overcoming is one hundred percent dependent upon the life of Christ in us.
In the book of Revelation, the call to overcome is addressed to every church. Whether it is a glorious church such as Philadelphia, or a defeated church such as Laodicea, the call is the same:
He that overcometh.
Wherever God has placed you, whether in the best circumstances or the worst circumstances, the call is the same, because you have the life of overcoming within you: Christ in you, the hope of glory.
What is the Christian life? Christian life is an exchange life.
We do not live today by ourselves. We have done that in the past, and it has been proven that we have failed. So do not try again to be the best Christian or a perfect Christian by yourself. You will not be able to do it.
That is why, when God saves you, Christ comes to dwell in your spirit. By His life in you, by the indwelling Holy Spirit, He will lead you into that overcoming life.
After you have believed in the Lord Jesus, you find something very different. It is not because you have changed yourself; it is because Christ has come by His Spirit to dwell in your new spirit. There, He is leading you into this life of victory.
Believing in the Lord Jesus is a very real experience. If you have believed in the Lord Jesus, you find that the Lord Jesus is dwelling in your new spirit, leading you in a way of victory. But it requires your cooperation.
What should we do? We are not supposed to try to be perfect Christians. What we do is follow the leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
As soon as you are saved, you find Someone in your spirit leading you in the way of holiness. Before we believed in the Lord Jesus, we may have had the habit of boasting. When we boasted, we felt good about it. But after we believe in the Lord Jesus, when we boast beyond reality, a still, small voice tells us, “This is not true.”
Sometimes we are so used to boasting that we do not stop. We continue, but afterward we feel bad about it. When we begin to pray at night, unless we confess, it seems as though our life with the Lord has been blocked.
Brothers and sisters, this is the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, leading you into the life of sanctification. It is not by our effort, but by our obedience.
Christian life is a life of obedience: obeying the leading of the inward Holy Spirit.
He is sympathetic to us. He will not begin with big things. He will begin with small things, ordinary things. But gradually, He will bring you more and more within, until you are completely sanctified by His leading.
The question asks what happens to believers who do not overcome. Do they go to hell? Are they still saved? Will the great tribulation involve all believers, even those who have passed away, or only those living?
Brothers and sisters, the Lord is coming back. We believe that all the prophecies preceding the coming of the Lord have been fulfilled. We are living in the end time, at a time when our Lord Jesus can return at any moment.
We are living in the time of Revelation 12. The Lord is coming back, and that is why we need to be ready.
The enemy is not interested in the so-called church today, because much of so-called Christianity has already fallen into his hand. But he is intensely interested in the man-child that is to be born out of the tribulation of the church.
The man-child in Revelation 12 is a corporate term. It does not refer to one person, and it cannot refer to Christ, because Christ was born and remained upon the earth through His earthly ministry. But the man-child, when born, is immediately caught up to the third heaven.
The man-child refers to the brethren who overcome Satan. It is a corporate term: the overcomers living at the coming of the Lord.
The first sign of the Lord’s coming is the rapture of the man-child. Suddenly, all over the world, the world goes on as usual—eating, drinking, and marrying. Some are grinding in the morning; some are working in the field in the daytime; some are sleeping at night.
These represent Christians living at the coming of the Lord. The earth is round; at the same time, some are in the morning, some in the daytime, and some in the evening.
The man-child represents the overcomers living at the time of the Lord’s coming.
Whether you are caught up to the third heaven, passing through the headquarters of the enemy, or left behind to go through the great tribulation, depends on how faithful you are today.
If you are faithful to the Lord, when He comes, He will take you to Himself, to be part of the welcoming party for His return. But if you are not faithful, even though you are saved, you will be left behind during the great tribulation.
Does this mean the Lord does not love you? No. He loves you so much that even the great tribulation gives you another opportunity to become an overcomer.
The Lord wants every believer to be an overcomer, just as He is. We are living at a thrilling time. There is a great opportunity open to every one of us. Will you take it? Or will you love the world for a little thing in the world and forfeit the glorious rapture?
What will you choose?
I hope every one of us will choose to follow the Lord faithfully and to be raptured. Thank God for that.
Lord, we do commit ourselves to Thee, trusting, Lord, that by Thy grace and mercy we will be those who are ready for Thy return. Come, Lord Jesus. This is the cry of our heart. In Thy name, amen.
