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WIIITBY FEE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26,19l~80, PAGE 11i By THE REV. GODFREY C. RAVENHILL Faith Baptist Church. Whltby Blessed are they that dwell ln Thy bouse they wil be stii praising Thee: Psalm 84:4 How often have you longed to a member of the ideal Church? What, in the eyes of God, forms and ideal dhurch? The Lord's message to the seven churches in Asia, as recorded in Revelation 2 and 3 indicates that more than or- thodoxy is requlred. It is possible for everything to be correct to the letter, but dead in spirit. "Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof . ' For a church to be true, there must be genuine evidence of spiritual vltailty. For splrituality to be genuine there must be evangelical humility, the spirit and mind of Christ, tenderness of heart and a balanced Christian experience, expressed not in word only, but also in practice. There are four areas in whlch spiritual vitality should be in evidence. First, worship. Thoee wbo say that they can be Christians without going to cburch, do not reaily have the mmnd of Christ. In the 84th Psalm we see that the san- ctuary of public worship is for the true believer, it is the place for whicb the believer longs with the most intense longlng, verses 1-4. It is the source- of the believers strenght, verses 5-8. It is the place of the believers supreme bappiess, for in the sanctuary le meets with God Himself, verses 9-12. For His part tbe Lord declares that He loves the place of public worshlp more than ailtme private devotions of bis people, Psalm 87:2. This is not to disparage worship at home or in private, but ramher to show m preeminence of public worship. The word for. 'worship' in mhe New Testament could be translated 'service'. We meet i the house of God to ascribe supreme worm h God and to give ourseves whoily to Hlm i love and obedient service. Second, spiritual vltaility is evidenced in holiness of mie. Hoilness can be defined as separation from the world, tomte worship and service of God. It must be emphsized mhat mhis does not mean isolation from mhe world, but insulation from mhe evil sinful practices of tme world. It can also be understood as a heartfelt conformlty hi mhe moral law or the commandments. 'If we love God wlth ail our hearts and minds, we will fulflithe law, for love is the fulfiffing of tme law, Romans 13: 10. So the moral law wMll ai>e a promimient place i the teadhlng and 11e of the ideal dhurcI. Peter sald, that holiness should be evident initme conservation <hifestyle) of beilevers.1 Thirs, spiritual vltality is shown in bromherly love. In mhe new Testament we seetme wail of division broken down between bellevlng Jews and belleving Gentiles. We also see those of many different nations and languages brouglit together into one unlted body. In mhe local church we ouglit to expect an exemplification of this unity. Professional What is an ideal church? men should sit side by side wlth those of humble oc- cupation. Rich and poor should find spiritual fulfilmnent together in the same church. This is not to minimize dif- ference of culture, background or temperament, but brotherly love should be of such power as to overcome these things. The emphasls on brotberly love throughout the New Testament Is such that we must say that if this is not found In practice then a churcb is less than ideal. Fourtb, spiritual vitality is evidenced i evangelism and good works. Evangellsm is not placed last because it is least ini importance. In the holy land there are two lakes, the one cal] Galllee and the other the Dead Sea. The sea of Galilee is fresh; it takes in and gives out fresh water. The Dead Sea is deadly to 11e; it only takes In but does not give out. Any church which is taken Up only with the edification of its own members, wlthout concern for outreach, is miadequate, and likely to be spiritually stagnant. The command to preacb the Gospel to every creature, and teach ail nations, is binding upon the church until the end of the age. Every believer, if lie bas a true experience of salvation, bas deep desires, or should have, for the conver- sion of bis relatives, his neighbours and workmates. The local church must take practical steps to ensure that the Gospel is being made known throughout the locality at ahl tines. It is in this respect that good works are important. It does not belp If people get the impression that the Gospel consists of words only, or even of special evangelistic meetings arrange for their benefit. If the lives of believers do not ring true; if they are guilty of shoddy work; if tbey are not zealous of good works, and are not comapssionate towards the needy, then evangelistie activity is likely ta be fruiless. Without love the words of evangelism will be like a sounding biass. Meeting Tbe next meeting of tbe Social Planning Council of Osbawa-Whitby will be held on December 2, 1980 at 7:30 p.m. at the Whitby Municipal Building, com- mittee rooni 1. The public is invited. buit s of special concern in bul.up areas where çlomestic and wild animais are infecting children who corne in contact with them. v Children should be'warned to avoid stray pets, as well as wild animais, especiaily if they appear sick or friendly because these usually are signs that they are rabid. Pets shouid be regfuiarly vaccinated and kept indoors at night. You can help to control rabies by reporting to your local police, humane socîety or health unit any pets or wiid animais which are acting strangely. Do not handie your pet wîth bare hands immedi- ately after it has fought with a rabid animal. Do not touch dead animais. Seek advice from a veterinarian. Contact your doctor or health unit immediately if your child or pet cornes ini contact with wild animais. If you would like to know more about rabies write for a free copy of our pamphlet. ANIMALS. RABIE.S AND Y(X) from the Ontario Health Resource Centre. QueenM Park. Toronto. Ontarîo M7A 1S2. Ministry of Health SOntario Dennis R. Timbreli, Minister DENTURE THERAPY CLINIC 111 DUNDAS STREET WEST WHITBY 668-1464