BE AN EPISTLE FOR OTHERS TO READ
"Ye are our epistle ... known and read of all men:" - 2 Cor 3:2 (KJV)
The Apostles of the Lord Jesus continued with the ministry of the Word, even well beyond the death and the resurrection of the Master. They took the Gospel to places far beyond the boundaries of Israel. They established Churches in various places, some of which we have come to know, chiefly because of the epistles that were written to them. Simply put, an epistle is a composition in the form of a letter; and for our purpose, an epistle is one of the letters adopted as books of the New Testament. Of all the 27 Books of the New Testament, all are Epistles, except the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), Acts, and Revelation.
Like I mentioned earlier, epistles are letters written to the early Churches. They are partly statements of the Christian doctrines and manner of life from the Apostles to guide the early Churches on the Christian faith. Epistles served to instruct, correct, admonish and teach the early Church about what the early Apostles knew to be true of the Christian faith.
Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthian Church, reminded them that they were their epistle, known and read of all men (2 Cor 3:2). In other words, having ministered the Gospel to them, they saw the Corinthian Church as a written message, representing before men all that the Apostles believed and stood for, as far as the Christian faith was concerned. The Apostles' expectation was that the Gospel that was preached to them was to be written in their hearts and that its intents were to be demonstrated in their lives for all to see. God's will actually is that our lives should at all times be a reflection of that of His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ (Rom 8:29,12:2). The question is whether that is so with you in your office where you have a host of unbelievers around you. Dear student, is your life at school a reflection of that of Jesus? Dear believer in Christ, do people see Jesus in the way you live and conduct your business?
My dearly beloved, beware the way you live because you could be the only living epistle that someone out there has the opportunity to read. God is not only watching how you live your life, so are men! In this generation where people despise going to Church, where there's little or no knowledge of God, where there's a terrible apathy even among Christians towards the Word, and where there's so much hypocrisy among Christians, beware because you may be the only hope, the living epistle that heaven has with regards to the conversion of the lost souls around you.
Refuse to let your life be a disappointment to God. Determine to be the exception that the Lord will attest to among the many in your generation that have bowed their knees to Baal? (1 Kings 19:18). Can God look from heaven and use you to instruct your generation the way He did with the Rechabites to Israel? (Jer 35:2-19). Can you be the Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego of your generation that will stand for God in the face of threats, harassments, hardships, intimidations, and the deception of sinfulness that currently abound in our time?
Finally, can you be "manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ" in and around your locality, so much so that heaven and the earth will rely on you as "the light of the world" and "the salt of the earth"? (2 Cor 3:3, Matt 5:13,14). It's possible, if you so desire. May the Lord help us all, amen.
PRAYER:
I am the living epistle of Christ to my generation. I affirm and declare, in the name of Jesus, that God's Word is the standard for my life.