I have three questions assigned to me, and I think at various moments in my life I have asked all three questions.
The first question is: Is wearing a cross around your neck idol worship?
In the Bible, I found three examples or categories of idolatry.
The first category is the worship of a graven image—an idol of wood or some other material, with a face or image, to which a spirit is attributed. Such idols still exist and are prevalent throughout the world.
I do not believe that wearing a cross necessarily applies to this type of idolatry.
The second form of idolatry is found in Colossians 3:5-6. At the end of that passage, covetousness is called idolatry. This is more subtle than the first kind. Covetousness involves things we long for and strive to have, often allowing them to supersede our desire for the Lord—money, fame, recognition, and so forth.
The third form is suggested in 1 John 5, where John concludes by warning us to keep ourselves from idols. Throughout the chapter, he speaks of Christ as light, love, life, victory, and our hope. Idolatry can be putting our hope in something other than the Lord Jesus.
So, when considering whether wearing a cross is idolatry, perhaps the question is: Why are we wearing it? Is it a testimony that the Lord is high in our hearts? Or are we putting our hope in the object itself?
I love watching baseball. The right fielder on the Los Angeles Dodgers wears a cross, and every time he comes to the plate, he kisses it. Even after kissing it, he may still ground out to the shortstop. Sometimes we may place our hope in something other than the Lord.
If we hang a cross from the rear-view mirror and begin trusting it, that may border on idolatry. But these are personal matters. We should go to the Lord and ask: “Why am I wearing this?”
I hope you are not worshiping the cross around your neck. Hopefully, it is not the first kind of idolatry. But let us consider whether it falls into one of these forms.
The second question is: How can you tell the difference between God’s peace and the comfort of the soul, especially in regard to being led?
The first thing is that these two are not necessarily opposites. Sometimes God’s peace gives us comfort in our hearts. But we can have comfort in the soul without God’s peace—a temporary feeling that something is good while something deeper in us knows it is not right.
Sometimes we have God’s peace but do not have the comfort of the soul.
The comfort of the soul often comes with the removal of something unpleasant. But the peace of God comes regardless of the outcome.
Many of my children have been afraid of the dark. The comfort of the soul would be like saying, “I will turn on the lights for you.” That removes the badness and brings comfort.
But the peace of God is different. When the light remains off and a child is afraid, sometimes my wife will go and sit in the room with them. The darkness is still there, but her presence allows them to overcome their fear. I wish I could give that example with Dad instead of Mom, but it would not be true.
When there is something we really want—a job, a particular college, a relationship—we may feel comfort when we receive it. Then we may wonder whether it is the comfort of the soul or the peace of God.
It may be both. But when there is something we really want, yet we love the Lord and wonder whether the desire is of the flesh, that is when we go to our knees. We ask the Lord, struggle with it before Him, and allow Him to cause us to grow up.
He may or may not give us what we want, but we can have the peace of God.
The final question is: How do we know when a tradition has become a hindrance to our corporate experience of the newness of Christ’s life, particularly when the body is of mixed ages?
The word tradition is a neutral term. It simply means something passed on, hopefully for good, from one generation to another or from one group to another.
Many things we do when we gather are not specifically commanded in the Bible. We may do them because they were helpful to brothers and sisters in the house of God. We do traditional things in our families and in our work as well.
There are good traditions in the Bible. Paul wrote to the Corinthians and Thessalonians concerning traditions that had been passed down. He said:
Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.
There are also bad traditions. We are warned to beware of the traditions of men. The Lord rebuked those who set aside the commandment of God in order to keep their traditions.
If something is a commandment from the Lord, it is not merely a tradition. Praying is not a tradition. It is part of the life of Christ, and it is commanded in the Word.
The difficulty lies in the middle area: when a practice was once alive and helpful, but later becomes mere imitation. Sometimes the first part remains—“Imitate me”—while the crucial second part is lost—“as I imitate Christ.”
Therefore, we must continually seek the Lord in the way we do things. Even concerning whether we should meet together next year, we have to pray. We cannot merely assume that we meet because we always meet.
However, sometimes the younger generation asks about traditions not because they have seen a lack of life, but because they do not understand and want to understand.
