August 28th,
1962 “All Things Have Become
New” Late Mr. N. Daniel
2 Corinthians 5:17
“He is a new creature." Only if he
is in Christ. Vs.16 'Wherefore henceforth know
we no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh,
yet now henceforth know we him no more.' Henceforth know we no man after the
flesh. That is, brother doesn't know the brother who is not in Christ. If you
are a new creature, you won't know him in the flesh. Do you know what Jesus
said when His brothers and mother were waiting for Him? "These who hear
the Word of God and do it, they are my brothers and sisters.
You stand there and claim kinship with me. I don't belong to you. I belong to these."
"Oh you are my brother”, James and Jude would say. But Jesus said,
"No, what kind of brothers are you? You are a hindrance to the
Some of our relatives may not be Christians. They may be
nominal Christians. They come to your house on Sunday and expect you to stay
away from worship and spend time with them. They expect a good dinner and a
get-together. If you stay away from worship, you are not in Christ. You are not
a new creature. You have not broken away from them and their attitudes. If you
are a new creature you will say, 'I am a new creature. I am in Christ. I can't
follow these worldly ways.' Rom 12:2. "And be not conformed to this world.
But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that
ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." You
are a new creature! God is going to put you to a new use to fulfil
a great purpose. If you want to please your relatives and old friends, then you
will be a total failure. They will not lift you. They will drag you down. Are you
a new creature? They are people who are going backwards. Do you want to join
them? No, you want to go forward. Some cyclists grip a lorry and are pulled
along faster. But they don't grip a lorry that is going back. What we are doing
is like that. If you are a new creature, old relationships are broken. If you
take your stand in Jesus, seeing your newness, some will surely follow you.
Your way of life will strike them with wonder and they will want to follow you.
'What! This boy was just one of us but now his life is so different,' they will
say. Your business is to build yourself in Christ. The more you build yourself
in Christ the more you can attract your nominal Christian relatives and
friends. You will become unstable if you try to help and befriend others by
disobeying God, The devil also will get power over you. If you invite a
relative to stay with you, she or he will become a snare to you. If not to you,
may be to your children. Without God's will, you should not allow them to share
your dwelling place. Maybe they are relatives, but you are a new creature. The
brother of one of our believers invited him to his wedding. But it was a Hindu
wedding. They worship idols during the ceremony; so he said, 'I cannot come.'
It was a good stand he took.
I
was a good football player. Before my conversion, my teammates were my friends
even though they were given to evil ways. But later I could not enjoy their
company and they went away from me. Old friends, old relatives, they all
dropped out. But now they look up to me. In their difficulties, they write to
me. Some do not grow in faith. They tremble when troubles come. I told them,
"You can expect many trials in this new life. Prepare to be overcomers by growing in faith." They got married and
held very good positions. But they didn't care to grow in prayer or consider
Christian fellowship essential. I told in vain to them, "You must grow in
grace. Troubles will come, tests will come. Then your faith will not
stand." Some did not care and when calamities came, they had no hope. They
had no faith. Such will find no oneto pray for them in the time of their need
and sudden will be their end.
Doctors
can help to a degree. But only God Almighty will always be with you and never
leave you. You should show kindness to your brother or cousin but if they come
on a Sunday, it is very wrong to absent yourself from the place of worship.
"God is greater than us all. Let us go to worship Him," you should
say.
You
are a new creature. There is an upward buoyancy in
you. You want to grip anything which will help you to rise.