|
The Manners of the Christians (from the Epistle of Diognetus
Written by an anonymous author around the
year 180 AD.) "For the Christians
are distinguished from other men
neither by country,
nor language,
nor the
customs which they observe.
For they
neither inhabit cities of their own,
nor employ a
peculiar form of speech,
nor lead a life
which is marked out by any singularity. . .
They dwell not in
their own countries,
but simply as
sojourners.
As citizens,
they share in all things with others,
and yet endure all
things as if foreigners.
Every foreign land
is to them as their native country,
and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do
all [others];
they beget children; but they do not
destroy their offspring.
They have a
common table, but not a common bed.
They are in the
flesh, but they do not live after the flesh.
They pass their
days on earth,
but they are
citizens of heaven.
They obey the
prescribed laws,
and at the same
time surpass the laws by their lives.
"They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are
unknown and condemned;
they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet
make many rich;
they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are
dishonoured,
and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil
spoken of, and yet are justified;
they are reviled,
and bless;
they are insulted,
and repay the insult with honour;
they do good,
yet are punished as evil-doers.
When punished, they
rejoice as if quickened into life;
they are assailed
by the Jews as foreigners,
and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who
hate them are unable to assign
any reason for their hatred." Phil 1:27-29
(KJV)
Only let your manner of
life be as it is worthy of the gospel of Christ:
that whether I come and see you,
or else be absent,
I may hear of your affairs,
that ye stand fast in one spirit,
with one mind striving together
for the faith of the gospel;
{28} And in nothing
terrified by your adversaries:
which is to them an evident
token of their damnation,
but to you of salvation, and that
of God.
{29} For unto you it is
given in the behalf of Christ,
not only to believe on him,
but also to suffer for his
sake;
Phil 3:17-21
(TLB)
Dear brothers, pattern your
lives after mine (Paul's),
and notice who else lives up to my
example.
{18} For I have told you
often before,
and I say it again now with tears
in my eyes,
there are many who walk along the
Christian road
who are really enemies of the
cross of Christ.
{19} Their future is
eternal loss (destruction),
for their god is their appetite:
they are proud of what they should
be ashamed of;
and all they think about is this
life here on earth.
{20} But our homeland is in
heaven,
where our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is;
and we are looking forward to his
return from there.
{21} When he comes back,
he will take these dying bodies of
ours
and change them into glorious
bodies like his own,
using the same mighty power
that he will use to conquer all
else everywhere.
Eph 4:1-6
(KJV)
I therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you
that ye walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith ye are called,
{2} With all lowliness and
meekness, with longsuffering,
forbearing one another in love;
{3} Endeavouring to keep
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
{4} There is one
body, and one Spirit,
even as ye are called in one hope
of your calling;
{5} One Lord, one
faith, one baptism,
{6} One God and Father of
all,
who is above all, and
through all, and in you all.
Col 1:9-27
(KJV)
For this cause we also,
since the day we heard it,
do not cease to pray
for you,
and to desire that ye might be
filled with the knowledge of his will
in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding;
{10} That ye might walk
worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,
being fruitful in every good work,
and increasing in the knowledge of
God;
{11} Strengthened with all
might, according to his glorious power,
unto all patience and
longsuffering with joyfulness;
{12} Giving thanks unto the
Father,
which hath made
us qualified
to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light:
{13} Who hath delivered us
from the power of darkness,
and hath translated us into
the kingdom of his dear Son:
{14} In whom we have
redemption through his blood,
even the forgiveness of
sins:
{15} Who is the image of
the invisible God,
the firstborn of every
creature:
{16} For by him were all
things created,
that are in heaven, and that are
in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, or
dominions, or principalities, or powers:
all things were created by him,
and for him:
{17} And
he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
{18} And he is the
head of the body, the church:
who is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead;
that in all things he
might have the preeminence.
{19} For it pleased the
Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
{20} And, having made
peace through the blood of his cross,
by him to reconcile all
things unto himself;
by him, I say, whether
they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
{21} And you, that were
sometime alienated and enemies in your mind
by wicked
works,
yet now hath he
reconciled
{22} In the body of
his flesh through death,
to present you holy and
unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
{23} If ye continue in the
faith grounded and settled,
and be not moved away from
the hope of the gospel,
which ye have heard,
and which was preached to
every creature which is under heaven;
whereof I Paul am made a
minister;
{24} Who now rejoice in my
sufferings for you,
and fill up that which is
behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh
for his body's sake, which is the
church:
{25} Whereof I am made a
minister,
according to the dispensation of
God which is given to me for you,
to fulfil the word of God;
{26} Even the mystery which
hath been hid from ages and from generations,
but now is made manifest to
his saints:
{27} To whom God
would make known
what is the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the Gentiles;
which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory:
IXTHEUS CHRISTIAN GROWTH DEVOTIONALS
ALWAYS FREE OF
CHARGE
(but not necessarily free
of COST)
Feel free to redistribute
these materials to whomever you want.
Please submit all
questions, comments, suggestions,
or
REQUESTS FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Request a free email copy of my evangelistic
presentation:
"The God Who is Really There" from [EMAIL PROTECTED]
View back-issues of Devotionals at this
site:
send an email with CANCEL in the subject
line to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information, please visit our home page http://www.nazerene.com Yahoo! Groups Links
|