The older generation should not give up practices merely to appease the younger generation. But if something has been a real blessing from the Lord and is alive to us, we should explain it.
The critical matters are communication and love.
We cannot merely say, “Do what we do. Do not ask questions.” That is dangerous. Children and young people are thinking, listening, and observing all the time. They are not mysterious blobs of flesh accompanying us wherever we go. They have the capacity to understand why we do things as the Lord has led us.
We need to engage with them and explain why we do things as we do. These are precious opportunities to share the life that has been imparted to us.
The second matter is love. The world is communicating a message clearly to our children through their friends, teachers, television, and the internet. We have the message of the Lord, and sometimes it may seem old-fashioned.
But if we speak from the pulpit and then ignore young people afterward, merely telling them to do as we do without asking why, they may not know that we love them.
The advantage we have over the world is that our children can know their parents and the brothers and sisters in the house of God love them. If they know we love them, that love gives the Lord room to reach their hearts.
If there is a tradition we ourselves do not understand and are merely doing by rote, we should ask the Lord, “Why are we doing this?” But if something is real to us, let us explain it. And whenever we meet, for any reason, let us love one another.
There can be natural separation between generations, and cultural differences may make this more pronounced. Respect and proper titles can be good things, but we cannot let them hinder the Lord’s love from flowing to younger ones.
When they ask, “Why do we do things this way?” communicate and explain. It is a wonderful opportunity.
Perhaps you feel the need to stand up for just a minute. Why do you not? I do not know about you, but these seats are not made for me. There you go—stretch. We are in the final leg now. All right, back down.
The most pertinent question to what we have shared this weekend is: In the middle of problems in a church, hold on to Christ. Please explain what it means to hold on to Christ.
This refers to holding fast to the Head. Turn to Colossians 2.
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink,
or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day:
which are a shadow of the things to come;
but the body is Christ’s.
Let no man rob you of your prize
by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels,
dwelling in the things which he hath seen,
vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
and not holding fast the Head,
from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together
through the joints and bands,
increaseth with the increase of God.
Paul assumes the church understands that we gather in the life of Christ and by the life of Christ. Holding fast to the Head means that Christ is our supply of life. He is also our Judge, our Boss, our Head, and our Ruler.
The church should do all it can to make sure Christ is always the Ruler.
Sometimes men or women try to lead us and become our boss instead of the Head. Someone tells us that we must observe particular feasts, keep special days, follow dietary rules, or do certain religious acts. The question is: Did the Lord say that, or is that simply some person telling us what to do?
Perhaps the Lord will lead us to fast together concerning a problem. But when authoritarian people come along and tell us what to do, we need to ask whether Christ is speaking.
I was a pastor until the day the Lord chopped off my head and said, “I do not want you to be the pastor. I am the Pastor.” I learned the hard way that I was not the pastor.
I do know one man who is called a pastor and who leads the saints to listen to the Lord. That is a good under-shepherd. When others have an idea, he says, “Let us ask the Lord about this.” That is holding fast to the Head.
The clearest example is Acts 15. Some believers from Jerusalem said that Gentiles needed to be circumcised in order to be received. The disciples brought the matter before the Lord and gathered in Jerusalem.
There was heated debate. Some believers insisted upon circumcision, while others said to leave the Gentiles alone. Then Peter stood up and testified that the Lord had sent him to Cornelius’s house and that Gentiles received the Holy Spirit without circumcision.
Then Paul and Barnabas spoke about how the Lord had worked among the Gentiles.
Finally, James stood and said that the Lord had accepted the Gentiles and that they should not be required to be circumcised. Then they said:
It seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us.
There was a church in a divisive situation, but they held fast to the Head until they heard from the Head.
This requires great patience. Often people are on two sides of an issue and keep trying to convince one another. But laying hold of the Head often means laying our own idea at the foot of the cross and saying, “Lord, what do You want?”
“Our brother thinks this, and another brother thinks that, but we are united under the Head. We can only grow when the Head leads us. Lord, what do You say?”
If we wait before the Lord in true humility, He will show us the way. It may not be one person’s idea or another person’s idea; it may be the Lord’s idea.
That is what holding fast to the Head means. He is our final Judge.
