And that is the duty and the obligation of every member of the Lord’s church. I’ve been preaching for a long time, and I’ve dealt with a lot of people. But I’ve learned one thing in life: Until a member of the church feels the imperative call of duty, he’ll never be worth a thing on God’s earth to the advancement of the cause of Christ! Jesus Christ felt the imperative…call…of duty. And so, many members in the Lord’s church today seemingly feel no responsibility concerning the activities of the Lord’s church.

So many churches today are like the church in Laodicea. And as far as I know, they didn’t have drunks in that church as far as the Bible reveals. They didn’t have any adulterers in that church as far as the Bible reveals. But they had a terrible sin among them, and that was the sin of indifference. And Jesus Christ said, “Because you are neither cold nor hot, I will spew[vomit] thee out of My mouth” [Revelation 3:16]. So these people at Laodicea, they were not cold, but they were not hot. They did not oppose the Gospel. Neither did they defend the Gospel. They were not working any mischief. Neither were they doing any great good. They were just simply content to go on as “status quo,” aiming at nothing and doing nothing. They knew they stood well with the world, and they convinced themselves [that] they stood well with God. And Carlisle calls this “the hypocrisy that does not know itself to be hypocritical.” And we have so much indifference in the average congregation of God’s people today.

And you need not raise your hand, but let me ask you seriously, “Do you really and truly believe that you identify with the works of Jesus Christ?” And no one can become a partaker of the divine nature without identifying with His works; that is, without feeling the urgent call of duty, the imperative call, to be active in the Lord’s word! And you think what every congregation could do where the members were real active in serving God; but so many are so unconcerned, so indifferent. They’re not drunkards; their not adulterers; they don’t lie; they don’t steal; they don’t cheat. They’re just simply indifferent, aiming at nothing and doing nothing. So, we must be able to identify with the works of Jesus to become partakers of the divine nature of Jesus Christ.

And then, to identify with the nature of Jesus Christ, I must identify with the Spirit of Jesus. In Romans, the 8^th chapter, and verse 9, Paul said, “…if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” That’s a powerful statement. “…if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” So that simply means that if I identify with the nature of Jesus Christ, I’m going to have to manifest the Spirit of Christ.

But the question is, “What IS the Spirit of Christ?” Well, as a child of God, I should study the New Testament and learn what the Spirit of Christ is.

So, when I study the Bible, I learn that Jesus Christ is referred to as a “lamb.” In Isaiah, the 53^rd chapter, in Acts, the 8^th chapter, Christ is referred to as a “lamb”; that is, He manifested the Spirit of a lamb. For me to be a faithful child of God, I must manifest the spirit of a lamb.

But in Revelation 5 and [verse] 5, He’s referred to as a “Lion,” “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” So that means, then, to manifest the spirit of Christ, I’m going to have to act like a lion. So, at times I’m to be like a lamb; at times I’m to be like a lion.

Now, the question is, “When am I, as a Christian, to act like a lamb?” And listen to me carefully. When people attack me personally, physically or verbally, then I’m to manifest the spirit of a lamb. And you can begin with the 1^st chapter in Matthew, and you can read through the last chapter of Revelation, and you cannot find where anybody on any occasion under any circumstances [reads] where Christ ever retaliated toward those who mistreated Him! So, we cannot do that. God said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay” [Romans 12:19]. Do I believe in vengeance? I certainly do! But I can’t take it! And if it was left from a human standpoint, yes, I would like to take it! But God said, “You can’t do that! Vengeance belongs to Me!” “I will repay, saith the Lord.” David believed in vengeance, and he prayed to God. He said, “O God, to Whom vengeance belongeth, take vengeance upon them” [Psalm 94:1-2: “O LORD God, to Whom vengeance belongs — O God, to Whom vengeance belongs, shine forth! 2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth; Render punishment to the proud.”]. David prayed that God would take vengeance upon his enemies, but David knew that he could not himself take vengeance upon those people. And that’s a great lesson we need to learn in the Lord’s church, that we can…not…take…vengeance upon other people.

A few months ago, I was preaching someplace over here in Alabama. I was talking along these lines. And some lady—and she looked like she was a very intelligent lady—she came to me after the service, and she said, “Brother Black, you’re talking about praying for your enemies?”

“Why,” I said, “yes, that’s what you’re supposed to do.”

Well, she said, “I don’t pray for mine.” She says, “I want something bad to happen to them.”

I said, “You shouldn’t feel that way about anybody.”

Well, she said, “I do.”

But I said, “You can’t do that and be a Christian!”