A THOUGHT!!!

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Jonathan McNair wrote:
 
> Exo 8:23  And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to
> morrow shall this sign be.
> 
> It is right, of course, to come out and be separate in our outward walk
> and behavior. But, deeper than this, if only we will let the Spirit of
> God work unhindered, it will affect an inward division. Our tastes and
> desires, our hopes and aims will become different, and we shall be aware
> of a growing dissimilarity between ourselves and the world!!!

Praise God!  That is the nail smack-dab on the head.  So many have been
OUTWARD oriented and have tried to clean the outside of the cup
while the inside kept on sending out its rank and putrid smell!

When the heart is realized as the "heart" of the matter, and it is targetted 
for holiness, THEN and ONLY THEN wil the outward be "correctly" cleansed.
Notice Jesus did not say cleanse the outward.  He said CLEANSE THE INWARD
and the outward WILL BE CLEAN.  IOW, we simply will not be able to
stomach worldly outwardness if our hearts are holy!!!! The outward WILL
change!!

Those who leave the heart filthy and set up the outward so "holy" are 
easy to spot.  They are self-righteous and always criticize others for
the lack of outward holiness.  And they have sharp tempers and all sorts
of carnal traits.  Their "yacking" and picking motes out of eyes 
is the very beam in their own eyes.

Paul said in Col. 2, that outward mindedness is WORLDLINESS.  The
self-righteous would think the outward restrictions they comply to are the 
very opposite or worldliness, but Paul was saying the very concentration
upon the outward is in fact worldy since the world is Outwardly oriented.
Stress on buttons, threads and fabric is simply OUTWARD. If all we are 
concerned with is how people should dress, then we are worldy.

Do not get me wrong, I probably hold higher standards than most on this 
list, but I am simply saying that unless the heart is right, the outward 
means nothing! NOTHING!

If I had a choice, I would sooner fellowship the worldly dressing
believer who had a godly heart than a holiness standard believer
who could cut you to the bone with two words!  Howbeit, if a person was
godly in heart there WOULD BE AN OUTWARD sign of it appearance,
for Jesus said the Outside will be clean if the inside is cleaned.
But I said that just to prove a point.  The worldly dressed believer
would SOON CHANGE if they were truly godly-hearted, anyhow.

> There is no way possible to live and walk in the Spirit and it not make
> a difference in us. When the Spirit is working in us, stirring up our
> pure minds by way of remembrance and convicting us of sin,
> righteousness, & judgement, there has to be a change!!!

Exactly!  Let us stress what Jesus and the apostles stressed!  How much did 
they mention the outward?  FEW TIMES!!!  But they DID mention it!!!  
Nevertheless the heart and spirit were noted FAR MORE TIMES.
They knew the heart is the heart of the problem.  And worldy apparel 
is a problem.  And anyone who does not think the godly heart SHOULD 
manifest outward holiness is simply  wrong.

How anybody could think that scanty clothing is alright in their christian
life is beyond me!  What christian would want to stir the other sex up
everytime they walked down the street?
 
I get stirred about this, but it is only from a standpoint that sresses 
inward change BEFORE outward change of apparel.  I am sorry but I do not
believe in preaching standards to a new convert until well after they 
are saved - I mean MONTHS.  And even then it is so briefly mentioned.
I let God be God and tell people to love Him and give all their hearts to 
Him.  He then is able to change the heart, not me, and the outward 
changes with it!!!

One person once said to me, "Since you stress the heart so much, why are not
some people ever changing?"  They implied I should preach it simply to
FORCE the person to dress differently so that they would at least
do goo.  I replied that regardless of the outward change I can accomplish
in a person, for it would be ME and not God then, the inward is not ready
and not godly, so what good will outward change do to their souls when the
rapture takes place?  No.  I will stress and always stress the inward.
No matter what anybody thinks, Jesus and the the Apostles stressed the heart
and I will too.  I don;t care if nobody is changed outwardly due to lack of
heart change to my heart preaching.  It is still God's way to minister.
-- 
In Christ,
Mike Blume
mfblume@ns.sympatico.ca
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/mfblume/mblume.htm