When I was a new Christian, I smoked two packs of Marlboros a day. A brother judged me and said, “You are a Christian. You should not smoke.”
I felt guilty. I spoke to my father-in-law, who was a wonderful, wise, spiritual Christian man. I said, “Brother so-and-so says I should not smoke.”
Do you know what my father-in-law said? “What is the Lord telling you?”
I thought it was me against that brother. It was not that at all. He said, “What does the Lord say to you?”
I asked the Lord. He began to talk to me, and after a couple of months I gave up smoking. But I learned a lesson: do not merely let some person tell you what to do. Ask the Lord.
Sometimes someone tells you something and he may be right. But let us find out from the Lord. That is holding fast to the Head.
The next question is: How do you balance gaining knowledge from Bible study and having practical application for those truths?
Let us begin with our Savior. Turn to Isaiah 50:4.
The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of them that are taught,
that I should know how to sustain with words him that is weary:
He wakeneth morning by morning,
He wakeneth mine ear to hear as they that are taught.
The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear,
and I was not rebellious,
neither turned away backward.
Here is our Lord Jesus prophetically speaking. He says, “I go to My Lord every morning and listen for His word. I want to be obedient, and perhaps have a word that can help someone else.”
That is why it is important to begin in the morning by opening the Word of God and hearing something from the Lord. I am not talking about reading twelve chapters. Read some portion and say, “Lord, speak to me.”
Every Christian should have some kind of regular process of reading through the whole Bible. Then read through it again. Every time you go through the Word, you know the Lord better, you see more, and you understand more.
There is balance in reading the whole Bible. We should not be suspicious New Testament Christians who neglect the rest of God’s Word.
If your fellowship is studying a portion of the Bible, make it yours. If you are studying the Gospel of John, read John repeatedly. Underline it, mark questions, observe repeated words, and become familiar with it.
I hope you have a Bible you can mark up. I have yet to find a good Bible student who only has an electronic Bible. You may prove me wrong, but I find that with electronic Bibles people often do not memorize or see the Word in the same way.
It is good to know where something is on the page. Make the portion of Scripture yours. Know it, understand it, and let it become part of you.
Then leave it to the Holy Spirit to make the practical application. Sometimes He stores much in your memory, and it will be used later. We should not stop studying because we think we are not being practical enough.
Let the Holy Spirit lead. He will make real to you something you studied and perhaps did not understand before.
The final question is: We are asked to overcome in the church. How do we do this when biblical doctrines are being compromised—identity, gender roles, an unclear gospel, seeker-friendly practices, or restrictions on serving without formal membership?
The first question is: Is that where the Lord wants you?
For my money, I would move where there is fellowship. If you are living in a place of convenience but the only church nearby is doing many strange things, ask whether the Lord wants you there or whether it is simply convenient.
If that is where the Lord has chosen for you, there is a way to overcome there. In the seven churches of Revelation, some were in poor condition. But did the Lord tell them to get out? He told them to overcome where they were.
There is also a call to come out of Babylon and be separate. But that refers to a church that has become a harlot through union with the world. If it is merely the world, it is not the church.
But if the Lord has told you to go to a church where there are many difficulties, how do you overcome?
First, you go where you are asked to go and lay down your life. The first thing the returned exiles built after captivity was the altar. Therefore, be a worshiper.
Have you ever been in a church where many people are singing, but you can almost spot the worshipers? Be a true worshiper. Lay down your life for the people and worship God.
Then get into Bible studies. Lay the foundation: the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. When opportunities arise, know your Bible and share something with brothers and sisters.
In many larger churches, there may be a small remnant group. The Moravians entered the Anglican Church and established Bible studies through the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. John Wesley was greatly helped by the Moravians in those groups.
You would be amazed where you can find precious Christians. If God has asked you to be there, there may be other precious, Spirit-filled, seeking Christians whom you can find.
Be open: a true worshiper, a true Bible student, and a true fellowshippper. Go into the fellowship hall, but do not merely fellowship-hall—fellowship.
The life of the Lord is in you to shine even in a place that is in the shadows. If that is where the Lord has told you to be, He will provide a way for you to bear the testimony of Jesus even in difficult places.
May the Lord help us and recover His church, that we may stand in the testimony of Jesus in these last days.